Transforming Identity - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

    I never expected to witness the deliberate quest for personal expression that I have seen in the last sixty-years. Sure, it all started innocently enough with the delusional basket-weaving, incense burning, flower children. ‘Flower power’ was their chant. Turn quickly to the dizzying present and what started innocently enough has now become a Frankenstein-like monster with snake tattoos and self-mutilation that was once confined to Canaanites, Philistines, and savages. For the vast majority, these cases are merely the outward manifestation of trending fads. But for those spiritually void individuals, it is what devils are made of.
    Radical self expression has become an idol to the unbelievers. Scarification and tattooing are but two of the ways modern people idolize their own flesh. Multiple piercings serve the same purpose for many. And while these practices are not sinful in themselves (though of dubious benefit) they become sinful when they are done to enhance what God has created, as though God somehow failed to meet a human standard. If these same individuals were conspicuously ‘marked’ against their will, they would scream to high heaven and hate the stigmas and what they represented. Ask any Holocaust survivor.
    These individuals yearn to be noticed for their looks rather than for their good works or accomplishments. It is indeed about pride and belonging to a particular group that shares the same notion of individuality, presenting themselves and their body enhancements as though it raised them above the conventional crowd somehow. This conduct does not differ from bejeweled plumage, gaudy facial makeup, body sculpting, gender surgery, cosmetic surgery, or body-building for self-esteem rather than for health purposes. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” - 2 Timothy 3. All these things exist because they don’t feel they are complete without this nonsense. Pride and covetous are the benchmarks of their sins. Is it not clear that we show what we treasure in how we adorn ourselves?
    I speak not of pierced ears or a tattoo ... or two. I speak of those who have so encrusted themselves in their vainglory that they have become indistinguishable from the crowd of the like-minded. They speak of group identity as though they can only find self-value in a community of people like themselves. They seek company among others who share their penchant for self aggrandizement and are seldom seen or associated with those who choose not to transform themselves in such a vulgar and ostentatious way.
    If what we seek is personal transformation, God is ready and willing to provide the means for it. But He will not make it His goal to transform the outer garment of mortality. In fact, He decries the very notion. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.” - Matthew 23:27.  Human flesh remains human flesh, regardless of how we present it. True transformation can only occur within the body, in heart, mind, and soul. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2.
    If we're going to be seen as a member of a group, shouldn't we be recognized by what Christ has done in us, rather than what we have done to ourselves? Then we can truly glory in our transformed identity, bestowed upon us by the grace of God!

True To This Day - Luke 2:34

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ...” - Luke 2:34

    The account of Simeon’s prophecy is one of the clearest statements on predestination ever recorded in the Bible. It also predicts the reaction of the unsaved to Christ’s revelations.
    The ‘fall’ of many refers us directly to those predestined for hopeless eternal damnation. Scripture is replete with passages describing unrepentant sinners and what they are to expect at the hands of God, who is a consuming fire. “Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.” - Psalm 21:8-9.
    The ‘rising’ of many speaks of God’s elect or those who are predestined to heaven. God knows the difference, and those He has appointed to be adopted into an eternal inheritance will find their salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me” - John 6:44-45.
    As for the last phrase of the title passage, ‘the sign that is opposed’ is Jesus Christ Himself. The voices of unbelief will clang loudly against the Word of God. They will miss no opportunity to denigrate and despise the Gospel. They will even oppose the mere mention of Christ’s holy name. Ban it, censor it; they will do everything in their power to keep others from hearing about redemption and salvation because they hate Jesus and His words. “Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” - John 15:23-24. They routinely hate Jesus and His Gospel.
    Many of the saved will first fall in unbelief or ignorance. But indue time, God will raise them up, through faith in Jesus Christ, to eternal glory while others He will leave in their unbelief to their eternal shame. It is God who will choose us rather than we who will choose Him. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” - Romans 9:16.
    Think about it. If we could affect our sovereign election by our own efforts (our works) it would no longer be of grace. It would be payment owed to us by God. But God owes us nothing. It is only by His exceedingly gracious mercy that we receive redemption at all. God isn’t looking for our sacrifices or works. Our works are merely trash in the eyes of God. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.” - Isaiah 64:6-7. This is what our works earn for us.
    What then does God want? “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51:16-17.
    That many would fall and many would rise in Christ is true to this day.

No ‘Work-Around’ - John 15:14

You are my friends if you do what I command you. - John 15:14

    In recent times, there has been growing failure to rightly exegete the Bible in a God-honoring way. What I mean by that is many people, non-Christians and nominal Christians, skew the words of Scripture to support their erroneous declarations about what God’s words actually mean; or should I say what God’s words mean to them? We cannot deviate from God’s word nor negotiate our way around its true meaning. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:6-9.
    Recently, I have heard a great number of clearly fictitious and untruthful claims about what the Bible says regarding the hot topics of today. From abortion to sexual sin (and all its poisonous offshoots) to excuses for blatant racism and hatred in general, there seems to be someone who can misquote the Bible in a heartbeat, turning Holy Scripture on its head. The defenses and excuses for such pagan behavior shouldn’t boggle our minds; we should expect it, especially in this age of permissiveness. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
    They want to usurp the authority of God, so they misinterpret His words to support their barbaric inclinations. By incorrect exegesis of the Scriptures, they render the most despicable acts of man acceptable, if not desirable and noble. They even raise the sinful acts to a place of idolatry and refer to them as ‘inalienable rights’ accorded to them by the Constitution of the United States! Then they demand of us, “how dare” we choose the rightly interpreted word of God over their mongrelized and corrupted version of ‘the truth?’
    Make no mistake. There are no ‘work-arounds’ - Jesus Christ did not and does not bless the pagan practices of racists, homosexuals, abortionists, or sinners in general. He came to save sinners from the effects of their sins, not to encourage or validate the lives they have chosen for themselves or the destruction of the lives of their victims. Jesus is clear as to His position on sin. “Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’” - John 8:10-11. Yes, the woman was a prostitute, a sinner. Christ forgave her sins but specifically commanded her to ‘go ... and from now on sin no more!’ He didn’t wink at her and point her toward men who wanted to pay for her services. He didn’t tell her she had done no wrong. He didn’t tell her to make sure she showed up for all his sermons, but then she could carry on as usual. He told her not to sin anymore, period. So when anyone says abortion, or hating someone based on their race or ethnicity, or a life of sexual sins is excused by God, they are lying. And God has made His position clear. “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” - Proverbs 6:16-19.
    In this culture of self-indulgence and open sinfulness, we need to understand that God, in His majesty, should rule our hearts, minds, and deeds. We must come to terms with the fact that any alternative to Jesus Christ leads to condemnation and damnation, whether the culture accepts the truth of that statement or not.
   
 

Forsaking Anger And Wrath - Psalm 37:8-9

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. - Psalm 37:8-9

    Other than the very words of Jesus Christ, these words from Psalm 37 are perhaps the most convicting of any when referring to our anger getting us into more trouble that it was worth. The psalmist isn’t warning us about protecting human life; he’s telling us we should not turn our anger into active wrath. There is no mention of the fear for our lives or the lives of innocents.
    Let us first define wrath. According to Merriam-Webster, wrath is a strong vengeful anger or indignation or retributory punishment for an offense or a crime. And we can define retributory punishment as ‘revenge.’ The Scripture is categorical with humans and revenge; such a response to any wrongdoing remains God’s purview, and God’s alone.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” - Romans 12:19. Both the Old Testament and the New are replete with warnings about humans avenging any wrongdoing.
    Not that Scripture proscribes us from preventing a wrongdoing if it should be within our power. What Scripture admonishes is the wrathful action of our uncontrolled anger. We must not worry ourselves about how we can get back at someone who has violated us in some earthly manner, but leave it to God to see the righteousness reigns. “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” - Deuteronomy 32:35.
    Imagine all the heartache and distress we could avoid if in our hearts and minds we could just come to terms with the fact that God will make all things right in His own time. We could calmly walk away, knowing that God sees all things and forgets nothing. And while we are so busy concerning ourselves with the here and now, God is busy with our eternity! What we should do is pray for God’s strength to endure and persevere. This is God’s plan for us. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” - Romans 12:12. This is God’s plan for us when we face adversity and affliction. Hope, be patient, and pray. That is what our response should be under situations of duress and challenge.
    No one has ever said that turning the other cheek would be the easy thing to do. But as Christians, we are seldom called to do the easy things. We are called to carry our crosses ... and without complaint! “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” - Luke 14:27. 
    We simply cannot react to the ways of the world in a worldly manner. If we did so, how could anyone tell us apart from the world? When we counter-punch every assault; if we cursed every curse; and if we wrestle with every opponent, how are any different in the eyes of our observers?  How would we be any different in the eyes of our observers? The evil we accuse our enemies of, we will be guilty too. And we know by God’s own word that evildoers will be cut off.
    And do we still not know that for many of those who look upon us, we are the only ‘Bible’ they will ever see? How will they differ our angry cursing from the Gospel we preach? How will they ever know the difference between worldly words and the word of God?
    Of course, it is a challenge to refrain from anger and forsake wrath! If it was easy, anyone could do it. We can’t even hope to accomplish such a task on our own power. We need the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to shut down our impulses. Jesus assures us of that much. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5. But we have great power when we rely on our Lord and Savior. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13. We must not only look like Christians; we must act like Christians. Let us refrain from anger and forsake wrath, knowing that our inheritance awaits us.







 

Fault Is Best Viewed In A Mirror - Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. - Psalm 66:18

    There is a constant hum among unbelievers, near-believers, and weak believers about the efficacy of prayer. We hear how these people have prayed and yet God has ignored their desires. In their minds, it is always God that has somehow failed to come through. Seldom do they ever consider that it might be their fault that God has seen fit to ignore their prayers. “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” - Isaiah 59:1-2.
    How often have we heard the pangs of abandonment when tragedy takes place? “God doesn’t listen. God doesn’t care. Where is God when we need Him?” Assume the human-fold for a moment. Which of you would be quick to present someone with a gift who paid you no deference or ignored you? Who berated you and disparaged you? Someone who disrespected you and cast aspersions your way? Consider now the definition of a gift. A gift is something that has not been earned by the prospective receiver. Something that wasn’t due him or her. A gift is something that you bestow upon someone out of the goodness of your heart, not because they had it coming to them. Trust my words when I say that the last thing any of us wants from God is what is coming to us. Never has the adage, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’ been so apropos.
    “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” - James 4:3. These are the prayers of the unrighteous. It should come as no surprise that God ignores such plights. The prayers of the unrighteous are astounding in their audacity and presumptuousness. Yet when they go unanswered, the sinner shrugs his shoulders and points at God and swears, “He is the reason my prayers have not been answered!” Beside being absolutely absurd, only the cries from hell are more thunderous.
    So whose prayers will God hear and answer? The Bible is very clear about answered prayer. First, we must ask in faith. “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” - Matthew 21:22. Then we must ask according to God’s will, not ours. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” - 1 John 5:14. We must obey His commandments. “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” - 1 John 3:22. Finally, we must ask everything in Christ’s name. “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”- John 14:13-14.    All the above mentioned prerequisites have one thing in common: they are the traits common to all true believers in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So it is of the utmost importance that before we assign fault or blame for failing to receive gifts and blessings from God, that we look deeply into the mirror before we point the finger at God.
    God’s mercy is not due us otherwise it wouldn’t be mercy. It is God’s decision to show mercy to whom he will show mercy. “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” - Romans 9:15. We cannot demand mercy. The very thought of doing so is ludicrous. Nor we cannot expect it if we are determined to live our lives according to our own worldly wills and desires. God has no obligation to bless us. That is the Biblical truth. So if we are intent on having things our own way, then we should not find fault in God, but in ourselves.

Reservations Only - Matthew 25:34

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. - Matthew 25:34

    There are only two ways one can obtain an inheritance: by birth or by adoption. No one else is entitled to my inheritance, as it has been reserved for me through one or the other of these ways. The neighbor’s kids can’t receive it. A distant cousin cannot receive it. A perfect stranger cannot receive it. It is reserved for me and legally bequeathed to me by the grace of the testator. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you ...”- 1 Peter 1:3-4.
    Our inheritance awaits us upon our passing from the flesh into the spirit. Upon our deaths, we who have been chosen by God will receive the eternal life as promised to us by God Himself! “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” - Ephesians 1:13-14.
This is the Promise handed down to those who are faithful to God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to obtain the inheritance. We cannot work our way into it, nor can we cajole our way into it. God is not deceived. God cannot be pandered to by our base and fleshly desires for eternity in heaven. Our heavenly Father is above reproach and will not succumb to our devilish machinations, regardless of our ostentatious behavior. It is only through genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that our inheritance awaits us. “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.
    The manner in which we become heirs of the promise is evident on every page of Holy Scripture. One cannot reasonably hope for salvation and the promise of salvation by thinking, speaking, and behaving like one who is ‘of the world.’ We must live in such a way that is exemplary of our place in the Book of Life. “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” - Revelation 21:27.
    We must understand that we are forever at the mercy of our Almighty God and that a life lived in complete and utter disregard for His will can only lead to perdition, endlessly and eternally, without relief.    
    The scriptures are replete with warnings and cautions against walking in the ways of the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” - 1 John 2:15. This inheritance was reserved for us before time began and is guaranteed to all who love and have faith in His only begotten Son. It’s not a winning lottery or scratch-off ticket we can buy at our own expense. It is the gift of God that we obtain by His grace alone. “ ... he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:5-7. This is the promise and the glory reserved for us if we but persevere in the faith.

What Kind Of Love - Matthew 27:22

Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” - Matthew 27:22

    The question is simple enough. I don’t mean bleeding in the sense of injuring oneself on the job we do to feed our families, nor do I mean sacrificing oneself for a nation during times of war or in law enforcement. Bleeding and dying in those instances isn’t the goal. It is incidental to the goal. No, I mean for whom have we deliberately bled our own precious blood. “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” - Matthew 26:28. This is the love of Christ beginning on the night of the Last Supper.
    What kind of love would be required for Jesus to die deliberately for someone else? I believe I would die for my wife or my children, a sibling, or a dear close friend. But what special set of circumstances would have to be present for me to bleed wilfully and die for a perfect stranger? For people who are estranged from me? For people who hate everything I stand for? For people who hate everything I am willing to die for? Could anyone of sound mind, knowing what awaited Christ, doubt the veracity of His Gethsemane prayer? “And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’”- Luke 22:41-42.
    His love must be beyond reproach if He was willing to sacrifice His own life for the lives of those who would blaspheme His holy name just days after they proclaimed Him their King.“And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” - Matthew 21:9. For those Jews who celebrated the coming of the Messiah, ‘hosanna’ meant, ‘pray for us, save us.’ And what of people today who will pray for financial gain, a new home, or any other worldly treasure then arrogantly deny the very divinity of Christ? Who were they praying to? The fickleness of man is absurd!
    On this Good Friday, let us never forget the love that has forgiven us; the love that has saved us; the love that comes only from God Himself. Let us raise our own voices as those in the past and sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”