The Interdependence Of Christian Community

SCRIPTURE:  JAMES 5:15-20

”Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up... 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective...

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

OBSERVATION:

The first thing that pops into my mind is that God’s work is done in community.  Someone is sick, the community of believers prays, God heals. Someone sins, the community is confessed to, God forgives and heals.  Someone waivers in their faith and wanders from the truth, the community reaches out, God saves.

I am afraid that we have made our realtionship with God too personal.  It is personal in the sense that it is a relationship between God and I - I am the only person accountable for my walk with God - It is my faith alone that grabs onto salvation in Christ.  On the other hand this relationship is lived out in relationship and community with people.  Serving God is lived out among the “least of these”.  Worshipping God is lived out thru communion with other believers.  Growing in my relationship with God is lived out as “iron sharpens iron” so one man sharpens another”.  Seeing God work in others inspires  faith in God for my own life.

It is my personal realtionship with God, but it is interdependant with other believers.  It is their relationship with God but it is interdependant with me.

APPLICATION:

I need to both invite others into my walk with God and engage in other’s walks with God.   I need to call on others when I am sick, when have struggled with sin.  I need to engage with others, take the innitiative, when I see others struggling in their faith.  I can’t simply wash my hands saying, “It’s their personal relationship, I have nothing to do with it.”  So I will keep my eyes open and be intentional today about how I can be a source of healing and encouragement to others.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the wonderful community of believers that you have blessed me with.  Thank you for their many gifts and talents, for their hearts to serve and care for others, and for their desire to grow in you.  Father, help me to be a source of your work in their lives - serving them, praying for them, listening to the, bringing truth to them, and lifting them up in prayer.  Also, help me to remember that I am a part of the community - you have placed me at the helm as their pastor, but my position does not remove me from simply being a part of the community of faith.  At times I will need encouragement, healing, forgiveness, and accountability.  Help me to be vulnerable and transparent to you by being vulnerable and transparent to the people you have placed in my life.

The Same Spirit As Jesus

SCRIPTURE - ISAIAH 11:1-3

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;”

OBSERVATION:

This is a Messianic prophecy - speaking of Christ’s coming to earth and the Holy Spirit rest on Him.  Spirit of the Lord that we read about in the same Spirit given to every believer.  Jesus was God and yet when came to dwell among us as Messiah He left His position as God in heaven.  He made himself like us, completely dependant upon the Holy Spirit.

As Christians we Have the same Holy Spirit that empowered and directed Christ himself.  We are filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom & understanding, counsel and power, knowledge, and the fear of God.  We are no longer limited by our own sight and perspective, or our own hearing and understanding.  We now have the perspective, understanding, wisdom, direction, and power of God.

APPLICATION:

I am no longer forced to jump to conclusions about people, circumstances, oe even myself.  There is more than meets the eye  - but it doesn’t get passed God.  There are deeper issues than I can percieve, but are never beyond God’s understanding.  There are more options, answers, opportunities, and solutions than circumstances present to us, but God will show us - and empower us to overcome our circumstances.  He gives us His Holy Spirit to usher in the Kingdom of God to our lives.

Prayer:

Father, Thank you for your goodness and mercy shown to me.  “Faithfulness is a sash around your waist.”  You are faithful to us.  You have given me so much in life - every opportunity for sin has a way out because of you.  Every hardship comes with the power to endure and overcome.  Every big decision comes with wisdom and direction.  All of this because you have given us the Holy Spirit.  Help us this morning to keep in step with the Holy Spirt.  That we would be sensitive to His leading in our lives.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Completely Dependent

SCRIPTURE: HOSEA 13:4-6 & 9

"But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me.

I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat.  When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me...

...  You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against me, against your helper.”

OBSERVATION:

I am always blown away by our ability to convince ourselves that we do not need God.  At least until we are convnced that we do.  You would think that we would just anchor ourselves in the understanding that we are dependant upon God, but instead we eb & flow between independence and dependency right along with the eb & flow of our circumstances.

When our circumstances leave us wanting, hungry, and thirsty, we run to God acknowledging our need for a Savior.  Once our circumstances change because of His faithfullness, we are fulfilled and forget we were ever in need of God.  In fact we convince ourselves that it is because of our own wisdom, strength, and fortitude, that we are in the wonderful season we are in. We become proud.

Pride makes us confident in ourselves.  We begin to go our own way.  Arguing instead of listening.  Moving instead of waiting.  Planning instead of praying. Quitting instead of enduring.  The reality, we are fighting the only one who can help us.

APPLICATION:

God is the only one who can Save, the only one who can help.  I will praise him - acknowledge His goodness - in the valley and on the mountain top, when I am up and when I am down.  I will force myself to thank Him when things are good and when things are bad.  I will not let my relationship with God be tossed about by the tide of life.  Circumstances do not make more or less dependant.  In Him I live, and move, and have my being. I need Him completely all the time and everywhere.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your goodness.  The fact that you are faithful to save me.  You are the only one who can help me.  Help me to not let external things (circumstances) determine my level of trust and dependency upon you.  Protect me from the folly of pride I pray.  In Jesus Name - Amen!

Confidence With God Thru Christ

SCRIPTURE - HEBREWS 4:12-16

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

OBSERVATION

This passage is bitter sweet as it shows us how vulnerable and beautiful our relationship with God is.  Scripture lays our lives bare, revealing the condition of our soul and spirit, and judging our thoughts and attitudes.  As we engage with God’s Spirit thru scripture there is an awareness that God knows us and we don’t measure up.

Suddenly, we read the next paragraph that says that while both God and us know that we fall short, we have a God who sympathizes with us.  We have a God who understands our weekness.  Though he was never weak he was human and felt the pressure of temptation.  He is familiar with its allure.  He experienced its relentless pull toward sin.

As Jesus acts as our High Priest in heaven, interceding for us before the Father, we are able to “firmly hold on to the faith we profess.”  Not disqualifying ourselves or being crushed under the weight of the responsibility our faith places on us.  We carry the responsibility of our faith knowing that Christ has carried the punishment for our sins and carries us as we live out God’s plan for our lives.  So we approach God’s throne no longer as a throne of judgement but a throne of grace.  The accountability that God brings to our life no longer brings judgement and destruction, but grace and correction.  It is rooted in mercy.  Confidence replaces insecurities.

APPLICATION

When I read this first paragraph I feel the earliest of human nature begin to arise in me.  Like Adam and Eve, I realize that I am uncovered and bare before God.  My instict is to run, cover myself, and hide.  What a vlunerable feeling.  What an insecure feeling.

Then comes the next paragraph that restores confidence and security.  I need to allow my life to be laid bare before God, confident that He desires to correct and repair my life.  Confident that He will use His word as scalpel that cuts out cancer and not a sword that destroys.

PRAYER

Father, thanks for your word.  Thank you for sending your Son to earth to die for my sins and to become my High Priest.  Thank you for the confidence of knowing that Jesus is in heaven doing my bidding - interceding for me.  Lord help me to overcome my sin nature that wants to run and hide.  Instead settle into your throne room of grace and let me find mercy.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Tolerance - Does God tolerate it?

SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 15:1-5

“In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.  He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.  The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

The LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house.  Jotham the king's son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.”

OBSERVATION:

Something about this story immediately rubs me the wrong way.  Azariah does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  He didn’t tear down the places of worship for other religions, but it’s not like he worshipped there.  It doesn’t sit well with my 21st century American values and even theology.  I really had to pray this one thru.  “God, you really messed up Azariah’s life because he didn’t make other people stop worshipping other gods?  It’s not like he worshipped them.”

Thru this time of meditating on this passage and listening for God’s help in understandng, I began to see the folly tollerance.  It seems that many 21st century American Christians are a lot like Azariah.  They have come to believe that as long as they personally  honor God that is enough.  They believe that they have no obligation, in fact they have no right to speak against false religions and ungodly practices.  Our culture has said that to speak against another’s choice to practice even obvious harmful/unethical is wrong - especially if you are a Christian.

APPLICATION:

I am reminded of my role in this world as a Christian - to be an ambassador, a prophetic voice, a priesthood.  I have a responsibility to stand for righteousness and Christian values.  Not because it’s my favorite, but because it is true - it’s not just my choice among many other choices.  It is truth.  I have walked with God long enough to know He is good and right and is the hope for the world.  It does not have to be arrogant to speak against ungodliness.  I have had to tear down things in my own life that were contrary to God’s best for my life.

In fact it is a heart of compassion and love that should drive us to make a plea for godliness righteousness.  To contend for biblically based morality and a government that holds to a Christian faith.

PRAYER:

Father help me to be a voice for righteousness without being an obnoxious jerk.  Let my God-breathed convictions override my desire to be PC or tollerant.  Father, my greatest desire is to be an effective infuence - helping people go from death to life.  Offering hope, not an angry voice.  Offering truth, not a debate.  Offering Christ.  In Jesus name - AMEN!

God Qualifies Us To Live His Plan/Call

SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 6:4-9

“At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’  He said, ‘Go and tell this people...’” 

OBSERVATION:

Isaiah finds himself in the throneroom of God and surrounded by angelic beings singing praise to God.  In the midst of this, he realizes how huge the chasm between he and God truly is.  His immediate response is one of guilt, shame and disqualification.  “I am unclean, my daddy is unclean, my grand-daddy is unclean, and all my friends are unclean.”

The very thing God is calling Isaiah to do is to be his mouthpiece - to be a prophet.  Isaiah’s contention is that his lips are unclean.  A seraph grabs a coal from the altar and touches it to Isaiah’s lips and cleanses them.  God says, “Your lips are the problem?  Then I’ll take care of it.”

It is true that we are unqualified to serve God in and of ourselves.  We are all just as unclean as Isaiah.  It is also true that God is the one who qualifies us to live the life that He has planned for us.

APPLICATION:

I can easily disqualify myself from anything of God.  I can look at my family roots, my past, and my present sin and recognize that there is a huge chasm between who I am and who God is.  I can easily see why I am not the man for the job.

When I identify my old disqualified self thru guilt and shame I need to trust that He will touch those areas of my life and bring cleansing and healing - qualifying me to be the person He created me to be and live the life He has called me to live.  I need to remember that I cannot qualify myself thru physical effort when it is God who started my calling and transformation in the spirit.

PRAYER:

Thank you God that you don’t give up on us.  You forgive us and make us who you have always created us to be.  Help me to fix my eyes on you and your ability to make me the man you’ve called me to be.  I will connect myself to your Spirit and make sure I spend time designed for you to work your plan and character into my life.  Lord help me to be qualified for the work you’ve place before me as a husband, dad, friend, and pastor.  In Jesus name, AMEN!!!

Who We Are Flows From What We Worship

SCRIPTURE - Psalm 115:4-8

“But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”

OBSERVATION:

I guess the main point of this passage is that we are always smaller than the things we worship.

To me, this illustrates or amplifies our divine design.  We were created with a need for significance and we were created with a draw toward worship.  These two things are connected in the sense that we find our significance in worship - in the things that we hold dear to us in our hearts.  These things are on our minds, shape our values, establish our self worth, plan our futures, and define our significance.

When we build idols of worship - carreers, relationships, academia, power, position, recognition, etc. - we will never grow beyond those things.  We are never bigger than the thigs we worship.

APPLICATION:

While I may work hard in my career, have close relationships, grow in knowlege, and possess titles, I must keep my perspective straight.  These are things I possess, they don’t possess me.  The moment they do is the moment I have given them my heart and have set them up as idols - I have begun to worship them.  This is also the moment that I must lay them down and realign the focus of my worship to the only one fit for it. God is the only one who is worthy and capable of possessing my life and receiving my worship.

PRAYER:

Father, there are always things vying for my attention and my worship.  Many of them seem harmless and others are blatantly evil.  Help me to be wise enough to discern my own heart, strong enough to defy my hearts desires, and humble enough to call on your help when I am struggling.  Forgive me for allowing things to steal my thoughts and allowing desires to occupy space in my heart.  I love you Lord and give you my life and my worship.  

Reasoning With God

SCRIPTURE - ISAIAH 1:18-20

"’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.  ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’  For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

OBSERVATION:

I love this passage because it is written in the context of a relationship between a father and sons.  Sons who have rebelled against their dad - who have went sideways against his values and ignored his desires.  God’s not talking to enemies here.  Instead, He is talking to His kids.  While He is right and even angry He does not misplace the relationship.

He is convinced that His children can “learn to do right” (vs 17) so He desires to reason together.  The key is to not misunderstand “reason”.  God is truth, all knowing, and all wise.  When He wants to reason together it is not so we can convince Him that we are right - it is not a debate.  He desires to hear us out so He can bring His truth to us - we need to know where our lives don’t line up.  That is why “reasoning” is followed by possible responses and possible consequences - obedience and God’s hand of blessing, or rebellion and the removal of God’s hand of protection.

APPLICATION:

I need to spend time reasoning together with God - to share my thoughts with Him so that I can hear them along side of God’s thoughts.  I need to see where my reasoning is not in sync with God’s.  I need to choose willingness and obedience.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your goodness toward me.  Thank you that you never misplace our relationship.  You always deal with me as a son and not an enemy.  You see the potential in me to learn to do right and reason with me toward that end.  Help me to be willing and obedient - that is my commitment to you.  In Jesus name - AMEN!