In Christ, Philippians Series #2
Another of Paul’s themes in Philippians is found in almost all of his letters because it is the foundation of Paul’s worldview, and more importantly, to the gospel of Jesus. All who follow Jesus are viewed by God as holy, no matter their past, whether good or bad. Because our position with God is not based upon our performance or perception of ourselves, but God’s perception of us based upon the performance of Jesus. No wonder Paul could write about joy even from a prison cell!
Joy In, Philippians Series #1
Of all the people in the world, Christians have the most reason to be joyful. Yet, Christians often do not have a reputation of joy. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi was written from a prison, yet is dripping with joy. What can we learn?
Peter, Easter #4
Peter, despite his passion for the ministry and mission of Jesus, was actively resisting that very ministry and mission. The problem was Peter’s agenda for the Messiah and Jesus’ agenda were not the same. And when our agenda is different than God’s we face the decision of resisting God or submitting to Him.
Soldiers at the Cross, Easter #3
The soldiers who crucified Jesus were just doing their job. They had no idea that morning when they woke up they would be executing the Son of God. It was just another day, another execution to them. The events surrounding Jesus’ death caused them to change from mocking Jesus as the King of the Jews to hailing Him as the Son of God. How will we respond to the event of Jesus’ death for us?
Caiaphas, Easter #2
Caiaphas viewed Jesus as a threat because he was more concerned about his position, wealth, and authority than following what God was obviously doing and saying. Caiaphas knew that following God would cost him what he had, but was unwilling to surrender ‘his’ kingdom to God’s Kingdom. Like Caiaphas, Christians can resist the God they say they trust. And do what is wrong to try to hold onto something that we will eventually lose anyway.
Judas: So close, yet so far - Easter #1
As a disciple, Judas was close to Jesus. The pattern of behavior was a spiral downward. Judas could have resisted Satan’s temptation, but he didn’t. We have choices to make. We can resist the Devil and he will flee and we can draw near to God and He will draw near to us. Application: In what ways can (do) you show love for your enemies?
Jealousy, Enemies of the Heart #5
Jealousy, like all enemies to our heart, stem from the root cause of our now getting what we want. Jealousy, specifically, comes from our not having what someone else has. The key to uprooting jealousy is admitting that we need to be going to God with our needs and wants, rather than coveting what others have. The habits of celebrating what others have that we would like and being thankful to God for what He has already given us will finish the work of keeping jealousy from disrupting the rhythm of our heart.
Greed, Enemies of the Heart #4
Greed is the assumption that what we have is for our consumption. Greed believes the lie that we owe it to ourselves to make sure we have the kind of lifestyle we want to have. Greed results in the refusal to bless others with the extra that God has given us, whether that in with money, time, skill, possessions or any other resource we have been blessed with. While as Christians we say and believe that God is the owner and we are stewards, greed moves us to live differently. Generosity is the antidote to greed in our hearts, freeing us to love God and others as our hearts have been made to do.
Anger, Enemies of the Heart #3
Anger comes when we don’t get what we want or deserve or think we deserve. We feel and believe that the person who wronged us owes us a debt for what they’ve done. Anger is not wrong in itself, but if it is not addressed and remains in our hearts it will spill over into our other relationships. The key to removing anger from our hearts is forgiveness. Jesus taught forgiveness is about cancelling the debts owed to us. Just like God cancelled our debt to Him through Jesus.