the world

Fire In My Bones.

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If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” – Jeremiah 20:9-10 ESV

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Jeremiah had given his nemesis, Pashtur, an interesting, if not too flattering, nickname. “The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, ‘The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side’” (Jeremiah 20:3 ESV). But in reality, Jeremiah had become known for having a one-track mind that always seemed to be thinking about nothing but doom and gloom. It had gotten so bad that Jeremiah had contemplated giving up his job as a prophet of God. But every time he tried, he found himself unable to contain the message God had given him. He described it as “a burning fire shut up in my bones”. Even his close friends had threatened to denounce him because of his incessant calls to repentance and warning about pending judgment. They were even anxious to see him proven wrong. Their collective hope was that Jeremiah, while a prophet of God, could just be deceived and his message not be from God at all. After all, there were other prophets claiming to speak for God who were offering up a message that was radically different than that of Jeremiah. But God would have harsh words for those individuals. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, “No disaster shall come upon you”’” (Jeremiah 23:16-17 ESV).

It doesn’t take a genius to understand whose message was more readily received. The false prophets were telling the people exactly what they wanted to hear: All is well. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be fine. God is not angry. Destruction is not coming. Jeremiah is wrong. But God felt otherwise. “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds” (Jeremiah 23:21-22 ESV). These men didn’t speak for God. They were simply telling the people what they wanted to hear. As a result, they were popular. Their messages were well received. Centuries later, Paul would warn Timothy about a similar situation in his own day. “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3 NLT). The fact is, the truth is hard to handle. Sometimes we just don’t want to hear it. Sometimes we don’t want to tell it. And like Jeremiah, we live in a time when the truth of God is not politically correct or popular. Sin is becoming increasingly acceptable and, in many ways, celebrated. Courts made up of men now determine what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. Behavior that was once classified as sin is now deemed normal and natural. The Word of God, which speaks clearly and truthfully about such matters, is simply reinterpreted, redefined or simply ignored in order to justify behaviors that God classifies as sin.

And in the midst of all the pressure to conform and compromise, it would be tempting to give in. It would be easy to soften our message in order to find acceptance. After all, nobody likes rejection – even Jeremiah. But he discovered that he had a fire in his bones, a burning in his heart that would not allow him to shut up or give up. Despite the opposition, he had to keep speaking the truth of God to the people of God. God had given him a message and he was obligated to share it, whether anyone wanted to hear it or not. He was also called to live differently than those around him. He couldn’t afford to compromise his convictions or cut corners when it came to his commitment to God. And the writer of Hebrews had a similar message to his readers. “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:1-6 ESV).

The truth of God is not always easy to hear. It isn’t always easy to share either. But it is the truth of God that sets men free. The lies of the enemy deceive and delude. The world wants to contradict the Word of God. Even many of our fellow believers would rather listen to the promises of so-called prophets who offer us false hope and faulty messages that contradict the will of God. Hearing what we want to hear may be comforting for a season, but it will always prove dangerous and deadly. The truth of God is what we need to hear. And our prayer should be that God would give us a fire in our bones to speak the truth in love, against all odds and in the face of any and all opposition. Because the Lord is our helper. We have nothing to fear. What can men do to us?

The Folly of What Is Fading.

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And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. – 1 John 2:17 ESV

This world is temporary and transient. But for most of us, it has become our only perception of what is real. Here in this world we can see, touch, smell and experience what appears to be reality. We can enjoy a good meal, watch a beautiful sunset, feel the love of another human being, and experience a thousand other moments of legitimate joy and pleasure. And there is nothing wrong with any of those things, until we allow them to replace or distract us from what is truly real. John’s whole point in this passage has been to warn believers of the danger of the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride we get from our possessions or positions. When we turn to those things in order to find our sense of worth and value or to feed our need for self-importance and self-indulgence, we have lost sight of reality. Those things we lust after, long for, and find satisfaction in are temporary and not timeless. John says they are fading away. Not only that, he indicates that our desire for them should be diminishing as well. As believers, we should have a growing sense of eternity, that our destiny is out ahead of us. This world is not our true home. We truly are just passing through on our way to somewhere else.

The writer of Hebrews spoke of this very attitude when he wrote about the saints of the Old Testament. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10 ESV). Abraham never got to live in a city with foundations – on this earth. But he does now. His faith was in something he couldn’t see. He trusted the promises of God in spite of the fact that those promises so often appeared to be unfulfilled. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV). Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Abel, Isaac, and Jacob – they all lived by faith, setting their hopes on things they could not see. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT).

The danger we all face is to confuse our present circumstances with future reality. Nothing here lasts. New cars become old ones. They lose their value as soon as you drive them off the lot. New outfits become outdated in no time at all. New homes slowly fall apart. New toys lose their novelty and appeal. Even the bodies we live in are growing old and giving out on us. But Paul would remind us that these bodies are indeed temporary. They are not built to last. But we are. We are eternal creatures. Our souls are eternal and not temporary. Paul refers to these bodies as tents – much like what Abraham lived in. They are not our permanent home. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.” (2 Corinthians 5:1 NLT). We are to live in this world with a sense of expectation in what is to come. Like Abraham, we are to see ourselves as temporary residents here. Our home is elsewhere. “So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:6-9 NLT).

Our goal is to please Him. That is exactly John’s point when he says, “whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17 ESV). We are to live in this world with a determination to do what is pleasing to God, not ourselves. We are eternal creatures. We have an eternal destiny. This world is fading along with its desires. Which is why Paul warns us to live our time here wisely and carefully, with a full awareness that how we live our life in the here and now directly is directly tied to our view of the hereafter. “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT).

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Self-indulgence.

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For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. – 1 John 2:16 NLT

Self-indulgence: indulging one’s own desires, passions, whims, etc., especially without restraint. The second description John gives us to let us know if we are having a love affair with the world is a craving for everything we see or, as the ESV puts it, “the desires of the eyes.” But as I stated in my last post, this is really all about love of self. While it appears to be a reciprocal in nature, it is really one-directional. The world, under the control of its Satan, is only more than happy to oblige our obsession with self and give us what we think we want, need or deserve. It gladly feeds our insatiable appetite for more, like a drug dealer supplies the fix for a junkie. No love is involved. And in the end, a love of self becomes self-destructive. Which is why Jesus warned us that the world would hate us. It seeks our destruction, not our delight. So when we turn to the world to help us fulfill our craving for all we see, it is more than willing to play its part. In fact, it feeds the monster inside us through a steady diet of images and messages designed to tease us and tempt us to have what we don’t really need. Having spent 29 years in the advertising business, I am quite familiar with an old adage that says, “advertising is designed to get people to buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t like.” Sadly, there is a lot of truth to that claim. Ads for products and services are designed to get us to become dissatisfied with what we DO have and desire something we DON’T have. A newer car. A bigger home in a better neighborhood. A different perfume that will make us more attractive or a new outfit that will make us more popular. In longing for these things, we make them little gods, expecting them to deliver to us and for us the contentment, joy, satisfaction and sense of self-worth we long for. And it is not that these things are bad. In fact, this symptom of worldly love is quite different than the desire of the flesh we talked about yesterday. That is when we desire or crave something God has forbidden. We say yes to what God has no to. But the desire of the eyes is when we say yes to what God has NOT said yes to. In other words, we indulge our desires without including God in the decision. And for most of us, we do it quite often. Just think about all the purchases you make without giving God’s input a second thought. Would He want you to have that new car? What would He think about your purchase of a new outfit or a new set of golf clubs. It is not that these things are evil or wrong. It is a question of whether they are truly needed. They are typically wants and desires, not necessities.

Over in the gospel of Matthew, we have the words of Jesus warning us to avoid the love of money, because as believers, it is impossible for us to serve two masters. We will end up loving one and hating the other. Then Jesus says, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25 NLT). Then He uses the birds and the flowers as examples of God’s ability to feed and care for His creation. It is all a matter of faith. Do we trust God to provide what we really need or are we going to give in to our natural desire to purchase our satisfaction and contentment from the temporary things this world offers. Jesus would tell us, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT). There is nothing wrong with buying a new dress, a new flat screen TV, a more reliable car, a more comfortable home or new carpet for the living room. It is a matter of motivation. So often, we are driven by our sin nature and we don’t even know it. We are struggling with discontentment and dissatisfaction with life, so we become easy targets for the advertising messages designed to feed our ego, stroke our pride, and make us the center of our world. The danger is that we are to keep God at the center of our world. We are to seek His Kingdom, not our own. We are to fulfill His desires, not our own. Self-indulgence is self-love without restraint, without oversight. It would be like a child let free in a candy store without their parents and with free access to all the treats on the shelves. The outlook, from the child’s perspective would be bright, but the outcome would be less than happy. God longs to be involved in every area of our lives. He wants to be included in our decisions. He wants to be consulted in what we do and how we spend our money. Because He cares. He knows our hearts. He can see the inward motivation and help us steer clear of self-indulgent behavior that is ultimately self-destructive.

Isaiah 33-34, Jude 1

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To Him Who Is Able.

Isaiah 33-34, Jude 1

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – Jude 1:24-25 ESV

One of the difficult things about reading the book of Isaiah is how it mixes together events that will take place in the not-so-distant future and those that have yet to take place. Within a single chapter you will have prophecies concerning the coming destruction of Judah at the hands of the Assyrians, and predictions of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. There would be more immediate fulfillments of many of the prophecies contained in the book of Isaiah. But some of them would be partial in nature, to be fulfilled in their entirety in the end times. God’s divine plan has an end to it. There is a final aspect to His dealings with mankind and the people of Israel. And yet, He is operating in time and space, all along the way, orchestrating events in such a way that all things will culminate on His predetermined schedule. God told Isaiah, “Now I will arise…now I will lift myself up, now I will be exalted” (Isaiah 33:10 ESV). There is a day coming when God will implement the final phase of His great plan. “For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8 ESV). The difficult we face is our inability to see what God has planned out into the future. We are limited in our perspective. So God told us what would happen. He gave us a glimpse into the future. He provided us with an assurance that He has it all taken care of and there is nothing for us to worry about.

What does this passage reveal about God?

The people of God would find themselves falling victim to the attacks of Assyria and Babylon. The northern kingdom of Israel would end up destroyed and living in captivity in Assyrian. Not long afterwards, the southern kingdom of Judah would fall to the Babylonians and end up in living in exile for 70 years. But God was not done yet. He would eventually restore them to their land. He would keep His promise to Abraham and allow them to return to the land of Canaan. He would miraculously provide for them so that they could rebuild the city of Jerusalem, restore the walls that surrounded it and reconstruct the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. But they would find themselves without a king. Over the next centuries, they would be relatively powerless and helpless, unable to defend themselves against outside forces and constantly ending up the pawns of more powerful forces. But God was not done with them yet. He would eventually send His Son to be born as one of them. He would grow up among them. He would preach a message of repentance to them. But they would eventually reject Him, demanding His death. But again, God was not done with them. God’s ultimate plan for His people, the Jews, involves a yet-to-be-fulfilled event that still looms out in the future. Isaiah is given a glimpse of that yet future event. “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty” (Isaiah 33:17 ESV). “Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, not will any of its cords be broken. But there the Lord in majesty will be for us” (Isaiah 33:20-21 ESV). How easy it is to judge the faithfulness of God based on our limited perspective. How quick we can be to jump to conclusions and question God’s sovereignty or doubt His love. But we must always remember that God is not done yet.

What does this passage reveal about man?

As God’s people, this world will always be a place of difficulty and confusion. This world was never intended to be our permanent home. We should not allow ourselves to get too comfortable here. But because we have limited perspective and are unable to see very far into the future, we can find ourselves becoming infatuated and enchanted with what this world has to offer. We can end up expecting all of God’s blessings to show up here and now, forgetting that His plan involves the hereafter. God has an eternal perspective, not a temporal one. Our greatest challenge is to keep our eyes focused on Him and not what we see happening around us. We must cling to His promises concerning the future. But the world will want us to see this life as our preferred destiny. We will find ourselves tempted to try and get all we can get now, to live for the moment. But God wants us to live for the future. So He has provided us with glimpses into what is going to happen. He has made it clear that there is a day coming when His Son will return and the final chapter of the story will be written. In this life, we will find ourselves surrounded by those who would tempt us to follow their lead, discounting the activity of God in our lives and dismissing the inevitability of the life to come. They will infiltrate the people of God, disguised as one of the flock, but with evil intentions and motivated by wrong motives. Jude described them in very stark terms: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4 ESV). He goes on to say that they “defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” (Jude 1:8 ESV). “These people blaspheme all that they do not understand” (Jude 1:10 ESV). They are “grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires, they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage” (Jude 1:16 ESV). Basically, these people are worldly and devoid of the Spirit. He compares them to hidden reefs, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild waves and wandering stars. In other words, they can’t be trusted.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

But there is one we can trust: Jesus Christ. He is able to keep us from stumbling. He is able to keep us in the love of God and protect us, even when we find ourselves surrounded by those who would deceive and distract us. Isaiah found himself surrounded by those who would reject not only his message, but his God. He had to be reminded that God was not finished, that He had a plan. God would prove Himself faithful. The test for Isaiah would be whether he would remain faithful to God as his world seemingly collapsed around him. He would have to trust God while his contemporaries continued to live in open rebellion to God. He would have to continue preaching his message of repentance when no one seemed to be listening or responding. Jude told his readers, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21 ESV). We must remain faithful. We must trust that God will be faithful and send His Son to finish what He began. In the meantime we are to “have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire, to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:22-23 ESV). 

Father, You are trustworthy. I can rest in the knowledge that You have a plan that You are working and there is no one who can stop it. I must not let the presence of those who would distract or deceive me disturb me. You told me there would be those who would try to sneak in and take my focus off of the reality of Your sovereign plan and Your Son’s eminent return. Help me stay faithful even if those around me decide to follow their own sinful desires. I want to remain blameless and true, dependent on You and determined to stay the course until the end. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Nehemiah 3-4, Hebrews 7

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Our Great Intercessor.

Nehemiah 3-4, Hebrews 7

Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.  – Hebrews 7:25 NLT

God has always provided a way out for His people. While they may have found themselves facing times of difficulty and despair, God was always nearby, ready to intercede on their behalf. As Nehemiah and the people began the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, they not only faced a formidable task, they encountered opposition. Any time the people of God attempt to do the work and the will of God, they will find themselves confronted by the enemies of God. As the people worked side by side repairing and restoring the walls, their enemies mocked, jeered and threatened them. The enemies of God will always attempt to undermine the efforts of His people. “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” (Nehemiah 4:2 NLT). God’s enemies will always try to feed the doubts and fears lingering in the minds of God’s people. Satan has an uncanny knack of getting us to question our own ability to carry out what God has called us to do. ““That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” (Nehemiah 8:3 NLT). But the remedy to the taunts and jeers of the enemy is prayer. We must always turn to the One who can provide a way out. Which is exactly what Nehemiah did.

What does this passage reveal about God?

Nehemiah took their need to the very One who could do something about it. He turned to God. He begged God to intervene and hold their enemies responsible for their constant threats and their unceasing efforts to undermine the work of God. Nehemiah knew that those who stood against him and the work on the wall were really standing against God. As long as the people of God were doing the work of God, they could count on His protection and provision. Nehemiah was able to encourage the people to trust in God, despite what they might hear or see. “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” (Nehemiah 4:14 NLT). But isn’t it interesting that while Nehemiah reminds the people to remember God, he also tells them to be prepared to fight. God would do His part, but they must also be ready to do theirs. We see in this passage a timeless principle that mixes prayer with preparation. Right after Nehemiah’s prayer recorded in chapter four, we read, “So we built the wall” (Nehemiah 4:6 ESV). Nehemiah knew that they had a job to do – a job given to them directly from God. He also knew that they must be prepared and vigilant. While the battle was ultimately the Lord’s, that did not mean there would be no role for them to play. So they prayed AND took practical steps to prepare to defend their families, their nation and their work. “But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves” (Nehemiah 4:9 NLT).      

What does this passage reveal about man?

God has work for His people to do. Just as He had called the people of Israel and set them apart to be a holy nation, He has called believers to live lives that are distinctly different and wholly dedicated to His Kingdom. We exist for His glory, not our own. We are here to serve as His ambassadors, acting as salt and light in the world, and conduits of His grace to a lost and dying generation. And as we do His will, we will face opposition. His enemies will become our enemies. They will taunt, threaten, and even attack us. And when they do, we must turn to the One who always stands ready to provide protection and provision. We have a great High Priest in Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, and the writer of Hebrews tells us, “He lives forever to intercede with God” on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25 ESV). In Jesus, we have found an advocate and representative who ministers on our behalf. He stands ready to aid and assist us every step along the way as we attempt to faithfully do God’s will in the face of ongoing opposition. The people of Judah should have been very grateful that they had someone like Nehemiah to stand in the gap for them and take their problems to God. But as believers in Jesus Christ, we don’t have to rely on a fallible man, we have Jesus Christ, “who has been made perfect forever” (Hebrews 7:28 ESV). “He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven” (Hebrews 7:26 NLT). And we can turn to Him at any time to help us with any need we may have.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

This life can at times be difficult. As the people of God we will always be surrounded by the enemies of God. When we attempt to do God’s will and accomplish the work He has given us, we can count on facing opposition. We will even encounter our own sin natures along the way. We are told that we will face the world, the flesh and the enemy. All three will do their best to undermine our efforts and cause us to doubt and despair. But we must remember that we have an advocate with the Father. We have an intercessor who stands ready to step in and provide us with all we need to fight the good fight to the finish. As we do God’s will, we must never forget that we have God’s Son on our side. He has already won the battle. He has already conquered sin and death through His selfless sacrifice on the cross. His resurrection turned defeat into victory and should turn our despair into hope. I am reminded of the words of Paul recorded in Romans 8:31-39:

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Father, You never told us that this life would be easy or without struggle. But You did tell us that You would be here for us. You even sent Your Son to provide us with a way to have constant, unhindered access into Your presence. Now He sits at Your right hand, interceding on our behalf. We can face the condemnation and threats of the enemy because of what He has done. We can live victoriously in this life because He is with us. At the end of the day, we can rest in the knowledge that we are loved by You. And nothing can ever separate us from that love. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Ezra 7-8, Hebrews 4

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Entering God’s Rest.

Ezra 7-8, Hebrews 4

So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.  – Hebrews 4:11 NLT

Ezra would lead a remnant of Israelites on a 900-mile journey from the land of Babylon to Jerusalem that would take four long months. He clearly knew that God was behind this endeavor because he had seen God bring it all about. King Artaxerxes had decreed that Ezra would lead a group of Jews back to the land of promise and had provided funding for the trip. Ezra’s response was, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the kings mighty officers” (Ezra 7:27-28 ESV). Ezra was encouraged by what he had seen his God do. He knew the hand of God was one him, so he would gather the people together and plan for the trip that God had ordained. It would be hard. It would be long. It would be dangerous. So he called the people to fast and pray, seeking God’s divine protection and “a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21 ESV). And God heard their prayers and He answered. Four months after having left Babylon, they would arrive in Jerusalem, tired, but thankful to God for His hand in making their trip possible. “The hand of our God was one us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way” (Ezra 8:31-32 ESV).

But not everyone made the trip. Not every Jew was willing to leave the safety of Babylon to make the long, arduous trip back to Jerusalem. Many had grown comfortable with their lifestyle in captivity. A great many of the Jews had been born in Babylon and had never set foot in the land of Judah. So they were reluctant to make the trip. Ezra even had a difficult time finding enough Levites to return with him. This was the tribe God had appointed to serve in the Temple. They were the spiritual leaders of the people of Israel, and yet when Ezra gathered all the people to prepare for the trip to Jerusalem, he said, “I found there none of the sons of Levi” (Ezra 8:15 ESV). Not everyone shared Ezra’s enthusiasm and optimism for returning to the land, even though it was in direct fulfillment of God’s promises.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God was orchestrating all the events in such a way that His divine will was being fulfilled just as He had planned. Once again, He would use a pagan king to accomplish His will. He would use King Artaxerxes’ fear of divine retribution to motivate him to send the people of God back to the land. Artaxerxes would write, “Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons” (Ezra 7:23 ESV). This great and powerful king feared God. His actions were motivated by self-protection. We don’t know how God communicated His divine will to Artaxerxes, but it is clear that this man was not willing to anger God by disobeying His will. And yet, there would be countless Jews who would refuse to return to the land. They would choose remain in captivity, even though God was providing them with a miraculous opportunity to return to the land He had given them many years earlier. God was faithfully keeping His promise to return them to the land, but many of them would refuse to go. The people of God would reject the offer of God for His divine protection, provision and peace. After 70 years in captivity, He was offering them the chance to experience His rest and peace once again. But they would refuse.      

What does this passage reveal about man?

And yet Ezra and his small band of faithful followers would make the trip. They would take God up on His offer and walk the 900 miles back to Jerusalem. They were willing to suffer the dangers and difficulties all along the way, with their kids in tow, the treasures given to them by King Artaxerxes hidden among them, and their sights set on their final destination. The writer of Hebrews addresses another group of God’s people, the believing Jews who were living out their faith during difficult days, surrounded by all kinds of opposition and enemies. These Christian Jews were finding it difficult to remain faithful to God’s call on their lives. They were being tempted to give up and give in to the pressures to compromise their faith. So the writer reminded the, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened” (Hebrews 4:1-2 ESV). He uses the history of their own people to remind them of the need to remain true to their calling. Their ancestors, who had made the trip from Egypt to the land of promise under the direction of Moses, had failed to enter the land the first time. When they had arrived at the edge of the land, they discovered it was filled with “giants.” So rather than trust God and enter, they gave in to their fears and turned away. That entire generation of Jews would die off in the wilderness as they wandered for the next 40 years. The author uses this historic event was a warning. “ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’” (Hebrews 4:6-7 ESV). He strongly encourages them to remain obedient and faithful, and to “strive to enter tha rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Hebrews 11:11 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

The rest spoken of in this passage is a future rest. It has to do with the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises of eternal life. He is speaking of our final inheritance, set aside for us by God, and made available to us by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Peter reminds us of the nature of this inheritance. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see” (1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT). In this life, we are to live with our hopes set on what is to come. This world is not our home. The things of this earth are a mere shadow of what is to come. Our expectations of greater things to come should motivate us to remain faithful in this life – regardless of the difficulties we may face along the way. Peter goes on to say, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT). Keep you eye in the prize. One day you will enter that rest. But in the meantime, stay focused. Stay faithful. Keep walking. Keep trusting.

Father, help me to never lose sight of what really matters. Don’t let me make this world my home. I don’t want to be like those Jews who were willing to stay in captivity when they had been given the chance to experience Your power, provision and peace. They were unwilling to step out in faith and suffer the pains of the journey, but they missed out on Your rest. While I know I can’t lose my salvation or do anything to cause You to disinherit me, I don’t want to be unfaithful or ungrateful for all that You have done and are going to do for me in the future. I want to remain true. I want to walk in faith. I want to trust You through it all until You accomplish it all, just as You have planned and promised. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

1 Kings 15-16, 2 Corinthians 6

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Unequally Yoked.

1 Kings 15-16, 2 Corinthians 6

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. – 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 ESV

The people of Israel had been set apart by God to be His special possession. Moses had told them, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV). He went on to tell them that their choice by God was “because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers” (Deuteronomy 7:7 ESV). They had been the recipients of God’s undeserved mercy and grace. But God’s special favor required that they live faithfully. “You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today” (Deuteronomy 7:11 ESV). As long as they obeyed, God would bless. As long as they lived as who they were – God’s treasured possession – they would experience God’s continued love and abundant blessings. But 1 Kings is a sad reminder of just how poorly God’s chosen people lived up to His expectations. Rather than remain set apart and distinct from the nations around them, they slowly compromised their convictions and became increasingly pagan in their practices. A long line of kings for both Israel and Judah reveals a predisposition on the part of God’s elect to do “what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 16:34 ESV). The list includes Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Nadab, Basha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab. All but one would have a reign marked by unfaithfulness, idolatry, and rampant evil.

What does this passage reveal about God?

But in the midst of this written history of the unfaithfulness of the people of God, we see a glimpse of God’s unfailing faithfulness. We read that Abijam inherited the throne of his father Jeroboam in Israel. Abijam is described as a man who “walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 15:3 ESV). But the author quickly reminds us, “Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:4-5 ESV). God continued to keep His hand on the city of Jerusalem out of love for David. God had promised to give David a descendant who would help preserve the Davidic line. He would have a future heir who would rule and reign in Jerusalem as King of Israel. God would keep His promise. He would fulfill what He had committed to do. In spite of the rampant unfaithulness of the people of Israel, God would remain faithful and true. Yes, He would punish them. He would not tolerate their sin and open rebellion against Him, but He also would not completely give up on them. Their sinfulness would not stop His faithfulness. Their adultery and unfaithfulness would not keep Him from showing them continued love, mercy and grace.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Over and over again we read about men whose hearts were not wholly true to the Lord. Unlike David, who “did what was right the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything he commanded him all the days of his life” (1 Kings 15:5 ESV), these men regularly and repeatedly lived as if God didn’t even exist. They worshiped other gods. They mimicked the pagan practices of the nations around them, leading the people of Israel and Judah to forsake God. And their actions provoked God to anger. This doesn’t mean that God stopped loving them, but He would not and could not tolerate their blatant rebellion against His commands. He would not put up with their spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness. Their worship of other Gods, in spite of all that God had done for them over the years, was a slap in the face to the One who had chosen them in the first place. Their actions illustrated their lack of respect for and fear of God. Each king did what was right in their own eyes. God had become and afterthought.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Over in 2 Corinthians 6, Paul quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures in order to make a point to his Gentile audience. Just as God had chosen the people of Israel as His special possession, believers in Christ are also the recipients of God’s special attention. Paul reminds them that they are the temple of the living God. They share the same unique, one-of-a-kind relationship with God that the peoples of Israel and Judah had enjoyed and spurned. Paul writes, “as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord’” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17 ESV). God had promised to be a father to the people of Israel. He had promised to treat them like His own sons and daughters. All He asked is that they live separate and set apart lives that reflected their distinctive position as His precious possession. And Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers to do the same. They are not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers. Paul uses terms like “partnership,” “fellowship,” “accord” and “portion” to describe the kind of relationship believers are to reject when it comes to the unbelieving world. He is not telling them to have nothing to do with the lost of the world, but to refrain from intimate and closely personal relationships with them. To be unequally yoked is to be in a close relationship with someone else where their actions and conduct end up having a potentially negative influence over your own life. If you were to put two different kinds of animals in a yoke and expect them to pull a load together, the results could be disastrous. Their different sizes, temperaments, and strengths would end up causing them to work against one another. There would be a lack of harmony and unity. When we attempt to unite ourselves with this world, we find that our efforts for God are hampered and hindered. We become easily distracted and forced off course. We are called to be separate. We are called to be distinctively different. We are the temple of the living God. We are his sons and daughters. And our lives should reflect our unique and undeserved position as His precious possession.

Father, we need to live as who we are – Your children. We desperately need to live distinctively and differently. Forgive us for blending in with the world and losing our uniqueness. Forgive us for trying to accomplish Your will as Your children while being unequally yoked with the world. Continue to call us apart. Open our eyes so that we can see the difference between compromise and conviction. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

2 Timothy 3:1-9

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Pseudo-Godliness.

2 Timothy 3:1-9

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! – 2 Timothy 3:5 NLT

These nine verses pack a powerful punch to the stomach. In them, Paul provides Timothy with a prophetic glimpse into the future state of the world. He refers to this time as the “last days.” By this, Paul meant the days preceding the return of Christ for His bride, the Church. It is a reference to the final days that will lead up to the rapture of the Church. In a sense, the last days are not relegated to a specific length of time, but refer to an era or epoch of time. Paul believed he was living in the last days. He had warned the believers living in Ephesus, “So be careful how you
live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days” (Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT).

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul had written, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 NLT). In essence, the last days began with the resurrection of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church age. But there is an ever-increasing degree of apostasy and spiritual apathy taking place. Things are not getting better. They are getting worse. And this period of time will climax with the return of Christ for the Church, commonly referred to as the Rapture. In the meantime, the society in which we live will continue to exhibit an increasing apathy toward spiritual things and an ever-growing antagonism toward God. Paul gives Timothy 19 specific characteristics of this age, and it isn’t hard to see that they are alive and well in our day. People will be narcissistic and this self-absorption will be accompanied by an unhealthy love of money, something Paul had
warned Timothy about repeatedly. But not only will people love themselves, they will boast about their own accomplishments, exhibiting a pride and arrogance based on their own self-importance. In reality, they will worship themselves rather than God. They will be abusive to others. Children will reject parental authority. A spirit of dissatisfaction will lead to a growing ungratefulness. Nothing will be considered holy anymore. People will be heartless and callous. They will be unforgiving and quick to slander others with their words. A lack of self-control will permeate society, resulting in brutality and a hatred for what is good and right. People will be quick to betray one another, headstrong, swollen with conceit, and love pleasure more than they love God. But the most damning characteristic of this age will be the pseudo-spirituality that permeates society. Paul says, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly” (2 Timothy 4:5 NLT). The last days will be marked by
spirituality, but it will be a sham and a show. There will be all kinds of talk about spiritual things, but those who claim to be religious will reject the one thing that can truly transform their lives and make them godly: The saving work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word of God. People will express belief in Christ, but refuse His deity. They will claim to be Christians, but deny the resurrection. They will say they believe in God, but live as if He doesn’t exist; worshiping pleasure and self instead of Him. Paul warns Timothy to “Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 4:5 NLT).

Evidently, Paul believed that these kinds of people existed even in Ephesus and were part of the local body of believers there. These kinds of people prey on the spiritually weak and needy. They show up as teachers, but what they teach denies the truth of God and offers a counterfeit faith. They infiltrate the church, offering up their own opinions as the truth of God. They sound great, but their words are counterfeit and contradictory to Scripture. They present half-truths. They mix a little bit of Scripture with a lot of conjecture, producing a deadly cocktail of
deceptive lies that lead to godlessness, not godliness. These nine verses are a dead-on description of the age in which we live. They describe a world in which self-love is rampant and pseudo-spirituality is ubiquitous. But true godliness is impossible apart from God. Spirituality is the by-product of the Holy Spirit of God. It cannot be manufactured by man or replicated apart from a relationship with the Spirit of God who indwells those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Fake faith is not saving faith. Religious activity will never make anyone right with God. Going to church will not help anyone get to heaven. Paul wanted Timothy to know that the truth of the Gospel message was going to be increasingly more important as time wore on. Love of money, pleasure and self were going to make it more and more difficult for people to love God. Apart from a recognition of their own sin and their need for a Savior, people would never escape the dead-end trajectory marked by the last days. The truth of God’s Word is the antidote to the difficult days ahead. As bad as things may get, the Good News is still the answer to what ails mankind.

Father, there is no doubt that we are living in the last days. We are surrounded by all the things that Paul lists. And some of us struggle with them in our own lives. Open our eyes and help us to see that the Good News is the answer. Give us courage to teach it, preach it and live it out in our own lives so that the world can see that true spirituality is available only through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Help us live out what we say we believe. May we be a refreshing alternative to the characteristics listed in these verses. Amen.

Ken Miller Grow Pastor
& Minister to Men kenm@christchapelbc.org

Galatians 4:1-20

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Re-enslaved.

Galatians 4:1-20

Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (of should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? – Galatians 4:8-9 NET

Why would anyone who had been set free from slavery ever voluntarily subject themselves to it again? That is Paul’s question in this section of his letter. He reminds the believers in Galatia that they were at one time slaves to the basic principles of this world. In other words, they had been subject to the sad state of affairs made possible by the fall. They had been under the constant influence and control of Satan, their own sinful flesh and the world. At one time they had been slaves to their so-called gods – gods that didn’t even really exist. Theirs had been a pointless and hopeless existence attempting to search for release by turning to false gods that offered false hope. But Paul reminds them that “in the fulness of time” – at just the right time – God sent his Son to buy them freedom. Jesus Christ had bought them out of slavery and set them free. As a result, they were no longer slaves, but God’s own children, adopted into His family. They knew the one true God and He knew them. But now, as a result of the influence of the Judaizers, these so-called Jewish believers who were attempting to convince the new converts in Galatia that they must keep the law and adhere to the rituals and requirements of Judaism, the Galatian Christians were becoming enslaved again. Paul accused them of “trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years” (Galatians 4:10 NLT).

Paul plead with them to live in freedom, not slavery. He begged them to not return to the same kind of slavery from which Christ had set them free. Paul’s greatest desire was that Christ would be fully developed in their lives. But he knew that a return to those basic principles of this world would hinder their spiritual growth. Even as believers, we are all still under the influence of Satan, our sinful flesh, and the world. We can still fall prey to the temptation to earn favor with God through our own self-effort. The enemy would love nothing more than to enslave us again to a life of works and pride-based effort. He wants us to see God as a task-master who demands what we can’t deliver. He wants us to live in fear of God, not as children, but as slaves. Satan doesn’t want us to see ourselves as God’s children, but as His powerless pawns, condemned to try to keep Him pleased in order to escape His punishment and earn His favor. But Paul won’t stand for it. And while he can’t personally visit them, he does the next best thing – he writes them and pleads with them. He speaks truth to them. He exposes those who would do harm to them. Because unless they learned to embrace their freedom in Christ, they would never truly grow in Christ. Those who see themselves as slaves will tend to live and act as slaves. But those who truly understand that they have been freed from the basic principles of this world will enjoy all that freedom brings. They will relish their status as children of God. They will take advantage of His indwelling Spirit and allow Him to do in them what they could never have done on their own.

Father, we live in a fallen world and we are surrounded by the basic principles of this world. Ever since the fall, mankind has been in a hopeless quest to rectify their relationship with You. They have been searching for You. They have been trying to figure out to fix all that is wrong with them and with the world in which they live. But You have provided the solution through Your own Son’s death. You have set us free from having to search for a solution or from having to earn back Your favor. But it is so easy to fall back into that old mindset. It is so easy to think that nothing is free and we must do something to get You to love us. But it’s all a lie. Keep us focused on the truth. Keep us aware of the fact that we are free in Christ. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Day 123 – John 16:1-15

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Better Off Without Him.

John 16:1-15

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocatewon’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” – John 16:7-8 NLT

The more Jesus talked about His coming death, the more confused and depressed the disciples seemed to get. Jesus saw it and commented about it: “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you” (John 16:5-6 NLT). And it made sense. They had just spent the last three years of their lives following this man and now He was telling them that He was going to die. Their concept of death, like ours, was permanent. In their understanding of things, once Jesus was dead, He was gone. In spite of all His talk about coming back. That part was a mystery to them. So Jesus somewhat muddies the waters by telling them, “it is best for you that I go away” (John 16:7 NLT). That had to have sounded so strange to the disciples. How in the world could His leaving them be best for them? But Jesus knew something they didn’t know. He knew that when He ascended back to heaven, God the Father was going to send the very Spirit of God to be with the disciples. And that could not happen until Jesus left. For the last three and a half years they had enjoyed the presence of God in the form of Jesus. He was God in human flesh. He had lived with them, talked with them, done miracles among them, and taught them the truth of God on a daily basis. But when the Holy Spirit came they would not only have God with them and among them, but in them. They would be empowered by the very Spirit of God. This was going to be a game-changer for the disciples and for the world, mainly because of the three things Jesus said the Spirit would do when He arrived.

The NET Bible translates verse 8 this way: “And when hecomes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin andrighteousness andjudgment.” The very presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers would be proof that the world’s view of Jesus was wrong. It was their rejection of Him as Messiah that was their most condemning sin. The Holy Spirit would also convict the world about righteousness because He would only indwell those who had placed their faith in Christ and not on their own self-righteousness. In other words, the Spirit proves that man’s righteousness before God depends not on his own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them. Finally, the Spirit would convict the world concerning judgment, because His very presence would prove that Jesus had conquered sin and death by His resurrection and glorification. The Spirit’s presence in the world in the lives of believers would be proof that Satan had already been defeated. His was a lost cause. And the fact that the Spirit of God only lives within the people of God, is a daily judgment on all those who refuse to believe in Jesus. The presence of the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of salvation and as Paul puts it, our down payment on the future promises of God. “…and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us” (2 Corinthians 1:22 NLT).

So when Jesus told the disciples that they would be better off once He was gone, He knew what He was talking about. Jesus was limited to the restraints placed upon Him by a human body. He could not be everywhere at once. He could not indwell His disciples. He had all the limitations we suffer from as humans. His coming to earth was for one purpose and that was to act as the perfect sin substitute. He came to die. But the Spirit came to indwell, empower, convict, and teach. Jesus told the disciples, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13 NLT). He would teach them, enlighten them, encourage and empower them. They would perform miracles in His power. They would preach and teach in His power. They would spread the Gospel around the world by His power. Not only would the disciples be better off when Jesus returned to the Father, the world would be too. The rapid expansion of the Gospel message immediately after the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost is proof of this fact. Thousands would come to Christ daily and the Good News of Jesus Christ would spread around the world like wild fire. We, as modern believers, are the beneficiaries of the Holy Spirit’s convicting presence in the world. We should be grateful Jesus came, but also thankful that He left and sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. His presence and power are proof of Christ’s resurrection and the reality of our own salvation.

Father, what more can I say than, “Thank You for the Holy Spirit”? I would not be who I am without Him. I would not have proof of what Jesus has done for me without the presence of the Holy Spirit within me. Thank You! Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org