Holiness...More than a Halo!

Like me you have probably seen pictures of angels or Bible characters or saints, all with a glowing halo over their head. Sometimes we get the idea that one day we will be like that...with our own little halo. But the Bible has so much to say about holiness and nothing to say about halos.
God is holy. We know that. But when He tells us in the Bible that we are to be holy just like Him, we struggle with it. Holiness does not seem to be easily achieved for some. We tell ourselves, “When I get to heaven, then I will be holy!” Then we do what we want, and find ourselves falling into temptations of all kinds and giving in to some of the very things we promised ourselves we would never do.
Today the church seems to struggle more and more with living up to Biblical standards. Pastors often refuse to preach the hard line message of a holy lifestyle lest they offend those dabbling in sin and never get to minister to them at all. Evangelical churches have come to soft-soap the gospel message, tolerating sin in the pew that previous generations would have thrown a fit over. Holiness churches were known for their high standards of living and behavior and dress. They started out with a desire to live as God would have them live….then they degenerated into rule making critical dogmatic Pharisees that turned off the next generation. They decided to make everyone else holy and their determination placed the focus in a wrong way. Let’s look at some basics of holiness.
1. Holiness comes from God
God is a holy God. He told the children of Israel in Leviticus 11: 44-45 For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves….... 45 For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. It was God’s desire that we live up to His standard. That holiness begins when we choose to consecrate ourselves to God and His ways. We have to know what God’s standards are before we can live up to them. In the Old Testament, the entire book of Leviticus was dedicated to teaching the people how to live a holy life. Unfortunately, most of the activities that were supposed to produce holiness were outward acts rather than inward choices. God wants us to learn both. We are to behave outwardly in a holy behavior because of our influence on others. But we are so to be holy within so that our relationship to God will not be hindered. Holiness does not come from what we do, but from who God is in us. So living a holy life is more than just putting on a pious pose, more than wearing Christian T-shirts and more than going to church every Sunday. Holiness is choosing to live in a way that pleases God 24/7.
2. You must desire holiness
Being holy is not something you can do by yourself. It takes choosing God over the ‘normal’ choices the world offers. It means a dedication, a consecration, a separation that is intentional and birthed from the love you have for God. To desire holiness in your life means that you want God in control of everything! It is putting your hand in His and trusting He will lead your every step in a path that will bring you to Him. Jesus talked with His disciples as they walked the dusty roads of Israel, and he told them all about holiness. A rich young man came to Jesus and asked him how to have eternal life. He equated the gaining of eternal life to holiness, and had practiced all the keeping of the commandments of the law. But Jesus recognized the root of his problem. He told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21) For him, perfection demanded that he learn to love his neighbor as much as he loved himself and God. He was not ready to give it up and follow Jesus. That was too much for him and he went away sad. Then Jesus clearly told his audience... “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”( Matthew 22:37-39) Perfection comes when we live spiritually balanced lives, loving God and loving those around us. When we love God, we do not want to do what displeases Him. We will not want to choose to sin and grieve his heart. We will watch and discipline our mouths. We will be cautious about the places we go and the things we do. We will take the time to ask Him first if it pleases Him. It means matching our lifestyle with the Word of God. This means Christians should not be living in fornication or adultery. They should not be greedy with what God provides, but tithe and give generously to those in need. It means we would not want our name and ministry lifted up, but His name alone! It means we should not be in the habit of lying, cursing, stealing, cheating, or coveting. These are not God’s ways. It must be the deepest desire of your heart to live your life in a way that would be pleasing to God.
3. Holiness is not in appearances
Often the world around tends to look at the outward appearances. We want to fit in, yet be holy. Christian holiness is not achieved just by wearing religious garb. You could dress like a monk or a nun and still be a sinner. You could wear modest attire and still have sin in your heart. Others may judge your spiritual condition by what they see on the outside, but God looks on the heart. That does not mean that Christians can look just like the rest of the world wearing scanty attire. It means we have to consult the One in charge of our life, for how we dress should be pleasing to Him and measure up to Bible standards of moderation in all things. If our appearance causes someone to stumble into sin and lust, would it be pleasing to God?
4. Holiness is a reflection of a relationship

When Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden, they had a relationship of intimacy. There was absolute holiness. But the moment that they sinned, everything changed. No longer did Adam walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day. Sin drove a wedge between them. To restore that intimate relationship, Jesus had to come and die for the sin of all mankind. When He died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, revealing the place of intimacy to the public eye once again.
When we tell folks that God loves them just the way they are, we are not telling them the whole truth. God does love them….that’s true. But he does not love the sin in their lives. Restoring that relationship comes at a cost. It may cost you some friendships. You may have to change your lifestyle, like the rich young man Jesus talked to. You may have to give up some things you love. You may be persecuted because of your devotion. Things of value come at a high price. Jesus knew that better than anyone. His holy perfection came to live in the sinful world, to take all the sin of mankind upon Himself, to die a death of a criminal, just to make a way for mankind to restore that first intimacy. It cost him everything to be obedient to His Father. He not only set the example for us to follow but He also is willing to help us. He gives us guidelines to follow. Our holiness is an act of worship. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2 NIV) Pleasing God and walking daily in His perfect will must be our daily goal.
When we choose deliberately to sin, we tell ourselves., “But God knows my weaknesses!” We forget that disobedience is not a weakness, it is a sin. When we make Christ the Lord of our lives, we have no more license to sin. We have a responsibility to the One in charge of our lives. Ephesians 5:1 & 3 tells us we are to “Be imitators of God ….there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.” If we think we can be careless in our devotion, we forget what the bible says… “Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 Amplified) Without holiness, we cannot ever see God.
Holiness is more than a halo, more than legalism—it is living in loving obedience. A love relationship has responsibilities. Christians must be responsible for their choices and actions. God will help you to overcome temptations. He will help you choose wisely. He will help you guard the word of your mouth. But He can only help you if you let Him, if you invite Him to be part of the decision making process. You may be asking yourself just now, “How can anyone even begin to measure up to the perfection, justice, almightiness, righteousness, majesty, splendor, beauty, and excellence of the glorious God?” In yourself, it is impossible, but….’with God all things are possible.’ (Matthew 9:26) The key is staying close to Him…with God! Together you and God are a team effort. You walk in daily obedience with Him, and He will help you overcome and prepare a place for you in heaven. Holiness is not an impossible goal. Jesus was tempted in every way that man can be tempted yet He did not sin.
Perhaps you find yourself today living in sin. You have given in to the pull of the world around you, and you have yielded to temptations. You hate what you have done, yet feel helpless. Slaves to sin are helpless. They need a Redeemer to set them free. Christ is your Redeemer. He has provided a way for you to walk in holiness. It begins with a repentant heart. Genuine repentance means you are so sorry for your sin that you refuse to walk that way again. It is turning around and deliberately going the other way. It is deliberately choosing to obey God.
Why strive for holiness? Because God commands it. “Be Holy for I am holy!” Let’s lay aside all the excuses for sloppy Christianity and lazy devotion and let us choose to live our lives as imitators of Christ, the Holy Son of God.

by J. Johnson

Blessed and Highly Favored!

As the world around us spins down into more and more of a self-centered way of thinking about life, it becomes more and more of a struggle for the believer to keep a Biblical focus on eternity. Many are tempted to fall in line with the practices of those around them. Instead of holding a high standard, established for the believer in the Word of God, they lower themselves into sin and worldly standards. They loose sight of their purpose and significance in this world. Yet God has designed a special purpose for every one of His children, and you are no exception. Each person chooses how they respond to life’s challenges. While some see a glass of water as nearly empty...others see it as half full.
A story is told of a shoe salesman who was sent to the West Indies to a small island. When he arrived he noticed that all the natives were barefoot. Discouraged that no one wore shoes here, he came home with no sales. Another salesman was sent to the same place. He too noticed the barefoot natives. He sent an emergency telegraph home…: "Send lots of shoes...all sizes...as everyone here needs shoes!” Our perspective on life can determine our influence on others and how we impact the world for Christ.

God needs to change our perspective!

When we see life from His point of view, everything changes. When we see grumbling sinners, He sees lost children who need a Savior. When we see crime, violence and abuse….He sees victims of Satan’s curse. When we see life’s inconveniences, He sees life’s opportunities. We sometimes need an ‘eye transplant.’ We need to see the world around us with His eyes.
The world continues to spiral down into the valley of despair. The more they try to turn it all around with education, money, and programs to meet desperate needs, the bigger and more hopeless the problems seem to become. As we look at the political world, we see wars, destruction, corruption, and promises of hope with no real lasting solutions. When we look at the religious world, we see spiritual leaders grasping for ways to change the world. When we look at the material world, we see people trying to fill the emptiness inside with ’stuff’ on the outside...homes, cars, furniture, jewelry, and the best that money can buy. Yet we soon discover that all the ’stuff’ just gives us more to care for without satisfying the inner need for lasting happiness.

I have found the lasting solution to all of these dilemmas.

I discovered that all my hopes and dreams could find fulfillment and satisfaction when placed in eternal values...in Jesus Christ. He provides me with purpose and significance. He gives me faith and hope for life now and in eternity. He resets my values from ‘stuff’ to Himself. I learned to value Him more than ‘stuff’. In Him is every political solution, every educational answer, and a way out of every dilemma.

How do we get to that point of view?

The first step is to recognize the need for change. The Bible tells me that in myself there is nothing good found. That is because I am a sinner, in need of a solution to my problem—sin. Jesus came as the solution! The moment I realize I need more than I have, and that Jesus has what I need—this is the first step. Then I can call on Him to meet my need and be my solution. The world in sin is bound by a curse. That curse came in the Garden of Eden when mankind fell into Satan’s snare. From that day onward, man became needy. He continued to live, but the spirit within him died. By faith, all the Old Testament people looked forward to the day when Christ, the Messiah, would come and restore life to the spirit of man. Jesus fills the void within. Man struggles on his own to fill that void with carnal pleasures, material goods, entertainment, drugs and alcohol, but nothing satisfies. Nothing lasts. Earth’s solutions are just temporary. But Jesus provided a lasting solution that goes beyond life into eternity. He came to provide Life...eternal Life! The Life He gives fills the emptiness and overflows into joy and happiness and satisfaction and a new sense of values with an eternal purpose. While the world feels cursed and inferior, I feel blessed and highly favored. He lifts my vision beyond what I can see with the natural eye to see with eternal eyes. I no longer see the pain and suffering around me as a dilemma, but as an opportunity for God to display His glory and power. He is the God who loves to change lives, and circumstances, heal sick bodies, and deliver from bondages of depression and destructive habits. If you have been abused….He brings peace and forgiveness and healing. If you were the abuser, He changes the heart, the mind and the life. He forgives you even when you cannot forgive yourself. We may still suffer some of the results of the scars from the past. They serve to remind us not to go back and do that again! I may never have all the wealth of the world in my bank account….but I have the wealth of the One who created the world in my heart and for all eternity. I may not know all the answers to life’s questions, but I know the One who has all the answers, all the solutions, who has all knowledge, all power, all truth. He is no longer a distant acquaintance, but an intimate friend. When life comes crashing down around me, I know with confidence I can turn to Him and find comfort, peace, confidence and healing. He promised his followers that He would never leave them nor forsake them. Yes, I am blessed and highly favored.
Believer, next time someone asks you how you are doing… don’t just say the politically correct phrase…. “I’m fine thanks.” Tell them “I’m blessed and highly favored!”...and see what kind of response you get! Be ready to tell them why you are so blessed...and the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at that moment. Tell them they can be blessed and highly favored too.

We need a new radical abandonment to Jesus Christ.

Believers need to become Spirit-dependent, Christ-centered, spiritually dynamic, mutually-ministering to each other and the world around them. You may sometimes feel like you are totally insignificant, but in the eyes of God, each tiny mustard seed in His kingdom has potential to grow and change the world around it.

What kind of blessings can we expect from God?

We can expect the kind of blessings that are lasting and eternal. There is no great blessing in filling up your bank book. But there is great blessing in filling heaven with souls won to Jesus. Jesus told Peter He would make him a fisher of men. He never promised him big earthly rewards. No... He told him that those who would be the greatest in heaven needed to be the servants of all. God’s viewpoint of blessing is so very different from man’s viewpoint. I want His blessings in my life. Do you? I cannot take my retirement funds with me to heaven, but I can take people. It’s funny how when it comes right down to what we really value in life… we hear it only at funerals. We don’t talk about what the person possessed, but about who they were and the impact that they had on our lives.

I am blessed and highly favored!

I know the One who has pulled my feet from the pit of sin, who has given me a hope and a future, who has provided me with significance and purpose. His name is Jesus. He is the Rock of my salvation, the Door of protection, the Shepherd who takes care of me, the Bread that feeds me when I am hungry, the Lamp for my feet and the Light on my pathway. He is the King who made me part of his family. He is the Priest who made a way for me to enter into the most holy place. He is the Way when there seems to be no way, and the Truth when all around me is confusion and chaos. He is Life when my body feels more dead than alive. He is the Cornerstone and chief Architect of my building. He is the Bright Morning Star that shines in the darkest night. He is the Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon who fills this stagnant world with the aroma of His loveliness. He is the Living Water that satisfies. He is the Vine that helps me grow and produce good fruit. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending of all I am and ever hope to be. Yes, I am blessed and highly favored. There is nothing that He and I together cannot face.
But who is He to you? He can be all of those things and more in your life if you invite Him into your heart and let Him take control of it all. Then you too will be blessed and highly favored.
J. Johnson

Avoiding the enemies traps...

Every year we read, or hear in the news, about another pastor or spiritual leader falling into the trap of sin. We all tend to point our fingers and say, “I’d never do that!” Yet, thousands of believers every year fall into traps of sin, snares of temptation, pitfalls that hurt not only our Christian walk and integrity, but every believer and unbeliever we know. The thing we tend to struggle with on a daily basis is overcoming those traps, snares and pitfalls. As Christians give attention for even a moment to the seductive voice of the enemy, they fall into his traps that promise better things… more satisfaction… greater achievement… at the expense of ignoring the promises of God given in the Word of God. Paul warned young Timothy...:For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Tim 4:3-4) These myths are the traps of Satan. They fall into three basic categories: intellectual, emotional and sensual.
Intellectual traps:
Today we live in a very intellectual world. The systems in place pride themselves in the intellectual prowess of humans. They tend to argue against anything that would attack the premises of intellectual superiority and how education is supposed to cure all the ills of the human race. While educators promise utopian solutions, man continues in a downward spiral as jails grow overcrowded, drug abuse becomes rampant, and corporate greed causes financial giants to fall. Every strata of humanity continues to fail. They write God off as useless and irrelevant. Paul the apostle had a solution here too. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 RSV) First of all, he attacks the ‘arguments’ of men and their reasonings., that is, their rationalizations by which they support and defend their spiritual errors. These ‘arguments’ are rooted in pride. Pride needs to be placed in subjection to Christ himself. It is a matter of choice. We must choose to bring our minds into spiritual submission to Christ. He is Truth. He is Life. He has the answers that human intellectuals demand. We can try to understand the ways of men with our flawed sinful minds, but in reality, only Christ can know what is in the minds of men. He made us after all.
Emotional traps:
We want to feel good. We love a ‘feel good’ gospel. We want the preacher to tell us that God loves us and His grace is far reaching. It’s true, but the other side is also true. His judgment is also far reaching. Our desire for emotional pleasure, happiness and satisfaction—when placed in carnal pursuits—will always lead us astray. Paul again warns young Timothy of the dangers of emotional excess in the last days. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Tim 3:1-4 RSV) The key words that stand out here are “stress”, ‘lovers of self” “lovers of money” “proud” “arrogant” “abusive” “disobedient” “ungrateful” “haters” “reckless” “lovers of pleasure”….and every one expresses the emotional characteristics of our culture today. Paul again has a solution for this as he continues in v 5 ...holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. (2 Tim 3:5 RSV) Notice that these evil people are playing a game of pretend. They are actors (hypocrites) with a ‘form’ of religion but without power. Paul advises that we stay away from such people. Their influence can drag us down to their level. Sadly, too many of our churches today are filled with these pretenders. How can we tell the difference? The fruit of the life of a truly sincere and Godly Christian will be evident. They will be people of prayer, constantly in the Word of God, not seeking selfish interest or gain. Pleasures that satisfy for a moment should not have the highest place in their life. When Paul advises us to “avoid such people” he does not mean that we are to ignore them. After all, they need Jesus. But we can choose our friends, and the church we attend carefully. Place your feet in a church that tells it like the Bible says it. A ‘feel good’ gospel is not an honest presentation of the whole picture. Find a church that preaches power over sin, power to live in victory, power over the devil and the power of the Word and the blood of Jesus. Without these elements in the church today, the church itself becomes powerless.
Sensual traps
Satan is a master of the counterfeit .(2 Cor. 11:4,13,15). He masquerades as an angel of light, deceiving even the people of God. Some find themselves giving an ear to his seductive lies, “Its OK for Christians to have sex outside of marriage, to enjoy the love God created.” When we see spiritual authorities fail, we tell ourselves, if they can do it...we can too. It’s a lie! Those sensual traps he sets up for us are sure to catch us if we do not know the Word and, like Jesus, throw it at the devil when he comes with his seductive lies. He sets us up when he sees that our desires to please ourselves are more dominant that our desire to please the Lord.
The world tries to deal with sensual traps using laws, peer pressure, rehabilitation, jail, psychology, and any type of coercion to try to influence us to good behavior. But the root of the problem is pride….pride that leads us to believe we are OK and above others. Pride causes us to look down on others, especially those who have fallen into open blatant sin. The moment we think we are above the sin, we risk becoming victims of it. When we neglect the basics— reading our Bibles, going faithfully to church, spending time in prayer—we are sliding backwards into sin.
If we become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, we have a form of religion that has no power. When we major on entertainment without a balance of prayer and intercession, we are in trouble.
Jesus promised that we would suffer persecution and be killed for His sake. The real prosperity message of the Word is that our souls would prosper, and that our treasures are to be laid up where moth and rust do not destroy. Today, our self-centered Christianity asks “What’s in it for me? What do I get out of it?” We want our rights, our needs, our way. We don’t want persecution or suffering, yet these very things are what makes for strong Christians and vibrant churches. It caused Christianity to blossom in it’s early stages. Today it continues to build strong churches in countries such as China and Russia where Christianity suffers constant harassment. It is never persecution that destroys the church but material prosperity. Today, our churches tend to be more like retirement communities and country clubs, where believers can safely retreat from the world, instead of being soul-saving stations where the lost find help and gain spiritual strength. Satan loves it when we entertain ourselves instead of fulfilling Jesus mandate to “go into all the world and preach the gospel”. While some sit idle, others are willing to go and seek the lost, tear down spiritual stronghold and challenge Satan’s grasp on God’s creation.
Spiritual warfare should be a part of every believers life. First of all it demands that we recognize that Satan is real and is out to destroy our walk with God. Then it demands that we take action. That action means prayer. In our own strength we can do nothing to counter Satan’s attacks. But through prayer, we can counterattack the strategies of Satan. When we pray, all the resources of heaven are working on our behalf. We have other weapons too. They are powerful, and they accomplish something. They destroy Satan’s strongholds of evil, but we must use them. They must be part of our daily life. Paul lists them in Galatians and calls them the ‘armor of God’.
We have to choose to be over-comers. Avoiding Satan’s schemes is possible when we stay spiritually alert, in the Word, with a clear focus and our weapons ready. As a good soldier goes into battle, he goes fully equipped, physically fit, and with the mission clearly in mind. He does not allow distractions to deter him from his purpose. God wants each of us to be good soldiers. He is seeking those who will avoid the enemies traps, to do the work of God, to disciple new recruits. What will you be in this New Year? A victim or a victor? Trapped or triumphant? Paul encouraged the churches saying… “I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (Philippians 4:12,13 The Message)
The One who makes us who we are is Jesus, our victorious Lord! He makes me a winner!

J. Johnson

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A Wondrous Gift

She was just a child herself, yet a woman, but to all appearances, just a young girl. She was pregnant with her first child, not even married. It was an unforgivable condition to be in… engaged but pregnant. Mary must have been an unusual teenager. In her culture, she could have been stoned to death for what appeared to all to be sin. Yet, she willingly told the visiting angel sent from God “"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38) She made a choice...and the rest is history! One young girls choice has changed the destiny of the world.
The result of her choice was the provision of a wondrous gift, a new covenant….a new intimacy with God…a new relationship with the Almighty. It brought heaven down into this miserable and sinful world. A ray of light shined into the darkness that has beamed across continents into time changing lives for eternity. Mary’s choice allowed the Son of God to be born in the flesh, to be a tiny infant in a fragile world. Wrapped in swaddling grave clothes, He lay in a manger, a stone trough filled with hay, vulnerable to whatever life brought. Mary had no idea what the future would hold for her or for her newborn Son. The brief years of childhood would long be cherished in her heart as every mother does. But soon, the joys of childhood would turn to wonder as she watched her child become independent of her care as He remained at the temple astounding the religious minds of the day. We know very little of his childhood years, or his teenage life. We do know that very early He became focused on His purpose and destiny.
What if….
A tiny baby born to a mere girl, changed our world for eternity. When I think of the impact His life has had on this world, I wonder what our world would have been like if He had never come. What if life had just continued… the temple and the holy city in Roman hands… laws and rules… circumcision… sacrifices… old covenant ways complicated by religious laws added by the religious leaders, Sadducees and Pharisees. In just a few short years, the temple would have been destroyed by the Roman government. The impact of the Jewish world was in decline. Secular philosophies influenced by the Greek and Roman world were on the rise. We never would have known the freedom of a democracy based on the Christian teachings found in 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Women’s rights and freedoms would have not developed but for the teachings of Jesus Christ. The new moral standards set by Jesus who taught his followers to love each other and love their enemies, turned mankind from a vicious destructive way of life to one of tolerance, patience and peace.
Without Jesus, there never would have been a renaissance or reformation. Pilgrims would have never ventured to America for spiritual freedom. There would be no celebrations such as Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas, or even Halloween (originally Hallowed Evening). We would not know the meaning of the term “salvation.” Forgiveness of sin would not be possible for Non-Jewish people. Our cultures would have become a mix of Judaism, Greek mythology, Roman law, and who knows what culture would have developed in time. Islam would not exist as it is based on a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. Four billion Christians and Muslims would have a different religion. “Foxes’ Book of Martyrs” would have empty pages. There would be no “Pilgrims Progress.” Great works of art would not have been sculpted or painted. Science would not have developed as many of its greatest minds were Christians who prayed and asked God for wisdom (Pascal, Pasteur, Newton) Nations such as the United States would not have been founded on Christian ideals and principles. Cathedrals and churches would not dot the landscapes of every major city in the world. There would be no such thing as a pope, a pastor, a deacon, a bishop, or an apostle. We would not understand the meaning of such words as apocalypse, rapture, evangelical, or even justification. Denominations such as Roman Catholic, Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and Pentecostal would not exist. Their influence on the world would never have happened.
I can hardly imagine what the United States and Canada would be like without Christ and Christianity. Sometimes we as believers wonder if we are making a difference in our world. Just as Jesus made a difference, so does every believer who stands for what he believes.
What now…
He did come.. He did change this world. He did make a difference, and because He did, we have an awesome responsibility to carry forward what He began. We have good news to tell those who have not heard. We have a message of hope for a world lost in hopelessness and despair. Because of Him, we can say with confidence, like Paul, “ for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (1 Timothy 2:12). While millions around the world reach out to idols of wood and stone, spin cylinders of prayer, wave flags, burn incense and pray to icons and dead men and women, we have a certainty, a knowing, a confidence that our Savior who came as a baby, grew to be a man, and died, only to live again, that He hears today and answers our prayers, heals our bodies, prepares us for eternity and loves us all even if we sin.
Can we do anything less than share His love with others this Christmas? Can we for a moment lay aside our selfishness and greed, our materialism and humanism and choose intentionally to reach out to someone else who has no hope? Is Christ truly the center of your Christmas celebration? Do you see the needs of others around you? Have you gone out of your way to help someone as Christ would have done? This Christmas, determine to give to the ministry of your choice, as if you were giving it to Jesus Himself. He gave up the glory of heaven for us. Can we give up the glitz and grandeur of this world for Him? Somehow, I don’t think the two realms are comparable.
What a gift…!
We take our precious finances and select a gift for our loved ones, wrap it in tissue paper, decorated with pretty ribbons and foil, and then put it under the tree for Christmas morning. We think we have done something grand! Yet if the truth was known, too often we gripe and complain and recycle unwanted gifts and do just enough to get by the season, hoping no one will notice our stingy hearts. Meanwhile, God sent us the perfect gift, one size fits all, the kind that heals every broken heart, and fills every empty life to overflowing. He gives us Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, Hope….. And we leave His gift under the tree, still wrapped, still waiting to be received. We are not sure what to do with Him. If we open it, we might feel obligated… to change our habits, go to church, guard our tongues, to give our tithes, and go out of our way. If we pretend we did not get His gift… then perhaps we can go on doing things the same old way.
Christmas is about change. God sent His wondrous gift to change us, to give to us, to heal us, to love us...even though we feel unlovable. The gift never changes yet the gift changes us forever if we will just open the gift and receive Him. He is the perfect gift—the one that heals sick bodies, frees those in bondages of addiction, fills those who are lonely, lifts those who are depressed. “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come (Luke 4:18,19 NLT) Let’s take the wondrous gift, open it, and give it again to someone in need! His wondrous gift never stops giving!
J. Johnson

Overshadowed...

Overshadowed...
A tiny bird had accidentally flown into the window and now sat stunned on the ground. It did not move. The kids quickly ran outside and picked up the tiny bird, holding it gently in their hands. We had a dilemma on our hands. What do you do with a bird that is injured and in need of help? You call the zoo of course, and they quickly put us in touch with a local lady who cared for injured birds.
I will never forget that little helpless thing. It seemed to weigh as little as the air in which it flew. It was so fragile. Yet they are cared for by God, and He notices each time a sparrow falls to the ground. (Matthew 10:29)
God overshadows His creation. “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31) God sees you every moment of every day. He knows the deepest secrets of your heart, the longings, the burdens, the needs, the reason for your tears. He understands you better than you understand yourself. Like that little bird, you sometimes find yourself flitting here and there, and suddenly you end up stunned and wondering what happened. All the while, He knows, and is working on your behalf, even when you are unable to care for yourself.
God has always hovered over his creation from the beginning of time. “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:2) God is not an absentee landlord who lets the tenants of earth fend for themselves. He cares and overshadows us. His presence, though unseen, is there. When the Jews built the ark of the covenant in the wilderness, God instructed them to build it with certain specifications. And when the shekinah glory of God descended upon the Holy of Holies, we are told that the wings of the cherubim overshadowed the mercy seat. It was to be a picture for man that God cares about us. Then to reinforce that picture in their minds even more, the glory of God came down upon the tabernacle, so much so that Moses could not enter into it. And that cloud remained, as a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day, hovering over the people of God, as God watched over them and they became aware that God was continually with them.
When young Mary found favor in the eyes of God, the Word tells us that the angel announced to her that “the Holy Ghost would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow” her. (Luke 1:35) His presence was to be with her and protect her.
That same overshadowing presence of an Almighty God was also demonstrated to the disciples. Jesus was up on the mountain with Peter, James and John. There they experienced the overshadowing presence of God as they watched Jesus change before their eyes, and a cloud of glory descended upon them. “Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!'' (Matthew 17:5).

Positioned for Overshadowing
I want to be in the position where God can overshadow me. Sometimes, like the wayward children of Israel, we wander off and try to do our own thing. When we do this, we walk away from the overshadowing presence of God. We remove ourselves from his protective hand. We must remain in the position where God places us. There He instructs us and guides us. When we are positioned where God wants us to be, God promises… “"Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!” ( I Sam 12:16)
When we stand in the place that God has directed us to stand, we will see God do mighty things. If we wander off in our impatience, we may miss the very plan God has for us. Just as sheep tend to wander away from the shepherd, letting their nose guide them to that ‘sweeter’ blade of grass, only to find themselves hopelessly lost, and alone in the wilderness, so do we wander away from the Shepherd of our souls. He provides all we need, the table of food in the presence of our enemies, our cup, full of the good things of God, yet still we wander. Sheep are really quite dumb. They do not plan for emergencies. They just find themselves in one emergency after another. If they stayed close to the shepherd, within the sound of his voice, even in the valley of the shadow of death, there would be no reason to fear.
He is watching out for their good. He is overshadowing with his rod and staff.
God continually wants to put us in a position where He can bless us, and use us for His honor and glory. To be positioned by God is an honor. What position are you in today? Are you where God has placed you? Are you wandering off after things He has already provided you with? Don’t look at the circumstances around you! Look up! See the overshadowing presence of God! He is there, and will continue to be there for you. Trust Him. Keep your eyes on Him.
Maintaining your position
As we recognize our need for staying under the overshadowing presence of God, we also need to know how to maintain our position. It is our carnal senses that usually draw us away from the Overshadowing...what we hear with our ears… what we see with our eyes, what we feel with our hands, what we smell and what we taste. Just as the smell of food can pull us away from the place of prayer to the table, so can what we see with our eyes, draw us away from the Word of God. It takes a determination and discipline that many of us lack, to resist the tug of our carnal side. But this is a time when we need to get alone with God, spend time praying, fasting, seeking God, reading His Word, focusing on listening to His voice and touching the glory of His presence. Greatness in God does not come from apathetic mediocrity. It requires a dedicated tenacity….a spiritual hunger that drives you to feed on heavenly manna. It takes you to the prayer meeting instead of the potluck. It is not satisfied with a crumb here and a dribble there. It demands fresh bread from His table and new wine from His vineyards. When I look back at history and see the spiritual giants of the past, I always see a pattern in their lives of prayer, devotion, commitment and clear focus. Their faith was totally in God. They refused to compromise with the world around them. And they stood out from the rest because of their solitary devotion. Others called them crazy fanatics and lunatics. God called them his sons and daughters.
The Shekiah Glory Cloud
One of the ways the Lord overshadowed His people was in the shekinah glory cloud. It was the brightness and splendor of the supernatural presence emanating from God. We are told that the cloud rested over the tabernacle so that the priest could not enter in. God’s presence was so overwhelming that even the sanctified priests could not come close. Where is that glory cloud today? It is in the lives of believers who have made their hearts his tabernacle and who have chosen to walk in the Spirit, praying without ceasing, yielding to the Spirit of God. It amazes me that that same glory can dwell in these vessels of clay. Unfortunately, the average church-going ‘Christian’ has never experienced that presence in their daily walk with God. They chase the glory as they see it in others around them. They run to this meeting, that conference, wherever they hear the unusual is happening. They fail to realize that the thing they are chasing is supposed to be dwelling within them!
The glory will not dwell in the place of sin. We saw in Israel how as the people fell deeper and deeper into sin and idolatry, the glory cloud lifted, first from the holy place to over the tabernacle, then over the city, then it moved on… for no place was found in Israel that was prepared for the overshadowing presence of God.
Today, let us push past the chatter in the foyers of the church, the coffee bars, the stained glass, the plush carpets and move on into the altars and meet with God once again. We must repent of our sins. We must humble ourselves before His throne. We must pray and seek His face. We must turn from our wicked ways. Don’t be distracted by the voices of ‘prophets’, pastors or teachers, but tuned in to the voice of God and His Holy Spirit. God wants to speak to His people as He overshadows them once again.
J. Johnson

Decision for Destiny...

Some folks are very decisive, and others hesitate, think about it, live in a state of indecisiveness and eventually let someone else make the decision. I am concerned that Christians not live their spiritual lives this way. Joshua challenged the people of Israel, “Choose you this day whom you will serve…” All too often, we have left the choice up to our spiritual mentors, our pastors, our politicians, and those with the loudest voices. It’s time for individuals to make hard and fast choices.
I sense an uneasiness in the body of Christ right now. Perhaps you have felt it too. It feels like we are all on the edge of our seats, waiting for something momentous to happen. Those who take the lead right now, who choose with confidence, will have the advantage. For decades, we have allowed the world around us, to mold and shape our world. Christians stood idly by while prayer was removed from the schools, then abortion was legalized. It would be easy to get on a hobby horse at this time and pick on another ‘issue’ and challenge you to take your stand against government and politicians and educators. But there is an even more serious situation at hand.
The Church in Trouble
Today, the church itself, is sliding backwards, one person at a time, into ineffective whitewashed tombs. This was the state of the religious world when Jesus came. He charged them in Matthew 23:27-28 27. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. “ Today if the pastors don’t entertain us with illustrated sermons, if the worship teams don’t play the most modern beat, if the church buildings are not more comfortable than your sofa at home, then the ‘saints’ mosey on to some place that will make them feel comfortable. The church, the living body of Christ, is dying. It is beautiful on the outside, but inside there is death and corruption. Meanwhile, the lost world is spiraling down into an eternal hell with little or no concern on the part of the ‘Christian’. Grant it, there are a few beacons of light out there who are beaming brightly, but there are more and more who are caving in to the demands of lazy ‘saints’. They are more concerned with what they want than with what God wants. Humanism is the new god of the church. Their cry is: make me feel comfortable, make me feel happy….or we’ll go somewhere else. The church has become so self-centered it has forgotten it’s purpose for being.
What has happened to the church that repented in revivals of past days? What has happened to the church that would spend hours on its knees seeking God? Where are those ‘saints’ who are willing to sacrifice their own comforts for the sake of the lost world around them? Where are the revival services that lasted into the wee hours of the night, and extended into protracted meetings of three to 5 weeks or more? Where are the evangelists now? Sad to say, many evangelists have been forced from the itinerant lifestyle due to pastors and churches and boards that no longer have ‘time’ for Sunday night services, and don’t think their people will support protracted meetings.
Milk and Honey?
Too many have been feeding on milk diets. Milk is good. It is a wonderful food. It is an almost perfect food. But I was shocked to learn that when milk is ‘treated’ with homogenization and pasteurization, it destroys much of the goodness found in fresh raw milk. It kills natural enzymes and vitamins. For milk to do it’s best for us, it first of all must be fresh. Fresh raw milk was made by God to be consumed within the first 24 hours. Yet today, in our modern world, we keep milk , that has been treated to preserve it, for up to a week or more. We do the same spiritually. We soften the message to make it ‘seeker friendly’ so as not to offend the sinner. We don’t take the time to seek fresh ‘milk’ from the Word of God and so we push our ‘stale’ message for all to feed upon. The milk turns sour, and we wonder why the world rejects it.
The children of Israel were promised a land of “milk and honey”. This means that God was promising them a land where all their basic needs would be met with abundance. But He never meant they were to continually live on a diet of milk and honey. Honey is a great natural food. It is a sweetener that tastes wonderful. But a diet of pure honey would be awful. We need balance. Believers today have the best resources that the body of Christ has ever had! We have the written Word of God. We have wonderful study tools, concordances, handbooks, dictionaries, radio, TV and the computer. Yet how many pastors find themselves preaching a message borrowed from some other preacher. How many ’saints’ rely on the pastor to read the Word to them on Sunday. It’s the only time they open their Bibles. It is spoiled milk. The Holy Spirit wants to pour into each pastor’s heart fresh messages, not milk and honey messages but oil and wine messages. He wants to break fresh oil into each heart that will take the time to read the Word of God and pray.
Pour in the Oil and Wine
Oil and wine messages are those inspired by the Holy Spirit, tailor made just for your congregation, fresh from the wine vats and oil presses of heaven. The wonderful thing about wine is, that as the wine ages, it gets better and better while as milk ages, it become more and more spoiled. Wine is produced by crushing and breaking. Each cluster of fruit is placed in a vat for one purpose, that of crushing and breaking, to bring forth that which will result in healing, and strengthening. The oil is also produced by first crushing and then pressing. In the New Testament, oil was used for lamps, as a medicinal agent, for healing, for anointing at feasts, on festive occasions such as the consecration of kings and as an accompaniment of miraculous power or of the prayer of faith. Many folks are not aware that the name “Gethsemane” is derived from the Hebrew word, gat shmanim, meaning “oil press”. It was at Gethsemane that Jesus was in agony as he was ‘pressed’ under the weight of what He was about to endure for us all. His body became the ‘oil and wine’ and He sweat as it were, great drops of blood. Olives are pressed under great stone weights to bring out the oil. The first crushing prepares the fruit to bring forth the golden extra virgin oil, the finest in taste and flavor and purity. It is ‘fresh oil’. Second pressing brings out even more oil.
Our Choice...
God’s people need to place themselves at His feet once again and let his feet crush us and break us, and press us into the fresh oil and new wine to meet the needs of this complacent generation. They are weary of fakery, and want a genuine experience with God. They want to know He is really real. They need to see a demonstration of His power. The heavenly Vinedresser wants our altars restored to places of prayer and worship. He wants our sanctuaries to be a place where we hallow His presence. He wants our homes to be places of spiritual refuge for troubled families needing to meet the Master. We need to learn the ministry of pouring in the wine and the oil…just like the good Samaritan in Luke 10:34. He ministered to the wounded victim of brutal thieves who had beat him, robbed him and left him for dead beside the road. Today the enemy of our souls is doing the same thing. He is a brutal thief, who comes to kill, steal and destroy the lives of mankind. His purpose is to wreak havoc in the home and the church, creating division and disharmony. He steals their finances, their joy, their hope for the future, their health….and leaves them beaten and as good as dead.
But, God…!
God has an answer… a hope! It is Jesus, flowing through vessels of clay…vessels filled with the wine and oil of the Holy Spirit…. Ready to be poured out on a generation that so desperately needs Him. Let’s be the Samaritan that reaches out and touches the unlovely around us, sharing the healing balm of oil and wine.
Wine and oil are both symbols of the Holy Spirit. Wine speaks of joy and healing and refreshing and strengthening. Oil is soothing as an ointment. It speeds healing, and it seals out the corruption, preventing infection. Wine and oil were also traditionally both poured over the sacrifice as it was offered on the altar. As we yield our bodies, our lives as living sacrifices on the altar of God, He, the high Priest, will pour out the wine and the oil over our lives, and then we will be ready to be set aflame for Him.
I feel an urgency in my spirit to press on in the Spirit, a warrior for God. We may face trying days ahead. As your trials come, do not loose heart. Keep your focus. Be faithful. As warriors, we must be familiar with the weapons of our warfare, and ready for battle. We have the power of the blood, the power of His name and the word of our testimony. He will use these to overcome the enemy. We must be familiar with the testing our Commander will be putting us through to prepare us for battle and the costly anointing. This army will be a unique one, tried in the fires, walking in humility, listening intently to the Commanders every word. He demands of us holiness and humility. Absolute obedience is a must! There will be times when you are tempted to question the tests and the trials that come your way, but He is preparing you, strengthening you for that army. To develop muscle, there must be a healthy diet, strenuous exercise, and going a little further each time. It will result in pain. Some will give up and turn away. But we must press on. The enemy will always try to resist the work of God, but remember, resistance builds muscle and makes us stronger.
There will be times when you will be tempted to stand against the enemy in your own strength. You may tell him… ‘I’m a pastor, a minister, a prophet,a deacon or an evangelist. Leave me alone!” Your titles won’t impress the devil. There is one name He respects and fears, and that is the all powerful name of Jesus Christ. If you want to throw around names, tell satan, “ I am a born again, blood washed child of Jesus Christ!” He will be trembling at that name.
We have a vital choice to make… milk and honey or oil and wine! Our choice may determine the destiny of this generation. We have had enough compromise with the world. We have had enough milk. We must ready ourselves to move on to better things, to grow stronger, and take on the challenging tasks God has ahead for each of us. Choose wisely… and let the wine and oil flow over you today! J. Johnson

I Can't Take It Anymore!!!

Did you ever feel like you just can’t take it anymore? Sometimes it seems like the world is crashing in all around us. Everything seems to crumble in our hands: finances, family, relationships, health, and our future...and we wonder what’s next!
These are turning points in our lives. You are not alone! If you are at the end of your rope today, hang on, for there is Hope...and God has a plan!
Can you imagine the roller-coaster of emotions the families of the Virginia mine disaster experienced? First they learned of the disaster, that their husbands and fathers were trapped in the mine. Then after hours of despair, suddenly someone tossed a rope of hope saying that all but one had survived! The church bells rang! Families praised God...and then the bottom dropped out as they learned of the mistake… Only one had survived and all the rest were dead. Swings of emotions can be devastating. Pregnant moms who are rejoicing in the new life within them often experience this same swing when they suddenly learn of the death of the pre-born child. Sometimes it is the breadwinner of the family, who has spent a lifetime working hard at a job he thought was secure, only to learn that his job has been shipped overseas...the pension gone, with retirement just around the corner. Sometimes it is the stay at home mom, who faces dealing with toddlers, diapers, toys, sickness, meals, laundry, financial stress, only to learn her husband has been unfaithful. Or perhaps it is the pastor, overloaded with the pressures of ministry, spiritually drained and burned out, straining at being spiritually fresh while continually giving and giving to others.
It is not difficult in today’s world to find yourself stressed and wanting a way to escape the pressures that surround on every side. Whether you live in the city or in the country, pressures exist. Families have troubles, people get sick, jobs and finances stress believers and unbelievers to the maximum. Yet through the years, God has provided a steady source of hope and help to those who really want to “Get away from it all.” And the advice we are given goes contrary to what we would normally tend to do. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:2,3 Joy? Does it really mean JOY? How can anyone be happy when they face trials and testing? God uses the ordinary experiences of life to make us more like Himself. We tend to look at the moment...right now. God looks at the whole picture… past, present and future. He sees what we are, and what He wants us to become. Then He allows things into our lives to bring us to the end of trusting in ourselves. We are forced by the circumstances to either trust God, or not trust Him—and end up doing it all by ourselves. We soon learn that our way never works out. So we by trial and error, learn to trust God. When we do, we learn to look at the trouble that comes two ways. We ask ourselves: “What Does God Want Me to Learn From This?” Is this difficulty God’s opportunity?
What Does God Want Me to Learn?
Some of are slow learners. Others learn by doing. Some learn by watching, and still others learn by listening. There are many ways to learn. Life is one long lesson in learning. Job, the Old Testament patriarch learned that God allowed difficulties into his life to show him and his friends, that God is God, regardless of the circumstance. He is a God who knows us inside and out, our deepest thoughts, and our unspoken longings. He also knows our weaknesses. He knows where we need to be made strong. Sometimes He uses us to teach others valuable lessons. He wants us to be like Job in many ways who said…”Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;” Job13:13
Job persevered! “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:4 That is Job’s story… mature, complete and without lack. God blessed him twice as much after the test. Job was not happy while he went though it all, but he learned that God had a bigger picture than Job did. He saw the end from the beginning. By faith, God is asking us to be happy, joyful, knowing that as we trust God, He will bring good from whatever difficulty we go through. Real joy is like a river of life that flows from the throne of God, not polluted with bitterness or resentment or anger, but trusting that God is working even in impossible circumstances for our eternal good.
God’s Opportunity?
Our distress is God’s opportunity. I used to wonder why God allowed my mother to die when I was just 7 years old. But then as life progressed, I saw the hand of God in my life whenever I trusted Him and needed Him. He caused me to be totally dependent on God instead of on my parents. He kept me focused on eternal values. He brought people into my life to influence me that never would have been there otherwise. Sometimes we look at the problems we are facing and that is all we see. God looks at the whole picture. He has an eternal time clock. One day, as we stand before God, we will be amazed at how God had it all under control. We just could not see it. It’s like we are looking at the backside of a needle point picture. We see crisscrossed threads of all colors, dangling strings, and a mess. But God sees the front side….a beautiful picture He is creating of our lives, one stitch at a time. He creates it with careful purpose, knowing that each stitch is painful, but fruitful. Trusting God with the end result is His ultimate goal. There is a reward waiting those who are willing to persevere to the end. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12 When Jesus gave the beatitudes to the disciples and followers, I am sure some must have turned away. He told them you are to be happy (blessed) if you are humble, sad, meek, hungry, merciful, holy and persecuted. It was a new way of thinking. We think happiness comes from having more things, more leisure time, more power or more laughter. But, the Bible teaches us differently. Psalm 126:5-6 tells us "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It is part of the law of sowing and reaping. God designed it for man. Tears are sometimes necessary. They brings us from a place of frivolous carelessness down to a place of serious reality. Sometimes we do not face the real issues in life until we are sad. Then we can let God deal with the problem and watch Him work a miracle! It brings us to the place where we draw closer to Him than ever before. Then He turns things around for our good. James 4:8-10 says, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." It is a process. It does not happen overnight. It begins when we choose to come closer to God—then He responds to our choice—drawing closer to us. The closer we get to Him, the more we realize how unholy we are, needing repentance. When God completes the work in our hearts and lives, joy comes. It is not a superficial joy, but one that lasts, for it is a work done deeply in our hearts. That is where we can be happy even though we are going through poverty, pain, persecution, humility or any other test. I sometimes wonder what it will be like to view life on earth from Heaven’s perspective. I am certain we will rejoice over choices made with eternity in view. But perhaps we will have some regrets as we see what we could have had when we made carnal choices with our momentary pain in view. The Message Bible puts it this way “So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.” James 1:16-18 So keep your focus! Don’t give up! Look up! He’s there…! He cares! Perhaps you are feeling blessed right now with all your needs met. Then thank Him! Instead, pray for others who are going through tests and trials of their own. But, if you are in the middle of the test, remember that His nail scarred hand rests on your shoulder as you go through it. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He knows your name. He knows your pain. Put your hand in His nail scarred hand! J. Johnson

Satan's Arsenal...

We are in a battle….I’m not talking about Iran or Iraq or Israel or Lebanon… but right here...right now… in your own home… your own church… your own heart. The enemy of our souls is out to destroy every human being on the face of the earth. The Bible tells us that the thief…(Satan) has come to kill, steal and destroy. He is out to take away the life that God gives the believer. How does he do this? He uses his arsenal. An arsenal is a establishment for the construction, repair, receipt, storage and issue of weapons and ammunition. Satan’s arsenal is filled with weapons of spiritual warfare. There’s nothing new here…. Just the same old weapons he has used for the last 2000 years. You would think that after all this time we would recognize his attacks when they come our way… but we need to be continually reminded. Satan wants to discredit God, His worth, His Word, His works and His ways. He will do all he can to destroy what God is doing.
Doubt
He began the use of this tactic in the garden of Eden… “Hath God said”… or in other words… “Did God really say????” Satan wants us to doubt the character of God, to question His integrity, and to be skeptical. Today, Satan comes to the believers and causes us to doubt our salvation, question whether heaven and hell are real, all in an attempt to dissuade us from what we really believe and what the Bible teaches us. When Christians face difficulties, get sick, and even sometimes die, we let those doubts creep in and sometimes we let them take root. There they grow into bitterness and resentment…. against the church, other Christians and even against God. We need to recognize the source of the doubts that come our way...and when we do, we can deal with them. Satan is the source! He loves to use the “IF” against us. “IF you really are a Christian... ” “IF your conversion was real... ” “IF God answers prayer... ” “IF Jesus were coming again... ” Satan is the master of the “IF”.
How do we combat doubt? Build up our faith…”Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Read the Word… go to church and listen to a Godly pastor preach the Word of God. Fill your mind with God. Choose to put your mind on Godly and good things. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” “Put on the Mind of Christ.” How did Jesus deal with doubt? He went to the Word… “it is written…” and He rebuked the devil.
Lies
The Bible tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). I sometimes wonder why we tend to believe him when we know his character! He plays on that one string over and over again, whispering into our ears… “God doesn’t love you… Nobody does… You’re not worthy… You’ve committed the unpardonable sin… You’ll never be healed… God is punishing you...Nobody else is struggling with ____!” His wagging tongue is filled with lies that are out to destroy us. I have learned to use the reverse on him… If he tells me one thing…. I turn it around...and then I know what the truth is...what God thinks about me. When Satan tells me I can’t do it… I know I can do it and Satan is trying to keep me from what God is leading me to do for Him. Satan loves to minimize the consequences of our choices.
Pride
It’s the sin that brought Satan down. He decided he would like to be like God. Now he faces an eternity away from God, and he wants as many of us as possible to join him. Pride is a subtle thing. We can see it in others but we often cannot see it in ourselves. Pride is spiritual arrogance that makes us the final authority. Pride tells the mind that there are no absolutes, that sin has no real consequences. Pride lifts us up to think that we don’t need God, that we can think for ourselves, that we can make our own choices. It gets us in trouble every time. He makes us think we deserve to be seen, heard, win, have our rights, and have recognition . There is only one cure for pride and that is repentance. Satan does not have that choice, but we do. The Word teaches us that we must humble ourselves. We are not to wait for others to do it for us. We must recognize the authority of God. When a person exalts himself, God’s only alternative is to humble him. Satan wants us to believe that there are no absolutes —-that we can let a few things slide by. He wants us to let our guard down, just for a moment while he inserts his own ideas into our minds. In his mind, there are no absolutes because if there are, then he is absolutely finished. He does not want us to experience Christ’s absolute forgiveness. And that leads me to the next one...
Unforgiveness
It is one of Satan’s most diabolical weapons. We get hurt….by a Christian… or by an abuser….or by a Pastor… or by a family member. We nurse our wound...picking at it causing it to fester and become infected. Oh how he loves it when we do that. We lie to ourselves and tell ourselves that we are not unforgiving...just resentful and perhaps angry. Satan knows that if he can deceive us into harboring anger, bitterness, or grudges toward others, he can actually cause us to sin and loose our salvation. The scripture says, "looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled" (Heb. 12:15). There is a high price to pay for that root of bitterness—that unforgiveness. God can’t forgive us if we don’t forgive others. Forgiveness means that we must put the entire matter in His capable hands and let Him deal with it. Forgiveness means putting it behind us as if it never happened. That can be difficult. But if we love and trust the Lord as we often say we do, then we must! When we forgive others who have hurt us, we are the ones who get healed. We are the ones who benefit. So often those who hurt us don’t even know we are in torment. The torment we endure is because we refuse to submit to God. We refuse to trust. We refuse to let Him be justice in the matter. We are not letting Him be the Lord of our lives. Somehow we think if we just stay angry towards that person….they will change….they will feel bad… and we will be punishing them. In fact, we are the ones who are being punished. We are risking losing our salvation! It is a high price to pay to make ourselves ‘feel good’.
Sometimes the hardest part of forgiveness is learning to forgive ourselves. We feel so unworthy of forgiveness. Our wounded mind tells us we are not good enough to receive God’s forgiveness let alone someone else’s forgiveness. Not forgiving ourselves is really a matter of pride. We think we are too bad. We think no one else has ever thought like us. We put ourselves on a lonely pedestal while Satan has a field day pointing his accusing finger in our faces laughing! You need to know that you are not the first. Others have walked that path before you and the moment you get honest with yourself and with God, you will learn that His forgiveness is big enough for every sin! There is lots of information in the Scripture about how Satan works. In Matthew 13, we know he loves to put fakes among the real thing. He loves to steal the truth before it takes root in the Christian's life. In John 8, we learn he is the father of lies, the father of all unbelievers and he cannot tell the truth. 1 Timothy 3:6 tells us that he is the perfect illustration of what happens when pride rules. In Luke 13:16, we are told that he binds men through their physical circumstances. In Luke 22:31, we read that he desires to sift Christians until they fall. In Acts 5:3, we see that he fills men's hearts to lie. In 1 Corinthians 7, we learn how he loves to destroy marriages through temptation. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, we read that he battles to keep Christians from seeking forgiveness from one another. In Revelation 12, we see that he knows that his time is short. So He is working hard now.
This is not an easy world we are living in today. We are facing wars and rumors of wars. Inflation and spiraling gas prices hit our finances. Families are in turmoil. Society mocks those who serve the Lord. We don’t know what the future holds. But there is good news! No matter what Satan throws our way, no matter how high expenses go, no matter how much we face persecution for our faith, no matter what happens in the Middle East….God is still in control! We may feel like the bottom is falling out. But God wants to remind us that we are not home yet. We are only temporary citizens here. Eternity awaits us all. In a moment as quick as the blink of an eye, the King of Kings can come and takes us all home. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “To the end, He might establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints.”
If Satan has been using his arsenal on you, remember, he has already lost the battle. You can take a stand against his schemes and weapons in the all powerful name of Jesus. We are victorious through Christ Jesus our Lord! We are more than conquerors!
J. Johnson

Cosmetic Christianity...

It’s so pretty isn’t it? A lovely golden cross bejeweled with tiny diamonds, delicately fashioned to look like a bow on a package, hanging from a delicate golden chain. It is a symbol of Christianity. Yet in reality, the cross was never that pretty. In fact it was downright ugly. It was a tool of execution...like the gallows or the electric chair. We don’t glamorize those things….but we do with the cross… Here in the land of plenty, in the land of glamour, in the land of putting your best foot forward… we have all learned over time, the importance of our cosmetic world. I have never been one who was much into going to the perfume counters, or the beauty boutiques to peruse the latest fashions that would supposedly make me irresistible. Yet, some make a habit of it. They don’t like their looks, can’t accept that they are getting older. Refuse to put up with wrinkles, sags, and bags. So they make the trek to the beauty experts, to discover how to fake the world out that they are not as old as they really are. Reality is hard to accept sometimes. The hair is getting gray, eyelids droop, and your don’t know for sure who that old stranger is looking back at you in the mirror.
But what we see in the mirror does not even begin to reflect what God sees on the inside. He sees the real you…. Not glamorized by our attempts to show the world around us that we are just lovely. Too often Christians today get caught into the traps and behaviors of the world. We become experts at wearing a mask. We dare not let it down lest we reveal reality.
Cosmetic Prayer:
You’ve heard them pray….perfunctory prayers with big impressive words. But somehow they seemed like a lot of tinkling glass and clanging cymbals. Lots of show but no music. Don’t let it happen to you. You can’t change other people but you can change yourself. Choose to be real. Pray from your heart. Pray with emotion. Pray with sincerity. Pray as if your life depended on it. Pray as if God were standing right in front of you, hanging on every word. Jesus rebukes the phony kinds of cosmetic prayers we sometimes hear. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess…...for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; (Luke 18:11,12,14) but the publican, he commended… 13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner…...I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:…...and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18: 13,14). Choose to pray in a way that is pleasing to God. It may not be finely polished, perfect grammar, or be a prayer that they will one day write books about, but prayers prayed from the heart will reach the throne of God. When we pray, we need to unlearn what man’s idea of prayer is and learn God’s way. Jesus disciples noticed something different in the way he prayed. It so touched them that they asked Him to teach them how to do it… and it was not a cosmetic prayer. Some have made it into a cosmetic prayer today but that was never the Master’s intention. Up until that time, Jewish people had prayed but their prayer lives had become sterile and powerless. Many just left praying to the priests who had to wash themselves every time they said the name of Jehovah ‘Yahweh.’ It became so much work to pray that prayer lost its power, its purpose and its intimacy. Jesus tried to restore that. His prayer teaches us that we are to talk to God like a Father, telling him our basic needs, giving Him praise for who He is, yielding our will to His will, asking for forgiveness, praying with humility, honesty, and integrity. His prayer recognized the power source of Almighty God. This was no cosmetic prayer.
Cosmetic Church:
The larger and more complex the church becomes, the more cosmetic it also becomes. It is nearly impossible to keep a real complexion in front of a demanding mega church. As the church grows, it hires the best staff so the work gets done to perfection. Then the committees give the church a facelift….a new sanctuary, or new parking lot, or new décor….all with the goal of attracting more folks… and we polish and scrub in our attempt to make our crude carnal churches into something special. God calls it pride.
We fail to remember that this is His church… it is His body… His complexion. He is the One who needs to work on it. Changing the face of the church is not in providingprofessional staff members, or the beautification of the facilities. It is each individual person yielding to the searching work of the Holy Spirit. As he draws our attention to areas of weakness or neglect in our own lives, it then becomes our responsibility to yield that area to His control. Then he makes us into ‘new creations’ with a total makeover. He transforms us, not by cosmetics touchups, not by anything we can do, but only by the power that He has to change us from the inside out.
There are always those who think they have the gift of criticism… as if the Holy Spirit just does not know how to do the job right. So they step up to the microphone and let everyone know…. “ that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican…” Years ago, someone drew to my attention that when I point my finger at someone else, I have three fingers pointing back at me. I have learned that it is not my job to judge others. It is my job to work on me.
Christians have given Christianity a bad name. On the internet in a Yahoo question and answer forum lately, a question was asked… “Why do Christians hate other Christians.” When we act in an un-Christ-like manner towards others who call themselves Christians, we are not only hurting our own image, we are damaging the image of Christ before the world. Denominations are notorious for attacking other denominations if they happen to disagree on one small point of doctrine. To the world, we look like fools. We play into the enemy’s hands as he divides and conquers. He keeps us so busy with fighting and quarreling among ourselves that we fail to realize that the real purpose we are here for, is not to perfect doctrine, define bylaws, or get more education, but to tell the good news. We choose to focus on news headlines of our own making….instead of lifting Jesus higher for all the world to see. While the church squabbles, souls are dying without Christ. While we argue about the color of the carpet, whether to sing hymns or choruses, or if we should get rid of the pews and get chairs…..just down the street, a home is breaking up in divorce, a dad is caught up in pornography or gambling, a mom is hooked on drugs or alcohol, and kids are being abused. Across the tracks, downtown, churches have packed their bags and moved to the ‘nice’ neighborhood. I am reminded of the story written about the ....
Life Saving Station:
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat but a few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little life saving station, so it became famous. So some of those who had been saved, and various others from the surrounding areas wanted to become associated with this station, and give of their time and their money and their effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought, new life saving crews were trained, and the little life saving station grew.
Some of the members of the life saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots and beds with better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it, and they beautifully furnished it exquisitely because they used it as something of a club. Few members were now interested in going to sea on life saving missions so they hired life boat crews to do the work. The life saving motif still prevailed in the life saving club's decorations and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held it's initiations, but professionalism had taken over and displaced the original purpose of lifesaving.
Now about this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some of them had yellow skin and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up - so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the victims of ship wrecks could be cleaned up before they came inside. At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. You see most of the members wanted to stop the clubs life saving activity as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life saving as their primary purpose and they pointed out that they were still called the life saving station. But they were finally voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, and dirty and wet, they could begin their own life saving station down the coast a little ways, which they did. And as the years went by the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old one. It evolved into a club, and yet another life saving station was founded. Well history continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore which are very professional in nature. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
Let’s get real! Don’t be a market driven cosmetic Christian. Be real. The world is tired of phonies. Keep your roots pure and your foundation strong! Stand for the truths in the Bible. Swim away from the crowd. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Do what’s right! Your stand for God may make an eternal difference for one lost soul. How you handle it may determine their outcome. Don’t let fear and intimidation deter your calling or your vision. If God is in it, go for it!
J. Johnson

Are You Doing All You Can For God?

Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry?
Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die?
Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand?
Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you DAMNED?*
The church today seems caught up in a whirlpool of business, a stream of activities that brings most believers no closer to God, and which fail to reap a harvest of souls. If you went to most any church in America and asked the congregation how many have led someone to Jesus Christ personally in the last year, there would be few hands raised. Today the church of Jesus Christ is caught up with trying to please the people, trying to make them happy enough to stay and leave their tithes behind. Unfortunately, that’s not what Jesus Christ was talking about when he told the disciples, “I will build my church.” Building a true church of the living God is not making people happy, but making God happy. God is happy when people live holy lives with God at the top of their priorities. If you find yourself unhappy with your church, maybe you need to check your heart first and see if it is holy. Let the Holy Spirit shine His light around in all the dark places until all the true agendas are revealed.
The Busy Church
We are too busy for God, for revival, for prayer, for witnessing, for fasting, for reaching out beyond the four walls of our ‘churches’ to the hurting lost world around us. Where are those who are weeping for lost souls? Where are those who are going out of their way to seek the lost and lead them to the Savior. Most of them are so busy ‘working for God’ in the church, they have no time to talk to their neighbor about Jesus Christ. They have to go attend the aerobic workout at church. They have to learn how to tie flies at the men’s breakfast. Leonard Ravenhill once wrote: “This is an hour in need of burning hearts, bursting lips and brimming eyes! If we were a tenth as spiritual as we think we are, our streets would be filled each Sunday with throngs of believers marching to Zion - with sacks on their bodies and ashes on their shaking heads, shaking at the calamity that has brought the Church to be the unlovely, unnerved, unproductive thing that she is!
Some would try to argue that the church is not unproductive. But what I wonder is, what is the church productive in? If it is good at making people happy…. It may be productive in a worldly way, but not necessarily in a way that is pleasing to God. If the church is productive in getting lots of bodies into the building, but yet those bodies go home still spiritually hungry, there is no success. The church can keep people busy from Monday through Sunday, but if those people fail to maintain holy lives, fail to witness, win and disciple new converts, is there truly success? I am concerned that we are teaching a new generation how to be a ‘Christian’ and do nothing for God. We model for them that serving God is going to church and putting an offering in the plate. Sadly, some think that such behavior is sufficient to provide an automatic pass into heaven. The once ‘on-fire’ church is slowly becoming just like past denominations that faded off into spiritual oblivion, overtaken by rules, duties, obligations and ritual. The gospel believing church is gradually loosing the fresh touch of holy anointing, trading it for control, financial security, and tradition. One of the symptoms that marks this deterioration is the increasing number of pastors who are leaving the ministry, frustrated, unfulfilled, and some falling into sin.
While on the surface, everything is in place—slick bulletins, fancy seasonal programs, well educated clergy—underneath there is a rip-tide of spiritual depravity that is destroying the church. Our busy façade covers a multitude of weaknesses. We begin to substitute pleasantries for the hard spiritual work of prayer, fasting, seeking the face of God. We refuse to tolerate those who demand sacrifice and personal involvement in ministry roles. We tend to develop a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. We pick and choose our assignments depending on our comfort rather than on what God wants or asks of us. This is dangerous territory for the body of Christ. The Bible teaches us about the life of King David. As long as he sought the Lord, everything went fine. The moment he failed to seek the Lord and did his own thing, that’s when temptation came, battles were lost, murder was found in his heart and decisions were made that led David, his family, and the nation of Israel into sin and decay. Can we learn from history? Can the Holy Spirit so prick our hearts that we will change the way we think and act?
The Lost World
Amy Carmichael, missionary, once wrote of this moving experience entitled “The Cry of the Blood”:
The tom-toms thumped on all night, and the darkness shuddered round me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and looked; and I saw, and it seemed like this:
That I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only coiled shapes, black hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.
Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms an another child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step...it trod air. She was over, and the children over with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!
Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone-blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly and fell without a sound.
Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could not call. Though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.
Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the intervals were far too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of Hell. Then I saw, like a picture of peace, a group of people under some trees, with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes, when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them, it disturbed them and they thought it rather a vulgar noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. "Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite 'call' to go. You haven't finished your daisy chains. It would be really selfish," they said, "to leave us to finish the work alone."
There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was to get some sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and sometimes there were no sentries for miles and miles at the edges. Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called, and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the "rules." And, being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest a while; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.
Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf; the child clung convulsively, and it called but nobody seemed to hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass.
And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which her relatives reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere--the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And they sang a hymn.
Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was upon ME, for I knew what it was--the cry of the blood. Then thundered a Voice, "...the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people..." Jesus said, "...Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature... and, lo, I am with you alway..." (Isaiah 6:8, 9; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:20).
Church, what are we doing to win that lost world to Jesus Christ? As Amy says...What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it? God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin! We need a renewed passion for the lost, a fresh vision of Jesus, and ears attentive to his commands.. “Go ye into all the world….” J.Johnson * selected poem from Leonard Ravenhill

In His Steps...

There is no cuter sight than to watch a little boy follow his Daddy, trying to do just as he does, walking like he walks, hands in pockets just like dad, imitating his every movement. We see the same in little girls as they play in their rooms with dolls, saying just what Mommy would say, dressing like mommy, mirror images of what they see modeled before them daily. For parents it is sometimes scary as we see ourselves mirrored in our children. Children model not only the good things, but the bad. Sometimes we hear them saying things we wish we had never let slip out of our mouths.
The old saying goes “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” We try to imitate those who are our heroes in life. Sometimes we choose our heroes well, and other times we tend to go with the flow...picking popular people, even if their behavior is not acceptable. As a result we find our youth mimicking rock stars,
actors and sports heroes. These ideals may participate in drugs, illicit sex, and fast life styles that are not the best role models for vulnerable minds to accept as heroes.
Paul tried to set the example for us in 1 Corinthians11:1 when he wrote.. “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ”. In other words, imitate me, when I do the things Christ would do and say. But when I am not, don’t imitate me. The question is, how did Paul imitate Christ? Was it his copying of Christ’s hairstyle and clothing? No, of course not. It was much more than that. To truly imitate someone, you must spend lots of time with them. Paul did not have that advantage as the other disciples did. Yet, I feel he succeeded even more so than most of the other disciples. Paul met Jesus face to face for the first time on the Damascus Road in a blinding light. From that moment on, Paul endeavored to make his life count by imitating Christ.
1. His obedience
We are a disobedient people today. Yet Jesus, who is our supreme example, walked in complete obedience to His Father. He knew that all that He had to accomplish required complete harmony and obedience with His Father. John 5:19 tells us “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” To walk in obedience to the Father, we must be close enough to know His voice, and confidently do what He tells us to do. We can be confident when we spend time in the Word of God, and prayer, when we can clearly distinguish between what God is saying and what the enemy tries to throw in to confuse us. His voice never contradicts His Word. God never tells people to kill other people because he says in His Word… “Thou shalt not kill.” But if we don’t spend time in the Word, we won’t know what it says. We won’t know His ways. We won’t know His voice. Then we become vulnerable, listening to whatever voices shout the loudest or make the biggest impression. If we know our Father, we will know his voice. Have you ever noticed in life there are certain people with distinctive voices? You hear them speak once… and you never forget their voice. You can hear them years later, and identify them just by the sound of their voice. That’s how we need to know our heavenly Father. The key is, not just knowing the voice, but doing what he tells us to do. That’s what Jesus did. He never did anything of his own accord. He only did what His Father told Him to do. He lived and walked in total obedience.
2. His love for People
One of the most noteworthy characteristics of Jesus is that He loved others more than He loved Himself. “A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). We are to love just like He did. Paul also confirmed that we are to love like Christ loved. “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1,2) When we think of the different humble ways Christ showed his love for others—washing his disciples feet, feeding the hungry, touching lepers and healing them, ministering to prostitutes—we have a long way to go to learn His ways of love. Paul tells us that we are “to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” ( Eph 4:24) If we are to be loving people, we need to put away the old ways of doing things, and put on the ‘new you’, the one modeled after Christ. The Creator of the world was willing to stoop down to the earth, wash dirty feet, touch corrupt bodies, and ultimately provide His own body as a sacrifice for sin. Loving each other means forgiving each other. “Be kind, and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you. Be imitators of God…..” (Eph 4:31-5:1) That love is modeled for us by Christ and is the pattern for marriage. Imitating Christ makes a man a Godly man. “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word…”(Eph 5:25,26) Having the mind of Christ means we are willing to think thoughts like Christ and let those thoughts motivate us to Christ-like actions. What is Christ doing? That’s what we should be doing. Just as Christ was willing to speak and minister to the Samaritan woman at the well, the outcasts of Jewish society, we should be willing to reach out to elements around us that others may ostracize because of poverty, race, religion, or culture. Old family prejudices must die in the family of God. That’s the demand of love.
3. His Sacrificial Giving
What messages of sacrifice do you send your family? What are you willing to give to God? Believers used to give God one day in seven. On that day they would attend church, usually twice, and spend the rest of the day with their family, influencing them for God. Today everything has changed. If believers spend four hours per month dedicated to God, they feel they have done their ‘duty’. They have no time for Bible studies with friends, devotionals at home. The example we set before our children and family is extremely important. Can you honestly say to your children, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ. Imitate my church attendance, my devotional life, my prayer life, my spiritual priorities in service to others for God?” When our lifestyle truly is a mirror of Christ, our families will want to be what they see...for they will see Christ in us. But if we are shallow, empty reflections, they will see the hypocrisy and turn away in disgust. They will measure Christ by what they see in you. If your time for yourself is more important than your time with God…they will notice, and will choose to follow a similar path. If you choose to hoard the blessings God has given, failing to give to God and to others, it sends a message that God’s not important, church is not important, prayer is not important. A new set of values is firmly established in the next generation. What are you giving to God today? Does it reflect a measure of what you want Christ to see in you? Is it a sacrifice? Is your sacrifice made with humility and genuine love? That’s the kind Jesus gave for you and I.
4. Knowing Him Intimately
I remember when my boys were little they would try to wear Dad’s shoes, and dress up in Dad’s clothes. They had to live in Dad’s house and spend time with Dad to want to be like him that much. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to “Put on all the armor of God…” Dress in Father’s protective clothing designed for spiritual warfare. There is nothing more valuable that we can pass on to the next generation than our love for God and our desire to know Christ in supreme intimacy. Paul considered everything else worthless compared to knowing Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:8) He so longed to know Him, that he called everything else ‘rubbish’. Not only did he want to know Christ, but he also wanted to know the power of the resurrected Christ, and the intimacy of His suffering, even willing to die for this intimacy. What are you willing to die for? Sacrifice for? The moment we pull away from God, begin living for our selfish interests, we make ourselves independent operators. We tell God, “I can do it myself.” Unfortunately, you cannot die for your sin. You can only die in your sin. The price for independent living is extremely high, and eternally long. While the world around us wants to boast in their ability to succeed, ultimately, when they face death, they all discover an element they forgot about in life...eternity.
We live in a skeptical world, filled with questioning elements that seek to undermine the strength of the message of Jesus Christ. Every man, woman, boy and girl must make a choice, one that will determine their eternal destiny. Most of those who question the validity of the message have never even read the message. They have listened to others and their opinions. Yet their eternal destiny rests in the way they choose. If you have doubts, go to the source of Truth… Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, and read his love letter to the world. You will never be the same again!
Do you desire to be more like Christ? There is no magic quick fix pill to take to achieve it. It is a daily walk of faithfulness, commitment and love. It takes discipline, determination and devotion. It is a decision you must make. That decision will raise you to a higher lever, a closer place of intimacy than you have ever known before. Your choice will affect every aspect of your life….your church attendance, your finances, your job performance, your marriage, your relationships and most of all, your intimacy with God.
Whose footsteps are you following? Your heavenly Father’s, or satan’s? Step carefully and follow God with all of your heart! “ If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” ( 1 John 1:6-7) Are you walking in His steps? J. Johnson