A Wake Up Call

Hebrews 5:11-14   Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Pretty strong words and absolutely no apologies.  We sometimes forget that words like this can actually make a difference and wake people up.  I am not suggesting we go out and verbally assault people, but there are times we need to confront a person who just doesn’t seem to grow, they aren’t interested in learning more about God.  They don’t want to be challenged, they just want to be told how much God loves them and then go on about their way.  They are comfortable and don’t want to change their lives, following Jesus is not to involve growth or work on their part, just ignorant bliss.

While there are questions of who actually wrote the book, Paul is the most popular choice, whoever wrote it did not pull any punches – and we need to remember these verses are inspired by God which can be even more embarrassing when you think of it.  It is a message that resounds through the centuries right up to now.  In today’s America, for many Christians, such harsh language coming from a pulpit, Christian teacher or even a friend would draw no end of criticism and or ire.  And many are afraid to challenge their charges because they are afraid they might offend them or that going deep into the Word just goes over the heads of the people – or they might lose their job.

We are becoming like the society around us, don’t challenge people, let everyone be happy in their mediocrity and whatever you do don’t expect them to grow.  For them to strive for something and fail would be a disaster for them.  Give them a feel good religion so they can feel good about themselves, whether they accomplish anything for Christ or not.  Pats on the back are more important than kicks in the hindquarters.

Having these words directed at us can sometimes be hard to take, because we don’t like to be criticized, but if our heart is truly open to God we can understand the frustrations of God.  These verses are not directed at new Christians, they are directed at those who accepted Christ quite some time ago and then stagnated, going no farther in the Lord.  However, it can hold true for us who have grown in Christ, but have reached a plateau and not grown more.  It is a daily process and one that doesn’t stop until we are called home.

As we grow older we learn how to use our abilities differently than we did when younger.  It reminds me of the time I came to the office sore and tired.  I was meeting with clients, somehow we got to talking about me being tired and sore.  I told them that I had been working all day in Carla’s garden on the day before.  The lady looked at me and said, “You have to stop killing snakes.”

Now, there were no snakes in Carla’s garden and I sure hadn’t tried to kill any that day.  She then said, you are trying to work like you did when you were 20 (several decades earlier) and you can’t work like that anymore.  You have to slow down to a slower pace and stop trying to kill snakes. 

This same holds true in our life with Christ.  Sometimes we can keep a pace up for a long time, and that is fine, but if we do have to stop killing snakes He will show us other ways we can serve Him.  But we should always keep growing, He will show us new things to learn in His Word, He will lift us up and use us in ways we didn’t think we could do before.  The important thing is never to place ourselves in the position where someone has to come up to us and lay that kind of language on us to get us working for Him.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

Faith

Hebrews 4:20-21 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

²¹ And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

“My faith does not rest on God's promises.  My faith rests upon God's character.  Faith must rest in confidence upon the One who made the promises....”  A.W.Tozer

The truth of Tozer’s statement is self-evident, especially as I re-read the above scriptures.  Through the years I have focused on the ‘promises of God’ and really hadn’t given much thought to the fact that I was actually depending on the One who made it.  I knew who makes them of course, but my ‘faith’ was focused more on the promise, than the one who made it.  I know, it should not have been a revelation to me at this late stage in my life, but it was.

We often take promises from individuals today with a grain of salt.  It is so seldom they are truly fulfilled we are amazed when they are; but, we know that when certain people promise they will do something they will do it.  I wish I could say I have fulfilled every promise but, I haven’t. 

Most of the people I know fall into that category and when you talk about politicians almost all promise more than they can deliver.  It never ceases to amaze me how a person running for office will say this is “what I will do” when they know full well that they can’t deliver unless they convince a majority of those who have like positions to agree to it, yet they promise as if they are the only one making the decision.  Local officials, especially those running for an ‘executive’ position where they are the ones hiring and firing and controlling their office and personnel, can come closer to accomplishing their promises, but even they may be limited in what they can do by budgetary constraints – and of course they too must have cooperation from those that work with them.

Then we have businesses that promise they will do something for us, and most of them do fulfill those promises – if they don’t they don’t stay in business long.  We soon learn who delivers on their promises and who we can trust to perform.  I trust my mechanic because my experience with him, and those I know that use him, is that he is competent and honest and he hires competent honest mechanics.  They do what they say they will do and almost every time it is done right the first time, and if it isn’t they make good on it.  I deal locally whenever possible, because I know the people and know the quality of their work is as promised.

Unfortunately, as we look at larger companies or corporations we cannot always count on their promises.  Sometimes it is because personnel slack off, or are incompetent; sometimes it is because they have shareholders that want dividends, so corners are cut on quality for the sake of profit.  We all know of the documented cases of corporations knowing that something is wrong with a product and they weigh the cost of fixing it with the detriment or inconvenience it may cause a few consumers; they don’t fix it because the risk to life and limb is ‘acceptable’ vs. the cost of fixing the problem – and people become ill or injured and even die.

While people can and do let us down, God never does.  We can count on His promises because He is Who He is, not because we are who we are.  Yes, there are some conditions, the Israelites were told He would protect them as long as they obeyed His commands, when they stopped obeying, He allowed them to be persecuted, enslaved and even killed to discipline them and to make them realize they needed to turn back to Him.  The Old Testament is full of promises to them and to individuals; most are conditioned on their dedication to Him and all to their obedience to Him.

It is no different in the New Testament.  Everything God promises is predicated on our acceptance of Jesus Christ being the Son of God; Him being the sacrifice for our sins and our accepting Him as the Lord of our life.  God is Who He is; God.

Too many people try to apply the Biblical promises to their life without meeting the conditions.  They do not know who God is; they put their faith in the promise, not in the One making it. People can quote scriptural promises, but if they don’t have true faith in God, for Who He is, then they do not apply and He has no obligation to honor them, they can quote scriptural promises all they want but to no avail.  He sometimes will answer a prayer from someone who has not accepted His Son, but He is in no way obliged to do so, and when He does it is to serve HIS purpose, not the person whose prayer was answered.

The chorus, “Every promise in the Book is mine, every chapter every verse ever rhyme,” holds true only if we have accepted Who God is; we have accepted His Son; and we have recognized Him as Lord of our life and are serving and obeying Him.  But it is Him in whom we have faith, “what he had promised, he was able also to perform,” not the promise itself.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

Trials

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Acts 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

This morning I awoke with that verse from 1 Corinthians in my mind.  As I meditated on it I realized why Paul was able to endure so much.  I realized why some Christians seem to go through far more than others; some of us seem to squeak by with little trials, and think we are suffering greatly, while others go through tremendous pain – yet, they remain true to God.  They testify of His Great Love and Grace; they proclaim His healing powers even as they themselves suffer greatly.  They have great joy despite their suffering.

The temptation, for many, would be to condemn God for allowing them to suffer so much.  Yet, they have an inner peace and joy that cannot be explained by the knowledge or wisdom of the world.  Many are under great persecution, they watch their families suffer, they watch friends and colleagues suffer, they lose their freedom and are imprisoned, beaten and prosecuted for their stand for Christ.  Others are suffering from medical problems, pain from illness and/or depilating injuries caused by accidents that should make their existence miserable.

They may question, ‘why me Lord?’  Yet, they grow in His Spirit and they are a testimony to His strength and redemption.  They are an example to us of God’s ability to lift man’s spirits even in the worst of conditions.  These people, most humble and would never think this, have great faith – they are able to endure far more than the rest of us, because God knows they can handle it.

Not in every situation are they being tested by God, but they have developed such a close relationship with Him, for the most part, it just doesn’t matter to them.  That is how Paul was able to endure so much, which is why we are told in:

Philippians 1:20 ^“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”

They see Christ glorified within themselves and their relationship with Christ makes all the difference.  Their amazing testimony often leads others to come to the cross to receive what they have received.  They rejoice that no matter their circumstances they are serving Christ.

Acts 5:40-42   And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹ And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

⁴² And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

When we go through trials for Christ, may we take this same attitude – rejoicing that God feels we are worthy to suffer for Him; that He feels we can handle the temptations before us and know that we can depend on Him if it is more than we think we can bare, He will lead us out.  It is an affirmation that our faith in Him grows and His faith in us does also.  Maybe one day I can truly say that I can give meaningful thanks in all things!

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

Humble Leaders

2 Chronicles 5:12-14 And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

¹³ For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

¹⁴ And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

Solomon built the temple as instructed by God.  He stood before the people and dedicated it with a heartfelt prayer.  Unashamed, he knelt and humbled himself before the Lord. 

What a contrast between Solomon and our current leaders who are unbelievers, or unwilling or afraid to humble themselves before God in public.    

The Dalles used to have a Mayor’s prayer breakfast every May which brought mayors from many cities around us, along with well over a hundred citizens, together to pray in public.  One mayor here in The Dalles chose not to honor that tradition, her excuse ‘God says to pray in private;’ then quoted Mathew 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

We have said it many times, the Bible can help a person defend any position, especially when it is taken out of context.  I do not know of what faith this person was/is, I do know that through her satan killed a tradition; and a Bible verse was used to justify her stand. 

Satan is having a hay day now, he is managing to stifle freedom of speech more and more each day.  If we quote the Bible – correctly – then it is hate speech.  Children are being told they cannot read the bible in school, let alone pray.  Christians in politics are being derided for their stand for Christ and are actively targeted by opponents to stop them.  Television programs are being developed to deliberately target the Bible and striving to discredit God’s Word – if satan can make people question the Word of God, then he has successfully undermined it. 

Not too long ago I ended a public prayer with “in Jesus Name.”  I was taken aside by someone who suggested it was inappropriate, I said then don’t ask me to pray.  I haven’t stopped. 

We need to pray for our leaders.  We need to pray they open their hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit.  They need to be led by Him and they need to follow Him.  We need to pray for Christian leaders to stand and proclaim Christ.  We need to pray that people will listen and repent.  It is only too late for America if we, as Christians, give up.  It looks bad and looks worse each day, but God has not given us completely over to satan.  We need to pray for a Jonah to proclaim God’s wrath and mercy, and perhaps like Nineveh, America too, will repent.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

The Other Realm

Daniel 10:10-13  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

¹¹ And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

¹² Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The world we cannot see is more vital to our condition than the one we do see.  The world we see is a mystery to us.  We see, but often we do not understand the creation of God.  As man has gained more knowledge, as he has developed more sophisticated tools that allows him to delve into the very depths of space, the depths of the oceans and view some of the smallest particles of creation we gain insights into the power and imagination of our Creator.  As God reveals Himself to us in His creation and allows us to find some of the intricacies of it, man thinks he is in command; he gives his own version of how the world was formed and developed and thinks he is the one that is all powerful – placing his intelligence above the Creator.  Yet, we have so much to learn; so many riddles in our universe we have yet to discover let alone solve.  The more we learn the more we realize the universe, and all that is in it, is a complex mass of organized infinitesimal particles that God has used to form everything. And that is what we see but do not understand.

What we do not see is the Spiritual realm about us.  We get an inkling of it as we go about our daily lives and are tempted by satan.  The reality of the Spiritual realm is not readily seen by us, we can see results of some of the battles, but seldom do we see the participants.  We see persecution all around us, the world is full of it.  We pray and sometimes we see a direct answer to those prayers.  Missionaries tell us of escaping certain death or captivity by supernatural means of God.  They are on the front lines of some of the most vicious spiritual action and they battle daily for the survival of their flocks. 

What is real to the world is what they can see, touch, smell or hear therefore they do not accept the scriptures; they talk of foolishness and/or superstitious nonsense when we try and tell them of God and what His Word proclaims.  Yet, the physical battles we face in the world are a direct result of the spiritual battles we cannot see.  The world discounts it by saying it is just a difference in ideology, or greed on the part of governments and/or individuals without recognizing it is satan that places those sinful desires in the hearts of man.

The world believes if we but encompass and accept everything and challenge nothing than love will prevail and we will have peace. The lies of satan dominate the minds of man, and the battle for their souls goes on in that spiritual realm.  If we allow the world’s thinking to prevail, then satan has won – God will not allow it to happen.  Sometimes it takes hours and days – and often months and years of prayer on our part before the angels break through.

In Daniel’s case he had been praying and fasting for 21 days, at the end of which he saw the angel before him.  Interestingly enough no one else did: 

Verses 6-7 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

⁷ And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

Daniel’s experience was not an isolated one; God used and I am sure still uses angels many times to convey messages to His people, usually to a specific individual; and sometimes to minister to them.  It is not for everyone to see, but that doesn’t mean it has not happened. 

I do not know how all this works out, I just know that the Bible tells us that it does.  While God could decide at any time to end it all, He has not yet done so, and until He does the battles will continue.  The battles are as vicious and deadly as any we see in the natural world.   

While I know these battles rage on and I know I have a part in it – although not always defined to my understanding, frankly, I do not worry too much about it.  If I call for a police officer I do not say I want a specific person and then tell them how to do their job.  I trust their training, experience and abilities. Once they know what the problem is, they follow the law and do what needs to be done.  Since they are human, they may make mistakes, but for the most part they strive to do a professional job.

When I pray to God for relief, while I may try and tell Him what needs to be done – which is a mistake, of course – He already knows, if He needs to send an angel, or a band of them, or just strengthen my resolve He knows what needs to be done; and He makes no mistakes.  We battle unseen forces every day, it would seem to be easier if we could see them, take swords in hand for the battles – but then again, God knows what is best for us.

We fight alongside angels we cannot see, against an enemy that is not seen.  We are equipped for that battle, we have armor, swords and His support.  We are not fighting blindly, but with faith that what we are doing for Him, in service to Him, makes a difference in the outcome.

It is enough to know that while we battle unseen forces, but we are not alone in those battles.  He will send what is needed to help us overcome our enemy and be victorious for His sake.  As a police officer, when I went into dangerous situations I was seldom alone.  There were times of course that backup was a long ways away, but I knew it was coming.  We always tried to have each other’s backs and be there for each other.  God ALWAYS has our backs.  He tells us that He is always with us, even until the end of the world.  Our spiritual battles begin with prayer and ends in faith and obedience to God.  We will be wounded if we are fighting the battles as we should, but we will be victorious in the end.  Even if we should lose our physical life, it is for a just cause in His service and God will use that sacrifice for His purposes.  More importantly we will not lose the thing that means the most, our soul - that is forever kept in the palm of His hands.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

Suffering

John 12:9-11 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰ But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;

¹¹ Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

When it comes to the world, nothing is sacred.  Satan and his leaders of darkness must not only try and destroy Jesus; they must also try to destroy His Works so they can discredit Him.  We are some of His Works.  The testimonies we live, the messages of Christ we proclaim are part of His Works.  Like Lazarus, satan must put our messages to death, he wants to discredit Christ by discrediting us.

If we think we can go through this world living for Christ and not endure struggles, we are sadly mistaken and ill prepared for service to Him.  On the other hand, if we are not enduring struggles and suffering, we have to ask ourselves why?  Are we serving the risen Savior, or are we just sheep without a voice? Are we so unimportant to Christ that satan just doesn’t bother with us?  When you think about it, that could be a very shaming statement about our ineffective service for Him, if satan doesn’t even deem us threat enough to attack us.

Someone once said that Christians love to suffer.  The idea he was conveying was, we hang our heads and cry out ‘woe is me, look at what I must go through;’ languishing in our supposed dedication to Christ, but not really serving Him.  The person was referring to those that gather together, but do not effectively proclaim Christ; they just comfort each other and reinforce each other’s misery.  There is no joy in their suffering, because they would rather complain and make themselves martyrs (so they think) than actually doing God’s Work.  And many of us are good enough at self-pity that we don’t even need confirmation from someone else.

If we accept that serving Christ is both an honor and an open invitation for satan to attack us, we will be less likely to cringe away from service when satan does attack.  In WW 2 a soldier was once hunkered down in his fox hole while shells and bullets whizzed by him.  He couldn’t bring himself to raise up high enough to look over the top of the hole and fire on the attacking enemy.  An officer, checking on his troops came by and observed the inaction of the soldier and climbed into the fox hole with him.  The soldier was shaking with fear and told the officer he couldn’t fire, he was too scared.  The officer told him that ‘we are all scared.  The thing is, you believe you are going to make it out of here alive.  If you reconcile yourself to the fact you are already dead, then you can overcome your fear and fight.’  After consideration, the soldier looked out over the top of his hole and started firing his weapon.

Jesus told us the very same thing:  verses 24-26   Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

²⁵ He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

²⁶ If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

We shouldn’t serve Christ so we can ‘suffer’ or become martyrs. We should serve Christ because, as His followers He commands it, we love Him and we want to obey Him.  The slings of satan can be very painful and they can be difficult for us to endure. However, when we realize that it comes with the service than we are more able to be effective and instead of bemoaning the fact satan attacks us, we can rejoice in the fact that we are being effective enough for Christ that satan is afraid of us. 

It isn’t the fact we are suffering that should be important – we have all seen the Christian that staggers in what he feels is attacks on him because he had stood out for Christ, when his message to people isn’t as a follower of Christ, but as someone who has become self-righteous and ineffective in his message.  He speaks out, not for Christ sake, but for the suffering he says he is enduring; he broadcasts it so he can gain pats on the back and thus have self-gratification as he wallows in self-pity.  These people are no better than the person who does good deeds and then makes sure everyone knows about it – both have their immediate reward.  But Christ is not in their message.

Effective Christians endure severe sufferings and never or rarely mention it.  They are focused on service to others in Christ’s name, not on their own discomfort in that service.  There is joy in their hearts which comes out in not only their service, but their demeanor.  If they mention their struggles at all it is to encourage others to break through to victory and not to obtain sympathy.  They want to forewarn so their listeners are prepared, but they do not hold themselves up as some kind of martyr to be honored.  They will ask for prayers, but not belabor their suffering; they want to be able to continue serving Christ effectively.  God doesn’t need whiners or complainers; He does need Christians He can depend on to do His Will no matter the consequences.  May we rejoice, always, in our service to Christ and focus only on Him, not on ourselves. 

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

Patience and Chastisment

2 Chronicles 15:3-4  Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

⁴ But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

15:14-15  And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about.

16:7 & 10  And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.

10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

A couple of things come to my mind as I read these passages this morning.  The first is how patient God is with His people. Israel would run hot and cold for God.  When in trouble they turned to Him and they would find Him and He would welcome them back to Him.  He performed miracles on their behalf and saved them many times from total destruction by their enemies – driving them out, decimating their numbers Himself, or using the armies of Israel to obtain victory over them.  Gives us hope for the times we fail Him, He forgives and still loves us.

The people would rejoice and praise Him.  They would actually turn from their idol worship and come back to Him.  King Asa did many great things to destroy the idols of the pagan gods and restoring many of the temple’s artifacts.  Everything was going well and as long as that continued Israel prospered.  However, they started slipping back into old habits.  Just as we often do when things are going well and we forget why they are going so well.

The second thoughts - If we are not careful we can forget to continually praise and thank God for His gifts to us and start slipping away from Him.  Other things take up our thoughts and some of these become idols to us.  Prosperity can be both a blessing and a curse; we have to remember where it comes from and praise God at all times.  If we do not, God has to remind us and that chastisement is not a pleasurable thing.  God knows that we seem to pray the best when we are oppressed – we remember who He is and why is He is there.  As we chastise our children to bring them up right and help them make good decisions in this world, so He chastises us to help us return to Him and His service.

However, accepting that chastisement can be difficult; rather than listening and asking forgiveness, Asa chose to imprison the messenger from God.  Hanani didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, so he flew into a rage and incarcerated him.  We may not have the power or authority to incarcerate the person who God sends into our life to correct us, but we often will rage against them, refusing to apply the message God has given us to our situation.  We don’t like the messenger for some reason, we may not like their choice of words, their style, who they are or any number of reasons – so we downplay, ignore or even get upset with the messenger. 

Chastisement from God is never easy, but it can become even more difficult when we don’t like the messenger.  More than once I have ignored the message, to my downfall and shame, for that very reason.  If we are in tune, daily, with God we will quickly recognize the truth of His correction no matter where it comes from and take appropriate actions to make sure we are back on track with Him.  The closer we come to God, the less we find ourselves off track. 

It is important, though, to do as the Israelites did in verses 14 and 15, not just once, but daily, every day for the rest of our lives.  When we praise Him, when we give our whole hearts to Him, there is less need for Him to chastise us.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous

The Price of Salvation

Psalm 116:12-13 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

¹³ I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

And of course, the greatest gift, the greatest benefit, He has given us is His Son.

Romans 6:23   For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

²⁹ Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Jesus reinforced that message; to serve God we must first accept God’s salvation.  It sounds so simple, yet it has tripped people up forever.  We have such a hard time believing that something so critical to our eternal life is so ‘easy.’  Through the centuries man has tacked on actions and activities that will allow him to ‘earn’ his way into heaven.  The spiritual leaders of the Jews did it; Christian leaders have been doing it since the foundation of the church.  And in doing so, they have corrupted the desire of God for a pure heart from us.  Salvation is free, it cannot be earned, it can only be accepted.

The price of salvation is not cheap; it meant the death of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.  But it is free to us.

However, the cup we receive it in is not ‘easy.’  It means that accepting His salvation means we give Him all of our being, all of our heart.  It means that we accept Him as our Lord and with that comes obedience and dedication to Him.  Too many people stop at the free statement.  As Christ carried His cross to Calvary we too have crosses we must bear to serve God.  Even proclaiming we are Christians can bring persecution down on us – not to mention what follows when we point out that others need Christ.  There is a price to pay, not for salvation, but in service to God.

We cannot be saved and not acknowledge God, His Word, His Son, His Holy Spirit and the dominion He has over our lives.  It is not an ‘easy’ life.  There are those that would tell us that to be a Christian means to have perfection in our lives, to never have to worry about finances, to by happy all the time (among other things) and if we aren’t living up to those ‘expectations’ then we are either not true Christians or we are not trying hard enough, bluntly, they are false teachers. 

We but have to read the Gospels to see that Christ told us we would have a difficult time in following Him.  Throughout the New Testament we are told we will need to deal with adversity and the need to look to Him to have help overcoming it.  Christ was humiliated, tortured and killed.  The apostles were imprisoned, tortured and except for John, killed for their stand for Christ; many Christians through the ages have lost their jobs, families, homes and even given up their lives in living for Christ. Lifting up that cup means we accept all God has for us, His Love, His Grace, His Salvation and His rightful place in our hearts and lives.  We are no better than those that have gone before us, particularly Christ.

We must understand that we live in a world that honors sin and hates God.  The world is not perfect, things do happen because sin came into the world.  Things happen to both those that hate God and those that love God as a natural state of this world. Then of course the hatred for God is reflected in the treatment by the world for His Children.  The world doesn’t want to be reminded of their sin, they don’t want to be told that certain activities are against God’s Word.  They deny there is a God so they don’t have to obey His Word and when His children tell them of their sin they not only reject the message and the messenger, but may also attack the messenger.  Too many Christians have difficulty with that, they can’t understand why they are going through such turmoil for Christ.

We have let too many new Christians down by not preparing them for the spiritual battles they will endure.  In America the Christian message has become namby pamby, in fear of either turning people off – or bringing persecution down upon us.  We have made God into a being that has no impact on the lives of His people, and we are suffering the consequences because of it.

God is God.  He doesn’t change.  He loves His people, but just as He did in the Old Testament, He will punish those that go astray and refuse to be obedient to Him.  We must take our role in serving Christ seriously, listen and obey and while we know salvation is free, we must accept service has a price – and be willing to pay that price.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous