Straight Paths for a Crooked World

In the news media, if it bleeds it leads.  The world is full of bad news.  However, we’re in the middle of a spiritual battle and the world is in the dark and unaware.  They are blind to the spiritual reality.  It’s like in Germany during the Nazi regime when Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, The church is sleepwalking toward a precipice.

According to Proverbs 3:5-6, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path..He shall make thy path straight.  Crooked means that there are curves and bends in the wrong direction.  However, when we trust in the Lord, he will direct us in the right direction.  We’re called to be consistent everyday.  A professional athlete walks the talk and talks the walk.  A professional practices what he preaches.  A professional is a practitioner of his discipline.  Profession in English is from the Greek word, “homologeo.”  It means same word.  We’re called to make God’s word our word and his will our will.  When an athlete loses confidence in his “muscle memory” it’s because he forgot what 

What is the purpose for which has God called us?  According Proverbs, trust in the Lord.  He will make your way straight.  He will clear the obstacles in your path.  When we trust in him he will make our way productive according to his glory to show us that he is faithful to His word.  He’ll test our character.  God allowed the devil to test Job.  God allowed the devil to test Job but God would not allow the devil to take his life.  The devil caused a storm to devastate the house where Job’s children were gathered together.  They all perished in the storm.  Job remained faithful to God and did not curse God.  

When circumstances are aligned against us.  When our children fall into sin and our loved ones are faced with disease and death, will we trust in the Lord with all our heart?  The first of the Ten Commandments says, thou shalt have no other Gods between your face and my face.

Suzan taught Pete that there was no competition in her heart.  One morning she said to Pete, “I’m so disappointed this morning.”  Pete asked her why.  She said, “I thought I’d wake up in Jesus’ arms this morning, but here I am with you.”  Pete understood that her heart was with her Lord.  Therefore, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Through the trials of life God will teach us, what seems as a wind of destruction, I will deepen you in the fire of affliction and purify your soul through the crucible of the trial. As David prayed, try me and test me and see if there is any wicked way in me.  Through the crucible of pain, He will purify our heart.  When we trust in Him to bring us through the trial, he’ll purify us to trust in him with all our heart and to lean not unto our own understanding.  

The sheep know the shepherd’s voice by spending time in his presence.  Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they know me and I give unto them eternal life.  When we trust him by following him, we’ll come to know his voice.  He will keep us on track.  God will allow wounds, hurts, pains and crooked ways to test us.  Through the trials of life we will come to the point that we understand that he’s in control, not me.  

If we allow God to determine our faith, then he will direct our paths.  In the midst of the trials of life, we’ll learn to dance in the storm.  He will strengthen and uphold us with his righteous right hand.  What seems to be a wind of destruction, he’ll bring us through to new victories.  

The devil will say, what good is God if he allows me to suffer?  What good is he if he allows me to lose my job.  What good is he if he allows my child to suffer?  In the midst of the trials of life, when we trust in the Lord with all our heart, our response will be Jesus’ response.  When they nailed him to the cross, he said, “father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  

We have to allow God to come help himself to our lives.  He will purify our souls in the crucible of pain and affliction.  To trust in the Lord means we need to trust him in all things…our finances, what we watch for entertainment, where and with whom we spend our time.  God will teach us that he doesn’t need our gifts.  Sometimes he’ll call us to sit on the bench when we want to be an all star. On the bench we’ll learn quiet grace and character.  On the bench we’ll learn to support our team mate who’s up to bat.  We’ll learn to cheer for him to make the play that wins the game.  

God will work on us so that we can see what we’re preaching.  It’s easy to talk the talk. However, life is lived in shoe leather.  He’ll teach us to walk the talk.  He’ll teach us to love our wives with the love of God.  He’ll teach us to ask the right questions.  It’s not the right question to question God’s “Justice and fairness.”  If we think we deserve our just desserts, he’ll remind us that the wages of sin is death.  Questioning God’s word and his will will lead us to the path’s of unrighteousness.  If we’re in it for the blessing, we’re in it for the wrong reasons.  

We don’t need to know the answers before we take a step of faith.  Faith means to trust in the Lord and not our circumstances and situations.  When we trust in him we will come to know his voice and understand his word and his will.   Then when the crisis comes and courage is required, we will have such confidence in him that we will be the reliable ones.  Therefore, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path…he shall make thy path straight.

And as we walk the path that He’s foreordained that we should walk, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Holy People

Why is God’s Sovereignty important?  His sovereignty is important because God is important.  From God’s perspective, even the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket.  The Kurds used to be prominent in the recent history of the Middle East.  Then when the US left Iraq this left a void for Russia to assert political power over the Kurds. Despite wars and rumors of wars, God is still sovereign overall.  According to Acts 17:26, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation…” From God’s eternal perspective, Jesus Christ will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness…”

The question is, ”why are we here?”    We’re here to be holy people.  What does it mean to be a holy person?  Holy means to separate according to the purpose designed by the Designer.  Our purpose according to Ephesians 1 is, “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children (sonship by new birth) by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Men struggle with their sense of worth.  It’s easy to buy into the world’s accusation that we’re no good….that we’re guilty as charged.  However, He made me worthy and now by his grace his mercy has made me his own.  We’re worthy because He made us worthy, for he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Romans 8 says that his gift of the spirit of life in Christ has 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.  According to Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.  Against such there is no law. 

The heart of our Journey Groups is abiding.  John 15 it talks about what it means to abide in Christ:  “I AM the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.  3. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

He is the vine and we are the branches.  If we aabide in him and his word abides in us, the result will be much fruit.  1 Peter 2 says that we are called as a royal priesthood.  A priest is one who speaks to God on behalf of the people.  What does God want us to do as priests within our own homes?  Throughout the Christmas season we will have plenty of divine appointments.  When we live with Christ’s feet behind our feet, his hands behind our hands and his heart behind our heart, they will see the love of God manifest in us and through us.

God gives each of us a personal message.  The message is to us and also for us to share with others.  According to Matthew 24, no one knows the day and hour of Christ’s return.  As in the days of Noah before the flood, the people did not know until the flood came and took them away, so also shall no one know when the Son of Man comes.  If the master of the house had known when the thief would come he would have been prepared and not have let his house be ransacked.

The most important thing we can do for our families is to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  When we abide with him and within him, we will reflect his love, mercy and grace to those around us.  We’re the lights of the world as His light shines through us.  1 Peter 2:9 says, “…ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

In this season when we celebrate the birth of or Lord Jesus Christ,

May we as a royal priesthood offer the sacrifice of praise…that we should be to. The praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Thanksgiving

God loves when we thank him for what he did through his son on our behalf. According to Luke 17:12 = 18, “And as he (Jesus) entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger?”

Only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus. The others who must have been Judeans went to see the high priest to declare them healed according to the Old Testament Levitical law. The Samaritan rejoicing, returned to thank Jesus who himself is God’s true high priest according to the New Testament law of the spirit of life in Christ.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed to his Heavenly Father, If there be any other way, let this cup of suffering, sin, death and wrath of judgement pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. His prayer was to align his heart with his Father’s heart. Trough suffering, pain, tribulation and trials, our Father will teach us what really matters…to glorify God. For he who knew no sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

God will teach us the meaning of thankfulness through the trials of life. Pete and his wife Suzan learned this difficult lesson many years ago. It was just another an ordinary day. Pete’s wife Suzan wife was nine months pregnant and he was shooting hoops with some friends. Pete received a call that said, “your wife’s in labor.” He rushed home and took her to the hospital. His job was to help her breath to focus her attention on her breathing instead of the labor pains. The doctors looking at the monitors said to Pete, “you need to go to the Father’s waiting room. We’re losing the baby’s heartbeat and need to go in and take the baby by C-section.”

Pete went into the closet in the father’s waiting room and prayed, “Lord, please save my wife and my baby.” God answered audibly, “Pete, how much control do you have over this situation?” Pete answered, “I have no control. You have all control. You’re the Sovreign God.” God said, “If I’m Sovreign, will you purpose in your heart to serve, honor, trust, and praise me no matter what happens to Suzan and your baby?” Pete asked himself, what if they died? He had pondered this question before: why would anyone praise God if they lost their wife and child? Pete had been studying the depth of God’s call. He said to himself, this is deep water Christianity. Is God Sovreign? Is God good? Does he have a good plan and a purpose for me? Can I praise him in all things? In times of trial, we are lifted from the things of this world into the things of the spirit of life in Christ. What good am I if I only praise him and thank him when He cleanses me from leprosy and heals me from all my diseases? Am I thankful for all his decisions with my best interest in mind regardless of my feelings? Can I trust him in the things that are most precious to me?

Are you the kind of man to whom God can help himself? Only one of ten lepers came back to thank Jesus for healing him. What if he had not been healed. Would he still have been thankful that God could use him through his pain and suffering?

As soon as they performed the C-section, a team of doctors rushed into the delivery room to intervene to save the baby’s life. Pete and his wife were sent to a hospital room to await the news about their new baby. Thirty minutes later, one doctor came into the hospital room and said, “I’m sorry but we lost your baby son.”

As they mourned the loss of their newborn son, Pete read to Suzan from a devotional called “Come Away My Beloved” by Francis Roberts, He read a passage about comfort and affliction. It was as if Jesus himself were sitting on the hospital bed holding their hands to comfort them… as though Jesus himself were ministering to a young couple whose baby he had allowed to die: “How often have I promised you and not kept my word? I deepen you in the furnace of affliction and I purify your soul in the crucible of pain.” To grow into maturity, God will try us to deepen our resolve to serve him no matter what. To be Lord of all he must be Lord in all…especially through the crucible of affliction. Therefore, trust in the Lord with all thing heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. To make his way our way and his heart our heart is to praise God through tribulation, pain and affliction. “I’ll bring you to new victories through what seems as a wind of destruction. I am your purpose and your hope when you relinquish yourself to me.”

People and worldly relationships will end in pain and suffering. There is only one who is faithful. Therefore trust in the Lord with all thine heart. When we have no control, then we can relinquish our will to his will. The Lord will say, “Hold fast to my hand and rest in my love. I have you in my own intensive care. Of this you can be very certain.”

God said, ”your own power is an empty well. Draw from the well of my abundant grace and mercy. You will be equipped to communicate confidence through this trial. Heaven rejoices when you go through trials with a singing spirit.”

Through the trials of life, God will teach us what really matters. 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 is given to us. In Oswald Chamber’s devotional for November 1, Chambers writes, “God will break up our lives and make us a thoroughfare for himself and for others to walk upon. No human can stand that unless he’s sanctified by our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot bear up through the suffering in our own power. If we depend on ourselves, we’ll be a clog to God’s purpose. He’ll try us and temper us so that we’re emptied of ourselves. Through the doorway of heartbreak we will come to understand the fellowship of His suffering. God will rescue us through the grip of his son’s nail pierced hands. If God can teach us his purpose through the trial, then thank God for breaking our heart.”

The trials are the opportunities to let his mercy and grace shine through us. This is the purpose of our life…that we should be to the praise fo the glory of his grace. The trial will teach us what really matters. Therefore in everything give thanks. For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.

May we ever give thanks for his loving kindness and tender mercy that we should live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

David’s Mighty Men

God has called us to church, the body of Christ so that we can comfort one another in love…to encourage and edify one another according to God’s call.  The purpose of ministry is to create an environment where the Holy Spirit can come help himself to our lives.  

Every society needs men who will act like men when the need arises.  We’re called to follow in the footsteps of our Lord.  What did Jesus do?  He stood in the face of danger.  He bore up under suffering.  He gave himself for the good of others.  He brings us to the point of surrender.  When we’re no longer in control, when we delight ourselves in the Lord and make His will our will, then God will work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

When we pass from this world, there is no more witnessing for our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, now is the acceptable day of the Lord.  We have been called to the great commission.  To go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.  As Paul said, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.  

In the midst of the crisis, God expects his men to be the reliable ones.  God challenges us that no matter the obstacles in our path, to act according to faith.  God always honors faith but he never honors fear.  God will get us out of our comfort zones so that we can see God work beyond our expectations.

The fastest growing Christian church today is in Iran and it’s spreading underground through women who have been converted from Islam.  God works in mysterious ways…. his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways.  Churches look for better methods, but God locks for better men.  We have been given the ministry of reconciliation and have been committed the Word of reconciliation.  When we think we’re ministering to others, God is actually ministering to us as he infuses us with his mighty power to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The story of three of King David’s mighty men is in 2 Samuel 23.  The Philistines had overtaken Bethlehem and David’s mighty men defied the overwhelming army of the Philistines.  Most of Israel’s army was shaking in their boots cowering in fear.  They had left the battle lines.  Likewise in our culture, men have left the spiritual battlefield.  Casual Christians become casualties of spiritual warfare.  In the midst of the spiritual battle, most men are confused. The devil’s scheme is to divide and conquer.  Where there is strife, there is confusion and every evil work.   The sword of the spirit which is the word of God cuts through the confusion of battle.  God’s word is our battle plan and our marching orders from our Commander in Chief.

According to 2 Samuel 23:9-10, “And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:  He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.”

The men of Israel had withdrawn.  They didn’t have a heart to fight the enemy.  However, David’s mighty men were giant killers because their King David was a giant killer.  They were faithful to follow and serve their king.  Eliazar, one of David’s mighty men, found himself alone.  Everyone else had deserted their King.  Like Jesus, he stood in the face of danger.  He bore up under suffering.  He gave himself for the good of others.  He surrendered himself to the power of God.  He answered God’s call to run to the battle lines. 

Paul said in Philippians 3:10-11, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;  11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

When we come to God in prayer and list our maladies, his answer to our prayer will be, those are not your problems, they are your friends.  Trials and tribulations bring us closer to him.  In order to be connected to God’s heart our prayer will be, Lord break my heart for what breaks yours.  A broken and a contrite heart God will not forsake.

In the Old Testament, the army didn’t want to stand up to the enemy.  They only wanted to be around after the battle had been won so that they could strip the dead and collect the spoils of war.  They were in it for themselves and not for the noble cause to stand up for God’s righteousness.

The first of the Ten Commandments says, thou shalt have no other gods between your face and my face.  Anything that comes between our face and God’s face is an idol.  This is why Jesus said, unless a man forsake his brother and sister and his mother and father… if he loves anyone or anything everything above me, he cannot be my disciple.

Jesus came not into this world to condemn the world but that the world throug him might be saved.  According to Romans 5:8, even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.

Jesus’ heart was broken for our sins.  For he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.  For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.  At the end of the battle of this life, there is only one thing that really matters….that we’ll be there with our Lord in eternity.  Therefore press toward the mark of the high calling of the one who really matters…  only Jesus!

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Mighty Men of God

Men of God need a challenge. In the recent history of the American church, most men have been under challenged. The church asked three things of men: Atttend regularly, serve diligently and give generously. The church did not challenge us to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but to serve the church. However, as Jesus said when he was tempted by the devil, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.”

Our culture emphasizes the empowerment of women. Even though this is a constructive effort, many men consider that empowering women means relegating men to a position of weakness. If any society is to survive and prosper men need to act like men when the need arises. When the crisis comes and courage is required God expects his men to have such confidence in him that they will be the reliable ones. According to to 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, aquit you like men, be strong. Let all things be done with charity, the love of God.”

The crisis is here. The devil’s scheme is to divide and conquer. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness form above. The church is looking for better methods. However, men are God’s method. God is looking for better men….men In whom the spirit of the Lord is….men of the Word and men of prayer. The Word of God and prayer are the two offensive weapons in the spiritual battle. Through the trial of the spiritual battle, we will learn to trust in God and in the power of His might.

Worthy men are men whom God has made worthy through Christ’s sacrifice for sin on their behalf. They will feel unworthy if they are works based instead of grace based. The Christian who sins can either fall into the devil’s snare or he can fall into the net of God’s grace. The question is, who’s influencing your mind? Is it the culture and the powers of this world or is it the truth of the Word of God.

In 2 Samuel 23 is the story of David’s mighty men. When you follow your king, whatever your king is like, you’ll be like. Ye are subject to whom you obey. King David’s mighty men in 2 Samuel 23:9-10 were like their king: “And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: 10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.”

Eleazar was one of David’s mighty men who stood up with David and defied the Philistines. The men of Israel had withdrawn. They did not stand for the things that their King stood for. In contrast, Eleazar did the things that God’s mighty men are challenged to do. He stood in the face of danger. He bore up under suffering. He served sacrificially for the good of others. He relied on the power of God.

In India’s recent election the new regime is training their soldiers how to kill Christians. Even in our own country, We’re one election away from losing our freedom to speak and preach freely in the name of Jesus. Jesus said, compared to your love for me, you have to hate all your earthly relationships and the things of this world.

Jesus had told the Pharisees that they were of their father the devil. The devil is the father of lies and they had believed their father’s lies. They thought that they were righteous in their own works.

God has called us to minister to others and to witness his great and mighty works. He will show up and show off when men to him are loyal. For it is God who worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. We need to make his good pleasure our good pleasure in order to see God perform his work in us and through us. Therefore I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, forgetting those things that are behind and pressing toward those things that are before.

God doesn’t call us because we’re gifted, he calls us because we’re available. Availability is “availing ourselves of His ability.” Eleazar smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day.

We have to take care of what God has called us to do. Eliazar exercised faith and courage in the midst of the crisis. God never honors fear but he always honors faith. What if the enemy says well kill your family unless you denounce your faith. Our response should be, Go ahead, you’ll be sending them to see their Lord. What men meant for evil, God meant for good. As missionary Jim Elliot said before he was martyred ministering to the Auca Indians of Ecuador, “He is no fool who loses that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

We never retire from the personal mission to which God has called us. The greatest danger in life is not that we won’t succeed, but that we’ll succeed in something that really doesn’t matter. In this life there is only one thing that really matters…only Jesus!

LIke Eleazar who always did his master’s will, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Walk the Talk

Words are inadequate to describe when God shows up and shows off his glory. Jesus did many mighty works, signs, miracles, and wonders. However, Jesus said, the works that I do shall they do and greater works shall they do because I go unto my Father. The greater works is to lead others unto salvation. Salvation is the miracle of miracles. At the Influencers Men’s Retreat we were treated to the greatest of all miracles. James wanted everyone to witness his acceptance of His Lord Jesus Christ and his declaration of repentance in front of the men. James confessed that he had seen things in war that no eye should ever witness. He lamented, “I’ve had to deliver miniature flags to children and tell them, “your daddy will never return home.” He cried, “I can’t take it any more. I’ve seen too much suffering and death. I’m not worthy and I need God’s grace and mercy.” Everyone in the room wept with him as he accepted Jesus as Lord of his life.

Unworthy means lacking in value, worthless, undeserving anything of merit, inappropriate to one’s condition or station. Christians often find it easy to talk the talk. However, it’s not as easy to walk the talk. Anyone can talk the talk. The biblical word “confession” or “profession” is translated from the Greek word homologeo. This compound word is from homo meaning “same” and logos meaning “word.” It means that your talk and your walk speak the same thing. A professional is one who practices what he preaches. To profess “Jesus is Lord” is to walk the talk and talk the walk. When many Christians stumble and fall off the narrow way, they don’t know how to fall into God’s net of mercy and grace. Our challenge is to walk in grace as we follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The devil will remind us that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing. He will feed our resentment bank for offenses that we’ve suffered at the hands of others. If we’re married, the devil will remind us to make moment by moment deposits each time our wives offend us. He’ll remind our wives to do the same when we offend her.

Relationships start with the honeymoon where both parties are on their best behavior. Love covers a multitude of sins. When you’re in love, she can do no wrong. However a marriage commitment means you’ll be under surveillance for the rest of your life. Women are good at keeping score to prove that their husbands have broken their vow to love honor and serve. Wives often write down their husbands’ offenses. At a marriage counseling session, they will bring out the evidence of wrongs.

The problem is she’s looking for “Mr. Right.” The real question is, “Will you settle for Mr. Reasonably Close?” At counseling sessions, the resentment bank has been filled to overflowing. Saving a marriage is like raising the dead. A bank of resentment and bitterness will kill any relationship. When you’re eaten up by a root of bitterness, the one who suffers the most is the one who’s bitter. Wives are more easily wounded than their husbands. They’re butterflies while their husbands are Buffalos. The Buffalos are insensitive and will trample the butterflies without realizing the destruction in their wakes.

Hebrews 12:12-17 is the antidote to feeling unworthy. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

1. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
2. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

Feeble knees are the result of old age. However, this is an analogy of those who have received Christ and then walked away. They have been buffeted by the tribulations of this world and can’t take it any longer. They are casual Christians whom the world has indoctrinated in the affairs of this world. They have been shaped and wounded by the world.

Hebrews says, pursue peace. Jesus said to actively pursue peace. You can’t have peace without the prince of peace. AT the dedication of the temple, God said to his people, you need to meet certain conditions: If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will heal their land and forgive their sins.

Unless we meet the condition of resting in him…of putting our faith and trust in the prince of peace there will be no peace. You have to pursue Christ. According to Philippians 4, “Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Through the trials of life, he will teach us the meaning of peace. When the disciples were in the midst of the storm, they were fearful and thought their boat would capsize. However Jesus said, “peace be still.” Our prayer is not, “Lord deliver me from the storm,” but rather, “deliver me through the storm.”

Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God. He said, my peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Esau was a hunter. He was Isaac’s older son who would inherit his father’s birthright. One day when he came from the field, he was famished. His brother Jacob said, “if you give me your birthright, I’ll make you a pot of stew.” Esau gave up his birthright for a bowl of stew. The question is, “what is it that you value most?” Esau’s problem is that he craved and hungered for the things of the world instead of the things of God.

In Marriage Builders classes, one of the most difficult lessons is, “there is nothing wrong with my wife that God can’t fix in me.” To receive grace, you have to give grace. Ultimately grace is from God himself. God’s grace is his gift of Holy Spirit. Giving grace will cut down the root of bitterness. In order to reconcile, we have to meet each other at the foot of the cross…for their is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

A man of God wants to spend the rest of his life learning to become just like Jesus. When we look unto him, the author and finisher of our faith, when we turn our eyes upon Jesus, the things of this world will become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Everything that we see in this world is here today and gone tomorrow. The things of this world will soon be past. Only that which is done in Christ will last. Jesus said, “what will it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” Missionary Jim Elliot before he was martyred ministering to the Auca Indians of Equador said, “He is no fool who loses that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Only one thing really matters in this life….only Jesus!

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Valuing Our Birthright

When you call a Christian, “Man of God,” most men will look away.  When you ask them why, they will say, “Because I feel unworthy.”  Hebrews 12:12-17 is the antidote to feeling unworthy.  “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;  13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.  14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;  16. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

17. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

God has set us in the body of Christ so that we can lift each other up.  The devil will whisper in our ear, “you’re not worthy.  You’re a sinner and deserving of condemnation.  You’re guilty as charged.”  Sometimes men are rejected by their churches, their wives, and their own children.  The world does not call us to grace and mercy but unto condemnation because in our flesh dwelleth no good thing. 

However, God calls us unto grace through His Son’s perfect payment for sin on our behalf.  For Jesus Christ who knew no sin, was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.  In our own power we’re worthy of death because of our sin nature.  When we approach God’s throne of grace with a broken and a contrite heart, he will save us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

In our flesh, the sin nature that we inherited from Adam, we’re unworthy.  However, where sin abounded, grace through Jesus Christ did much more abound.

To strengthen hands that hang down and feet that are feeble, follow peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one shall see the Lord.  Peace is the result of reconciliation with God through the full payment of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  Sanctification means that we have been set apart according to the purpose God intended.  When we sanctify our hearts, we prove our hearts according to the works which he’s prepared for us in our obedience to his will for our lives.  The purpose is to please him and to know him according to the power of his resurrection.  The purpose is that we will be his living epistles known and read of all men. 

The purpose is to seek the Blessor and not the blessing.  To know peace means to pursue peace.  There is no peace without the Prince of Peace.  We’re called to pursue our Lord Jesus Christ.  Peace is in our proximity with him.  How do we pursue him?  One way is by journaling our conversations with him.  Another is meditating on his word.  To pursue the Lord, choke in the dust of those who are chasing after Him.  To pursue peace, we must “reckon the old man dead.”  For I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

In the midst of the storm, we can have peace when we’re with the Prince of Peace. 

Esau sold his birthright inheritance for a bowl of stew.  He was hungry to fill his own belly but he was not hungry for what really mattered.  According to the beatitudes, treasure not treasures upon earth.  Instead treasure treasures in heaven.  Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Esau, when he realized what he had done, wept because he had devalued what really mattered.  Jesus said, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.

There’s a book entitled, “Voices from the edge of Eternity.”  This is about the last words of people before they died.  Some cry out, “too late, too late, too late!”  This was the cry of Esau who sold his birthright because like the prodigal son, “he feign did fill his belly with the pods which the swine did eat.” 

When the devil tempts us into sin, the result is that he will shut our mouth.  Our responsibility is our response to God’s ability.  According to verse 15, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled…”  We need to ask both our wives and our Lord Jesus Christ, “if there’s anything that you would change about me, what would it be?”  The second question is, “what do you need me to do that I’m not doing?”  When we’re open to reproof and correction, this will cut down the root of bitterness.  As Jesus said, “if you’re bringing an offering to God and have a disagreement with your brother, first reconcile your heart with your brother and then you can bring your offering to God with a clean heart.”

Many people are defiled when they see Christians sinning.  However, the love of God covers a multitude of sins.  The moral of this story is to value what God says is valuable.  The most valuable thing is our birthright…that we are his and he is ours.  We hold on to our birthright when we’re committed unto him for the sake of the gospel.  Therefore, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to any man that asketh thee a reason for the hope that is within you with meekness and fear (awe, respect, reverence and love.)

The greatest blessing is to bless the Blessor…  And I so doing, that we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael