Despise the Shame

What do you see? 

Jesus, according to Hebrews 12:2, was so focused on completing God's will (even unto death) that he "despised the shame" of all the ridicule, beating, torture and pain of death on the cross.  There is both a principle of life and an example that challenges every Christian.  So, let's look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, to learn this lesson.

Whenever we set our heart to obey God or to do something for the Lord, there will always be obstacles and challenges designed to distract and prevent us from moving forward.  We have to learn to despise the shame, in other words, think nothing of the cost compared to the glory of God that comes from obedience.  

Consider the comments of Paul, who also went through beatings, shipwrecks, false accusations and imprisonment, saying on one hand to count the cost and then on the other hand declaring, "the cost is nothing" compared to the glory of God to be revealed.  The point is that there is always a cost, but we have to keep our focus on the prize and not let the cost deter us from accomplishing the God-given task.  Because our flesh may get discouraged by circumstances and quit, God warns us in Galatians 6:9, "let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." 

Therefore, be encouraged.  God, who is always faithful, will give you both the will and the power to do what He asks. Choose to ignore and think nothing of the effort or abuse that you may have to endure so that you press on to receive the prize.  Faith and patience (same Greek word for endurance) inherit the promises.  Keep your eyes on Jesus and refuse to be side-tracted by the shame or cost.  You will succeed.    

Worthy of It All!

Seek the Lord with your whole heart.  The Word of God, through verses like this one, convert the soul from selfish thinking into choosing to give our all to Jesus.  The reason is simple: He is worthy.  Our soulish part, "I think, I feel, I want", that is self-oriented must be challenged to obey the spirit which is clearly calling us to "present our bodies a living sacrifice and be transformed by the renewing of our mind to prove the perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)  

Many Christians in parts of the world like Korea, China, or some of the Muslim countries have paid dearly to believe in Jesus.  Often their testimonies force us to see how trivial our "trials" really are.  However, regardless of the intensity, there is always a price.  Jesus says count the cost.  Clearly when we see Jesus, the words of Paul that all his sufferings were nothing compared to the glory of God will also be evident to us too.  

Likewise, there are some Biblical truths like "Jehovah Jireh," or "all my needs are met according to His riches in glory" which are only one side of the coin.  Observing the context presents a bigger picture and a much greater opportunity to understand how to apply these principles.   Abraham (in Genesis 22) was asked to give his son, whom he had believed 25 years for, as a sacrifice.  It was because of this awesome act of obeying God that the Lord provided the ram as the sacrifice instead and was revealed as Jehovah Jireh.  Likewise, the promise in Philippians 4:19 that our needs would be met according to His riches in glory was to the Philippi church that had given more than once to support Paul's ministry.  

Sometimes we preach Jesus as meeting our needs.  This is accurate but lacks true depth.  The point is that He is worthy, He is King of kings, He is the one from whom are all things, through whom are all things, and to whom are all things.  Once we receive the truth of the glory and worthiness of Jesus and all God has done for us, we see that it is our joy and privilege to lay down all our rights for Him.  He who loses his life for Him will find it.  The greater invitation is to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of all and surrender all we are and have because He is worthy.  We are asked to step out in faith that as we honor Him, He will take care of us.  He will certainly show Himself more than we "could think, ask, or imagine" in meeting our needs. 

God invites us (you) to lose our life for Him.  Jesus is worthy of all you are asked to give.  In that willing surrender His presence and pleasure will refresh you.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added.  He is worthy.

Touch Other Lives

If you want to touch other lives, it will cost you.  

One of my daughters is having a baby this weekend.  They have prayed for this child and are excited and grateful to be at this point after the challenges of the last 9 months.  However, as we all know, having a baby leads to a new cost beyond pregnancy, whether it is losing sleep, changing diapers, feeding the baby and cleaning up messes, and a multitude of other things which take time, effort, and attention.  Yet God has planted in the hearts of parents a great joy and fulfillment in handling every step of this child's development and growth.  Their greatest joy is seeing him/her become the person God has called and knowing they have given this precious one the foundation to live according to the truth for the Lord (3 John 1:4).  Compared to this joy, the cost is of little concern.  

This is a strong example of how God our Father willing paid the price of sending His Son and seeing Him "bruised" (Isaiah 53:10) to give us life.  The price seemed like nothing because of His love for us and our well-being forever.  Transferring this motivation to our laying down self to serve God, Paul in Romans 8:18 shares "...the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

There are times and circumstances which affect our thinking and emotions and may even cause us to get weary in doing good.  David, in both Psalm 42 and 43, asks the question, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me?" with the following personal instruction, "Hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."  Choosing hope has the power to broaden our attention and help us depend on more than our own thoughts and feelings.  When we set our mind on the "things" of above, we can re-adjust our focus and realize God has given sure promises which go far beyond our present challenges, and we will again praise Him.  However, God also has another reason for us to choose joyful hope over our negative feelings.   

In Colossians 1:24, Paul states that he "rejoices in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church."  We know Jesus declared "It is finished." on the cross and the price for every sin and its consequence was paid in full.  However, there is a cost to be paid if we want to be like-minded to Jesus, willing to lay our life down (Phil 2) to meet the needs of others.  Since God's ultimate goal for each of us is "to be conformed to image of His Son," (Romans 8:29) the needs around us are the sticks on the altar, the opportunity to grow to be like Jesus, as we put others first at the cost of our own life.  God gives us a joy and fulfillment in accomplishing our purpose when we choose to obey Him even at the cost of our convenience, time, and effort.  Count it all joy, as James 1 states, and let this trial process build patience and produce its full work, which is becoming "perfect and lacking nothing."

God wants to grow us up to be able to have true fellowship with Him.  

The Word dwelling in us produces a hopeful, positive attitude and transforms us into His nature.   Be of good cheer as you pay the price of your calling and touch the lives of others.  It will be worth it a million times over and forever.       

Commitment or Convenience

Convenience or Commitment?
Everybody loves the football team when they are winning; but what happens during the times when the team is losing. Where do the “fair weather” fans go? All things are tried by fire. When tough times come, the truth comes out whether people are doing things just out of convenience or out of commitment. Similar to the sports fan situation, the test of following Jesus is not what is said, such as “Lord, Lord” but what a person does, especially when it is inconvenient.
Jesus strongly stated, “whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” This seems completely unreasonable and undesireable to our flesh. However, in over 2/3 of the countries of the world, people who accept Jesus Christ are brutally persecuted and often killed today. Why does God require so much? Deeds not words show the faith of a person. When a person is willing to lay down or sacrifice that which is in his hands, he demonstrates a step of faith that trusts God does care and will, in fact, meet his needs. Why was Jesus thrilled at the widow who gave her last two mites or the woman who freely applied the costly spikenard to Jesus? Both demonstrated the kind of love for God that gives all.
The same is true about Christian education. When a person has enough money to afford Christian education and still keep all the comforts and conveniences he has become accustomed to, then it is easy to enroll the children in XYZ Christian School and declare God has led them to Christian education. However, the test comes when the money for tuition isn’t there. Has God lead the same person to Christian education when times are hard and in order to provide for Christian school it might be necessary to not have a high-definition TV, cable, or cell phones, or a new car, or many other modern-day “necessities.” Where is the Biblical spirit that one swears to his own hurt (Psalm 15:4) or is willing to give all to obey the Lord? One parent recently shared that she and her husband had to re-prioritize their lifestyle an make some choices including continue to drive an older car so their sons could be taught and trained at CedarWood. In other words, they were willing to do whatever it takes to not compromise the godly mandate to raise up children in the instruction and correction of the Lord.
The love of money is the root of all evil. It is amazing how many times the real issue is money that causes our reasoning to change. Most of us know that God instructs parents in the word to “bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) and to be careful to “see that no one makes a prey of you through the philosophy and traditions of man” (Colossians 2:8) rather than obeying Christ. Yet, when the choice is between “free” public education and the cost (and sacrifices required) to have tuition for a Biblical education based on truth and love, the thoughts and intents of the heart are revealed. And unfortunately, often the world and its desires win. We rationalize that our strong Christian home will compensate for the ungodly influence of worldly thinking that our children will be exposed to for 8 hours a day. The Barna survey organization reports even young people who are from Christian families that participate regularly in Sunday church services and at least one extra meeting a week are greatly affected. 87% of these young people will have lost their faith by the time they finish public education.
The tragedy is that many people have been so thoroughly affected by the world and the desire for comfort, success, and convenience that they are unaware that the world controls their decisions. Yet James 4:4 states “friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Enmity means mutual hatred. Obeying God is not negotiable. You cannot serve two masters.