I am being weaned by God

1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me. 2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Psalm 131:1-2

This amazing Psalm written by King David teaches us about the importance of being weaned by God to overcome our pride. David begins by saying to the Lord, “my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty” (131:1a). Although King David had reason to be “haughty” (gabahh) and think he did not need God, he was humble before the Lord. He admits that his “eyes” were not “lofty” so as to look down on others with a feeling of superiority. Nor did David “concern” himself with “great” and “profound” matters that were beyond his ability to manage them.

As broken sinners before the Lord, we can try to compensate for our deep feelings of inadequacy or inferiority by thinking more highly of ourselves. Our pride may say, “I don’t need you” or “I am better than you.” Out of arrogance we can take on “great” and “profound” matters that are beyond our abilities to manage them. We may be prone to overestimate our own abilities and importance.

But David did not let pride get the best of him because he had “calmed and quieted” his “soul, like a weaned child with his mother” (131:2a). The Hebrew word for “calmed” (shavah) is used physically of leveling the surface of the ground so it is smooth to travel over. God wants us to learn to level our souls so it is smooth or composed before Him. He wants to teach us how to calm and quiet our souls in His presence. Learning to regulate the inner person requires that we pay attention to our souls like David did his soul. Our physical bodies can tell us a lot about our souls.

For example, when there is tension or tightness in my chest or abdomen, it is usually an indicator that my soul needs some attention. So I take a few minutes do some deep diaphragmatic breathing, and then ask myself, “What do you need right now? Do you need to let go of anything and give it to God?” I pause and just listen to my soul. I may take time to journal any impressions or thoughts. Then I may say to my soul, “Let God reconnect you to Him right now.” So I spend time in prayer and meditate on a passage of Scripture that helps me reconnect with the Lord. I may pray Scripture to the Lord substituting my name for any pronouns.  

I was very intrigued when David compared his soul care to “a weaned child with his mother.” A child that is not weaned tends to be very self-centered and demanding. He will cry and harass his mother until he gets his milk. But a weaned child knows the rest and security of being in the presence of his tender loving “mother.” She has loved and cared for him so that it is easy for him to trust her. But an infant that is neglected or mistreated has not been properly loved or cared for, making it extremely difficult for that child to trust someone. That child is more likely to grow up being extremely insecure and distrusting.

I believe God wants to reparent those who were not properly loved and cared for. He does this through the discipleship process among Christians. God wants to use older believers in Jesus to love and care for younger broken believers who were never loved and cared for the way God intended. It will be difficult for them to trust anyone at first, including God and other people. But as they experience Christ’s love while learning to abide in His Word with other believers, the lies that have isolated them from God and others will be replaced with His truth.

God wants to take His children through the weaning process so we learn to trust the Lord to care for us and provide for us. Before we are weaned, we may be very self-seeking and demanding of God. But when we are weaned, we learn that God loves us without limitation or expectation and this calms and quiets our souls.

For example, when a mother makes eye contact with her newborn baby, her face lights up with joy. She delights in her baby not because of what he does, but because of who he is. He is her child! That is all that matters to her. She does not expect him to perform or live up to a certain standard. Her child is absolutely lovable because of who he is, not because of what he does or doesn’t do.

The same is true of our heavenly Father toward us. He smiles upon us simply because we are His children. He does not expect us to do or say anything. He delights in our presence simply because we belong to Him! There is no need for us to try to earn His love or approval because we already have both from Him by virtue of being His forever child. So we may rest in the security of His unending love for us. From this we learn that we can trust Him even when His ways are not exactly what we expected or even wanted.

Prayer: Father God, Your Word has pierced my heart today. You have pointed out just how broken and needy I am before You. My heart is so prone to be proud; to elevate myself above others and to look down on them with a feeling of superiority. My pride often overestimates my own abilities and importance to compensate for my deep feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Like an unweaned child, I can be so self-seeking and demanding towards You. Please Father God, teach me to be more like a weaned child that knows the rest and security of being in the presence of his tender loving mother. Father, Your love and tender mercies assure me that I am loved and cared for apart from any merit of my own, which makes it easier for me to trust You. Teach me to calm and quiet my restless soul in Your loving presence. Help me to see myself through Your eyes of love. I am loved by You simply because I am Your child. Nothing more and nothing less. I am safe and secure in Your presence much like a weaned child in the presence of his loving mother. Thank You for soothing my soul with this message from Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Transformed from a tree of shame to a tree of splendor

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Luke 4:18

After Jesus had been tempted in the wilderness by Satan and ministered in Galilee (Luke 4:1-15), “He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (4:16). Christ then read verses taken from Isaiah 61:1-2 which describe the promised Messiah’s ministry on earth hundreds of years prior. His gospel is for everyone, including “the poor” (4:18a). His gospel heals, not hurts “the brokenhearted” and “proclaims liberty,” not labor to those who are “captives” or in bondage (4:18b). When Jesus said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21), He was saying that He was the promised Messiah Whose gospel would bring blessing to those who are broken.

There is a progression in Isaiah’s description of the Messiah’s gospel preaching ministry that is relevant to those who are struggling with shame and the bondage it creates. All people have hidden wounds in their lives. They may be in the form of hurtful memories such as a mean word on the playground or abuse in the home. We try to medicate these wounds with behaviors, substances, or emotions. But Jesus came to “heal the brokenhearted,” resulting in “liberty” from that which we could not break free (4:18a). Shame imprisons us, but the Savior liberates us. His gospel grants spiritual “sight” to us so we can begin to see ourselves through His eyes and no longer be “oppressed” by shame-based lies (4:18b).

The biblical text does not tell us if Jesus read verse 3 of Isaiah 61, but this verse is a continuation of the Messiah’s ministry on earth. His healing grace will “console [not condemn] those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty [not a beating] for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise [not punishment] for the spirit of heaviness;  that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3). Our brokenness brought great sadness to us, but Christ’s grace will “console” us, changing our sadness and the “heaviness” of shame into “joy” and “praise.” This inward transformation will make us a blessing to others, like oak “trees” flourishing in “righteousness” because of the outrageous love and grace of God.

The word translated “trees” is the Hebrew word אַיִל (ayil) which refers to a terebinth tree – a prominent, lofty tree much like an oak tree (Isaiah 1:29; 57:5). We may not think much of Isaiah’s reference to an oak tree, but in ancient times, people sacrificed to and worshipped their pagan gods in groves of oak trees. The use of the word “trees” (ayil) in Isaiah 1:29 and 57:5 is revealing.

29 For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees (ayil) which you have desired; and you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens which you have chosen. 30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water. 31 The strong shall be as tinder, and the work of it as a spark; both will burn together, and no one shall quench them” (Isaiah 1:29-31). God would judge those who had forsaken Him to meet secretly among “the terebinth [oak] trees” to worship the false gods of the people around them. The reason they would be “ashamed” is because those who worshipped these pagan gods were required to participate in a wide variety of sexual practices, including orgies, adultery, prostitution, and the bloody sacrifices of children.

In Isaiah 57, Israel’s rebellion against God among the groves of oak trees included adultery and idolatry. 3But come here, you sons of the sorceress, you offspring of the adulterer and the harlot! 4 Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out the tongue? Are you not children of the transgression, offspring of falsehood, 5 inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree (ayil), slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion; they, they are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, you have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these? 7 On a lofty and high mountain you have set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifices” (Isaiah 57:3-7). God summons the idolatrous Israelites who were acting as though their father was an “adulterer” and their mother a “sorceress” and a prostitute (57:3). They were mocking the righteous minority among them (57:4) and they burned (“inflamed”) in their lust for the “gods under every green tree” (57:5). Pagan gods were strewn among these oak trees. God’s people worshipped “the smooth stones” in the stream beds and offered sacrifices to the gods “on a high and lofty mountain” (57:6-7).

Then Isaiah says, “Also behind the doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance; for you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, and have gone up to them; you have enlarged your bed and made a covenant with them; you have loved their bed where you saw their nudity” (Isaiah 57:8). The Israelites deliberately turned their back on the Lord and placed symbols of these pagan gods “behind the doors and their posts” to remind them of the gods they worshipped.

You may wonder what these symbols looked like? They were often highly sexual. For example, the goddess Asherah was the goddess of fertility. The symbol identifying her was a phallus. When God’s people are described in the Old Testament as meeting at the Asherah “poles,” it is talking about them gathering around a tall tower or temple built in the shape of a man’s genitalia.

What God is telling us in the book of Isaiah is that the “oak trees” were common places of unrighteousness – especially sexual sin and immorality. So when Jesus offers to heal broken hearts, free those in bondage, and transform them into “trees of righteousness” who will display His glory (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-3), we come to a new and profound understanding. In the very place where the Israelites engaged in sinful, shameful, and degrading practices, He promises to make them oak trees of righteousness. And He promises to do the same with us.

God wants to meet us in the hidden places of our greatest shame and struggle to help us heal. He is not uptight about our sin and shame. His grace is far greater than either (cf. Romans 5:20). But most men and women who are struggling with shameful and degrading practices want to hide themselves from God and have lost hope. They have settled for the ongoing cycles of defeat and shame. But Jesus wants to transform them from a tree of shame to a tree of splendor. And He does this through His love. His perfect love casts out fear and shame (I John 4:18).

“The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). After defeating all His enemies at the end of the Tribulation (3:15), King Jesus will be in Israel’s “midst” like a “Mighty” Warrior to “save” them from harm (3:17a). Like a Bridegroom, King Jesus “will rejoice over” His people, Israel, “with gladness” and “He will quiet” them in the security of “His love” for them as His bride (3:17b). King Jesus “will rejoice over” His bride “with singing.”

God wants to celebrate who we are! “He will rejoice over you with singing,” not condemn us or shame us. He wants to heal and quiet us with His love. He wants to transform our tree of shame into a tree of splendor so He is glorified. Will you place yourself in a position for Him to do that?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, even though I am afraid and ashamed, I invite You to do what You were sent to do. Please heal my brokenness deep inside of my heart, liberate me from bondage, open the door where others have locked me up and thrown away the key, comfort and console me in my grief, grant me beauty instead of the ashes of humiliation, the oil of joy in place of mourning, the garment of praise instead of punishment for my spirit of heaviness, that I may be called a flourishing oak tree of righteousness that is a blessing to others and magnifies Your name. In Your name. Amen.

The Father’s love toward His self-righteous son

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.’ ” Luke 15:31

In Luke 15:11-24, we saw Father God’s love expressed in a relationship between a father and his wayward son. God is like a father who is generous to His children (15:12); He allows His children to make their own decisions and live with the consequences (15:12-16); He longs for His wayward children to return to Him (15:20a); He unconditionally loves and accepts His wayward children (15:20-21); He restores His repentant children to the privileges of sonship (15:22); He celebrates whenever His wayward children return home to Him (15:23-24).

Today we will look at how God the Father responds to an angry and self-righteous child of His. In this parable, the younger wayward son returned home to his father and his father responded with love and forgiveness to him, and restored him to the privileges of sonship (Luke 15:18-22). The father even had a parting celebrating his son’s return (15:23-24).

But while this restoration and celebration was taking place, the “older son” had been working “in the field” (15:25a). And as he drew near to his father’s house and “heard music and dancing,” he asked one of the servants what was  going on (15:25b-26). When the servant told the older brother that his younger brother had come home and his father was celebrating his return, the son became “angry and would not go in” to join the celebration of his younger brother’s return (15:27-28a). But notice what the father does. “Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him” (15:28b). The father did not ignore his son and leave him in his self-righteous pity party. No, the father pursued his angry son.

Instead of rejoicing in his father’s love and forgiveness towards his repentant brother, the older son was angry with his father’s response. This son had worked hard “serving” his father much like the Jewish religious leaders worked hard to try to earn God’s love and forgiveness (15:29). The older brother viewed himself more as a servant than as a son of his father. Actually, he views himself as a “perfect” servant. He arrogantly boasted to his father, “I never transgressed your commandment at any time” (15:29a). Really!?! He never once disobeyed his father!?!

Then he angrily blames his father for not giving him what he deserved. “And yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends” (15:29b). Like the religious leaders, this older son’s self-righteousness led him to feel that he was not being treated as much as he deserved. He preoccupied himself with his work instead of focusing on his relationship with his loving father who accepted and loved him apart from his work. He was hurt because his father never celebrated all that he had done for him, but now his father was throwing a party for his “less than” brother (15:29-30).

The older son refuses to acknowledge his brother as his brother. He calls him his father’s son (“this son of yours”), implying that his father shared his younger brother’s guilt (15:30a). This older son was elevating himself above both his father and his younger brother. His self-righteous attitude may have been his way of compensating for a deep sense of inadequacy and insecurity in his heart. This prevented him from experiencing any joy over his brother’s restoration. Amazingly, everyone in this parable experienced joy except this older brother. Instead of staying home to enjoy the love of his father, this older brother was working hard in the field so he could get what he wanted from his father.

Have you ever felt this way towards God? Do you have resentment towards God when He restores a believer whom you think should be punished? When you compare yourself to that wayward believer, do you feel superior to him or her? He or she is like a second-class Christian compared to you? When we compare our righteousness with the righteousness of other broken sinners, pride can easily fill our hearts. It would be better to compare our righteousness with that of God’s. When we do that, we will realize that our righteousness is like “filthy rags” before our perfect and holy Father in heaven (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23). When we forget how much grace and forgiveness God has extended to us when we sin, we can be very unforgiving toward others when they sin (cf. Matthew 18:21-33).

Perhaps, you have worked hard for God as a Christian trying to win His approval and love. And when you see God restore a wayward brother in Christ, you feel resentment towards God’s love and forgiveness. “After all, you have done so much for the Lord. Why doesn’t He celebrate what you have done?” You have lost sight of the heart of your heavenly Father. You have focused more on working FOR the Father rather than being WITH Him. Instead of enjoying God’s grace and love towards you, you demand justice for your brother who has been restored by God.

How does the father respond to his angry and self-righteous son? He responds with the same love and tenderness that he showed toward his youngest son. “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours’ ” (15:31). His obedient son had constant access to fellowship with his father along with enjoyment of all he possesses. But instead of enjoying his relationship with his father and all of his father’s possessions, the older son chose to focus on his works and what he thought he deserved. This produced a haughtiness in him that caused him to look down on his father and his younger brother.

What amazes me about our Father in heaven, is that He loves His wayward children and His self-righteous angry children with the same tenderness. He pursues them even when they do not deserve it. The bottom line is both sons needed forgiveness and restoration. And their father granted it to them freely.

I believe this is a powerful message for the church today. I wonder how many wayward Christians receive the same love and tenderness from their church as they did from God when they returned home to the Lord? Or do they receive the anger that was displayed by the self-righteous older son, causing them to feel like a second-class Christian? Instead of embracing the repentant sinner, they shun him because in their minds he deserves justice not grace. Oh they would never say that out loud. But their actions speak much louder than their words. What the self-righteous Christian fails to understand is all of us deserve justice, including him or her (Romans 3:23; 6:23a). But God’s grace is for the underserving – a condition of all of humanity. God’s grace restores the repentant sinner not because they deserve it, but because God is a God of second chance.

As I have processed this parable the past few days, I am reminded of how the self-righteous Jewish leaders responded to Jesus’ grace towards repentant sinners. They hated Jesus and His grace which was captivating the hearts of the people, and eventually these leaders murdered Him on a cross (Matthew 9:11; 11:19; 12:9-21; Mark 2:13-16; 3:1-6; Luke 5:30; 15:2; 19:7; John 5:16; 7:1; 11:45-53). But when Jesus died on that cross He paid the penalty for the sins of the repentant sinner and the self-righteous sinner. That makes them equals before the cross. There is no more hierarchy of the “haves” and “have nots” in God’s family. Praise Jesus for our total acceptance and worth before Him!

If you have been given justice instead of grace by Christians, please understand that this is not Jesus’ way. Jesus is not uptight about your sin and shame. Christ said, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Christ did not come to condemn you, but to cleanse you. He did not come to rub in your sins, but to rub them out. If you do not have Jesus in your life, He invites you to come to Him now just as you are.

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is not asking you to come to church or to a pastor, a priest, an imam, or a monk. He is asking you to come to Him. Notice He does not say, “Come to Me and I will give you guilt … shame … stress.” No He says, “Come to Me … and I will give you rest.” Christ is saying that when we come to Him just as we are, He will give you spiritual rest. The rest Jesus offers refers to a state of mind that exists when a non-Christian realizes he or she does not have to earn or work for their salvation. This refers to the positional rest of eternal life that is based on trusting in Christ’s accomplishment on the cross.

When I was a nineteen year-old college student athlete, I came to Christ in faith and received the “rest” of His forgiving grace. This took place in a cornfield driveway as a song by Chuck Girard entitled “Lay Your Burden Down,” was playing in my parent’s car. As I listened to this song, my heart was flooded with the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. He took away the burden of my sin and shame. I would like to share some of those lyrics before we pray:

You’ve been tryin’ hard to make it all alone
Tryin’ hard to make it on your own

And the strength you once were feelin’, isn’t there no more
And you think the wrong you’ve done, is just too much to be forgiven
But you know that isn’t true
Just lay your burden down, …He has Forgiven you

Lay your burden down, lay your burden down
Take your burden to the cross, and lay it down
Lay your burden down, lay your burden d
own Take you worries to the cross and lay them down

Prayer: Father God, please forgive me for judging others as unworthy of Your love and restoration. When I feel deeply inadequate and insecure, it is easy for me to lift myself up by tearing others down. I am no different than the older brother when I focus on the sins of others to avoid looking at my own sins. Oh, how quickly I can forget the burden of my sin and shame You lifted off of me forty-one years ago when I believed in Jesus. How prone I am to resent Your love and forgiveness toward repentant sinners because I think they deserve justice instead of grace. Please cleanse me of these arrogant and self-righteous thoughts that seek to elevate me above You and others. Lord God, I invite You into the dark recesses of my soul to shine Your unspeakable love which restores the broken hearted and crushed in spirit. Please make my heart whole again so I may love and restore other broken sinners with the love and grace You have abundantly lavished upon me. Thank You, my precious Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hope in the midst of the coronavirus

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread around the world, with an increasing number of cases here in the United States. The World Health Organization has declared that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. This virus is shutting down political campaign rallies, professional sports leagues, schools, Broadway, Disneyland, and even travel on planes and cruise ships. Some states in the USA are banning mass gatherings for organized events for the next month.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS

There is another global pandemic that is much older and deadlier than the coronavirus. The Bible calls this lethal and widespread virus sin. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Just as the coronavirus does not respect ethnic boundaries or national borders, neither does sin.

While the elderly and those with chronic conditions appear to be more at risk for the coronavirus, all people are infected by sin. No exceptions. No matter what your age, appearance, color of skin, or language, you are infected by this spiritual disease. The Bible tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is when we disobey God’s laws (I John 3:4). When we hate, lie, lust, or steal, we sin against God.

Those exposed to or infected by the coronavirus are being separated or even isolated from others. Likewise, our sin separates us from God. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The word “death” in the Bible means separation. Sin separates us from God because He is holy, righteous, and perfect (Isaiah 59:2). He cannot be around sin. The final punishment for our sin is separation from God forever in a terrible place called the Lake of Fire or Hell (Revelaion 20:15). Please understand that God does not want any of us to die forever in Hell.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO PANDEMICS

One of the reasons the coronavirus is causing such great panic around the world is because there is no known cure. But there is a cure for the deadlier pandemic of sin. The Bible tells us that God entered the world infected by this virus called sin. He lived among sick people, not wearing a chemical protective suit, but breathing the same air and eating the same food as we do. Out of love for the world, including you and me, He died in isolation on a cross, excluded from His people and separated from His Father, and then rose from the dead so He might provide this sick world with an antidote to the virus (I Corinthians 15:3-6).

Jesus is alive today and freely offers you the cure for this deadlier virus. Listen to what He said to a woman whose brother died from the virus, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Christ guarantees a future resurrection and never ending life to all who believe in Him. No amount of our good works or efforts can save us from the deadly virus of sin (Isaiah 64:6). Only Jesus has the cure.

If you are not certain you will go to heaven when you die, believe in Jesus for His gift of everlasting life and He guarantees you will live with Him forever in Heaven. He said, “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17; cf. 3:36; 14:1-3). If you trusted in Jesus just now for His gift of everlasting life, you can tell God through prayer. Remember, praying this prayer will not get you to Heaven. Only trusting in Christ alone gets you to Heaven. This prayer is a way of telling God you are now trusting in His Son.

Prayer: “Dear Jesus, I come to you now infected by this lethal virus called sin. I cannot save myself from this virus. I believe You became infected by this virus and died on a cross and rose from the dead to save me from sin and death. I am now trusting in You alone Jesus (not my good life, water baptism, or church attendance) to give me everlasting life and save me from this pandemic of sin forever. Thank You for the everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

When you believed in Christ, He gave you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). God became your Father and you became His child forever (John 1:12). And Jesus now lives  inside you through His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11-13). He promises never to leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Christ’s resurrection guarantees you a new resurrection body in the future that will not be subject to disease or death (I Corinthians 15:35-57). Please help others to escape this deadly pandemic of sin by sharing this good news of Jesus’ cure.  

Come home

“But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Luke 15:20b

Do you ever have a disconnect from the way God is portrayed in the Bible and your perception of God based on your own experiences or feelings? We may think that God will resemble our parents or authority figures from our childhood (cf. Psalm 50:21). For example, if you had a rigid and perfectionistic father or father figure, you could never measure up to his demands no matter how hard you tried. Because of this, you view God as Someone who is impossible to please. He does not forgive nor forget sins. And when you mess up!?! Watch out! His cruel side is manifested. He seems to delight in sending financial disaster or physical disease to emphasize His intolerance of your spiritual failures. Understandably, it is difficult for you to approach God and experience His forgiveness and love when you have this kind of distorted view of Him.

The Bible gives us a beautiful picture of God the Father in Luke 15. When “all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to” Jesus to listen to His teaching, the religious leaders of Israel were critical of Christ for associating with spiritual outcasts (Luke 15:1-2). Christ responds by telling three parables (parable = an earthly story that teaches spiritual truth) to teach these religious leaders that when a sinner returns to God it is reason for celebrating instead of complaining (15:3-32).

After telling parables about a lost sheep and a lost coin, Jesus tells a parable about the love of a father toward his two sons (Luke 15:11-32). The youngest son asked for his “portion” of his father’s inheritance, and the father graciously gave both sons theirs (15:12). Normally in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, the inheritance did not pass to the heirs until the death of the father. To request it prior to the father’s death, was like wishing for the father to die. The youngest son then “journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living” (15:13). When a “severe famine” came to that land, the son “began to be in want” because of his wasteful living (15:14). He got a job in the fields feeding “swine,” which is something any self-respecting Jew would only do our of desperation (15:14-15). The son had sunk so low that he longed to eat pig’s food because “no one gave him anything” to eat (15:16).

Have you ever wasted the resources God has given you? Just as the youngest son “wasted his possessions with prodigal living” (15:13), so also when we stray away from God we waste the the resources God has placed in our possession. Time spent out of touch with God is an enormous waste of time, energy, strength, ability, and opportunity. When we are restored to the Lord, may experience profound regret for what has been wasted during our time of separation from God. This is especially true when the separation has lasted for years, as it sometimes does. I wonder how many of us have ever wandered so far away from God that we were willing to do anything just to survive? But no matter where we turned, we could not find one person on earth who showed us any compassion? We were all alone and destitute. Our stomach and our soul were empty. We may cry out, “Where are you God!?! Why have you abandoned me!?!” This is the place the youngest son had come to. Thankfully the story does not end there.

At this point of absolute brokenness, the son “came to himself” (15:17). He repented or changed his mind and decided to “go” back to his father (15:18a). He planned to confess his sin and his unworthiness to be his father’s son (15:18a-19a), and then ask to be one of his father’s “hired servants” because he knew his father paid his servants well (15:19b; cf. 15:17). This son thought he would have to work for His father’s love and acceptance.

How many of us perceive our Father in heaven to be this way? We think that when we fail God spiritually, the only way He could ever accept us and love us is to pay for our own sins with self-hatred and condemnation? We may rehearse in our minds what we will do for God before we approach Him. We assume that the only way God will ever accept us and forgive us is to work so hard or punish ourselves so much, God will eventually have compassion for us and forgive us. This kind of thinking fails to understand the heart of our heavenly Father. Nor is this thinking from the Lord. It is from the father of lies (John 6:44) who delights in accusing God’s children (Revelation 12:10). When we fail, Satan whispers in our ear, “This is how God thinks of you. He thinks you are unloveable and unforgivable. He thinks you are worthless and pathetic. The only way He could possibly ever forgive you or love you is for you to do this and this and this and this…” These lies drive us deeper into a pit of shame, isolating us from God.

But this is depressing. Let’s look at the father’s response when his son returns home. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (15:20). When the father “saw” his prodigal son coming home from “a great way off,”  it suggests he was continually watching and waiting for his son’s return. He longed for his son to come home. This is the way God is with us when we wander away from Him. He leaves the porch light on every night, looking for our return.

The father did not reject his son by running into the house and locking the doors. He did not scold or condemn his repentant wayward son. Instead he “had compassion” on his son. This shows that the father had some knowledge of his son’s immorality and misfortunes – probably from reports about him (cf. 15:13, 30). He empathized with his son’s brokenness and need for acceptance and love after his wayward journey. God is also this way with us. He is not quick to criticize or condemn us because He knows our weaknesses and how much we need His mercy and grace when we have failed (cf. Psalm 103:11-14).

When the father “ran” out toward his son, this was very unusual for any Jewish father to do. It was not acceptable for him to run out like that in the Jewish culture of that day. But in the father’s eagerness to restore his son to fellowship, the father ran to him. God is that way with us. He is not apathetic and cold toward us when we fail. He is not bound by culturally acceptable expressions of love and forgiveness. He is eager to forgive us and restore us to fellowship or closeness with Him.

When the father “fell on his neck” he embraces and hugs him. Then the father “kissed him” which was a friendly sign of greeting like a warm handshake in American culture. This is a very affectionate reception from the father. Imagine how this young man must have felt?! Before he could begin his rehearsed speech, he already had his father’s total unconditional love and acceptance. Likewise, God is not cold and calculating toward his repentant children. He embraces us and welcomes us home when we repent. But it does not stop there.

When the son began his rehearsed speech, he could not even get to the part about becoming a hired servant of his father (15:21). His father interrupted him and said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry” (15:22-23). What is the father doing here? I believe the father knew his son’s heart. He was not focused on all the immoral and shameful living of his son. He was not uptight about his son’s sin and shame. He saw the heart of his son which longed to be connected to his father’s heart. Instead of making his son a hired servant, the father bestowed the symbols of honor (“best robe”), authority (“ring”), and freedom (“sandals”) on him. Sandals were marks of a free man, but slaves went barefooted.

The forgiveness from the father is complete and and his son does not need to feel as if he is a forever second-class Christian, as if he now served God as a mere hired servant. He is now able to enjoy all the privileges of sonship, symbolized by the robe, the ring, and the sandals.

Then his father prepared a banquet for his son because his “son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found” (15:24). The father felt the absence of his son as deeply as if he had died (“dead”), because he had totally lost contact with him. So the death he is referring to is a separation from the father. Their reunion is like a glorious coming to life and a joyful rediscovery of the shared father-son experience. Any father who has long been separated from a son whom he loves dearly can fully relate to these words.

Years ago, a young man had a verbal argument with his father and left home. He continued to keep in touch with his mother, and wanted very badly to come home for Christmas, but he was afraid his father would not allow him. His mother wrote to him and urged him to come home, but he didn’t feel he could until he knew his father had forgiven him. Finally, there was no time for any more letters. His mother wrote and said she would talk with the father, and if he had forgiven him, she would tie a white rag on the tree which grew right alongside the railroad tracks near their home, which he could see before the train reached the station. If there was no rag, it would be better if he went on.

So, the young man started home. As the train drew near his home; he was so nervous he said to his friend who was traveling with him, “I can’t bear to look. Sit in my place and look out the window. I’ll tell you what the tree looks like and you tell me whether there is a rag on it or not.” So, his friend changed places with him and looked out the window. After a bit the friend said, “Oh yes, I see the tree.” The son asked, “Is there a white rag tied to it?” For a moment, the friend did not say anything. Then he turned, and in a very gentle voice said, “There is a white rag tied to every limb of that tree!”

That, in a sense, is what God is saying to us in Luke 15. The truth is all of us are like the prodigal son. He can represent a non-Christian whose repentance or change of mind about his sinful lifestyle leads him to come home to His Creator God and believe in Jesus for complete forgiveness of sins, much like Cornelius in Acts 10. You may be seeking God by going to church and giving money to it, or by trying to clean up your life. But you are not saved from your sins by any of those things you do in your search for God (Isaiah 64:6). You are saved by believing or trusting in Jesus alone for His gift of salvation (John 3:16; Ephes. 2:8-9). God is inviting you to come home to Him just as you are. He is waiting to welcome you into His family and make you His beloved son or daughter forever the moment you trust in Jesus alone (John 1:12; 10:28-29).

But the prodigal son can also represent a Christian who has drifted away from fellowship with God to explore the pleasures of the world. Being dissatisfied with the world’s empty pleasures, he decides to “come home” to God by confessing his sin to the Lord and claiming His cleansing forgiveness (I John 1:9). We do not have to work for this restoration. There are no hoops to jump through or obligations to fulfill. Simply come home to your Father in heaven and He will lovingly welcome you and restore your fellowship or closeness to Him.

Whether we are coming home to God for the first time for salvation from hell through faith in Jesus or for the hundredth time as a believer to restore our fellowship with God, the Father is waiting with open arms and an open heart. Will you come home to Him now?

Prayer: Oh my Father in heaven, how I have longed to hear these truths about You. Oh. May I call You Pa Pa? I feel closer to You when I call You that. So much of my understanding about You has been based on my own experiences and feelings as a child and as an adult with other Christians. I have thought of You as a mean old man sitting up in heaven with a big hammer waiting to strike me the moment I say, think, or do something wrong. But Your Word tells me that You are not a mean out of control man. You are a tender loving Father who eagerly waits and watches for His wayward child to come home so You can wrap Your loving arms around him and tell him he is loved and safe in Your arms. Please Pa Pa, heal the holes in my heart so I may experience Your love more fully and begin to see myself as You see me. I am Your beloved son who has access to all that You possess because of my relationship with Your only perfect Son, Jesus Christ. I am so glad to know that You are much more concerned about my heart than  my past. My past is gone now. I am totally forgiven and loved by You. I am not a second-class Christian. I am a beloved child of God who can now enjoy all the privileges of sonship. And I am with You forever, never to be alone again. Thank You for restoring the joy of my salvation. Thank You that I am no longer defined by the darkness, but by the light of Your love. Please help me to walk in Your light and love. With much love, Pa Pa. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What are the narrow and wide gates in Matthew 7:13-14?

13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction , and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14  [NKJV]

When growing up in the church, I was taught that the “narrow gate” refers to the difficult commands Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:12-7:12). In other words, believe in Jesus as the Messiah and do all these things Jesus has just taught, and you will enter into eternal life. The imagery was that of walking through the narrow gate and continuing on this long, difficult and narrow path of obedience to Christ in order to gain entrance into God’s kingdom. The “wide gate” then was living a life of disobedience.

But since my youth, I have come to a more nontraditional view of these verses which I believe is much more consistent with the original language of these verses and the emphasis of the New Testament.

Jesus said,  13 Enter (eiselthete) by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to (eis + accusative) destruction , and there are many who go in (eiserchomenoi) by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult (tethlimmene) is the way which leads to (eis + accusative) life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Christ is using the commands in the Sermon on the Mount to convict His unbelieving audience (the “multitudes” consisted of believers and unbelievers – Matthew 4:25- 5:2) of their inability to obtain the righteousness required to enter the kingdom of Heaven. These unbelievers must possess a righteousness that is greater than the most righteous people they know – “the scribes and Pharisees.” The only righteousness that God would accept as basis for entrance into His kingdom was the righteousness of God through faith alone in Jesus alone (Romans 3:21- 4:25). Jesus was using the Law and its application in the Sermon on the Mount to convict the unbelieving people of their inability to be righteous enough to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Christ brought them to the point of seeking a righteousness outside of themselves. Like a stern and demanding tutor, the Law was intended to lead people to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:19-24).

That Jesus is thinking specifically of the unbelieving multitude who are standing off in the distance is seen in His reference to kingdom entrance at the beginning (Matthew 5:20) and end of His Sermon (Matthew 7:21). He is speaking in the context of eternity. The phrase “in that day” (7:22) refers to the Day of Judgment for unbelievers. When Christ speaks of entering into “life” or “destruction” (7:13-14), He is thinking of eternal “life” or eternal “destruction.”

The word “difficult” (tethlimmene) in Matthew 7:14 means “confined, narrow.” It has nothing to do with a difficult lifestyle as some teach. The imagery is that you go through a gate and you immediately arrive at the place of destination. In the imagery of that day, you have the gate of a city that does not have a path on the other side of it. The path goes underneath the gate but does not go beyond this point of entrance. So the moment you go through the gate, you are in the city. There is not a long path on the other side of the entrance leading to the city.

The word “enter” (eiserchomenoi) in 7:13 means to “go into.” Matthew never uses this word in this kind of situation in terms of going toward something. It is always used of going directly into something. This is confirmed by the use of the Greek preposition eis, “into” with the accusative. If you were going to use a preposition in the Greek text to talk about going toward something, you would most likely use the word pros, “toward.” But the use of eis (“into”) with eiserchomenoi (“go into”) indicates that you are going through a gate which immediately brings you “into” your place of destination. Jesus is not talking about entering onto a difficult path that will lead to some other destination.

The “narrow gate” refers to the same thing Jesus said in John 10:9 and 14:6:

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

The narrow gate is “narrow” because there is no other way to enter the kingdom of Heaven except through faith alone in Christ alone. The point of entrance is narrow because it alludes to faith in Jesus and no one or nothing else. The way is “confined” or “restricted” in that there is no other way which leads to the Father except through Christ. The “wide gate” in contrast, has many people entering through it because it is a wide entrance which leads immediately into eternal destruction. The “wide gate” represents all the other options in which men say life can be entered, especially confessing Jesus as Lord while relying on your good works (Matthew 7:21-22). But Christ is inviting His unsaved listeners to seek the “narrow gate” which happens to be Himself. There is only one way to Heaven which makes it “narrow.” That way is Jesus and Him alone.

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus responds to His disciples question about greatness in the kingdom by saying, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven.” In order for people to enter the kingdom of Heaven they must be “converted” or turned away from the cynicism and lack of trust that characterizes most adults and become like children who possess childlike faith. Little children must depend on others to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21) to gain kingdom entrance is choosing to place childlike faith in Jesus Christ to do for yourself what you could never accomplish on your own.

In the context, Jesus is talking about “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (7:15). These false prophets are standing in front of the wide gate that leads into destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Outwardly they may look and sound like Christians (“come to you in sheep’s clothing”). But they are preaching many ways to Heaven except faith alone in Christ alone. Those who believe the false prophet’s message and never trust Christ alone as their only hope of Heaven, will be surprised in the day of judgment when the Lord Jesus says to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23)!

True prophets are standing in front of the “narrow gate” that leads into life (Matthew 7:13-14). They are preaching that the way that leads into eternal life is “narrow” (John 10:9; 14:6). Only faith alone in Christ alone leads to eternal life (John 3:16; 6:40, 47; 14:6; Acts 4:12; I Timothy 2:4-6).

Those who teach a faith plus salvation are standing in front of “the wide gate” that leads into eternal destruction. Jesus says, “there are many who go in by it.” But those who teach a faith alone Gospel are standing in front of “the narrow gate” which is too narrow to carry your works baggage through it. Christ says, “there are few who find it.”

Just because a Bible teacher or theologian has a large following does not mean he or she is teaching the right message. There are many false religions in the world today that have millions of followers, but that does not mean they have found the “narrow gate” that leads into life everlasting. It is as if Jesus is saying, “Be careful about those who have a large following. They may be standing in front of the wide gate that leads into eternal destruction.”

On the other hand, if a Bible teacher or evangelist has a small following, that does not mean he or she is standing in front of the wide gate that leads to destruction. If his or her message emphasizes that the only condition for everlasting life is faith alone in Christ alone, then he or she is standing in front of the narrow gate that leads into life. Praise God for that person and pray for them to hold fast to the true gospel of Jesus Christ so that many more people can hear and believe it!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for making it clear that You are the narrow gate that leads into life everlasting. Only believing or trusting in You alone gains entrance into the Father’s Kingdom. Help me to point others to You, the narrow gate, with my words and my works as Your grace works within me. Please expose those who stand in front of the wide gate for who they truly are – false prophets who inwardly are ravenous wolves that deceive people to believe that entering Your kingdom is by faith plus works. Please rescue these misled people by sending Your true prophets to them so they may believe in Jesus alone for His free gift of salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do I have a multigenerational vision for discipleship?

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

As I drive back and forth visiting supporters and attending meetings, I am able to listen to a lot of radio talk shows and news reports. The predominant focus on the radio (and other channels of communication), is the Coronavirus. Governments and public health organizations in the USA have been working together to prepare for this virus since its outbreak in China. I am thankful for those who have the foresight to make wise decisions about how to respond to this health concern.

I am even more thankful for those in the spiritual realm who have the foresight to prepare for the future with regards to the development of Christian leaders. One such person is the apostle Paul who wrote a second letter to a young pastor named Timothy. Even though Paul was in prison near the end of his life, he wanted to encourage Timothy to persevere in the ministry. He begins by assuring Timothy of his continuing love and prayers (1:3-4), and then reminds him of his spiritual heritage and responsibilities (1:5-18). Beginning in chapter two, Paul admonishes Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1). How does one do this? Paul explains an important way in the next verse.

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2:2). Paul is giving Timothy (and us) a multigenerational vision for ministry. There are four generations in view in this one verse. The first generation is represented by the pronoun “me.” Paul represents the first generation of Christ-followers. Notice that Paul did not keep the gospel message that God entrusted to him to himself. He shared it with the next generation of Christ-followers seen in the pronoun “you” and “witnesses.” Timothy and these witnesses were to “commit” what Paul taught them to the third generation represented by the phrase “faithful men.”

Why is it important that these men (and women and children) be “faithful?” So they “will be able to teach others also,” the fourth generation of Christ-followers. If they are not faithful to pass on what they have been taught, there will be no future generations of Jesus’ disciples.

It is important that Christians understand that the church is not a building or a place of worship, it is a body of believers in Jesus Christ. And like any living organism, if the church does not reproduce (spiritually) through the making of disciples, there will be no future generations of gospel-preaching, Bible-believing, disciple-making churches for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.

While it is important for you to be preaching the gospel to others and then training those who believe in Christ to follow Jesus as His disciple, it also important that you do not stop there. The ultimate goal is that you not only lead people to faith in Christ and train them to reach and teach others, but that they also will reach and teach others, who will also reach and teach others (2 Timothy 2:2), forming the nucleus of a new grace-based church!

When Jesus prayed the high priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion (John 17), He also focused on future generations of believers when He prayed, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). Jesus had not only prayed for His present disciples (John 17:6-19), but He also prayed for future generations of believers as well (John 17:20-26). Are we doing the same? Are we being intentional about developing future generations of Christian leaders?

God has given all of His children the responsibility to make disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15). Every Christian has the potential to take part and to bear much fruit for God. Every Christian has the potential to witness to others and to train them. However, not every believer in Jesus will do this. This is what James talks about in his letter. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Not everyone will be a faithful “doer” of the Word (James 1:22). Not every Christian will preach the gospel and make disciples. Many will be “hearers only.”

But as we preach the gospel and teach new believers to follow Jesus as His disciple, we are to look for the “doers” of God’s Word. These are the “faithful” ones Paul talks about in 2 Timothy 2:2 that we will want to pour our lives into.

How can we discover who the “doers” are? Train everyone who believes the gospel. The “doers” will quickly emerge. Those who are “hearers only” will tend to drop out of the discipleship process (John 6:60-69). But that can be a good thing! It leaves you with more time to devote to the “doers” of God’s Word!

I want you to ask yourself the following questions based on 2 Timothy 2:2:

– “Am I listening to God’s voice of truth?”

– “Do I have an older Christian who speaks God’s truth into my life on a regular basis? If not, whom shalll I ask to begin doing this in my life?”

– “Am I currently investing in a younger believer’s life with my time and with God’s Word? If not, with whom shall I begin doing this?”

– “Is this younger believer beginning to reach and teach others? If not, please show me, Lord, what You want me to do.”

God wants us to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). One of the best ways to do this is to multiply disciples of Jesus Christ who are grounded and saturated in the grace of God. Then and only then, will lives be transformed for Jesus’ glory.

The Lord Jesus could have appointed angels to make disciples on earth until He returns. But He didn’t. He has entrusted broken sinners, like you and me, to accomplish His mission. And He has given us everything we need to do this, including His presence in our lives: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the godly men who have invested Your grace and truth in my life during the forty-one years I have been a Christian. I would not be here today were it not for them. Help me not to keep to myself what they taught me! But rather, empower me to share Your grace and truth with faithful men who will also reach and teach others. I ask You Lord to raise up an army of faithful Christ-followers who will transform this world by reaching and teaching one person at a time for Jesus’ sake. In His name I pray. Amen.

What made David a man after God’s own heart?

21 But You, O God the Lord, deal with me for Your name’s sake; because Your mercy is good, deliver me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” Psalm 109:21-22

The Bible tells us that even though King David was an adulterer and a murderer, God still assessed his life “as a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22). What was it about this man that led God to speak so highly of him? I believe part of the answer is found in Psalm 109.

In return for his love for them, a group of people caused great pain to King David by falsely accusing him (109:2-5, 20-25). Instead of getting even with those who had hurt him, David got honest with God and asked Him to severely judge his accusers (109:4-29).

David prayed, “But You, O God the Lord, deal with me for Your name’s sake; because Your mercy is good, deliver me. (109:21-22). David is asking the Lord to “deal with” him in harmony with His “mercy” for the “sake” of God’s own reputation, not David’s. People might begin to question God’s mercy if He did not “deliver” David from this difficulty. David is more concerned about how the Lord is perceived in this situation than he is about his own welfare.

When people misrepresent us, are we more concerned about ourselves or how others may perceive God? A man after God’s own heart cares about God’s reputation more than his own. He wants to see God’s character exalted among the people, not misconstrued or misrepresented. David was willing to sacrifrice to see God glorified.

A second thing about David that makes him a man after God’s own heart is seen in the next verse. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me” (109:22). David appeals to his own brokenness and neediness before God as another reason for the Lord to deliver him. A man after God’s own heart is willing to be broken, open, and raw before the Lord.

David was not perfect by any means. But he was very honest and open before the Lord. And God was so impressed with David’s honesty and vulnerability in the Psalms that He refers to him as a man after His own heart.

Are we willing to admit our own brokenness and neediness before the Lord? God already knows our inner condition. We are not hiding anything from Him when we act tough on the outside. He knows where we are hurting and struggling. And He wants to soothe us with His mercy and grace. But for this to happen, we must be willing to face our brokenness and neediness. If you are like me, you may be pretending to have it all together on the outside as a way of protecting yourself. But God wants you to know that His mercy provides a safe and soothing place to begin the healing process. Will you embrace His mercy and let Him heal your brokenness? You won’t regret it.

Prayer: Merciful Father, thank You for showing me what it means to be a man after Your own heart. I want to be that kind of a man. I want to care more about Your reputation than my own. Please forgive me for thinking more of myself when I am misrepresented instead of thinking more of how if effects You. For the sake of Your own reputation, Lord, please have mercy upon me and deliver me from that which dishonors You. Help me to see You as a merciful Father before Whom I can be broken and honest about my own neediness. I have spent much of my life trying to protect myself from more pain. But now I come to you in childlike faith to soothe me and comfort me with Your grace. Being held in Your everlasting arms of mercy takes away all the tension and stress of trying to protect myself. Thank You that I am totally understood and accepted in Your presence because of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His name I thank You. Amen.

I was created to enjoy living waters

“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13

The prophet Jeremiah was writing to God’s people, the Israelites, who were being carried away from Jerusalem into captivity in Babylon. The Lord said to His prophet, “My people have committed two evils.” It is important to understand that they were God’s redeemed people. They were believers in the coming Messiah. We are not talking about unbelievers here. These were members of the community of God.

The first evil that God’s people had committed was that they had “forsaken” or turned away from the Lord, Who like a “fountain of living waters,” had provided for their deepest needs and longings (2:13a; cf. Psalm 36:9; John 4:10-14; Revelation 21:6). God was the source of “living water” – water that gives life.

Since God is the source of living water, then our thirsts and longings are good. There is no such thing as an unholy thirst or longing. But our thirsts and longings can become holy desires that get misdirected. This is what happened to the Israelites. Instead of turning to the Lord to be comforted, connected, known, and soothed, they committed a second “evil” by turning to idols (2:5), which like “broken cisterns,” could not even “hold … water” – much less provide it (2:13b). The most reliable source of water in Israel was a natural spring, and the least reliable was a “cistern” or well.

One author writes, “The best cisterns, even those in solid rock, are strangely liable to crack, and are a most unreliable source of supply of that absolutely indispensable article, water; and if, by constant care, they are made to hold, yet the water, collected from clay roofs or from marly soil, has the color of weak soapsuds, the taste of the earth or the stable, is full of worms, and in the hour of greatest need it utterly fails. Who but a fool positive, or one gone mad in love of filth, would exchange the sweet, wholesome stream of a living fountain for such an uncertain compound of nastiness and vermin!”

These cisterns were often carved out of rock which became filled with cracks so they could not hold any water. These wells which were dug by human hands and could not hold water, became tombs for the dead. Isn’t this a profound analogy!?!

Imagine being extremely thirsty on a hot and humid day, and you have a clean and wholesome natural spring of water to satisfy your thirst. But instead of drinking that cool and refreshing water that is free, you exchange it for sewage water? Sounds repulsive, doesn’t it !?! But this is what God’s people did when they turned away from the Lord to worship idols. What they thought would bring life to them actually brought them death.

Where do we turn when we are in pain and need comforting? Where do we turn when we are stressed and need to be soothed? Where do we turn when we are lonely and need to connect? According to recent studies, more and more Christians are turning to modern-day idols like pornography and other sexual sins (see Josh McDowell’s video at https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3723&fbclid=IwAR0gUSqTICO9Z1R2IniX0jaG98XHDFfIxwAj6XsDqrYzwJdzRdR_tWTWKSc. Scroll down to find Josh’s 37- minute video.). How do we know it is an idol? Because it replaces God. Instead of turning to the Lord when we hurt or are lonely, stressed, or even wanting to celebrate, we go to our idol.

When a man or woman, a boy or girl, views porn or has sex outside of marriage, what is his or her holy desire or longing? To be comforted, connected, known, or soothed. It is not wrong to have these desires. God created us with these longings. But to turn to an image on a computer instead of to the living God, is like drinking sewer water instead of pure and wholesome spring water. And the devil will use this broken cistern to destroy your life.

One of Satan’s strategies is to use the beauty of a woman or a man to draw sons and daughters of God away from their Father in heaven. The enemy is fully aware of how addictive and destructive pornography is to God’s people – or any person for that matter. This is why he is making it so easy to access online.  

If you have become enslaved to porn or other sexual sins, please know that there is a way out. God still loves you with an “everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Out of infinite love for you, He died in your place on a cross to cleanse you of all your sin and shame (Romans 5:8; Colossians 2:13-14). Jesus wants to walk with you through the pain and shame so you can experience His abundant life once again. Your longings to be comforted, connected, known, and soothed are from Him. You were simply misled by God’s enemy to turn to “broken cisterns” which cannot meet your deepest needs and longings. In actuality, they will lead to death. Please know that Jesus is calling you to come back to Him to enjoy His living waters (John 7:37-39). All He asks is that you confess your sins to Him (I John 1:9), and walk openly and honestly in the light of His love (I John 1:7). As you learn to follow Him, He will never lead you into darkness, but into a deeper experience of His love (John 8:12; I John 4:16).

If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life, He invites you right now to recognize that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ took your punishment when He died in your place and rose from the dead (Romans 5:8; I Corinthians 15:3-6). He now asks you to believe or trust in Him alone and His finished work on the cross (not your good life, church attendance, or baptism) to give you everlasting life (John 3:14-16). The moment you do, Jesus gives you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). He comes to live inside you through His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11-13; Galatians 2:20) to give you the power to live for Him now and enjoy His living waters.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for turning away from You to meet my needs to be comforted, connected, known, and soothed. I am so sorry for the pain I have caused You. Thank You for reminding me that You still love me despite all my sin and shame. You are still proud of me even though I have done so many shameful things. You still believe in me even though I had lost hope. Lord, I want to drink from Your life-giving waters once again. I give You permission to walk with me through the mess I have made of my life. Please heal me of the many wounds I have tried to medicate with broken cisterns. And please lead me in Your everlasting way. Thank You for hearing my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is viewing porn harmful to one’s body?

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” I Corinthians 6:18

A growing epidemic among evangelical Christians has to do with sexual and porn addiction. A 2017 study indicates that 60-70% of men, 50-58% of pastors, and 20-30% of women in evangelical churches in America are sexually addicted (Conquer Series, Vol. 1 Study Guide, 2017, p. 21).

God wants His children to “flee” from “sexual immorality” because it is harmful (“against”) to their physical bodies (6:18). The word “flee” (pheugō) means “to run away from danger, to seek safety by flight.” Just as I would never think of staying inside of a burning house about to implode on itself, God does not want me to hesitate to run away from sexual sin whether it be on a billboard, a TV show or movie, a computer, on Facebook, or in a hotel.

Like the Corinthian believers, we may think that sexual sin doesn’t harm us physically, but it does. Based on advances in the field of neuroscience, we now know that when you have a sexual release, your brain is flooded with neurochemicals that are as strong as drugs. So when you are sexually acting out, you are restructuring your brain and setting yourself up for sexual bondage.

For example, when a husband and wife have sexual intimacy, bonding hormones are released that bond them to their spouse during sexual release. But outside of God’s will, these hormones will impair our judgment. These same chemicals are released when watching pornography or indulging in sexual fantasies, bonding you to those images. These images become your sexual triggers which actually impair intimacy with your spouse.

Brain scans reveal clear similarities between a cocaine addict’s brain and a porn addict’s brain. Repeated viewing of pornography damages the pleasure centers of the brain, sears one’s conscience, and makes a person attracted to what is synthetic instead of what is real. It physically alters the structure of the brain. The only way to reverse the damage is by going through the process of renewing your mind.

One of the best ways to preserve our physical body is to run from sexuality that is contrary to God’s design. And the best way to avoid sex outside of God’s design is to cultivate a more intimate relationship with the Maker of sex itself – God. The closer we grow to the Lord spiritually, the more satisfied and secure we will be with ourselves and the world around us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding me of Your design for sexuality. You never intended for sexual intimacy to take place outside of marriage. When it does, it only causes pain and damages our physical body, especially our brain. Please help me to honor You with my spirit, soul, and body by running away from any form of sexual immorality and cultivating a more intimate relationship with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.