ONE BAD DECISION: LIVING WITHOUT RESTRAINTS

November 9, 2014 at 7:43 AM (Christian Living, One Bad Decision)
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INTRODUCTION

In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. But, if you’re like me, we make many of our decisions spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but also for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? Sometimes a single decision will change us for the better. And sometimes a single decision will change us for the worse.

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the singular decision that some people in the Bible made that changed their lives forever…for the worse. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word it’ll give us reason to stop and think about both the long-term and short-term ramifications of the decisions we make. Lots of forethought and prayer, I’m convinced, will save us from the pain and regret of a hastily-made decision for the worse.

LIVING WITHOUT RESTRAINTS

I’m a minister and, for as long as I can remember, from the start, really; I’ve depended on God to give me my sermons and lesson plans. It’s been such a gratifying way of ministering because God’s people get a fresh word of encouragement and instruction from the Lord. Just as importantly for me, relying on God to tell me what He wants to say to His people has been good for my prayer life and walk with God. It keeps me constantly in His presence, waiting, listening, and writing down the words that minister life, encouragement, and hope to God’s people.

I can count on one hand the number of visions and dreams that I’ve had from the Lord. God’s never spoken audibly to me. And I’ve never been transported in spirit to Heaven to see the Lord and the unspeakable splendors of God’s very own City of Splendor.

God speaks to my spirit through His still, small, inaudible voice. The words and thoughts gently flow to my mind, much as if I was getting a mental letter from the Lord. When the Lord speaks to me I am renewed and revived in spirit. His presence and anointing are so precious and real, so heart felt, that I am truly gratified and humbled that God would even bother to speak to me and through me. When you multiply this single divine encounter over and over again, week by week through forty-plus years of ministry, I feel so richly blest and privileged to be the object of God’s love and the steward of a fresh word from the Lord.

As richly as I’ve been blest, I can’t imagine what it would be like to get visions of the Lord on a regular basis. I can’t put into words the unimaginable experience of actually getting to see the Lord face-to-face, or hear Him speak audibly to me. I look at the great men of faith in the Bible who had regular visits with the Lord—men like Moses, the prophets and apostles, and Paul—and I can’t help but imagine how privileged and blest they must have felt to be actually speaking face-to-face with God.

Put yourself in their shoes. If the Lord appeared to you in a vision or dream and you actually got to hear Him speak to you, how would you feel? Better yet, what if the Lord actually appeared to you in person? Or brought you in the spirit to His Heavenly City. Would you ever forget your personal encounter with the Lord? How would this single moment of epiphany or theophany affect you for the rest of your life? Would it make you a life-long, loyal believer living with the realization that one of these days you’ll be living in God’s presence forever? Or would you eventually lose your vision and excitement for eternity and become distracted, rather preoccupied, with yourself?

Solomon was a young man. He recently ascended the throne of Israel and was now King in place of his father King David (1 Kings 1).

Like his father before him, Solomon had a real heart for God. You might say he was on fire for the Lord. 1 Kings 3:3 describes his zeal and love for the Lord: Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. The high places don’t mean that Solomon offered sacrifices to false gods. It simply means that, instead of offering sacrifices wherever the Tabernacle happened to be, people built altars on mountains or hills and offered their sacrifices to God there. So Solomon was definitely, totally consumed with God.

Verse 4 goes on to tell us the awesome extent of Solomon’s offerings: And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that alter. How Solomon loved the Lord! Can any of us see ourself in Solomon? On fire for the Lord?

God decided He was gonna pay Solomon a visit. He appeared to him in a dream and invited Solomon to ask anything for himself. Wow! I can think of a thousand things I’d like to ask God for. But do you know what Solomon asked for? Wisdom to be a good King.

I see nothing but humility and sincerity in Solomon’s prayer: O Lord my God, You’ve made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. {8} And here I am in the midst of Your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! {9} Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong (1 Kings 3:7-9).

God was soooo pleased with Solomon’s request that He not only gave him wisdom, but long life, fame, national peace, and wealth to boot (1 Kings 3:10-13). No other ruler in history has been singularly and spectacularly blest as Solomon!

With the nation at peace and many of Israel’s enemies paying Solomon tribute, Solomon’s wealth increased enormously. With his wealth he built himself a grandiose palace. He also built an exquisite Temple for the Lord.

Upon the Temple’s completion, he offered his thousands of offerings to God and asked God to continually watch over His people and bless them (1 Kings 8).

God, once again, was moved. And He appeared to Solomon a second time (1 Kings 9). Here’s the gist of what He told Solomon. He said, Solomon, if you remain faithful to Me you will always have a descendant ruling on the throne and I will watch over Israel. And this Temple that you’ve built for Me will always house My presence. However, if you turn your back on Me and serve other gods, I will destroy both this land and this Temple and Israel will no more be feared or respected among the nations.

Can you possibly imagine just how blest Solomon was to have been gifted twice with God’s appearance and to have all worldly might, fame, and riches? Do you think it’s possible for a man so singularly and spectacularly gifted to forget the Lord and turn his back on God? If you didn’t know the story you’d think it was impossible for a person who’s seen the Lord and talked to Him to eventually turn his back on God. But happen it did.

For all his love and zeal for the Lord, Solomon had one major problem. He loved women. All sorts of women from all sorts of nations. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And all these women turned his heart away from the Lord. In his love for his wives, he built shrines for their false gods. And, sadder yet, most astoundingly of all, he worshipped these false gods too (1 Kings 11).

Solomon obviously didn’t have any self-control. He didn’t practice self-restraint in his romantic and sexual life. He didn’t obey a clear command of the Lord: The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them (foreigners), because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway (1 Kings 11:2). This last sentence haunts me. It evinces Solomon’s intent to do as he pleased despite the Lord’s command. Like Solomon and a lot of you, I’ve insisted on having my way in spite of whatever God has to say about it.

GOD’S COMMANDS ARE FOR A VERY GOOD REASON. THEY’RE FOR OUR GOOD. AND WHEN WE INSIST ON DISOBEYING GOD WE’LL END UP PAYING DEARLY FOR OUR DISOBEDIENCE.

Solomon did. The whole nation did. To this day, Israel is a mess. Because there was no godly king reigning on the throne.

Let me turn a corner here and speak about the sad condition that we’re in today. I’ll speak for myself. But maybe I speak for you too. We hear very little about the cross today. I’m talking about crucifying and denying self. Saying No to self. Not doing what self wants to do. We just don’t hear a whole lot of sermons about putting self to death. About obeying God no matter what. About not sinning or not disobeying God.

We pretty much live in a time when we do whatever we want to do. We do whatever we think or feel is right in our own eyes. A lot of Christians no longer regard the Bible as a Divine, Authoritative rule of law and life. Astonishingly, many Christians-so-called don’t regard Jesus as God. To them He was human, sinful, and imperfect as ourselves. The God that we grew up believing in no longer exists. He isn’t who we were taught He was. He’s all sorts of gods. He is who we want him, and make him, to be. We disobey God freely and regularly. And we have a thousand and one reasons and excuses why we’re right and the Bible’s wrong.

I’ll say it just so that you’ll hear it. IF WE DON’T PUT CURBS AND LIMITS ON OURSELVES WE’RE HEADED BLINDLY TO HELL. You can think whatever you want to think about me. But the words aren’t mine. Not really. They’re my adaptation of what Paul said in his Epistle: If you live according to the flesh you will die (Romans 8:13).

Solomon had a sin problem that he wouldn’t deal with. He didn’t practice self-restraint. He didn’t put his cross to use. He didn’t stick close to God. He lived flagrantly in disregard and disobedience to God’s command.

Solomon was a pretty smart fella. God gave him more smarts than any one man to date has had, Jesus excepted. But in choosing to live to satisfy his fleshly indulgences he made a pretty dumb mistake. NOT CRUCIFYING OURSELF, YOU SEE, HAS A DUMBING EFFECT ON US:  it makes us spiritually dumber to our unbeknownst.

Instead of loving God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, Solomon gave his heart and his love to someone else. He lived to satisfy himself and his flesh. Does he remind any of us of ourself? Do we live as Solomon?

Friends, if you don’t put your cross to good use and die out to self, then, like Solomon, you’re making your worst decision ever. You may not believe me. You may think me wrong to your dying day. But rest assured, you’ll know the truth when you meet up with God. EVERYBODY MEETS GOD FACE-TO-FACE AT LEAST ONCE (Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:11-12). I pray your meeting doesn’t make you an obedient-believer-too-late.

Friends, let’s learn from Solomon. Let’s not duplicate his mistake. Let’s return penitently to our Lord for He is ever ready and willing to forgive us. Let God dictate how we live our life. And at the top of our To-do list, let’s find the cross that we’ve lost and get back on it. That’s where we Christians belong. That’s where we can be found. May God bless you richly and empower you to live obediently for Him.

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HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE IN GOD’S FAMILY

February 18, 2013 at 1:02 PM (Doctrine, Knowing You're Saved)
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INTRODUCTION

We all like to be sure about things. We want to know for a fact. We want to be confident. And not just confident, but absolutely confident. Beyond all shadow of a doubt. We hate uncertainty. We don’t like not being sure about things. We do everything in our power to make sure of whatever it is we’re unsure about.

Of course, once some of us get the facts and know the truth, we don’t like the reality that we’re faced with. So we go about deceiving and fooling ourselves into rejecting the truth. We make for ourselves a different truth. A different reality. And we engage in the lifelong, arduous process of convincing ourselves, and others, that we’re right. So we’re back to where we started. We all like to be sure about things. And when we’re not sure we do everything in our power to make sure.

For a lot of us, we take our salvation for granted. We just know, we assume, we’re sure, we’re saved. Period. End of discussion. The question—no, strike that, the matter—isn’t up for argumentation or debate. We’re saved and that settles that.

For others among us, the matter of salvation is a longstanding, if not a life-long, question–a torment, really– about whether or not we’re really, truly saved. How can we know for a fact? How can we be so sure? Our human frailties and sins, coupled with the devil’s constant torments and accusations, have many of God’s dear people tied up in a knot, worrying about whether they’re really saved or not.

I have a 7-part post about how you can know you’re saved. I also blogged about how you can know where you’re going when you die. And how you can know if you really, truly belong to Christ. If you find yourself tormented about your salvation status, please click on the link, study the Scriptures, search your soul, and be very very sure about where you stand with the Lord right now. Your soul is too precious, and eternity is too long, to miss out on Heaven.

In addition to these posts, here’s another way of looking at our salvation from a different perspective—from the perspective of being a part of God’s family.

HOW TO BE IN GOD’S FAMILY

In Matthew 12:46ff Jesus was teaching and was surrounded by gobs of folks. There were so many that Jesus’ mother and brothers couldn’t get to Him. So they sent a message to Him, asking if He would meet with them. You would think that Jesus would rush out of there and see what was up with the fam. Instead, He stretches His hand towards His disciples and says, Look, here are my mother and my brothers (Matthew 12:49).

Then He goes on to say in verse 50 how we can know, how we can tell, if we’re a part of God’s family: Whoever does the will of My Father who’s in Heaven, is my brother and sister and mother. In other words, short and simple, FAMILY IS WHOEVER DOES GOD’S WILL. If you’re doing God’s will, you’re in. If you’re not, and you don’t ever get around to doing God’s will, then you’re out. IT’S WHAT YOU’RE DOING—WHOSE WILL YOU’RE DOING, YOURS OR GOD’S—THAT DETERMINES WHETHER YOU’RE IN GOD’S FAMILY OR NOT.

I’ll elaborate on this in just a moment. The thing that I find so striking here is that Jesus doesn’t say that His family is everyone who believes in Him. Everyone who gets saved. Everyone who has a conversion experience. Everyone who professes to be a Christian. These are all important and they are the starting point: it’s your entry point to God’s family. You’re at the entrance and you made it into the building called God’s family.

Now what do you do once you’re in the building? Do you stay in? Or do you go back out?

Of course, in this world we’re constantly going into and out of buildings. We don’t spend our entire lives cooped up in one building. We go in and out.

In the building that we call God’s family, getting saved is you getting past the entry doors. You’ve gone through the doors and you’ve entered the building of God’s family. You’re in the family.

Now do you stay in the building or do you go back out into the world and the life that’s outside the building? You see, just because you made it into the building doesn’t mean you’re staying in the building. Many Christians leave the building to go back to the sin that they love; to go back to the world that they still love; to go back to the heathen friends and lifestyles that they just can’t seem to get enough of. Like the one lost sheep who’s left the flock (Luke 15), many Christians are outside the building, sinning, yet they consider themselves inside the building.

Jesus wants you to stay in the building. Getting into the building is great. Jesus isn’t knocking or discouraging that. He’s happy you made it into the building. But Jesus is telling us all that it’s just the start. For the rest of your life He wants you to stay in the building. How do you do that? How do you stay in the building? You do God’s will.

That’s a tough one. We all want our way and will. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but it just seems like that’s how a lot of us live: we live doing what we want. That’s no criticism or put down, believe me, because I’m every bit human like you and, golly, you don’t know how bad I want to have my way! I’m still human and I make mistakes, get in the flesh, and rush out to do my thing without taking the time to ask God for His take because I already have a good hunch what His take is. Not today, God. Not now. This is what I want to do and I’m gonna do it no matter what You say. In the flesh we’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to sin. We’re going to want to have things our own way.

But I’ve got enough sense as a mature Christian and a pastor to know that I’ve got to set my will aside, seek God’s face, learn His will, and do that. Believe me, I do that. I try to do that. To be entirely honest with you, I value one thing more than my will and that’s God’s will. I’m old enough, I’ve gone through the cycle of Christian experience long enough, to know that God’s blessings are found in doing His will. That’s where the happiness and contentment that we cherish and look for are found.

I have a few regrets from past sins and failures that weigh terribly heavy on me. They are a scar  that, upon remembrance, bring a fresh torrent of pain and hurt. I hate this. But seeing that I can’t undo the past, and I can’t entirely, completely forget it either, then such is life for me. I just find a way to set the pain aside and press on. I look for solace and happiness because  they’re all around me just waiting to be discovered, seen, and enjoyed. But without exception, and I mean without exception, all of life’s regrets and pain have come when I was in the flesh. When I did things my way.

And so I’ve learn the painful, bitter lesson: HAVING MY WAY DOESN’T MAKE ME HAPPY. DOING MY WILL HURTS AND GRIEVES ME. HAPPINESS, CONTENTMENT, SATISFACTION, PEACE: ALL THESE ARE FOUND IN DOING GOD’S WILL. IN OBEYING HIM.

So do you want to know if you’re a part of God’s family? Jesus is telling you right here in Matthew 12:50 how you can know for sure. If you’re doing God’s will, you’re in the family.

HOW TO STAY IN GOD’S FAMILY

You stay in God’s family by doing His will. A good place to start is to obey the Bible. The Bible is God’s will. So doing that the Bible says is one way we stay in the family.

Of course, God has a lot of specifics for each and everyone of us. What He wants me to do in any one situation in life may not necessarily be what He wants you to do in the same situation. So what applies to me may not necessarily apply to you.

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. God speaks to us directly and personally through His Holy Spirit. He gives us the specifics and lets us know what He wants us to be doing right now and for the rest of our lives.

YOU CAN’T OBEY GOD UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT HIS WILL IS.  I think all of us often assume we know God’s will. My will is His will. But unless we’ve prayed about it and heard from God, we don’t know what God’s will is. And, chances are, we’re not doing it. WE CAN’T DO SOMETHING UNLESS WE KNOW WHAT IT IS WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO. So praying and learning God’s will is just one half of the equation. The other half is, once you know what God’s will is, are you going to do it? That’s hard—especially when you’ve got your mind set on doing what you want to do.

DYING IS SELDOM EASY OR PAINLESS. I know we’ve got all sorts of pain killers to numb the pain or make it unfelt. But when the vicodin or morphine wears off you’re back to feeling the pain. And boy does it hurt! That’s the way dying is. It’s hard and painful. And no one wants to go through it.

And that’s the way self-dying is. I’m talking about the cross and crucifying self, selfish interests, selfish desires, selfish will. It’s a hard thing to do that many people don’t want to do it. And when they do it, they do it screaming because it’s painful to give up your way to do it God’s way.

Yet, this is exactly what God would have all of us do. Luke 14:27, And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE CROSS WITH YOU, IF YOU’RE NOT PUTTING IT TO USE, IF YOU’RE NOT ON IT, JESUS SAYS YOU CAN’T BE HIS DISCIPLE.

What’s the cross for? The cross kills everyone who’s on it. No one comes down from the cross alive. When you get hung on the cross you’re hung until you’re dead.

So where are you at right now? Are you on the cross or off?

I know we say that all Christians are going to Heaven when they die. Listen. I’m not the Gatekeeper of Heaven. If it was up to me, everybody in church and everybody who’s a Christian will go to Heaven. But this isn’t exactly what God said! Jesus said here in Matthew 12:50 that you’re family only if you do God’s will. Which is to say, if you’re not doing God’s will you’re not family.

Jesus reiterated this condition of doing God’s will in Matthew 7:21-23, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  (22)  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  (23)  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Brethren, I don’t know how to make it any clearer to you than this. IF YOU’RE NOT DOING GOD’S WILL YOU’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT TO HEAVEN.

Let me hasten to say this doesn’t mean that if you mess up once or twice, or even a lot of times, you’re not going to Heaven. We all are human and imperfect. We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to mess up. And just because we mess up doesn’t mean we’ve lost our salvation and we’re going to hell. No, God has given us the offer of forgiveness so that we can be forgiven and go to Heaven. Of course, we have to repent of our sins and turn away from them. But the point is, just because you sinned doesn’t automatically mean you’re not in God’s family.

Jesus here is talking about a pattern, a habit, a lifestyle, a way of living where you’re doing your will on a regular basis and not God’s will. Make that a life’s habit and you’re guaranteeing yourself a horrible surprise when you die.

So how can you know, how can you be absolutely sure, you’re in God’s family? If doing God’s will is a habit and lifestyle with you, then you’re in. It’s as simple as that.

If obeying God isn’t a habit and lifestyle with you, and you want to go to Heaven, then guess what you need to be doing: you need to start obeying God. If you don’t want to obey God, but don’t want to go to hell either, then ask God to give you a new heart. Ask Him to change your heart and mind. Ask Him to give you an obedient heart, Ezekiel 36:26-27. As a Christian, I’ve had to pray this prayer a number of times and it’s always worked for me. It’s a prayer that God will answer, Philippians 2:13.

God wants you in His family. If you want in, He’ll bring you in and, with a lot of prayer, crucifixion, teaching, and chastening too!, you’ll have a heart to obey God. That might not seem possible to you right now. But take it from me who’s gone down the road before you, it’s possible to say Not my will, but Thine be done, and to mean it with all your heart. It’s such a refreshing and gratifying stage to be at in life and you, my dear friend, can join me! With God’s help, you can make it! For with Him all things are possible and not even your hard head or heart is impossible for Him to change. If He can’t change you He’s not God. Of course, if you’re not wanting to be changed, then it’s all on you. Either way, God will always be God. If you want changed, God will see to it that you are changed. You have His word and His guarantee on that and He will not fail.

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