How Long Will You Wait?

The problem we face as Christians who sincerely want to see our neighbors and friends come to Christ is the misconception we have about what this means for them to make such a dramatic left turn.  The vast majority of people we contact daily who are not born from above are completely content as they are.  They don't want our assertions or our "great opportunity".  It is absurd to them that they should change their lives so dramatically as we insist and their conscience is not the least bit troubled by what they do.    Divorce is reasonable if they are no longer in love, pornography is enjoyable and maybe even helpful, what we call sexual immorality is moral to them and greed honored.  The itch is meant to be scratched every time it surfaces and the audacity of demanding something approaching limits to freedom is irrational to them.  We are not, and never have been offering something so enticing it cannot be rejected.  Jesus did not say He came to bring peace but a sword.  Most people do not see Christianity as a better life; a less tolerable one perhaps, a constricted one probably.  Even many Christians are a tad bitter about what they find Christianity to be.   The deceit of Satan is thorough and penetrating.  The lie that being in Christ is a meager and impoverished existence is believed almost universally, even many times within the church.  Why would those infatuated with death want to cross over to life?  The Gospel is not seen as good news but a bitter pill to swallow.  What can we do about this?  The Lord has given us two directives.  Pray for the hearts of our family, friends and neighbors and say the Gospel clearly.  Rather than being confounded by a  wasteland of wrecked souls, grab the hope Jesus Himself had when He happily proclaimed His mission...The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  (John 10:10 NIV)  Not everyone will realize their lives are bankrupt without Jesus but some will.  Not everyone will want to hear what you have to say but some will.    We must not be dismayed by the prevailing blindness.  The Lord is present shedding light in the darkness so not every soul is trapped in the shadows.   The Gospel is even now unlocking rusted padlocks binding hearts and you have that same key in your hand.  Don't worry yourself with strategies for trying to convince people to come to Christ.  Let the Holy Spirit do that work.  Give  the Gospel  away though as if it were the  hope of all mankind; don’t hold back when your time has come to be the great angel of grace, God's personal messenger.  Someone is waiting for you.  God has prepared the way!

Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."   Luke 9:60 NIV

Spilling Out

God has not called you to "be all you can be".  He has no interest whatsoever in you developing your potential or making something of yourself.  He is transforming you that the Son of Man might live through you.  What good really is it that you gain the world and lose your soul?  Anyone can reach their potential and have no need of Jesus Christ whatsoever.  The Lord did not send His Son to die for you so you could do that!  Our Savior gave up His life on the Cross to redeem you from all your scurryings and strivings because it all leads no where but to destruction.  He bought you back from death so that you might be made complete in Christ alone.  Your education and professional advancement and success at getting your children into prestigious colleges is of no use to God at all and even less use to you if the Lordship of Christ is not front and center in you.  If He is not the Life in your life, then you have made a wreck of the opportunity God has given you to be.  Satan is more than happy to let you continue your course as long as Christ is not spilling out of you in your daily dealings.  If Jesus Christ does not tumble forth from you as you get after your work assignments, while you are doing the dishes and as you settle down at the library to start your homework, then it is a meaningless exercise.  But if the Spirit of God generates your whirl of activities, even if they are mundane, then you have lived well.  What good is your sermon if it does not have the taste of Jesus Christ in it and of what use are your flashes of brilliance as you entertain your friends if nothing of it has the aroma of Christ?  Everywhere you go, the resurrected Christ goes with you.  Your challenge is to let Him loose.   Give Him sway wherever you are!  The power of God working through you is the greatest of miracles!  Why would you ever keep that back?  Let just one person in on your life with Christ and a landslide of sweetness might spill out of you into a world waiting for a single soul to come its way with Jesus Christ at the forefront of what she does.

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 4:11 NIV

Tyranny of Doing

When Moses went up Mt. Sinai to the top to meet with God and receive the rest of the law, he firmly ordered Aaron and the other older leaders to wait on the mountain for him to return.  For some reason, they didn't; they went back to the camp to do whatever they thought was more necessary.  One has to wonder if the entire business of the golden calf would have been avoided if Aaron had simply stayed at his post rather than find something "better" to do down below.  There is a time to go down to the camp but also a time to wait for the clear directive of God.   Few things chaff us as severely as the wait God institutes.  We develop a fine constellation of ideas during the wait and are hell-bent on trying them out before the Lord has given us His "go".  We constantly are confusing the going and waiting; all the time wrecking this and that because we are not patient enough to get to know God's voice and faithful enough to heed His call.  We are like little children who must try everything when the great Counselor is patiently waiting for us to turn into Him for Divine Direction.  Not every jar contains arsenic but some do and our Lord is good enough to tell us in advance how to stay away from it.   Not every opportunity is good; some will take us far from the perfect peace God has prepared for us and those we love.  You certainly can do something but it may be the worst of your possible options and reward you with a lifetime of regret.  Perhaps we could wait upon the Lord just this one time; take time to let Him work Himself into us so that we can get it right when He finally gives us something to do.  Has anything been quite so disastrous as the obeisance we give to the adage of striking while the iron is hot?  Can we not pause even for an instant to be with God in whatever matter is before us?  Do we always have to do?

He (Moses) said to the elders, "Wait here…"   Exodus 24:14 NIV

Fretting For What?

It is never the crisis that unsettles us but rather the deviation away from Christ.  We are so infatuated by how things will turn that we forget just how perfectly Christ is fitting Himself into us.  When the Lord reminded us not to worry about what we would eat or wear, do we think that was all there was to His point?  Jesus was not unsettled by criticism or temptation, by poverty or that frustrating co-worker.  He simply was not rattled and that is what God wants for us too and has for us.  This is possible not because we become skilled at scaling back our responsibilities or cutting out negative relationships; this is our personality in Christ.  The Lord does not want us to imitate Jesus but rather for Him to live in us.  As we give sway to Christ at every instance, we find the mind and emotions of God coming out of us in all sorts of exciting and surprising ways.  God did not die for us to just take away our punishment for sin; He died that we might have life and have it more abundantly.  That life is not a life of fretting, stewing or striving.  The life God died to give us is one with the Lord Jesus Christ living fully through us.  Each turn we take is an opportunity for the wisdom and love of Christ to manifest itself in what we do and how we think about all we encounter.  Lust, selfishness and pride are the archaic remnants of a dying breed.  The new man is being established as us: Christ joined to me, Christ joined to you in a dynamic synthesis that will be perfect.  As you read the Bible, don't look for ways to make something of your life; look for Christ to live fully and happily in and through you as He works out your day moment by moment.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:3 NIV

Untested Gifts

Be careful of the gift that seems so timely and needed.  Hagar probably was given to Sarai during her sojourn in Egypt and that gift became a terrible snare for Sarai and Abram.  Hagar eventually was the out for each of them as they frantically searched for a way to make God's promise of a child come true.  Rather than trusting solidly in the Lord Himself, they took the gift of Pharaoh as the solution to the difficulty they faced.  Later Abram proved his growing awareness that not every gift should be accepted willy-nilly by rejecting the offer of wealth from the king of Sodom.  But in Egypt, with his mind clouded by the affluence surrounding him, Abram saw nothing wrong with gathering everything offered him there including the lovely maiden Hagar.  It can seem like such a minor issue, taking this, accepting that and yet there may never have been a more haunting image for Abram all his days than the moment he turned his back on Sarai (albeit at her demand) and fathered the son Ishmael with Hagar.  We must be suspicious of what we mark as a blessing and what we decide is a curse.  The wounds of God are sweeter and more lovely than the poisoned presents of Satan and it takes discernment to know what you have in your hand at any given moment. A job offer, an open door, an opportunity for change may not come from who you think.  Be careful about the gifts you accept and the difficulties you reject.     Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.  Genesis 15: 1 NIV