The Temptation of Deception

                          “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way…”

                                        (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

We live in an age of full-blown deception.  Agendas rule, as propaganda reigns.  Many people in authority seem disingenuous at best and totally corrupt at worst.  Our leaders lack moral clarity, which reflects the heart of the people, who also lack moral clarity.  Values that were once held in high esteem seem to have all but vanished from our society.

The apostle Paul wrote of a time such as this.  He said, “ Evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).  It is almost impossible to watch the actions and listen to the words of our leaders without seeing this truth being played out on a frequent basis.  It would seem that there is no shortage of men throughout the world who would seek to mislead the masses for their own personal gain.

One example of multiple forms of deception that is on the national stage this week is the Senate’s failure to defund Planned Parenthood.  Some Senators are deceived and believe that continuing to fund Planned Parenthood is the proper thing to do.  Others have made the decision to fund Planned Parenthood because they fear the political implications of casting a vote to defund Planned Parenthood.  They are deceived if they believe that such a choice is appropriate.  Others understand the issue, and because they have a complete lack of moral clarity they stand and try to deceive the country and defend Planned Parenthood when the true nature of that organization is currently on full and inarguable display. 

It would be wonderful to believe that deception is a malaise limited only to the secular world.  But, it is not.  Due to compromise and not knowing the Word of God, more and more deception has infiltrated the church in America.  In fact, an argument could be made that the Christians in North America bear little resemblance to the Church in the Bible.

The more that Christians err and are not held accountable, the more grievous the occurrences become.  Compromise becomes the ultimate slippery slope.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, observed the following:  “ As the most dangerous winds may enter at little openings, so the devil never enters more dangerously than by little unobserved incidents, which seem to be nothing, yet insensibly open the heart to great temptations.”

The definition of temptation is “ the act of alluring or being allured”.  It is exchanging the short-term benefit of something for the long-term consequences of it.  In the Lord’s prayer when Jesus prayed, “ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”

 (Matthew 6:13),  the word temptation had an even broader meaning.  He used the Greek word, peirasmos, which refers to a person being “ put to test”.  This testing involves situations where we are challenged to keep the name of God honored in our lives.

Sadly, keeping the name of God honored is no longer a priority in our culture and not even a priority to some in the church.  Navigating this post-Christian society is becoming increasingly complex.  That is because deceptions in the church range from unsound doctrine to complete apostasy.  They are as follows:

·      Humanism

·      Universalism

·      Replacement Theology

·      Shifting away From Biblical family values

·      Shifting toward pro-choice movement

·      Over-emphasis of prosperity teachings

·      Rejecting the existence of hell

·      Irrelevancy of the law (Biblical and societal)

·      Challenging the authority of the Word of God

·      Hyper-grace teachings that condone sin

·      Incorporating New Age concepts

·      Demanding that the Church stay out of politics

·      Belief that the Kingdom of God is allegorical (not literal)

In addition to these false teachings, several pastors of nationally recognized mega-churches are recognized for their illicit and corrupt behavior.  Too many Christian ministers living in North America are truly living in darkness.  The sad reality is that they are also paving a path of destruction for those who follow them.

The apostle, Paul, warns: “ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”  (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

It is much easier and requires less effort to believe a myth than it is to do our due diligence to search out the truth.  It is much easier to be led by our emotions than it is to line the facts up with Biblical truths.  It is much easier to gloss over sin in the church, rather than take an unpopular (but Biblical) stand.  It is much easier to do nothing than suffer the pushback that is so prevalent in our culture today.  It is time for the church in America to repent!

Apostasy in the church is nothing more than spiritual adultery.  Even in the midst of poor church attendance, we must stay true to God in all matters.  We cannot pick and choose which doctrine is acceptable, or worse yet, unacceptable to us.  John Calvin, a 16^th Century French Reformer, said:  “ The excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude but in purity.”

If the Church today is confused, we should expect that our society would reel in chaos.  If the Church succumbs to the temptation of deception, we definitely should expect our culture to cave.  The buck stops with the followers of Christ.  This is our time and on our watch- the responsibility rests on our shoulders.

In these times in which we live, there is no room for any form of deception.  Loving and holding to the truth will stave off deception.  Jesus warned that a day would come where strong seducing spirits would be given power in the earth.  One could make the argument that that day is here.

Satan wants the Church to remain deceived.  He craves worship from the world and accomplishes this through mass deception.  He wants the Church to be weak and ineffective.  Yet, he is never to be believed because he has “ nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of all lies”(John 8:44).

In these times, God has a unique role for each person.  This role requires a “laying down” of certain things we would rather hold onto.  These things may vary individually, but obedience is the key for God’s blessing and favor to flow.

It is time to rally behind the pastors who unswervingly hold onto the truth and refuse to compromise its integrity.  If your pastor is one that values: the sanctity of life, Biblical views of marriage, support for Israel, support for persecuted Christians worldwide, and support for our constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of religion, please   thank and encourage him, and pray for him everyday.

Unless we quickly see a revival in this nation, we will see the erosion and total intolerance of Biblical beliefs.   We must be serious about our faith now and diligently stand against that which opposes our God. The stakes are extremely high because across this globe peoples’ lives hang in the balance.  Will you agree to be the beacon of hope God is calling you to be?

“ He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it.                                

   He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

                                                                                                                Martin Luther King, Jr.

An Eternal Algorithm

" Not only is it certain that this life will end, but it is certain that from the perspective of eternity it will be seen to have passed in a flash.  The toils which seem so endless will be seen to have been quite transitory and abundantly worthwhile."
                                                               ( John Wenham, 20th Century Anglican Bible Scholar)



     In the recent movie, "The Imitation Game", which is based on a true story, Alan Turing endeavors to break the code of the German-built enciphering machine named "Enigma".  This machine was used by the Nazi's in WWII to wreak havoc on Britain and her allies.  It contained both mechanical and electrical subsystems which made it virtually impossible for even the brightest minds to crack the code.  To make matters worse, the code was consistently changed on a daily basis.

     Alan Turing was hired at Britain's codebreaking facility at Bletchley Park.  His credentials were impressive: computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and mathematical biologist.  Utilizing algorithms and computations, he built the Turing machine which was successfully able to crack the code. ( This machine would become the precursor to the computer).  Not only were the Nazi's defeated because of Turing's invention, but it is also estimated that the war was lessened by two to four years.

     Obviously, Alan Turing was exceedingly gifted. He was also dubbed as one of the most renowned genius' of the twentieth century. There was, however, a very unfortunate aspect of his life.  Raised with Christian teachings (and persecution due to his homosexuality), he abandoned his faith as an early teen.  He became an avowed atheist after a close friend of his died from tuberculosis.  His life concluded with an apparent suicide, cutting short the extraordinary gifts and talents he possessed.  It is impossible to comprehend the potential eternal good that could have been accomplished through this talented man had his natural abilities been commingled with God's supernatural power.

     A Biblical example of this multiplied effect is Daniel.  At the mere age of fifteen, Daniel was handsome and wise and chosen (with three of his friends) above all the Hebrew slaves to reside in the Babylonian king's palace.  It was the kings policy to only choose the most qualified and learned people of the conquered nations to train for service in his government.  Gifted with natural ability, Daniel would also quickly reveal his godly character and devotion to the One True God.

     For more than seventy years, Daniels served four different Babylonian kings faithfully.  He was appointed as chief advisor to three of them: Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, and Cyrus.  Amidst captivity and persecution, Daniel continued to thrive under the rule of these pagan kings.  God had strategically positioned Daniel to have great impact, both on earth and for all eternity.

     The legacy of Daniel's ministry will continue indefinately.  His prophecies provide the framework upon which all other Biblical prophecies are built.  The anointed words he penned foreshadowed both earthly kingdoms and God's eternal kingdom that will last forever.  This parallel message constantly serves as a reminder that God has absolute sovereignty, as well as an eternal reign.

     We, too, must view our lives in terms of a parallel world view.  We traverse this life remembering that we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light
 ( Colossians 1:13) and that it is our responsibility to help others to do the same.  Regardless of the challenges we face, our hope lies in the fact that we are en route to a place of no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain, and where all things are new ( Revelation 21: 4-5).

     F.F. Bruce, a 20th century Bible scholar, describes it this way: " We are refugees from the sinking ship of this present world order, so soon to disappear; our hope is fixed in the eternal order, where the promises of God are made good to His people in perpetuity."

     In order to navigate this world effectively, there are several life lessons we can glean from Daniel's life that provide for us an eternal algorithm of success.  With our eyes fixed on heaven, and Christ living within us, we are empowered to live in an upward trajectory that propels us toward our heavenly home.  As we walk by faith, we can expect that God will take our impossibilities and make them possible.  This is the multiplied effect: that all things become Him-possible!

     The first lesson Daniel teaches us is to live a life of character and integrity within a wicked culture.  Daniel was a dedicated Jewish man who was thrust into a society that immediately pressured him to compromise God's principles.  His faith, heritage, and identity were assaulted in an effort to diminish his loyalty to God.

     Despite these obstacles, God gave Daniel and his peers strategies and self-discipline to overcome.  God also gave Daniel divine favor with those in authority over him.  Daniel requested one thing from his commander ( when asked to compromise his religious dietary laws): " Please test your servants for ten days and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink." ( Daniel 1:12).

     The commander obliged Daniel's wishes, even though he had reservations.  He knew that his job was in jeopardy if  Daniel or his friends lost weight or were unhealthy.  God did not let them down, though, for after ten days they looked healthier and weighed more than all the other youths.  Therefore, they were allowed to continue to honor God with their dietary practices.

     The second lesson Daniel teaches us is faithfulness, first and foremost, to our God.  Daniel's friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were ordered to bow down to a false idol, which they refused to do.  Their penalty was death and the method was a fiery furnace.

     They told the king: " If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But, even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up." ( Daniel 3:17-18).

     Their words infuriated King Nebuchadnezzar.  He retaliated by heating the furnace seven times hotter, but to no avail.  He also had his guards bind their hands and feet and cast them into the fiery pit.  Despite the fact that all his guards were killed by the heat, When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace he saw not three men walking in the fire, but four.  The fourth man looked like the Son of God!  When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged, not one hair on their bodies was singed and not one of them even smelled like smoke. Yet again, God proved His faithfulness to those who are faithful!

     The third lesson Daniel teaches us is to have a sevants heart and to use that in conjunction with our giftings.  It is our spiritual gifts that make our servant's heart effective.  One of Daniel's spiritual gifts was that " he understood all kinds of visions and dreams." ( Daniel 1:17).  He was also able to unravel complicated puzzles, and riddles, and to untie complicated knots.  He could do this because he knew that " there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries". ( Daniel 2:28).

     He used these gifts in conjunction of prayer and service to the king.  Daniel prayed for revelation and the ability to demonstrate the power of God to those who didn't know Him.  His service included:
dream interpretation, vision interpretation, and the willingness to showcase his faith in the direst of circumstances ( i.e. the lion's den).

     The last major lesson Daniel teaches us is to seek after wisdom along with the ability to use it wherever God has positioned us.  Even though Daniel's heart was to return to Jerusalem, his prophetic ministry began and ended in Babylon.  Despite this disappointment, Daniel continued to glorify God where he was.

     There were still many unanswered questions at the end of Daniel's life, but he chose to trust God with his queries.  He also continued to esteem wisdom and knowledge for the sake of God's kingdom.  One of his concluding assessments is as follows: " Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever." ( Daniel 12:3).

     God never leaves one detail of our lives to chance.  He has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and He expects that we will use these tools and help others to use them, as well. 
His Word gives us the answer key to have victory and success using His infallible, eternal, algorithm.



" Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in light of eternity."
                                                                                                                          Charles Spurgeon

    

Prince of Peace

         " You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
                                                                                                                                ( Isaiah 26:3)



     Humanity is fascinated with royalty.  This fascination extends beyond all cultural boundaries.  We observe the pomp and circumstance of their weddings and admire their royal regalia.  Little girls try to emulate the grace and mannerisms of princesses and queens. Companies like Disney have amassed fortunes because of this very phenomena.

     The reason we are drawn to royalty is because we are designed to desire it.  Jesus is referred to as a Prince and the King above all kings.  When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we also are adopted into His royal lineage.  The apostle Peter describes God's children as " a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation [and] God's special possession." ( 1 Peter 2:9).

     Jesus is our Prince of Peace.  Whether we are aware of it or not, God has placed a longing in our souls to be connected to the One who brings true peace.  Many of us assume that having peace means to have a tranquil mind or a calm heart. And yet, the Hebrew word ' Shalom'  means so much more!
The definition of ' Shalom' is:  "completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfection, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord".

     God desires for us to have complete wholeness in every area of our lives.  Because Jesus completed the work on Calvary, it becomes our inheritance when we place our trust in Him.  He longs to bring 'Shalom' to our past, our present, and our future.

     This peace is not something we can achieve on our own.  God purposefully designed it to be attached to Himself.  C. S. Lewis says, " God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing."

     So, if we are in Christ and He has given us the gift of peace, why does 'Shalom' still evade so many of us?  I believe it is because it is difficult to acknowledge the areas of our lives that we need to trust Him more.  It is quite possible to have strong faith in certain parts of our lives while we have minimal or no faith in others.

     First, we must have peace with our past.  Shame and rejection are often the biggest barriers to experiencing wholeness in this area.  Christians can unwittingly avoid dealing with the past and even attempt to find the scriptural basis to do so.  However, there will never be total freedom in Christ until we do so.  We must have the faith to believe that Jesus exchanged our shame and rejection for His glory and acceptance. We are the image bearers of Christ who manifest His glory on this earth.

     If we are humiliated by our own actions and sins before we accepted Christ, it is easy to become bogged down by the burden and the weight of it.  These consuming thoughts lack the faith to believe that God remembers our sin no more when we confess it to Him and turn from it.  Charles Spurgeon says, "Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair; but great thoughts of Christ will pilot you into the haven of peace."

     Grief and trauma can also be components of our past.  God knows each one of our personalities, relationships, and experiences. He knows that our grief is a unique journey and He is never shocked by our responses. When we can trust God to carry our grief, He will tenderly remove the sadness and replace it with His perfect peace.  Ultimately, this peace becomes the joy and strength from which we begin to minister to others.  Thomas A. Kempis, a fifteenth century theologian, says, " First you keep the peace within yourself, then you can bring peace to others."

     To have peace in our present circumstances requires walking in faith.  With so much currently  going on in the world and in our individual lives, it can be easy to focus on the wrong things. What we meditate on will determine our level of peace.

     A. W. Pink expounds upon this precept.  He says, " So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for the mind.  But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings- whether in a hovel or prison or dungeon, or at a martyr's stake- we shall be enabled to say, ' The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places' ( Psalm 16:6).  But that is the language of faith, not of sight nor of sense."

     Whatever it is that we need, we can be assured that God will provide it. Provision is His responsibility and His Word promises that He will supply our fundamental needs. Paul even stated,
" My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
( Philippians 4:19).

     Because we have Jesus, we can also have peace as it relates to our future.  Even during turbulent times, God still guarantees us we can have His peace. The prophet, Isaiah, tells us, " 'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you." ( Isaiah 54:10).

     When we read the final chapter of the Bible, we know we can have hope.  Anne Graham Lotz
defines hope as follows: " Biblical hope is absolute confidence in something you haven't seen or received yet, but you're absolutely confident that whatever God has said is going to come to pass."  She also declares that " Jesus is your hope for the future.  One day Jesus Christ will come back, and He will set all of the wrong right.  Good will triumph over bad.  Love will triumph over hate.  Righteousness will triumph over evil.  He's going to make it all right, and you can have absolute confidence that that's going to take place.  That's your hope."

     God still reigns.  His supremacy will never be thwarted.  Today, our Prince of Peace extends His sceptor to our lives to bring complete peace to our past, present, and future.  All we have to do is enter into the rest  He provides.  Will you receive His gift?


" Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with all of you. "  ( 2 Thessalonians 3:16).

    

Filled With Awe

" God dwells in His creation and is everywhere, indivisibly present in all His works. He is transcendent above all His works even while He is immanent within them."
A.W. Tozer


One of the biggest dangers (to our faith) of living in this technological age is that we begin to lose our awe for God and the things of God. We are constantly being bombarded by the demand of our devices, while every marketing firm tries to impress us with their latest and greatest. Because of this incessant competition for our time and attention, we begin to become desensitized due to overstimulation. This can even have a physiological response of reduced sensitivity to levels of various hormones and neurotransmitters in our brain.

The more stimulation we experience, the more we begin to filter out the "non-essential" things.
The ultimate effect is apathy, which is the antithesis of awe. Apathy means that we begin to experience a "lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern". Therefore, it takes something pretty magnificent to pique our attention. Stilling our hearts and minds to truly be quiet before God can become quite a feat when we live our lives on the adrenaline rush our society is consistently doling out to us.

Over and over, God's Word tells us that knowledge and wisdom don't even begin in our lives until we are standing in awe of God. In this age of information overload, it is easy to become deceived into believing the garbage that is constantly being thrown at us rather than becoming grounded in Biblical truths. Proverbs tells us, " The fear [awe] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." ( Proverbs 9:10).

When we are not in awe of God, it is easy to become enraptured by the world. John Piper says,
" If you don't see the greatness of God then all the things that money can buy become very exciting.
If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightening, you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures."

Another hindrance to standing in awe of God can be our circumstances, or the sometimes brutal battering ram of life. Let's face it- there are times in our lives that are awful, just as there are times that are truly awesome. The irony of this is that the root word for both 'awful' and 'awesome' is awe. The definition of awe is " wonder, amazement, astonishment, lost for words, open-mouthed". Whether our circumstances are good or bad, we cannot allow them to rob us of standing in awe of God. He has apportioned us the grace to always stand in awe, and He will always eventually turn them into joy. Psalm 30:11 echoes this sentiment by saying, " You did it [God] : you changed wild lament into a whirling dance"! Dancing shoes do not remain idle forever!

Please understand. I am not suggesting that we plaster a smile on our face and fake it until we make it. Not at all. Our suffering can and should lead us to a deeper communion with God. Honest doubts and disappointments can propel us to a new place of trust and joy. Authenticity is required.

Job penned this precept. Even when his world was rocked and his life was shattered, he allowed God to bring awe to him in the midst of his circumstances. He said, " He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; He suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading His clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness... And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?" ( Job 26: 7-10; 14).

There is so much for which to be in awe of God, both in who He is and in what He does. And yet, we often fall short because we don't really take the time to know Him or have the vantage from a God's eye view. Both of these require effort, faith, and pressing in, and yet will never totally be accomplished in entirety. John Wesley wrote, " Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God."

Therefore, we perish for a lack of knowledge and we are robbed from the joy and completeness that God has designed for us. Expectations and entitlement steal our affections and we miss out on the "fullness of life" that Christ died for us to have. John Milton wrote, " Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world."

Without awe for God, happiness eludes us. Albert Einstein said, " He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed." The Bible tells us that " splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His place." ( 1 Chronicles 16:27). In other words, our strength and joy are found in our awe of God.

Everything that is good and right is found in God and all good gifts come from Him. He is Creator of all and above all that is created. The powers of God are infinite and His personality attributes are pure and holy. Some of His attributes include: aseity, faithfulness, goodness, graciousness, holiness, immanence, immutability, incomprehensibility, infinite, just, loving, merciful, mysterious, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, oneness, providencial, righteousness, sovereign, transcendent, triune, and veracious. In other words, He is glorious and majestic and filled with splendor! There is none who can compare with Him!

In addition to all these attributes, God is incomparably wise and knowing. In the doxology of Paul's letter to the Romans, he writes, " Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! ' Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?' For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."

Even during turbulent times, we still can have peace knowing that God is sovereign and He has had a plan since before He even created us. No matter how much shaking occurs in the earth, we can look to our future with security. We are told that "since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." Hebrews 12:28).

God has equipped every generation according to their needs. Even during the grieving process for Jesus' followers, God met them in their deepest need. After Jesus' death and resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples and followers. We are told that after that " everyone was filled with awe..." ( Acts 2: 43). They could visibly see God moving in their midst and they were astonished and filled with wonder. Their expectation, hope and faith were intertwined solely in God.

Our salvation alone is reason enough for us to stand in awe... And yet, God has given us so much more. His Word teaches and instructs us, as the Holy Spirit leads and guides us. We live during the time of the dispensation of grace and under the new and better covenant. We are abundantly blessed!

We receive additional blessings and benefits from God when we stand in awe of Him and keep His Word. In the Old Testament, God promises: His pleasure, care, attention, protection, help, blessings, love, mercy, riches, honor, satisfaction, health, and life. In the New Testament, the benefits are even greater. We are promised all the Old Testament benefits, plus: eternal life, the Holy Spirit, sonship, an identification with the Risen Christ, and hope for His return.

All else in this world is fleeting... When Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, he stated that all man does is vanity- birth and death, planting and harvest, killing and healing, building and tearing down, riches and poverty, getting and losing, love and hate, and war and peace. He concluded by stating, " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear [ stand in awe of] God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." ( Ecclesiastes 12:13). May God help us to all be filled with awe and may we demonstrate it through obedience to the full counsel of His Word!



" Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him."
( Psalm 33:8)

ARISE!!!

" The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe.  He is the 'firstfruits', 'the pioneer of life'.
He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man.  He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death.  Everything is different because He has done so."
                                                                                                                                 C.S. Lewis


     Each one of us has a lens through which we view the world.  Similar to the anatomic lens of the eye, our lens helps us to refract light and determine the focal point of what we see.  This is why two people can witness the exact same event and yet have vastly different variations of the narrative.  Our lens will affect every aspect of our lives, including its efficacy and power.

     Having a Biblical lens forms the foundation of our walk with Christ.  However, there are still extreme variants amongst people who have the Biblical lens in common. These variants occur whenever we deflect truths or allow ourselves to become distracted by ineffective matters that detract from the resurrection power Christ has provided for us all.

     During this Resurrection season, God has been stirring a passion within my heart that the Body of Christ would become the glorious, radiant, Church of splendor that He has created us to be ( Ephesians 5:27).  This work starts within each one of us, individually.  As the embers inside of us become a flame, then that will spread out into our families, churches, communities, and beyond. This is the time for us to "Arise, shine, for [our] light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon [us]."  ( Isaiah 60:1).

     When Jesus died and was resurrected, everything in this world changed.  As He offered Himself in totality for the Church, He displayed His love to us in a tangible and lavish way.  His deity was proven and He emerged with the Father's ultimate seal of approval. His finished work lacked nothing as He led the triumphant processional to the future resurrection of all believers.

     His resurrection was preceded by suffering and death, just as it was prophesied to be.  It occurred on the first day of the week and it was heralded by angelic hosts.  Despite such evidence, the disciples were still innitially reluctant to believe.  Ultimately, they were convinced as they began to assimilate the irrefutable proof.

     Jesus appeared to many after He was resurrected, which was, once again, foretold.  Some of the appearances came to: Mary Magdalene, the women at the tomb, Peter, Paul, James, the disciples in the Upper room, 500 believers, the two men on the road to Emmaeus, and more.  Again and again, He appeared in the same way, and yet, the responses to these appearances were vastly different.

     There were four major responses to the Resurrected Christ:  fear and alarm, doubt and disbelief,
joy and belief, and understanding and worship.  I would submit that the followers of Christ today are no different than these first century Christians.  These responses form a continuum of variants within our lens and our maturity in Christ, specifically in regards to the resurrection power of Christ.

     While grief and sorrow may have affected the disciples' response, so did their understanding and level of faith.  John Piper describes the totality of Christ's finished work as follows: " The Bible says
He was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it.  This means that what the death of Christ
accomplished was so full and so perfect that the resurrection was the reward and the vindication of Christ's achievement in death."

     Today, the Church is  the visible manifestation of Christ's accomplishment.  Those who are sanctified on earth will be glorified later.  Isaiah tells us, "You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God." ( Isaiah 62:3).

     We walk in the unity and love of our Savior after He has produced a work of humility and reformation within us.  He removes the hindrances from our way of salvation and chisels the path before us to holiness.  This shapes the lens by which we see and becomes more real to us than even our physical surroundings.

     C.S. Lewis describes his experience with this phenomena: " I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

     When we focus on the power of Jesus' resurrection and understand that that same resurrection power is available to us, everything in our life changes.  As believers, the path behind us is strewn with the litter of the deliverance of guilt, pollution, and the dominion of sin.  The path we presently journey shapes our character and nature to the conformity of Christ, with full maturation in Christ as our goal. The path before us is illuminated by our resurrection and glorification.

     Holiness is the key, and God is the only one who works that in us as we cooperate with His Holy Spirit.  The apostle, Paul, prays for us, " May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

     The parable of the leaven illustrates how this pervasive power works in us.  In a conducive environment, it only takes a small amount of leaven to effect much change.  Jesus explains,
" The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all the way through the dough." ( Matthew 13:33).

     In our hearts, this leaven works supernaturally by faith.  Silent and persistent transformation wields power and productivity.  The power of God's kingdom comes from the King plus the least among us, when the Holy Spirit is not grieved by sin in our lives.  As God leavens ( transforms) us,
we will leaven society.

     Our greatest joy then becomes seeing God's leaven produced in the lives of others.  No one can take away the power of good leaven.  God wants us to walk in this power; it is His extravagant gift to us.  The power with God and the power of God is the greatest power we could ever have. It is unlike the mirage or illusion of wordly power in that it will never dissipate. This is the power that changes the world!

     Right now, we are called to focus. Our understanding of Christianity must include the knowledge that the Resurrection power of Christ is exerted in our hearts. We must see the radiance and brilliance of our Risen King to succeed in what He's called us to do.  God calls to us and says, " Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with Me." ( Song of Solomon 2:13).  The prevailing question is, " Will your response to the Resurrected King be joyful and faith-filled and cause you to 'Arise'"?


" If God dwells in the heart, and be vitally united to it, He will show that He is God by the efficacy of His operation.  Christ is not in the heart of a saint as in a sepulchre, as a dead savior that does nothing; but as in his temple, one that is alive from the dead.  For in the heart where Christ savingly is, there He lives, and exerts Himself after the power of that endless life, that He received at His resurrection.  Thus every saint who is the subject of the benefit of Christ's sufferings, it is made to know and experience the power, of His resurrection."
                                                                                                                             Jonathan Edwards