Our Testimony and Our Witness

As men of God we claim to be men of faith but we all deal with fear. Even though the word of God says that with him all things are possible to him that believes, when we rely on our own ability we will sink in the seas of life. Paul, when he had finished his assignment said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Paul’s life story was a witness and a testimony to his living Lord.

Despite the trials and tribulations, when Paul fell, he rose to the occasion to fight the good fight and finish the faith. As John the Baptist said, the purpose for our lives is that we may decrease so that Jesus Christ may increase. According to Oswald Chambers, when we become “insidiously preoccupied with self,” we need to come to the realization that as Paul said, “In me dwelleth no good thing. However, thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.”

Thad Montgomery has been praying over 30 years for deliverance for his 48 year old younger son who has been addicted to drugs since the age of 15. Many years ago while in a small group studying CS Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters,” Thad started a ten year process of recording his thoughts of how he felt while living in fear or faith. Here are some of his entries: “Fear causes me not to take risks, whereas faith allows me to risk. Fear says I can’t. Faith says I can. Fear causes me to lose my grip. Faith causes me to grow.” According to Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

1 Tim 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of Power and of love and of a sound mind.” Reverence and submission to God’s loving command will overcome fear. Hebrews 11:1 says that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

When Thad’s younger son was only 15, he started using marijuana. Thad started attending an Alanon family care program to deal with his son’s addiction. Thad began losing control even though he regularly attended the meetings. He admits that he was just “auditing” the program and as a result plunged into depression for many years. After ten years, Thad found a sponsor to help him commit to the 12 steps to deal with his son’s disease and addiction. Through this long ordeal, Thad has experienced fear and anxiety. His wife has been a great support who was committed to the program from the beginning. Thad’s son’s cycle of addiction, withdrawal, detox and relapse has continued for the last thirty years. Thad has discovered that tough love for his son is tough. This past week Thad’s son has reached 90 days of sobriety. Thad acknowledged that he and his son’s “higher power” is Jesus Christ.

Thad lost his older son two years ago. He was a godly man who lost his life at an early age. Thad is confident that he will see his son again in heaven. Throughout the ordeals of this life Thad reminds us that our testimony is our story in the context of history… His story. Our lives are a testimony and a witness of God’s grace, mercy and love.

God brings us to the end of our own abilities so that we can tap into His ability. Through the long and winding road of life, God never gives up on any of us. Through the emotional pain of life, we don’t rejoice in the pain. However God allows the pain so that we can understand that comfort and rejoicing is in the glory of God. Christians who are seasoned in the faith understand that despite the suffering, thy grace is sufficient for me. At Gesthemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if there be any other way, let this cup of suffering and death pass from me.” Then he prayed the freedom prayer, “nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” There is a purpose for the pain. The purpose is that not my will but thine be done. The purpose is to subject my will to his will. The next question is, “how do I deal with the he pain?” The world will say, take care of the symptom by alleviating the pain, but don’t deal with the root problem. However, Jesus never dealt with the symptom, he always dealt with the root of the problem. When Nicodemus came to Jesus with his problem, Jesus said that the solution was “you must be born again.” The adversary will turn our hearts to alleviate the symptom with drugs, alcohol, or whatever the self-medication to fuel our addiction. However, Jesus cuts to the root of the problem. The solution to the problem is not in our ability. The solution is our availability: availing ourselves of His ability.

Whatever the physical problem, the root cause is always spiritual. There is a limit to what man can do. Some things are beyond man’s ability. However with God all things are possible to him that believeth. Even the wind and the waves during the midst of the storm were subject to his command when Jesus said, “peace be still.”

Fear is phobia and anxiety as a result of being aware of danger. There are a hundreds of phobias for specific things. “Normal” people would think that many of these phobias are unreasonable. However God says, “I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” God’s solution is not to remove the pain. Rather his purpose is to deliver us through the pain and tribulation of this world.

To make it to the place where Paul said I’ve finished the course, I have faught the good fight, we must come to Paul’s conclusion, whether by death or by life, my purpose is the furtherance of the gospel. My life is not for my own glory but rather for His glory. My purpose is to glorify God that my life may be a living epistle of his work within me to will and to do of his good pleasure. My eyes are on the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. To live without fear, live in the peace, grace, mercy and love of God. To get through the pain, we need to come to the place where we understand that thy strength is made perfect in my weakness, thy grace is sufficient for me.

The prophet Jeremiah said, “morning by morning new mercies I see.” God gives enough love and strength and mercy and grace for each new day. My God will make a way when there is no way. Jesus said, “come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give thee rest.” God is the author writing each chapter in the book of our lives…for ye are our epistles, our letters from God, written not in tables of stone, but in the tables of the heart, known and read of all men. Our testimony is our witness written by the loving hand of God. Our lives are a record for history… Our-story in the context of His-story.

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Holy Baseball Mitts

What’s the purpose of a Baseball Mitt? It’s not for protection. It’s purpose is to catch the ball that comes to us so that when we receive it, we can throw it to someone else. What we receive is never only for us. We receive it so that we can pass it on. This analogy relates to the “foolishness of the cross.” Why is it foolish? The cross is foolishness to the world because they cannot understand the suffering that Christ endured there. They don’t have the spiritual “baseball Mitt” to receive spiritual truth. God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is the spiritual “baseball mitt.” This is the gift of God that we received when we were were saved through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like a baseball mitt, the Holy Spirit is our spiritual “transceiver” so that we can receive spiritual truth and then pass it on to others.

What is the answer to the world’s question, “Why does God allow bad things happen to good people.?” The answer is in another question, “What do you mean by ‘good?” That’s what Jesus Christ asked the rich young ruler who called him “good master.” He said, “Why do you call me good? There is none good, no not one.” Our secular humanism value system says “anything that causes pain is bad. Anything that alleviates pain is good.” However the Word of God says that pain and suffering are for our good. Why does God allow pain and suffering? It’s because he loves us. The value system of God is the opposite of the value system of the world. James 1:2-4 says about suffering, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Rejoice in tribulation because trials result in patience through which we are being perfected. The testing of our faith is so that our faith will remain strong. The reason for the hope is the cross of Christ. Jesus said, for he who loses his life for my sake shall find it. The problem is not in pain and suffering… it was intended for our good.

In Judges 10, God sent the foreign enemies against Israel because they had turned their backs on the Living and true God. When Israel cried to Jehovah in their affliction, the Lord said, “go call unto your pagan gods.” When Israel returned to God in repentance, they cried, “Lord do to us whatever you see fit, but rescue us now.” The moment that they repented, God could no longer stand their misery. However, the Lord would rather see their body and soul suffer so that they would gain the things of the spirit. There is no problem with suffering from God’s perspective. We hate suffering because we enjoy our “comfort of the flesh” over the “comfort of the Holy Spirit.” The “comforter” is the Holy Spirit that will accompany us through the fellowship of Christ’s suffering when we do the will of God.

Sometimes, the things that we think are “bad” God is using for the good. The ultimate good as Paul said is “the furtherance of the gospel.” Our righteousness is not in what we do. Rather, righteousness is revealed in us as we walk according to what he has placed in front of us to do. Our righteousness is only in him, for he who knew no sin was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. We are never our own reason for God to bless us. The only reason for receiving the blessings of God is to walk inside of his will. He would rather allow our bodies to suffer so that his strength may be made perfect in our weakness.

The worldly value system says that our greatness is a result of our worldly achievements. However, the true way to be exalted is to lower ourselves in humility before the Lord so that he can lift us up. God is longing to be gracious to us. The prerequisite to receive God’s grace and mercy is to approach his throne of grace with a humble and a contrite heart. When we fall on our knees in humility and meekness, then he can lift us up. Therefore rejoice in the suffering. For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which given to us. Before we can approach the throne of grace, we like the prodigal son, must “come to ourselves.” When we have nothing left in our own power and of our own possession, then we can “arise and go unto our father.” He will embrace us in his arms.

God’s glory is displayed when we rejoice with Him by putting off the glory of the flesh and glorying in Him alone. Anything done with a selfish motive is still sin. If done for the purpose of our own vain glory, then the result is vanity, emptiness, and will come to naught. When Peter and John were beaten in the book of Acts for preaching about Christ, they said that we count it all joy to God to be able to suffer for His glory.

We cannot finish in the flesh what was begun in the spirit. Therefore, I press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. God has called us as his “holy baseball mitts.” We have received the Holy Spirit from our loving Heavenly Father when we were born again of His spirit. We have been called to pass it on to others, for he has given us the word of reconciliation and has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. We have received the spirit of God in Christ in us so that we can give it away. In other words our mission is this: Give ’em Heaven!

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

No Longer a Slave to Fear

Pastor Pete and Suzan spent three days in a hospital room at UCLA this week. Suzan was experiencing double vision so they scheduled an appointment with a highly recommended oncologist at UCLA. The doctors immediately admitted her to perform tests to see if they could determine the cause of her double vision. They found fluid in her brain and ran tests to see if the pressure was increasing. They found no indications of increasing pressure or any new cancer. The specialists concluded that her double vision may be a side effect of her gamma knife surgery following the surgery to remove the tumor in her brain.

Pete and Suzan are thankful for their prayer Warriors who are carrying her through this ordeal.

Romans 8 reminds us what’s really important through the trials of life this side of heaven. Our greatest fight is to get to the point that we are convinced that “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.” Either you’re fearful or faithful. The enemy will give you innumerable reasons to be filled with fear. However, thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee. God always makes his Sovereign decisions with the best interest of his children in mind. He has prepared the way before us…for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he as foreordained that we should walk in it. Ministry is a choice. We get to change our attitude according to His will, not according to circumstances and situation. Our responsibility is to choose an attitude of awe and gratitude. It’s not about us, it’s about him…for his glory and not ours. God continues to bless us despite the trails and through the storms of life.

When Jehoshaphat went into the battle, he put the praise and worship band on the front lines. The praise of God will go before us and will surround us when the battle belongs to the Lord.

The end of Romans 7 concludes with Paul’s lament…”What I want to do, I don’t do, but what I don’t want to do, I do. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this dead body?” How shall we respond to this question? When the crisis comes and courage is required God expects his men to have such confidence in him, that we will be the reliable ones. God shakes us to get rid of the extraneous things of life. What remains is that which is true and faithful. The decisions that we make through the crises of life build our character and our faithfulness.

The answer to Paul’s lament in Romans 7 is the theme of Romans 8:1-11. “There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…. For the (New Testament) law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the (Old Testament) law of sin and death. For what the old law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Are our minds set on the things of the flesh and of the world or are our minds set on the things of the spirit of God in Christ in us? God works behind the scenes and we don’t see or understand what he’s working in us and through us. In this life we are unaware of the things that God is orchestrating behind the scenes. We are being carried along according to his grace and mercy. He carries us as we put our faith and trust in him. He will not let us sink if he says “come walk on the water with me.” He will lift us up and sustain us as long as our eyes and our focus are on Him in the midst of the storm. God is still faithful to his word…he said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” These are the lessons that we learn through the storms of life.

The options are to be men of fear or men of faith. The choice is ours. The battle rages on for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. God has given us the spiritual armor to protect through the spiritual battle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high.

We are on His mission, not our own. Our challenge is to make His mission our mission. We will fail some of the tests in this life. However, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Who is he that condemns? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

God allows the unsaved to rebuke us when we are not walking in fellowship with our Lord. Through the trials of this life, God says, “I’ve got this.” He will carry us through the storms of life and through the fiery trials and tribulations.

Next week Pete and Suzan are going back to MD Anderson in Houston to follow up on Suzan’s gamma knife treatment. They have learned to appreciate the environment where the people are upbeat and committed to serving their patients in this state of the art cancer facility. Pete and Suzan are resolved that no matter the “news” from the follow up at MD Anderson, there is neither good news nor bad news. Their purpose in this life is the true good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul said, whether I live or die, my purpose is “the furtherance of the Gospel.” May our lives be a true witness and a testimony of the grace and mercy of our living Lord. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Who Shall Deliver Us?

In the long distance race of life, when we fall, our Father will pick us up and help us to cross the finish line. According to Romans 8, the whole world is suffering. In Romans 7 Paul ends with a question, “the things I want to do, I don’t do and the things that I don’t want to do, I do. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver us from this dead body?” This leads to the answer in Romans 8. “THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

The moment we were born, we began to sin…and sin leads to death. Sin was built into the nature of the flesh. We inherited it from the original sin of disobedience that Adam committed in the Garden of Eden. The Old Testament law is the law of sin and death. However, the moment we were born again of the New Testament law of the spirit of life in Christ we began to live. Our new life is the result of our righteousness in Him. Jesus Christ redeemed us from the sin nature that we inherited from Adam. For he was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. We live in a fallen world of failure, sin, and unrighteousness…of missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. However, the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. In our flesh dwelleth no good thing. The Old Testament law proves that we fall short of God’s righteousness. However, we have been saved by grace through faith. We did not deserve it. We were saved not because of our own merit, but because of the great love wherewith he loved us. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. God has called us to the body of Christ so that we can lift one another up….so that we can carry each other according to his plan. We who have received salvation are no longer ruled by the sin nature. We now live in the righteousness of the spirit of life of Christ in us.

Every culture has has its own method of capital punishment. In bible times, one of the worst forms of capital punishment was to strap a dead body to the one to be executed. The criminal would die a slow and agonizing death, rotting with the dead body strapped to his back. As Paul said, “who shall deliver me from this dead body?” God condemned sin in the flesh by the completed work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. He has delivered me from “the body of this death.” He will rescue us from certain death. In the midst of trials and tribulations, our response is “I knew you’d come.” His purpose was to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sin and death on our behalf to free us from the law of sin and death.

Suzan and Pete chose not to concentrate on the tribulations of Suzan’s cancer, rather they chose to focus on the blessings of God. For the spirit of life in Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death. Some things cancer cannot do: It cannot cancel the love of God. It cannot silence courage. It cannot suppress friendship. It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection. It cannot separate us from the love of God and the glory that shall be revealed in us. Cancer is an opportunity to glory not in our own flesh but rather in the glory of God. The righteousness of the spirit of God in Christ in us has delivered us from this dead body, the law of flesh. As God said to Paul, my strength is made perfect in thy weakness, my grace is sufficient for thee.

Our exhortation is to live for the gospel: this present suffering is so that we may find our identity, not in the suffering of this world but rather in the glory of God. As Paul said at the end or Romans 8, our declaration is: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or persecution or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael