Alternate Plans
Bible Order: 2 Sam 20–22
Chronological Order: 1 Samuel 9-12

What Does It Profit You?

Luke 9:18–36

In today’s reading we see the line of Scripture on which the motto for this blog is based.

Luke 9:23 ESV

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”

I believe this very issue, of denying one’s self, is at the heart of the mediocre life some Christians live in Christ.  Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.  Think about Paul who in the midst of his many trials, tribulations, and imprisonments conveyed a sense of joy.  How could he be so joyful in the midst of such trouble?  He did so by denying himself.  The key to happiness is not found in a life focused on one’s self but rather in a life focused on God.  It is our self-centered desires, and our efforts to fulfill those desires, that cause us great unhappiness.

Think about it.  When are you most unhappy?  Isn’t it when things are not going the way you want them to?  Isn’t it when things are most difficult for you?  Don’t you see that you’ve made your life all about you?  When we deny ourselves, when we let go of all the anger and hurt and misery that comes from focusing on ourselves, we actually are released from a prison of our own construction.  Self-centeredness is at the heart of all sin and Jesus has released you from that prison.  To go on making your life the focus of your life is to voluntarily put those chains back on your wrists.

With God’s Holy Spirit residing within you, you have the power to deny yourself and follow Him.  You see having been freed from our self-centeredness we can now focus on Him and what He has told us to do.  He has told us to love others.  In fact, He has told us to love our enemies.  We are to go in to the world and shine the light of His love for all mankind, so that some will be attracted by that love and find salvation in Christ Jesus.  It is an important and fulfilling job and it has been given to you.

This is why the motto of this blog is “dying to self, living to serve”.  This is two sides of the happiness equation.  Forget about what you want and focus on God’s purpose for your life.  Serve Him and others and you will find joy beyond your wildest imagination.  For what does it profit you to gain the whole world but lose yourself?

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Content In Any Situation

Philippians 1-4

We recently finished the New Testament books of Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians, and today we read Philippians.  Each of these books was written by Paul while in prison in Rome.  In fact all of the books of the New testament written by Paul from here on out in our Chronological reading plan were written while he was in prison.  Paul never saw freedom from the point he arrived in Rome until his death.  As we have seen Paul has really been through the wringer in his obedience to God’s call on his life.  I mentioned in an earlier post that most of us expect our lives to get more pleasant once we accept Christ.  I think some might actually turn their back on Christ if after accepting Him they suffered what Paul did.

I think I need to clarify that last sentence.  If you truly submit your life to Christ then you can’t really turn your back on Him.  You can make mistakes and stumble in sin but His Holy Spirit will continue to correct you and push you toward obedience.  The thing is, some people “accept” Christ only on a surface level as if they are making a deal with Him.  “God if you’ll save me, and give me worldly goods and pleasure and safety and things, then I’ll follow you and be your ‘servant’”.  Obviously what that person is actually saying is “God I’ll do this submit thing if it is actually you who submit to me”.  The first blast of worldly trouble and these folks say “the deal is off”.

Even those of us who really have submitted our lives to Him struggle with the question of why God would allow His children to face worldly trouble.  Paul gives us a glimpse of how a mature Christian views trouble in this life.

Philippians 1:12-14

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Why did God allow Paul to be imprisoned in Rome?  Paul understands, and explains, that all his trouble served the purpose of advancing the Gospel not only by his own efforts but by the efforts of those who found encouragement in his example.  This is not a little thing.  This is the biggest of things.  As a Christian, Christ has held off bringing you home to glory for two reasons: 1) to mature you spiritually, and 2) to use you to spread the Gospel.  Each of these reasons is achieved together – you can’t have one happen without the other.  As you share the Gospel you mature spiritually and as you mature spiritually you share the Gospel.  Growing and sharing happen at the same time, each feeding and expanding the other.

Later on in Philippians 1 Paul challenges the reader to let their manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ.  That is to say that we are to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel, and not frightened in anything by our opponents [Philippians 1:27:29].  Does that sound like you?  Why should you make the entire focus of your life here on earth the spreading of the Gospel?  Paul explains:

Philippians 1:29-30

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”

Yesterday I wrote about predestination.  Do you see what Paul is saying here today?  You were not only predestined to be one of the elect, to believe in Christ and thus be saved.  You were also predestined to suffer for His sake!  The troubles in your life are not a burden, they are an opportunity.  Paul suffered in the same conflict as Christ.  You and I are to suffer in the same conflict as they.  Do you get it?  Christ didn’t come to die on a cross so you wouldn’t have to have a few bumps on the road of life.  He came to save you and all the people He intends to reach through you.  It isn’t about you – it is about Him!  It isn’t about this life – it is about the next!  When are we going to get that through our thick little heads?

Brothers, the quality of life is not defined by worldly pleasures, it is defined by our relationship with Christ.  If your relationship with Him is based on what He can do for you I’m afraid your quality of life will suffer.  If your relationship with Him is about faithful obedience then no matter what trouble and strife comes your way you will have the highest quality of life.  You will find yourself content in any situation.  It is this state of contentment that Paul wishes for you when He asks you to make his joy complete by being of the same mind as he.  Be at peace no matter the situation by making Him and Him alone the focus of your life.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Hope In Christ

Mark 15, Matthew 27

Brothers, it is late and if I’m going to make my deadline for posting this to the blog for automatic e-mailing to subscribers I’m going to have to get this done quickly.

Today was an interesting day and it has me in a rather pensive mood.  Earlier today I learned that a friend of mine, a man who reads this blog regularly and has been a great encouragement to me, is unemployed.  I don’t know if this is a recent thing or has been a struggle for him for a while.  I was unemployed myself several years ago for 9 months and I remember how worried I was and how frightening it got a few months into it.   I also learned that another friend lost his father today.  My dad is still with me so I can only imagine what he must be going through right now.

I ended the day, however, at a wedding for two young members of my church.  They are not long out of college and they make a beautiful couple.  I was truly happy to see them begin their life together as man and wife.  My prayer is that their marriage will be what God intended all marriages to be from the beginning.

I look at the struggles we all face in this life and just when you think you might have to carry more than you can bear God shows you hope.  It is hard for me to explain why I found hope in the wedding of these two young people.  The wedding was proudly Christ centered and I suppose that is where I found that reassuring hope.  Can one find hope in a job?  Can one find hope in a marriage?  Can one find hope in life itself?  I believe the answer to all of these questions is no.  The only place one can find hope is in Christ.

With Christ we find hope in every situation.  With Christ we can find hope when we have a job and when we don’t.  With Christ we can find hope in marriage and we can find hope when single.  With Christ we can find hope in life, in illness, and in death.  You see the struggles and troubles of life are meaningless when Christ is the center of our lives.  Oh that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t feel our pain or bring it before God; He’s our heavenly Father and He wants us to come to him in sorrow and in joy.

As Christians, when we face trouble we know that it is only for a little while and that God will never give us a heavier burden than we can bear.  Of course he knows our capacity better than we know ourselves so it may seem that He has given us too much, but He never does.  When He is at the center of our lives He gives us peace even when we are in the center of a storm.  We can trust Him because we have several thousand years of testimony that He keeps His promises.  The record of that testimony is the Bible.

In today’s passages we read of Jesus being crucified.  He didn’t have to come to earth to be crucified.  He chose to do that.  Can you imagine suffering as He did?  Jesus came to fulfill many of God’s promises.  He came to give us hope.  As He went to the cross He knew that He would be raised from the dead three days later.  He knew that His Father kept His promises and that after the pain there would be joy.

We also read today that Judas hung himself.  He didn’t have hope.  He didn’t have Jesus.  Pain is part of life.  Hope and joy are part of life in Christ.  As Christians we get both.  We live in a fallen world so we experience pain, but we have God’s Holy Spirit residing within us so we have hope as well.

I don’t know what struggle you may be facing today.  Because you live in a fallen world I know you have struggles.  It is my hope you also have Jesus Christ, for then you have hope as well.  Turn to God in your pain and struggles brothers.  Share your hurt and your fear with your Heavenly Father.  Remember He walks with you through the fire and that on the other side is joy everlasting.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ!

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Shout For Joy

Nehemiah 11-13
Psalm 126

The son of David who inherited the kingdom was known as Solomon the Wise.  At the beginning of his reign he had prayed to God to give him the wisdom to lead his people.  God honored that and gave him great wisdom – at least to lead.  I through that qualifier in there because I don’t think he was wise when it came to his personal life.  He married many women which was the custom of kings of that era.  Some of those women worshiped man-made gods.  How foolish to follow the example of those who do not belong to God.  It is even more foolish to allow the evil influence of pagan worship in to one’s home.  No, these were the acts of a fool.  I bring this up because Nehemiah mentions this folly at the end of his book.

Nehemiah 13: 23-26

“In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.”

Even the wisest of human beings sin.

Finally, Psalm 126 is a short and joyful Psalm.  It reminds me of how wonderful it is to be a child of the living God.  God has restored my fortunes which I had thrown away in my sin.  My mourning has been turned to rejoicing because of His sacrifice on my behalf.  Now, as I struggle through the challenges of life in this sinful world I am reminded that my tears will be turned into shouts of joy on the great and glorious day!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Where Do You Find Your Joy?

Numbers 4-6

In today’s Bible reading we learn of the Nazirite vow. The Nazirite vow was a voluntary vow that could be made by a man or a woman.  There were three things a Nazarite was forbidden to do: 1) don’t drink wine or strong drink; 2) don’t cut your hair; 3) don’t touch a dead body.  Let’s talk about each of these in turn, but first let me say, don’t confuse being a Nazarine and a Nazarite.  A Nazarine was someone who came from Nazareth like Jesus; a Nazarite was one who took this vow.  The vow was for a specific period of time but that time could be a lifetime.  Samson and John the Baptist were both Nazarites and even Paul took the vow of the Nazarite from time to time.

The prohibition against taking in anything from the vine was a commitment to find ones joy in God.  You see wine in the Scriptures represented earthly joy.  The Nazarite was to find his joy in God.  Let me ask you, where do you find your joy?  Do you find joy in prayer and Bible reading and obedience to Christ or do you find joy in earthly things?

There is much debate about whether or not drinking alcohol is appropriate for a Christian.  I’ve heard my pastor say a couple of times that he wished he could find a verse in the Bible that says “thou shall not drink alcohol” but it just isn’t there.  Those that think drinking alcohol is okay often point to Jesus’ first miracle where He changed water into wine as evidence that alcohol in and of itself is not “bad”.  Those that oppose alcohol point to Paul saying that we shouldn’t put “stumbling blocks” in front of people.  Many a life has been ruined because of the use of alcohol and a Christian who provides a stamp of approval for strong drink is creating a pretty big stumbling block.

Both arguments have their valid and invalid aspects to them and I could support and dismantle both of them.  No matter what side you come down on, however, the Nazarite vow is not about whether or not alcohol is acceptable, it is about where you look for your joy.  The issue for the Christian isn’t so much what you do, but why you do it.  If you drink alcohol you have to ask yourself why?  Are you seeking pleasure and joy in the beverage?  You can’t serve two masters you know.  If you seek your joy in this world then you’re not seeking it in the next.  Evidently Christ is not sufficient for you.

The prohibition against cutting ones hair was about humility.  In 1 Corinthians Paul says that long hair is a shame to a man.

1 Corinthians 11:14

“Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him,”

A Nazarite must be willing to bear shame for God.  A Christian must be willing to bear shame for Christ.

The Nazarite was not to touch a dead body.  Death is the wage of sin.  Sin brought death into the world and each of us face a physical death because of sin.  In tempting Eve, Satan denied that death would follow disobedience to God.  It is true that neither Adam nor Eve dropped death immediately after they ate the forbidden fruit, but they were forced from God’s presence and physical death did eventually overcome them.  They were not made to die.  They were made to live in the presence of God forever.  They chose death.  A Nazarite had to remove himself from death.

The entire point of taking the vow of a Nazarite is to separate one’s self from the world and consecrate one’s self to God.  Another word for separate is “holy”.  God is holy; He is separated from the sinful world.  To be consecrated to Him is to deny earthly joy, and pleasure, and honor.  To be a Nazarite you are to put God first.  To be a Christian you are to put God first.

The vow of the Nazarite has a lot to teach us about being a Christian.  It is all about your priorities.  Is God your priority or are your personal desires your priority?  Is your relationship with God based on what He can do for you, about Him fulfilling your personal desires, or is your relationship based on denying yourself and faithfully obeying God?

If you expect God to do your bidding, you are not a Christian.  If you expect to do God’s bidding, you are on the right track.  Of course you cannot be a Christian if you first don’t submit your life to His authority in the first place.  If you don’t accept His sacrifice on the cross for your sinful life you are a dead man walking.  If you have accepted His salvation then you have put yourself under His authority and you do His bidding.  It’s that simple.  I hope you know the truth for that truth will set you free from sin, separate you from a sinful world, and cause you to look for joy in Christ.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

The Secret Of A Joyful Life

Ecclesiastes 3-6

I don’t know about you, but as I read Solomon’s words I envision an extremely depressed man.  He is spouting a morose, fatalistic view point.  I want to give a warning here that you need to be careful in what you take away from what he says.  Solomon has wandered away from God.  He has married foreign women and they have pulled him away from right relationship with God with their foreign gods.  In the mean time, he has been hailed across the known world for his wisdom in ruling his people.  He has wealth beyond belief.  He has a palace full of wives and concubines.  He has wealth, power, and fame; everything the secular world has to offer and you can hear in his words the emptiness of his life.  Considering all with which God has blessed him, why is he so down?

He is down because life has no meaning without a right relationship with God.  Notice that Solomon acknowledges God’s existence, sovereignty, and even the need to show Him proper respect but none of this means that he is in right relationship with God.  In one of my posts on Proverbs I wrote about the difference between knowledge and wisdom.  Knowledge is the possession of information.  Wisdom is the right use of that information.  For example, if I know that to be healthy I need to exercise and eat right then I have knowledge.  If I actually exercise and eat right I have wisdom.  In what “Solomon the Wise” writes in Ecclesiastes we discover that he is lacking in both knowledge and wisdom.

I found the following set of verses particularly instructive.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.  For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”

In verse 20 Solomon says “…because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart”.  Now I have had joy in my heart and I have got to tell you that there is no joy like that which comes from being in right relationship with God.  It is an incredible thing!  Joy just radiates from you.  Everything just seems to be coming up roses and others notice the joy in you; they are drawn to it.  This joy is indeed a gift from God as is everything you are, have, and see.  Solomon is correct that God can fill your heart with this kind of joy but he is incorrect to suggest that it comes from taking pleasure in worldly things.

Appropriate pleasure in worldly things only comes when one is in right relationship with God.  The over arching message Solomon communicates in Ecclesiastes is that the best the world has to offer is emptiness and yet he says you should take pleasure in that emptiness.  How can you take pleasure in something you know does not bring pleasure?  You can’t.  The pleasure in life comes from God. It is in right relationship with God that one can truly enjoy His creation and all that He has provided.

Solomon is experiencing the same disease that permeates our world today.  People have no sense of purpose.  Their existence seems empty and meaningless.  They try to fill the hole in their lives with eating, drinking, the pursuit of wealth and sex, and any number of meaningless pursuits.  You cannot fill a God sized hole with meaningless stuff.  Enjoying your life, having a sense of contentment and purpose, are a by-product of right relationship with God.  The problem is the world tries to get the by-product rather than the “main-product”.  Solomon’s solution to the emptiness of life is no solution at all.

You want to be happy?  Praise God, trust and obey Him, read your Bible every day, pray every day, make the focus of your life right relationship with Him and as Christ told us, “all these things will be added to you”.

Matthew 6:33

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The secret of a joyful life is no secret, it has been known since God first breathed life into Adam.  The secret to a joyful life is a right relationship with God.

Have a joyful day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!