A Most Extreme Giving

Self-denial.  It's not a fun thing.  It is a sacrifice.  Have you ever sacrificed greatly for someone else? Perhaps it was a sacrifice of your money or time, to care for a dying relative.  Perhaps it was the decision to become a stay-at-home mom, which meant one of the cars would have to be sold. Love is demonstrated by sacrifice, the most extreme form of giving.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. 

Romans 12:1-2 (NET)

If you are looking for a great definition of the "resplendent walk with Christ", this is it.

Warren Wiersbe1 points out that the "therefore" which begins this chapter is the fourth one in the book of Romans.  My pastor always says that when you see a "therefore", you need to investigate what it is there for.  :)  In this case, because of all that has been elaborated on earlier, because of God's amazing grace, we are urged, "exhorted" is the older English word, to dedicate our lives (after our salvation decision) to God.  In the book of Philippians (2:12), Paul puts it like this:  "work out your own salvation with reverence and awe."

What does this outworking of our already settled salvation look like?  What does it involve?

First of all, it involves the laying down of our bodies on the altar of sacrifice.  So often we are tempted, even after our initial salvation decision, to follow the urges of our bodies, to lavish our time and resources on them to focus more on outward beauty or physical pleasure than on the inner beauty of the soul.  At those times, the truth of our bodies being the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19-20) flies completely out the window.   In Romans 6:13 Paul speaks of how our bodies must be yielded to God so that He can use them as "instruments of righteousness".  This is a choice, a sacrifice, each Christian must make every day, and truly, several times a day if you are like me, who never met a Moon Pie she didn't like...

Recently, a young Christian couple I know got married.  They were both virgins when they said their vows.  Despite their extreme attraction to each other, they had waited.  They had presented their bodies a living sacrifice to God, and to each other.  The sad thing about this story is that they could name NONE of their contemporaries who had done the same, nominal Christians included.

Let's be clear.  You can't walk with Jesus Christ and at the same time live the way the world lives, wallowing in the whims and desires of your body.  His love, properly understood, evokes an extreme love response in us, His children.  "Present" - - a noun: a gift.  "Present" - - a verb: to give.  When we walk resplendent we are giving God the present, the gift of our yielded bodies. The words "reasonable service" in verse 1 are better translated "spiritual worship".  When we lay our bodies down, we are worshipping God, instead of making our bodies our gods.

Honestly, I struggle with this every day.  Do you?  The pull of the "old nature" is strong.  And, it is easy to get discouraged, because discouragement is one of Satan's most potent weapons against us. But, every new day is a gift from God! (That's why they call it "the present"!)  Each new day is a new opportunity to once more lay my body down on the altar of sacrifice. Thank God!

When He came to Earth, lived and died for us, Jesus Christ was the embodiment of God's "living sacrifice", wasn't he?  Talk about self-denial, extreme giving, extreme love!  He is.  God never asks us to do anything He was not willing to do higher and better.  "If He, who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all..." (Rom. 8:32), how much more then must we live a resplendent life for Him?

Father, you call our self-denial a "reasonable service", but often, in comparison to the ways of this world it appears most "unreasonable".  Give Your children the strength to choose for You every day, and many times a day, as temptation looms strong.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

1 Wiersbe, Warren W. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2007. Print, p. 441. 

Love Bus

My morning routine usually consists of reading about (favorite blogs) and watching (favorite news outlet) national and world events, succored by the large cup of coffee in my hand.  Then, as I'm doing now, I have my morning devotions and share with you via this blog.

A story that caught my eye this morning was a striking example of today's text, in action.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14

Paul is here in verse 14 quoting Jesus, who made the Galatians 5:14 statement in Matthew 22:39. Here's the verse, with context:

36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Note that the first and second commandments are not called by Jesus "the greatest suggestions".  No, they are commandments, which even supersede "the 10".  That is not to say they nullify "the 10", but rather that they overshadow them.  In other words, you can be keeping the 10 Commandments 100%. But, if you are not loving God with all your heart and showing that love by loving "your neighbor", you are living in disobedience.

Ok, so what was the story today?  I'll link it at the bottom of the page, but basically, it was this.  Two churches in east Cobb county, a wealthy suburban area outside of Atlanta, GA, sent their church busses into a very poverty-stricken area of downtown Atlanta, to pick up homeless people. For those of you reading this out of current time, or who live far from me, it was "in the teens" here overnight. These churches picked up about 100 homeless people in their busses last night, to keep them from freezing to death.

<crickets>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re72di5phM0

You see, I find today's passage very personally convicting, because I am most often focused on making my own life very comfortable.  And, there's nothing wrong with taking care of one's basic needs.  But, frankly, I take it far beyond the basic level, "using my freedom in Christ to indulge my flesh" - - spending most of my time and resources on my own selfish desires.

So, when I hear a story about a church that extends Christ's arms to those who are quite literally perishing, both physically and spiritually, I am prompted to a lot of self-examination.  I don't usually like what I find.

Look, whether we like it or not, this is the truth of what Christ commanded us, children of God! Instead of our customary approach, which is to indulge ourselves and occasionally toss some crumbs to those who are dying, He asks us to flip the pyramid, to radically change the paradigm.  What He calls us to is a life of service to others, giving ourselves (our flesh) the crumbs left over.

So, here's what I'm going to do and what I challenge you to do also.  I'm going to make a change (can you hear Michael Jackson singing in the background?), a change based on what the Holy Spirit has been saying to me about this passage.  This will not make me a Christian, because the Bible is plain that a person can't work oneself up into being one.  I'm a Christian because of my faith in Jesus Christ.  Period. What making this change will make me is (hopefully) more obedient to my Master's command. What my obedience will achieve (because obedience always achieves this) is a greater expansion of the kingdom of God, even in ways I'll never realize or see.

Father, how can I become more and more like my Savior unless I am obedient to Your Word?  So often I am tone-deaf to the Holy Spirit.  Lord, open my eyes and ears and hands, and not only mine, but those of your Church ... so that all may know Your love, the only love which transforms. In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/church-gathers-homeless-get-them-out-cold/np7MW/

Running for Rewards

Good morning,

I am not a "runner".  There is a reason that I don't talk about "the resplendent run" and talk instead about "the resplendent walk".  I do love to walk briskly, though, for exercise.  Running is fine for some; I just prefer to keep my knees intact, thank you very much!  It is interesting to me that Paul, though, compares the Christian life to running a race, not to a leisurely, meandering walk.  We must not be "tiptoe through the tulips" Christians. Our text for this morning is 1 Cor. 9: 24-27 (NKJV)

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Since this is a short passage, here it is in The Message version:

24-25 You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

26-27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

It is common knowledge that the Greeks were a very athletic people.  They are the originators of the Olympic Games, after all.  Perhaps this is why Paul uses a "running" or "competing" analogy in these verses.  He had just finished urging the Corinthians to set aside their personal preferences for the purpose of winning supporting a weaker brother.  Here, he is going on to exhort them to live the Christian life as if they were running a race in which there is only one winner.

The thing is that, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have already won salvation, eternal life.  The prize Paul refers to here is a crown of reward.  Elsewhere in scripture, we are told that Christ's followers who live faithfully, doing good works ("love backs") for Him, will receive commendations at that time when Jesus Christ gives them out to His own.

I'll go into this, the BEMA seat of Christ, in more detail in tomorrow's blog post.

For now, what does Paul say here about finishing the race successfully?

1.    The first thing is to "keep our eyes on the prize".  When men have used horses for various tasks, they have sometimes put "blinders" on the animal.  These are devices that limit the horse's visual perspective.  They help the horse to remain focused on a specific task or to walk a specific path, and not to become distracted by all manner of things to the right or to the left.  That is what we must do in our following Christ, to "keep our eyes on Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith", as it says in Hebrews 12:2.  Keeping our eyes on Him is our purpose.  He IS "the ultimate prize", crowns of reward notwithstanding.

2.  Paul's second key for success is to "be temperate in all things".  The way The Message says it is "no sloppy living"!  Temperance is the opposite of overindulgence, and it is not a popular word at the moment.  Temperance goes against the natural inclinations of our flesh, which are to gratify it by doing whatever feels good at the moment, whether such actions are actually beneficial for the body, soul and spirit or not.  Some of us have such a challenge being temperate in some areas that we just have to avoid them altogether.  Drinking alcohol is one of those areas.  My husband has never touched alcohol.  His father found it impossible to be temperate with alcohol, and it made my husband's childhood pretty miserable at times.  So, my husband chose to avoid that particular trap altogether.  So, what Paul is saying here is that we should not let anything of this world control us. We are to be directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit and nothing else. Galatians 5:16 says "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Likewise, verse 27 in today's passage refers to disciplining our bodies, bringing them under the subjection of the Holy Spirit.  If we are allowing ourselves to be hindered in our ministries by something else, which exerts undue control over us, we need to do whatever it takes to get released from that, so that we can fulfill our calling and win Christ's commendation at the BEMA seat.

What does it mean to "become disqualified" from the race (vs. 27)?  There are times when our choices take us out of the race temporarily.  God allows us free will.  That includes ignoring the Holy Spirit's urgings and indulging our fleshly desires on occasion.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Paul refers to this as "quenching the Holy Spirit".  These types of worldly decisions are not pleasing to God, nor do they advance His kingdom.  By choosing temporary pleasure over eternal gain, we set ourselves on the sidelines.  Unfortunately, the prevalence of this behavior has kept the Gospel from being preached around the world, which is heartbreaking, really... except to Satan.  He is laughing.

So, salvation through Jesus Christ is free, but the "love backs" we give to Him will cost us.  They will require us to deny ourselves and our flesh's desires, in order to run.  They will ask us to (in the words of Jesus) "take up your cross daily and follow Me." (Luke 9:23).

Lord Jesus, I love You.  I really do.  But, I find it so hard to "take up my cross daily".  The thing is: in order to pick up that cross, I have to lay down my pride and my selfishness and my fleshiness.  I can't carry the cross while holding on to all those other things.  I confess that I often quench Your Spirit, whose loving voice is telling me how to follow You.  I choose "lesser things".  For this, I apologize and (again) repent.  It is just a constant, cosmic battle.  However, Lord, You are matchless.  I would not want to follow anyone else, other than You. Why? Because You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11).  In Jesus' name, amen.