"It's a Yoke. Get it?"

What we eat is big business in America.  In a world where most earthlings are glad to have something, ANYTHING at all to eat, we Americans spend our time abusing food.  Either we are "consumed" (yes, sorry...) by thoughts of it all-the-live-long-day.  Or, we are arguing about what types of food to eat.  Or, we are hedonistically eating anything and everything in sight.  The media is full of ads for Nutrisystem, WeightWatchers, etc.  We have shows like "Bizarre Foods" which captivate our attention.  We are fixated on food.

Grab your Bible and read over Colossians 2:15-23, as that will be our devotional passage this morning.

16Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days –17these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! 18Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. 19He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

20If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 22These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. 23Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.

In today's passage there are two themes.  One, in verses 16-17 and 20-21 has to do with eating or not eating certain foods.  The second has to do with seducing heresies.

Let's focus mainly on the first, although the two are related.  The Bible has a lot to say about what to eat (or not) and when to eat it (or not).  The dietary laws of the Old Testament were given to the Jews primarily for health reasons.  But, they became, over the centuries, entangled in religious tradition to the point that the dietary laws became a religion unto itself.  Not much is different today.

I realize that many people, because of health reasons, must watch every bite they eat, must be extremely vigilant about it.  This is not a condemnation of them for doing that.  Watching their diet closely is, in those cases, practically a matter of life and death.

But, for many people, even Christian people, the fixation on food is rampant.  You get a group of women together, for example, and almost always the conversation turns to their weight, how they need to lose weight, how they are losing weight, their Crossfit, etc.  It is entertaining and sometimes innocuous.  Other times, such fascination and dedication becomes a "fleshly indulgence" (vs. 23)

Here's the problem:
When we Christians make our holiness about what food we eat (or don't) or about any other specific man-made rule, then we are losing focus, "majoring on the minors".  This is a lure and a trap, because it is easy to measure.  Listen to Weirsbe:1
Legalism is a popular thing because you can "measure" your spiritual life - - - and even brag about it! But, this is a far cry from measuring up to Christ (Ephesians 4:13)!

"Oh yes!  Look at me!  I am so holy because I do this...and this...and this..."  Pride slams its hammer down, crippling the soul.

We must be ever watchful for legalistic behavior, as we practice the Christian life.  It is all about our attitudes, really.  The key questions are "Why?"  "WHY am I doing what I'm doing?" "What is my motivation?"  "What (or Whom) is 'driving' me?"
Legalism is the result when we take our focus off of "the Head", Jesus Christ (vs. 19), and begin to "manufacture" our own holiness instead of letting the Holy Spirit work within our souls.   It happens with a lot of our discipleship, not just with food.  (Food is just the example of the day.)

Let's look at this other nameless dude in today's passage, this humble angel-worshipper.  Scripture does not reveal to us his identity, but he is preaching/teaching heresy.  I find it interesting that this person is cloaked in a "false humility".  A fawning, obsequious, false humility is common among such deceivers.  These wicked folks are, in reality, full of pride.

In both examples that Paul uses here, he is warning against letting anyone or anything draw the Christian "off-center".  If we study Jesus Christ and focus on Him we will remain free to exercise our spiritual gifts in love, with freedom of movement unhindered by our own version of "holiness", our own filthy "self-righteousness", which is, of course "faux-righteousness".

It has gotten to where I can't wear those fashions that bend around the back of my neck.  It is "age", I guess.  Prolonged wearing of such bathing suits, bras or tops makes my neck hurt!  They are like "a yoke on the neck" (Acts 15:10).  The picture is of a farm animal upon whom the farmer places the wooden, mechanical contraptions across its neck and back, thereby allowing the farmer to harness the animal's strength to plow a field or pull a wagon.  Yokes are heavy.  Legalism is like that...yokes on our necks.  They make our spiritual necks hurt!

When we as Christians "dress for the day", as described in Ephesians 6, let's not put on an oppressive, pretentious, legalistic yoke.  Yokes drag us down, do not prepare us for each day's spiritual battles and frankly .... "It don't look good on you, Girl!!"

Lord, let the mind of Jesus Christ be in me, as Paul exhorted in Philippians 2:5.  Jesus humbled Himself, to the point of death on the cross.  Holiness begins with humility.  Please forgive me for my all-consuming pride!  Beat it down in me, Holy Spirit.  Purge it from me.  Fill me with Yourself so that You can work Your will out through my life.  Please forgive me my "rabbit trails", where I spot a legalistic "rabbit", and then go chasing it through the briar patch.  Thank you for patching up my cuts and scrapes when I make those unfortunate choices.  Make me humble so that I can become more like You.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

1  Wiersbe, Warren W., and Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete New Testament in One Volume. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007. Print, p. 680-681

What Are You Chasing?

I always have difficulty in this blog when I am "between books".  First starting out, I just sort of blogged on important topics, at least, those I believed to be important.  Then, I began to flounder for daily inspiration, and so began the discipline of working through a book of the Bible at a time.  That has worked well for me, and I hope it has for you too.  Always, though, between books, I sort of get into this funk that is akin to eating a beautiful plate of food.  I am a one-at-a-time eater, by and large.  That is, I don't like to mix my food up on the plate, and I eat one food before moving on to another.   So, it applying that habit to Bible study, when I finish one delicious food, I am confronted with choosing another!

I am supposed to move on to Colossians, but just don't have the "appetite" for it yet. There is a theme, a biblical truth, that is resonating with me right now.  So, I am going to "go there" and satisfy that hunger.

But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  

Matthew 6:33 

The key question Jesus is asking in these verses is: what are you seeking?  

That is...what are you pursuing?  What drives you?  What are you chasing?

How does one pursue the kingdom of God anyway; and, if one is a believer, how does one pursue His righteousness?  Don't we have His righteousness already, if we are His?

Lots of questions....

First, yes, those who believe in and trust Jesus Christ as Savior have His perfect righteousness "credited to their eternal account".  (The fancy, theological word for that is "imputed".)  Romans 4:22 is the reference here, where Abraham is used as an example of eternally-saving faith.

If you are reading this and you have not made that personal decision to accept and follow Jesus, your quest for righteousness begins there.  Without Him, you can go no further.  He is both the Source and the End-Point of "saving grace, through faith".

Once that is settled, then, Believers:

....what does it mean to "chase righteousness", to pursue it, if we already possess it?

Proverbs 15:9 says this:

"The Lord detests the ways of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness."

Second, Believers, this is not going to be a popular thing to say.  You have been warned.

It is not possible to seek, pursue or chase after the kingdom of God apart from seeking, pursuing or chasing His righteousness in this world.  Truth and righteousness are the foundations on which His kingdom are built.

Pursing righteousness is not popular these days.  It is often mis-labeled as "legalism".  

Admittedly, there is a fine line.

But, I would like to make the case to you that our country, our families and our churches are in the messes they are in because we Christians have "laid down" in the battle; as a whole, we no longer pursue righteousness.

What we do instead is to pursue "love" or some namby-pamby, sissy form of love that is weak.

True love is not weak.  It is supremely strong, because it is grounded in truth and righteousness.

Or, we pursue "unity", which is great, if it is grounded in truth and righteousness.  More often, however, it is a deceptive, false unity, driven by weakness of purpose, lack of courage, and the succumbing to a "go along to get along" attitude.  By allowing the enemy small (seemingly insignificant) victories, we may have "lost the war" in America, in our churches, in our homes.

Here is an example:

Shopping at Target

I don't have to say any more, do I?  Most of you who read this blog are aware of the stance this store has taken against righteousness and decency.  Now, stories are emerging of cross-dressing men going into Target restrooms and making videos of women during their private moments. 

https://www.afa.net/action-alerts/we-warned-target-this-would-happenand-it-did/

I ask you to consider your response to this situation.  Are you still shopping at Target?

Oh, you can think of many reasons why it is okay to shop at this store, even if there are other alternatives.  Spare me.

The only real question is: are you going to take a stand, or not?

This is just one example, which you may think is a ridiculous one.  I submit to you that it is not; rather, it is highly illustrative.

Christians have, in most cases, lost their will to battle for truth and righteousness.  Instead, we seek after "all these things", regardless of what they are, and most of them are "good things"!  Be assured of this, Believer, what you chase is what you will catch.

We have "got it backwards", according to God's Word!  Notice how our verse begins:

"Above all"...

Father, I need, we need some honest, self-examination in light of Your Word today.  In response, may we have Your truth and Your righteousness, the foundations of Your kingdom, in the forefront of our minds at all times, even when it is "unpopular", even when we find ourselves standing in the minority, as Christians will increasingly be in this seductive, modern culture.  May Your righteousness be what we seek after, as we desire to further Your kingdom.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Me, The Temple

Good morning,

Today's text is 1 Corinthians 3:16-23.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.

18 Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

{This passage is very similar to the better known 1 Cor. 6:19, in which Paul practically says the same thing.}

Why do you think that Paul compared believers to God's Temple?  Believe me, this was a revolutionary analogy to those baby Christians.  You see, in Jewish worship, the Temple was considered the holiest of all structures, because it contained a section called The Holy of Holies.  It was in this small room, which had very limited access, that the Spirit of God came down to commune with the priest selected by lot to enter the area.  The Ark of the Covenant resided in this place.  Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, learned of his son's conception, while he was performing his "once-in-a-lifetime" duties in that place.

There were all sorts of rules and safeguards for this supernatural area.  For instance, the priest selected to enter there attached a special set of bells to the hem of his robe so that those outside could listen for the sound as he moved around inside, performing his duties.  If they no longer heard the bells, they pulled him out via a cord, a "lifeline" attached to his leg, assuming he was dead from having come into the most holy presence of God. Talk about being "slain in the spirit"!  This was deadly serious stuff.

I would really like to study the Temple/Tabernacle more.  If any of you out there have a book recommendation, please share it with me.

At any rate, the Christians were certainly not welcome any longer at the existing Temple in Jerusalem.  To be blunt, the ruling Jews who controlled the Temple were out to exterminate them.  Yet, these Christians, many of them former Jews, wanted to honor their Lord by continuing to keep the Jewish feasts, some of which required them to go to the Temple as part of God's command to their forefathers.  This is just one example of "stuff" the early Christians had to work through.

In our text for today, Paul is reminding the believers that each of them is God's Temple - - - that when Christ died, the veil in Jerusalem's Temple was supernaturally split down the middle, from top to bottom, a truly miraculous feat, since the veil was scores of feet tall and weighed hundreds of pounds.  This veil being torn, however, was God's visual sign that everything had changed.  With Jesus finishing His work on the cross, access to God had been blown wide open.  No longer did people have to go find Him in a "most holy place" of a building.  After Jesus' resurrection, the Holy
Spirit came upon Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13).  This is why Paul declared that each individual Christian, and the whole Body of Christ collectively, are the Temple of God, of the Holy Spirit!

What a tremendous honor and responsibility!  In his commentary, Matthew Henry points out that, as a result, we need to treat ourselves as the holy vessels that we are, by the grace of God.  And, if we don't, we are deceiving ourselves as to the true state of our relationship with God.

"He is deceived who deems himself the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet is unconcerned about personal holiness, or the peace and purity of the church."  

For many Christians, this is an area of struggle, in one of the two areas.  Many sinful practices harm one's physical body.  The "big deal" about that is this:  if our bodies/minds are weak, then we decommission ourselves in the great cosmic battle in which we are engaged.  (And, be sure, you don't have a choice about whether you are in the battle or not.  If you are a Christian, you are.)  If we are physically weak, we are less potent a weapon for Jesus Christ.  The other emphasis is this:  we need to treat our Christian brothers and sisters as "temples of the Holy Spirit" in order to maintain peace and purity in the Church.  Holiness...it's not a raging fad, unfortunately.

I want to be sure you get this, though:  this type of reverence and holiness for your own temple and also the people of God is not a legalistic holiness.  It is rather a holiness that springs from a heart of devoted love. Paul emphasizes this in verses 21-23.  "Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."  So often, we sin against our bodies because we are trying to feel some emotional void in our lives, an emptiness that only God can fill.  Yet, we choose some substance or some other person to use for our own self-gratification.  So often, we yield to our flesh and its detrimental longings, longings that hurt us or others in the end.  This includes prideful preening within the Church, which leads to the types of envyings and divisions that Paul was exhorting the Corinthians to avoid.

The key to holy living is, at its foundation, (not diminishing strategies like addiction counseling, mental health interventions, liberation from demonic oppressions/possessions, etc.,) focusing fanatically, daily, on the loving One who totally poured Himself out utterly, for each of us, His dear children.  When we clearly see all that He has done for us, how can our response be anything other than our outpouring of love, in return?

Holy Spirit, I am in awe that You reside in my spirit.  And, I don't totally understand that.  But, I take You at Your word that what the holy, inspired scriptures say is true.  I thank You for condescending to me, to transform me into Your Temple.  Oh, how I long to walk more worthy of Your amazing love and grace.  Help me, Holy Spirit!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:
http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-16.htm