Tag Archives: Apostle Paul

The Wrong Seed For The Harvest You Desire

Gal 6 7

Be careful what seeds you are planting, watering, and ultimately – harvesting. It would be crazy for a farmer to plant corn and then expect sunflowers. Likewise, don’t expect joy, patience, and good will, if you are planting seeds of doubt, anxiety, and fear,

“You will always harvest what you plant.” – Gal. 6:7 (NLT)

“When your eyes are upon your symptoms and your mind is occupied with them more than with God’s Word, you have in the ground the wrong kind of seed for the harvest that you desire. You have in the ground seeds of doubt. You are trying to raise one kind of crop from another kind of seed. It is impossible to sow tares and reap wheat. Your symptoms may point you to death, but God’s Word points you to life,”  ― F.F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer

Gal. 2:16

Gal 2 16

If I tell my children something once, that should be enough… but, of course, it’s usually not. If I tell my children something three times right in a row: its probably pretty important.

In one verse, Paul repeats himself THREE times:

“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no human being shall be justified.” – Gal. 2:16

  1. We are not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.
  2. We are justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
  3. By the works of the law no human being shall be justified.

If you are leaning on works, rituals, or traditions instead of faith in Jesus, you will not be justified (right with God).

Straining at Rowing

spruce island lake davis wv kayak

I took Mary kayaking this weekend. Typical of a 2-year old, she wanted to “do it myself!” Needless to say, we didn’t get very far and she ended up pretty frustrated. Truth be told, she was a hot mess and I apologize to anyone who was expecting a peaceful afternoon on the water, but was instead subject to a full-blown temper tantrum that I’m sure was heard far and wide.

I kept thinking: If she would just relax and let her father do the rowing, we could have fun zipping all over that lake. Instead, she huffed & puffed and sweated & cried. Instead of going somewhere, we went nowhere. Instead of fun, it was… torturous. I was reminded of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.

“Then He saw them STRAINING AT ROWING, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.” – Mark 6:48 (NKJV) [Emphasis mine.]

“Straining” doesn’t do that Greek word justice. Basanizó literally means TORTURING.

They were literally torturing themselves by not relying on Jesus! Likewise, you and I are literally torturing ourselves by not relying on Jesus too.

Whenever we try to earn our salvation by being a “good person,” we are straining at the oars. Whenever we try to save ourselves with religious rituals, we are straining at the oars. Whenever we try to do ANY of the rowing, we will inevitably be straining at the oars.

Thinking you have anything to do with your redemption is the opposite of the gospel. Paul says that teaching telling you otherwise is not even a gospel; it is distorted and accursed, twice! (Gal. 1:7-9) Listen: we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, by His blood, through faith. Period. (Rom. 3:24-25)

We are all in a tempestuous sea. The wind is against us. No matter how furiously we strain, ROWING IN OUR OWN STRENGTH will never get us to shore. Aren’t you tired of rowing in circles? Aren’t you tired of torturing yourself? Jesus can easily step in if we would only let Him. He calms the sea, silences the wind, and gets us safely to the other side.

But we must first hand the oars over to Him.

Let God help you.

Ref: https://biblehub.com/greek/928.htm

Is God a Cosmic Killjoy?

termites

There’s a line from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov: “If God does not exist, then everything is permitted.” In other words, we can do whatever we want. The inevitable result is the current culture in which we find ourselves. It’s the “you’re ok/I’m ok, do what you feel, if it makes you happy/do it, love is love” ideology. At its core is a rejection of God because He’s a cosmic killjoy. Of course this is not new news; a reading of Romans 1-3:20 will tell you as much.

Paul gives Man 3 major strikes: they worship the creation not the Creator, exchange the truth for a lie, and exchange natural relations for unnatural ones. The prevailing theme is that there is no fear of God before their eyes (3:18).

No fear, respect, or reverence of God are like termites in your spiritual house. Bite by bite, they will slowly eat the whole thing.

It’s not one big termite munching away. If so, we’d say: “Look at the size of that thing; Kill it!” No, it’s thousands of little ones silently eroding the integrity of the entire structure.

It’s also not all at once. If so, we’d say: “Look, this morning I woke up and half the house is missing! We gotta do something!” No, it’s spread evenly over a long period of time.

And it’s not on the outside where everyone can see it. If so, we’d say: “Look at all those termites all over the place! Disgusting!” No, they’re all on the inside. Undetected. Gnawing on the bones of your house.

Is God a lame cosmic killjoy? Does He not want us to have any fun and sidle us with a bunch of restrictions?

Or could it possibly be that He knows what lies at the end of a path without Him? Could it possibly be that He knows better and is actually looking out for us? Could it possibly be His ways are the best ways and ours lead to destruction? Could it possibly be that it breaks His heart every time one of His creations turn their back on Him?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” – Prov. 3:5-6

Please do not make the fatal mistake of allowing your heart to be darkened. Not fearing God is the root of our downfall. Fear Him, glorify Him, and do not allow the termites to Swiss-cheese your house.

Naturalism

iphone in the sand

It seems to me that people used to blindly follow the Bible and were skeptical of science. Now people blindly follow science and are skeptical of the Bible. Both are wrong.

  1. We do not “blindly” follow the Bible. We follow the Bible because we follow truth. There is plenty of (and a variety of) evidence to corroborate the Bible. It is not just the “wishful thinking” of a bygone era.
  2. We are not skeptical of science. Science equally corroborates the claims of the Bible. Science can do nothing other than reveal God.

I would call science the “new religion,” but science is not a worldview or philosophy; it is a study of the natural world through observation and experiment.

  • You can’t get morals from it.
  • You can’t get how to live from it.
  • You can’t get the purpose of all this from it.

Science can tell me how the brain works, but not why. Descartes said “I think therefore I am,” but why do I think in the first place?

This new religion is actually an old one: Naturalism; the worldview according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.

Simply speaking naturalists worship the creation over the Creator. Paul says this brings God’s wrath: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator.” – Romans 1:25

Think about this practically: you come across an iPhone on the beach and start marveling over it. When I come up and tell you about Steve Jobs, you reject him, and return to marveling over the device.

It is exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Please investigate this for yourself and go where the truth leads you.

Stop Punishing Yourself

penalty box

In hockey & soccer there is a penalty box. Its the area where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty for an offence. Get this: sometimes it is called the “sin bin,” or “the bad box.”

Don’t we think that when we sin we need to put ourselves in the “penalty box?” That way we can “pay for it?” Then after a little while, we get out of the penalty box, and go to God so He can forgive us? Folks, that’s the opposite of the Gospel.

Stop punishing yourself! You cannot pay for your sins & save yourself! If you could, Jesus died for nothing (Gal. 2:21).

Paul said the sin he doesn’t want to do, he keeps doing and the things that he should do, he doesn’t do: sound familiar? It should. Romans 7 is the inner-struggle each & every one  of us face.

“Recognizing your weakness drives you TO GOD immediately, not AWAY FROM HIM.” – Paul Washer

Instead of thinking that God is mad at us for committing the same sin over and over, focus on His unending kindness. This is what actually leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).

The focus is not what you are doing, but rather what Jesus has already done for you! Its not about YOU, its about HIM.

If we could truly embrace this concept we could get out of our self-imposed penalty boxes and run back into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.

 

A Fragrance of Christ

Sorry if this is too personal, but what do you smell like?

“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing… ” – 2 Cor. 2:15

God can sniff us out. You ever have that aroma that just makes you so happy? You breathe it in like, “Ahhhhh!” Believers stick out to him like a sweet perfume.

God can sniff out unbelievers just as easily.

Paul continues…

“… to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. (v. 16a)

It’s amazing how one smell is pleasant to one person, but stinks to another. For example, some people love the smell of Play-Doh and some can’t stand it. When we speak about the Lord Jesus Christ to the world, they bristle. He is precious life to us, but pungent death to them.

Lastly, Paul asks “who is adequate” for such a tremendous task? (v.16b)

The answer is simple: No one is adequate, sufficient, or worthy. We all fall tragically, hilariously short.

Not one to leave us hanging, Paul tells us how we can ever be adequate: Our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. 3:6). He makes us competent. He enables us.

And for that I am eternally grateful.

So, what do you smell like?

Paul’s “My” Gospel


In Romans 2:16, Paul does something curious; he calls the gospel, “my gospel.” Funny. In most other places he uses the plural possessive,”our gospel.” But here he calls it his own.

Why?

Paul doesn’t mean that he is the author of it or that he has some sort of exclusivity with it. What he is doing is taking ownership of it and (as Spurgeon says) “holding it with both hands, grasping it as his very own.” He is binding it to his heart. He’s making it personal.

I join Paul in calling the gospel of Jesus Christ mine. It is my very own. All else is vanity and lies.

This is my gospel.  Is it yours?

Living in a Musical

singing in the rain

Living in a Musical

It seems like the Apostle Paul wants us all to live in a musical.

“See then that you walk circumspectly (NIV = carefully), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (NIV = debauchery); but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” – Eph. 5:15-21 (NKJV)

Verse 19: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Singing songs (making music in your hearts) to the Lord with an attitude of thanksgiving. Is this not the very definition of joy? JOY primarily manifests itself by – Singing and thanksgiving! Paul is not saying we are all in Grease or West Side Story; he is saying to submit to each other by helping, encouraging, & bearing one another’s burdens – all with an attitude of… JOY!

Our Heavenly Summer Vacation & Our Heavenly Weekend is coming!

Let me put it this way: do you remember the last day before summer vacation? Everyone is happier, lighter, and easier to get along with. Its as if everyone has a song in their hearts.  They can’t wait; tomorrow’s the beginning of summer!

Or at the workplace; everyone is way happier on Fridays than on Mondays. The weekend is coming!

As believers, we have summer vacation coming; Our Heavenly Summer Break! As followers of The Way, we have our weekend coming; Our Heavenly weekend! We should live like tomorrow is that day of anticipation; because it is! Troubles don’t seem so bad. Trials don’t seem so hard. Things that usually get on your nerves, all of sudden don’t. That’s the spirit!

And if you break out in song, you can always blame Paul.