Missing The Promise

As we enter into the Christmas Season we talk about so many different aspects of the coming of the promised Savior of the world, the Messiah (Christ), God in the flesh.

We talk about God’s love being demonstrated. We talk about the humility of God, the Grace of God, the purpose of His coming, and many other things.

One thing that we often touch on, but never really address is… How could the Jewish people miss the very promise they were waiting for so eagerly? When they have the same prophetic scriptures (the Old Testament) that we have, when they made it their custom for each male to memorize the Scriptures by a certain age, and when they had religious leaders who studied the scriptures daily and taught them regularly, how could they not recognize their God in the flesh? How could they not recognize the manifestation of the promise that they clung to so tightly?

The Jewish nation was regularly, due to their unfaithfulness to God, overcome by foreign kingdoms. At the time of Christ’s coming they were occupied by the Roman Empire. They were praying for, believing for, and eagerly watching for the coming of their King, Messiah/Christ, and Savior. Yet, when He came not only did they not recognize Him (the Promise of God manifest), but they rejected Him and killed Him. Why?

I believe that the reason is very similar to why we often times fail to recognize God’s blessings (in the various forms they come in) in our life.

I don’t think the issue is ignorance. Most people of God know enough to know there is a promise, to ask and believe for the promise, and to watch for it.

I don’t think the issue is lack of adherence to religion. Most people of God who take it serious are faithful in their attending worship services at least and maybe studying scripture, praying, etc.

I think the issue is a few things…

1) I think the biggest thing is they put God in a box. They limited how God would fulfill His promise to how they thought He should fulfill it. They limited God’s promise to their narrow understanding of what it was. They had a picture in their minds of what and how and when it didn’t line up with that, rather than saying, “We missed it, we’re wrong! This is it!” they rejected the real thing and said, “This isn’t it. We’ll wait until God gets it right, until it’s the way and how we think it should be.”

How often do we limit God’s blessings/promises in our lives? How often do we end up rejecting that manifest blessing/promise, thus resisting God and His work in our life, in order to hold out for something in the method and form we think it should be.

2) I think they were proud and thus stiff-necked, about what they thought they knew. They were inflexible, unteachable, and unwilling to admit they were wrong or didn’t understand and then change.

This unwillingness to be shaped and molded, this unwillingness to be teachable and recognize that we don’t know it all, and even what we think we know may only be a small fragment of a much larger picture that will require us to change some things as we gain a more fuller understanding, this unwillingness to change when we’re wrong or when God wants to work outside the box of what we understand, what is convenient, and what is comfortable is sin and robs us and others of God’s best, His blessings/promises as He sees best to give them.

3) I think they were too busy with their own agenda. The were so busied with practicing a dead religion/covenant that God said was over, that they had no time to work with God in this new thing He was doing.

How often do we cling to dead things that are not producing? Maybe they worked in the past, but they aren’t today. How often do we cling to things because it’s what we know or prefer and are comfortable with? How often are we busied by the things of this world, even by religious activities, that we aren’t available to work with God on what He is doing? Thus we go about doing something for God rather than with God, spending our time, money, and energy in things that He’s not even a part of.

4) We know they were living a less than wholly devoted life to the Lord. Jesus regularly referred to them as hypocrites. We know they taught and practice one thing publicly, but privately they lived out something different. It’s not that they didn’t believe in God, but they didn’t walk in the Fear/Honor of God.

This lack of integrity in their faith/spirituality placed them at odds with God rather than coworkers and friends with God. This half-hearted approach to walking with God left them in a place where they had false security, thinking they were right with God, thinking they knew, when in fact they were neither right with God or right in what they thought they knew.

A lack of integrity in our walk with God puts us in the same position. We can lie to others and deceive them, we can even lie to and deceive ourselves, but we can never lie to and deceive God. He knows what we do and say in all places, not just church and around certain believers. He knows what we really think and feel in spite of what front we may put up to cover it.

5) They didn’t have that authentic, intimate, and passionate relationship with God and because they didn’t walk with God faithfully everyday, they were not in the position to really hear from Him and recognize His activity, what He was up to, and in fact they didn’t even recognize Him. They went through all the right motions, but what they had was a substitute for the real thing. They had religion and ritual, but they missed the whole point of this creation… relationship with God.

Relationship isn’t easy and to have a happy, healthy, passionate, and thriving relationship it takes work, investment, and sacrifice. It is for these reasons that many settle for less in their earthly marriage relationships and it’s why many Christians settle for less in their spiritual relationship with God. We think it requires to much from us, we think it costs to much, we want something and don’t want to give it up (we’re selfish). But the fact is, lack of quality relationship with God is probably the key reason we are robbed of God’s best in our life. It’s probably the key reason we don’t hear from God and experience God like He says He wants us to and that we should.

I realize that all 5 of these issues are connected and overlap; yet each one is a specific issue that we must take to heart and take to God.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want to become confident in where I am and miss where God wants to take me. I don’t want to become cemented in what little I know and miss the more God wants to teach me. I don’t want to be praying for the blessings/promises of God and then miss them when He gives them to me. I don’t want to think I’m all right with God, but in reality be in a disjointed or even broken relationship with Him.

I want to become all God made me to be. I want to experience all God has for me to experience. I want to walk with God, know God, know His ways, and work with Him in what He is doing and how He is doing it, breaking free from my natural standard of living and break into a supernatural way of life.

BALANCE

We hear it everyday. Live whole heartedly for Jesus! Be passionate for Christ! In fact it is written, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11

But we’re also told that Jesus came to give us life to the full, and that we’re to enjoy life, and that following the teachings of Jesus is “easy and light” compared to the teachings of other religious leaders.

So, why are so many Christians worn out, burned out, miserable people with no joy or fulfillment? Why do so many feel so wasted and wanting to quit?

One word… BALANCE. This of course is an over simplification.

The truth is there is a balance to it all, but I must say something before I talk about the balancing aspect of the Christian life… most “Christians” are not following Christ, and this is reason #1 why they are all of the above descriptives.

I do not say this lightly, nor do I say it condemningly. The truth is most American Christians have bought into something Jesus didn’t come to offer… Religion. The truth is most American Christians approach living for Jesus (True Biblical Christianity) for something far less and harder to live (a religion).

See, God never intended for us to add a new set of believes and new set of religious and moral behaviors to our pre-existing way of life. He always intended for our life to be completely changed.

It’s this religious approach (adding a few religious and moral behaviors to a pre-existing lifestyle) that has ruined so many of us. We honestly can’t figure out how to do all Jesus told us to do and still keep up the other lifestyle too. It wears us out and kills us. We think, “Jesus lied when he said his yoke (teachings) is easy and his burden is light.” But, we’re wrong.

Jesus’ teachings are easy to live out when it’s your lifestyle, not just a religious addition to your present lifestyle.

So, this is reason #1 why so many people feel so badly about their experience with Christianity.

But, reason #2 is imbalance, though this is less experienced than #1, but it does happen.

People get so focused on serving Jesus, being passionate about the mission, studying God’s word, winning people to Jesus, serving people, and so on that they miss Jesus’ M.O. (Method of Operation).

Jesus did say he lived to do the Fathers will solely, but we also know that while Jesus and many other Bible characters took following God seriously they also enjoyed life.

Part of this was learning to find joy no matter where you are and what you’re facing… Paul talks about this in 1Timothy 6. So, it’s a mindset/attitude.

But, there is also the reality that everything they did was done in the context of community (sharing life together).

We see much of their work for the Kingdom of God being done as a group, so there is a sense of community among the workers. We see much of the miracles of Jesus taking place as he was going about his business from one day to the next. It’s interesting, but it’s not the norm that Jesus sought out the sick… they sought him out while he was in their town.

It was in the midst of an open-air seminar that Jesus turned around and performed the miracle of feeding the multitudes. It was in route on a business trip that Jesus calmed a storm and healed a woman with an issue of blood. Peter was hungry, waiting on lunch, and talking with God when he had a vision and was told to go witness to the non-Jew Cornelius. Paul was in a shipwreck on his way to trial when he survived a snake bite and then healed many island people. David was simply bringing some supplies to his brothers, who were at war, when he ended up killing Goliath. Moses was simply shepherding his sheep, just like normal, when he encountered the burning bush. And on and on it goes.

The balance we have to find is one where this supernatural spirituality is lived out in everyday life. We are human beings and meant to rest and laugh and so on.

So, two things… 1) Stop living a Christian religion where God is simply an addition to your already busy and hectic lifestyle (usually contradictory too) and 2) Start renewing our mind with God’s truth and begin to see and live things from his perspective.

Good Soldiers

2Timothy 2:3-4 3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

What is a “good” soldier?

It’s one who understands and lives out his responsibility as a protector and defender of both his fellow soldiers and the citizens he represents.

It is one who takes his role and responsibility seriously, seriously enough to interrupt and inconvenience his civilian lifestyle, seriously enough to abstain from those things that would limit his ability to perform his duties to the best of his ability, seriously enough to motivate him to prepare diligently sharpening his skills well before any need arose.

It is one who takes seriously the preparation, training, necessary to be victorious in the battles he will face.

It is one who takes his enemy seriously and doesn’t let his guard down.

It is one who understands the transcendent cause to which he has committed and is so compelled by that cause and commitment to both live and die for it.

It is one who understands the nature of the war he is engaged in, understands his enemy, and strategizes seriously for victory.

It is one who, no matter the odds or how hard things get, will never ever quit.

It is one who considers the cost and lays aside self-interest (selfish living) to serve THE King and fellow countrymen and those in need.

It is one who keeps his eye on the cause and the prize and doesn’t loose sight of either no matter what the situation.

It is the label each Christian is to live up to, not for just anyone, but for THE King of all kings and THE cause of all causes.

Are We At War?

Depending on the circles we run in we may hear a lot or a little about spiritual warfare, but the Bible talks about it very directly and gives numerous examples of real life spiritual warfare.

Here are a few references for Spiritual Warfare:

Ephesians 6:10-18

1Peter 5:8

Colossians 2:13-15

1Timothy 6:12

1John 4:4

Romans 8:35-39

Here are a few examples of Spiritual Warfare:

Luke 13:10-17

Mark 9:14-32

The Entire Book of Acts

2Corinthians 11:23-12:10

We sometimes loose sight of the unseen/supernatural/spiritual world and all it’s effect on the seen/natural world.

Often circumstances and everyday living can become so routine that we forget that this natural world is just a scratch on the surface of what life is all about and that there is another side of life/creation that is even more real and more important in the big picture.

Within this unseen world exists an unseen (supernatural) enemy who takes our destruction seriously.

The Bible gives us good news about our fight against this enemy, but we do have to fight.

The Bible also warns that not taking this war seriously or giving up will have serious negative consequences.

The question, “Are we at war?” is not about weather or not we are in a war, but rather are we engaging in it properly, or are we ending up passive victims.

Jesus said, “…The GATES of hell will not prevail against the church.” (Matthew 18) It’s important to note he said “GATES” because it points to the offensive posture the church (God’s People) is supposed to have and be in.

Think about it. Gates! What is a Gate? It’s a kind of door. Is there anything scary or destructive about a door? No! Do doors chase people around and hurt them? Do people have signs at the edge of their property saying, “Beware of door/gate!”? Are doors/gates buying guns and assaulting people?

When Jesus referenced the gates of hell he was pointing out the fact that we (the church) would be assaulting hell, not hell assaulting us. He was pointing out that we (the church) would be taking the offensive, putting Hell on the defense, driving it back to it’s headquarters. He was pointing to the fact that the church is a mobile thing, not a building settled on a plot of ground. There is no mention by Jesus of the “gates of the church”.

In life (in this world and western culture as we know it) the opposite seems true, so I ask… Are we at war? Are we taking the offensive in our life (in our personal life, our home, our family, our work, our neighborhood, and so on)? Are we hitting back when the devil does blindside/surprise attack us?

Too many Christians lie down and play dead. They think being passive and doing nothing will make the bad guy go away. NOT SO! This bad guy and his brothers-in-arms are hell-bent on your total destruction in the most miserable way possible, and they intend to enjoy every second of it.

For others they start the good fight well, but after a while they get weary and tired and end up not taking any offense against the enemy and when he attacks they try to defend a little, but eventually yield to just taking the hits and trying to role with the punches or bombs (whichever the case may be), but the bottom line is in the end they give up, they quit, and thus live out the rest of their life in misery (a prince/princess living as a prisoner/slave) constantly being assaulted in every area of life by a ruthless, merciless, tyrannical captor (2Timothy 2:20-26)

The fight is not always easy and it is one that requires time, energy, thought, and so much more, but it’s a fight that God promises we will win. That’s what makes it a “good” fight (1Timothy 6:12).

I used to fight a lot as a kid. The only fights I ever considered a “good fight” was the ones that I won.

You can do it! God made you a victor, a winner! He made you to kick devil butt and take no prisoners! He made you to be a liberator to set other captives free. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world! You are more than a conqueror! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!

Be the hero God made you to be! Put on the full armor of God! Fight the good fight! Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter (meaning he not only wrote the book, but lived it out proving that it works) of our faith, and never, never, never quit/give up!

Pray, strategize, implement! Let the church yell a war cry that makes the demons tremble and let’s start fighting!