What is Inside?

I have just finished baking a beautiful pie to complement our dinner tonight.  Usually I have trouble making the crust look right, or it gets a little too brown, but this one looks just about perfect.  If I were to invite you over for dinner, and then bring my pie to the table, you would probably be licking your lips for some homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Would you be disappointed when I told you it was a zucchini pie?

When I’m working in the kitchen my mind is usually going a hundred miles an hour faster than my hands.  So this was my thought as I made that pie…

It’s important that we are on the inside what we look like on the outside.  And vice versa.  Jesus talked about this when He was rebuking the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27.  He said,

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.” 

The idea is that these white-washed, exquisitely maintained “buildings” looked wonderful from the outside, but when you took a peek inside you found only rottenness and decay.  The Pharisees were the same – they kept up all the appearances, but there was no spiritual vitality within them.  They were still dead in trespasses and sins.

So…are you an apple pie or a zucchini pie?  Does your coworker shake his head when he discovers that you claim to be a Christian, because He knows how you really live?  Do you shy away from close relationships with other church members because they might find out you are bitter?  Are you a “good Christian girl” only at church on Sundays?

And let’s flip the coin over.  If you have Christ in your life then it should be showing.  But are you cultivating the inner relationship with Him, or only making it look like you have your devotions?  Are you really demonstrating Christ in your service and actions, or is it just puffed up self-righteousness to make you look good?

Now, sometime I will make you a zucchini pie.  In the case of my pie, you may be slightly disappointed if your taste buds were geared up for apple.  But chances are, you won’t tell the difference.  And even if you are a little disappointed, I’m sure you will still enjoy it.  Zucchini pie is “mock apple pie” but it’s still delicious. 

Just don’t let your Christian life be the “mock” version.
Let it be real…let it be Christ in you.

If We Believe Not

“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”
2 Timothy 2:13

I am reading through the epistles, and right now I am in 2 Timothy.  Verse 13 stood out to me in my devotions this morning.  Paul lists several if-then statements in this passage:

:: If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him
:: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him
:: If we deny him, he also will deny us
:: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful

Last week was a rough one for me.  I was not in God’s Word like I needed to be.  And I was struggling with several circumstances.  I felt like giving up.  I felt like not believing God.  I felt like His Words were not coming true.  {I know…we cannot live based on our feelings.  And we feel this way, we need to speak the truth of God’s Word into our minds and hearts, and let the feelings follow}.

But verse 13 tells me that even if I choose not to believe God’s Word, then He is still faithful. 

His Words and their truth don’t change with my believing or unbelieving. 

He will remain true…faithful…unchanging no matter what. 

Even when I don’t believe it, God is working in my life. 

Even when I cannot see His hand, it is there. 

Even when I cannot see His purpose, He is bringing it to pass.

Stablish.

This word seems to be turning up in my Bible reading a lot.  I assumed it meant the same thing as establish.  And basically it does.  I don’t know NT Greek like Ben does, but I can look up words in Bible Works and Strong’s Concordance.  It seems that there are two main words for establish or stablish, but they have basically the same meaning. 

:: To set fast, to literally turn resolutely in a certain direction, or figuratively to confirm.  To establish, steadfastly set, or strengthen.

2 Thessalonians 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17   Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,  17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13  And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:  13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Romans 16:25  Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

1 Peter 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

James 5:8   Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Who is it that does the “stablishing”?  The Lord.  Paul preached.  Paul labored.  Paul poured himself into the people.  Paul wrote epistles.  But it was the Lord that had to do the establishing.  It was the Lord who would make that faith hold fast, and be turned in the right direction.  It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 3:6:  I {Paul} have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

When I think of established, I think of all the signs on business and sometimes in a home that say “est. 1879” or whatever the date was.  There was a pharmacy in my neighborhood which proudly bore their establishment date on their sign.  They had been in business for over 50 years.  Several generations in the family.  But now they are gone – out of business.  What seemed firm and reliable was not. 

Only when God does the establishing is it sure.  I want Him to stablish my heart and my life in Him, so that when the storms come I am unmovable.  Like those big boulders in the Rocky Mountains. They have been there for a long time.  Countless people have climbed on them.  There have been snow storms, avalanches, and wind.  They have held fast.  Firm.  Unmovable.  That’s how I want to be.  Stablished on the Rock.

Jeremiah 6–No Blush

In this chapter the Lord continues to use Jeremiah to pronounce judgment on Israel by the coming destruction of Jerusalem.  The Lord gave His people so many chances to repent, to confess, to turn from their sin.  If they would have returned to Him, He would have foregone the judgment.  But they would not hearken.

How many times in my own life has He pointed out a particular sin or an area that I need to surrender?  And yet I continue to choose my own way.  I do not hearken, I will not forsake my sin.  Surely judgment is coming.

Jeremiah 6:10  To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

Vs. 11 – The Lord is weary of waiting and holding in His judgment.  Am I causing Him to be weary, or to rejoice?  I sometimes feel so weary of dealing with Elaine.  She will disobey on the same issue over, and over, and over again.  I just get so tired of instructing, of repeating myself, of administering discipline.  Is this the way I am causing the Lord to feel?

Jeremiah 6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

The people had a false sense of security, and believed that in spite of their rebellion there was peace.  There is no peace apart from the Lord and living in a right relationship with Him – Is. 26:3-4

Jeremiah 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

The people couldn’t even blush over their sin any more – they saw nothing shameful in their lifestyle.  It had become that much of a habit.  What about me?  I hardly blink an eye at the first curse word in a movie.  If there is cursing every other word, then we turn it off and I feel ashamed.  Should not I respond the same way to the first wrong word?  Whether small or great, it is all sin to God.

Jeremiah 6:16   Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

The remedy is to seek the old paths.  Return to the former lifestyle, return to the Lord.  Find the good way and walk in it.  Do not respond as did Israel, “We will not walk therein.”  Such a sad statement – to hear the Lord’s call to repentance and a better life, and to refuse Him.

Jeremiah 6:17  Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

The Lord even gave them watchmen – like Jeremiah – who told the people of coming destruction.  Yet they continued in sin.

Jeremiah 6:19-20  Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.  20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

The result is that the religious “routines” of the people had no meaning to the Lord.  He wants the heart, not outward conformity.  He wants obedience, not sacrifices.  Is my “incense” sweet to the Lord and acceptable in His sight?  Or is my lifestyle stinking and putrid to Him because He sees my real motives and my heart?  If I continue in my sin I will reap the fruit of my thoughts and of my rejection of the Lord.

Jeremiah 6:29-30  The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.  30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

I want to be pure silver, having the dross removed.  I do not want to come to the end of my life and realize that it was all reprobate and fake.  Am I living a genuine Christian  - “Christlike” – life before the world?

Proverbs 5:21   For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

A World We Never Touch

The lyrics from this song have been stuck in my head lately.  They have caused me to contemplate what I am doing to touch the world around me with the love of Jesus.

He walked along the shores of Galilee.
From clay he formed the healing balm that caused the blind to see.
When stones of wrath weighed heavy in their hand,
He knelt to write His mercy in the sand.
Jesus came to set the captives free;
showed us by the way He lived, the way we need to be.
Our love is more than words could ever say -
We must touch them with compassion to help them find their way.

How can we reach a world we never touch?
How can we show them Christ if we never show them love?
Just to say we care will never be enough.
How can we reach a world we never touch?

Could we be so busy being saved?
Trying to impress a world, that’s long since lost its way?
We pride ourselves in being set apart,
Yet we don’t take time to touch a broken heart.
Even if we found the time to care,
would we take the risk involved in always being there?
While we hold the very thing they need so much –
Sometimes the Word of God can pass through just a simple touch.

How can we reach a world we never touch?
How can we show them Christ if we never show them love?
Just to say we care will never be enough.
How can we reach a world we never touch?

We hide behind these walls and the security of friends
While beyond the stained glass windows, the world is lost in sin.
How can we reach a world we never touch?
How can we show them Christ if we never show them love?
Just to say we care will never be enough.
How can we reach a world we never touch?

There is a particular person that always comes to mind when I hear this song. May you reach out and touch someone today.  As you let the love of Jesus be displayed through you, you can change someone’s life for eternity!

Jealousy

1 Samuel 18-19

Saul was so jealous that he wanted to kill David.  David’s only crime was that the Lord was with him, and he behaved wisely.  The people loved him and flocked to him because of it.  But Saul had made his choices of disobedience, and the Spirit of the Lord was departed from him.  If I am in a right relationship with God, I will not be jealous and envious of other people.  If the Lord is using them, then I will rejoice.  We can have sweet fellowship, as David did with Jonathan.  But when I have walked away from God’s Will, I open myself up to the temptation and snare of the devil.  I will become jealous of the success of others, even if it is in the ministry.  In the church age we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who works in our lives.  He will not leave me as He did Saul.  However, I can walk away from His leading and choose my own will over His Will.  At that time I cease to be in fellowship with the Spirit, and I can become jealous.

Lord, help me never to become jealous of another’s “success” in ministry.  Help me always to rejoice at spiritual victories won, whether  by me or someone else.  Use me to do thy will, and don’t let a jealous spirit get in the way.

The Ribbon of Blue, The Call to Service, The Veil is Rent

The ribbon of blue and the fringes on the garments were to be a perpetual reminder to remember the commandments of the Lord, to not seek after their own heart and eyes, and fall into idolatry.  When you see the ribbon, remember, and obey (Num.15:38-41).  I never knew this was for all of Israel before.

Numbers 16:9  Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

I must remember not to take it lightly that the Lord has chosen to accept us into His service and His ministry.  It is all of the Lord and none of me, and I must remember my place and not allow myself to be puffed up in pride and assumption.  (This is the passage on Korah’s rebellion).

Mark 15:15  And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

This illustrates the danger of making decisions based on pressure, or giving in to peer pressure.  Pilate, willing to make the people happy sacrificed the Lord of glory to be crucified.  While this was part of God’s ultimate plan to provide salvation to all men, Pilate was still guilty of allowing it to come to pass, just as Judas was still guilty for betraying Him.

Mark 15:37-39  And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.  38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.  39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Some powerful verses!  Jesus’ willing death opened the veil for me to have access to God anytime without going through a mediator as a believer-priest.  Say with the centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Profane not the LORD

Leviticus 18:21 “… neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 19:8  because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD:

Leviticus 19:12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 20:3  And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

Leviticus 21:6  hey shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

Leviticus 21:12   Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 21:23  Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Leviticus 22:2   Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 22:9  They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

Leviticus 22:15  And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;

Leviticus 22:32  Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,

ll;x' {khaw-lal'} = Meaning:  1) to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, to treat as common

I think that God was serious when He said that we are not to profane His name or His holy things, or that which He has hallowed/sanctified.  Which makes me think…Christians are in the process of this thing we call sanctification.  It is a work of the Holy Spirit, to make us more like the image of Christ.  So if God is sanctifying me, as a person, then I am not to profane myself.  I am to walk circumspectly (Eph. 5:15) and not conform myself to the world (Rom. 12:2).  We just studied this in BSF last week from John 15.  The world will hate Christians as it hated Christ.  Why?  Because we do not belong to the world.  We are not to be like the world…even to win them to Christ.  James 1:27 states that “pure religion…[is] unspotted from the world.”  Anytime I let a little bit of the world…even just a speck of dust or a touch of dirt…profane my life as a Christian, I am hurting Christ and hurting the reputation of my God – the LORD, the self-existing one.  These are just the references to profaning the LORD.  I must be more careful – not to let a bad word, an evil or hateful thought, a selfish desire, an unkind word or action, defile and profane me as the sanctified of the Lord.  For when I am profane, then I have profaned Him as well, for I bear His name.

And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.  24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 26  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.  (Leviticus 20:23-24,26  )

Feb. 19, 2010 Devotions

Mark 3:35 - 4:1 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. 

What a privilege to be related to the God of the universe – the self-existing One!  I am His child by adoption, I am the sister of Christ by His blood, and I am in His family if I do the Will of God.

Mark 4:20-25  And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.  21 And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?  22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.  23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.  24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.  25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.

I want to be that good ground upon which the Word of God can fall, and bring forth fruit.  I know that this parable speaks of salvation by the Word, but there is application to a saved person hearing the Word.  Oh Lord – what kind of ground am I?  Am I in the hand of Satan, allowing him to pluck the Word out of my heart?  Am I easily offended and weak so that I can not endure tribulation?  Am I allowing worldly affections to choke your Word?  I want it to fall on supple soil ready for planting that will yield fruit an hundred fold.