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If I hope I will be healed, is that the same as believing or having what the Bible calls faith, that God will heal me?  If I’m hoping Christ will return to take His authentic followers to be with Him in Heaven, is that the same faith that the Bible refers to as belief?

When in my twenties, I deeply wanted to have faith that would move a mountain. I convinced myself and confessed that it would cast a nearby mountain into the sea, as Jesus promised. I did my best to believe the next day it would be gone.  The next morning, I was confused and semi-depressed because it was still there! Assuming I missed something somewhere in my efforts, I then convinced myself and confessed my eyes would be healed so I wouldn’t have to wear glasses. I refused to wear my glasses for several days even when I struggled to see. Finally, I had to acknowledge my eyes were not healed. Yet I knew the Bible was God’s Word, which is infallible. My need to reconcile my conviction and experience sent me on a search for biblical truth about the spirit world.

I discovered the original biblical word translated faith meant to have a deep assurance, conviction based on what God had said. Hope was to expect something in the future. Faith and hope can be like twins, but only if the hope is based on the same substance, which can be quite different. Now faith is the assurance (substance) of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, ESV). I realized I had put my hope primarily on my interpretation or imagination of what Jesus had said, not on what the Spirit revealed to me—game changing difference.

My hope is a partner with faith when it is based on the understanding the Holy Spirit has made real to me. His enlightenment brings an inner conviction which is much more than a mental assent or emotional fantasy that comes out of mental gymnastics. Authentic faith is only obtainable through a divine encounter, not attainable through intellectual study. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8, NKJV).  We can freely receive faith from Christ, but there is nothing we can do to earn it (Heb. 12:2). This is the dividing line that separates religious indoctrination and Sprit revelation of truth. Indoctrination creates a hope based on imagination or what they learned from others, not from the Holy Spirit revealed truth. It is no wonder that supposed childhood faith was not sustainable after the teenager leaves the influence of home or their local church. The fundamental distinction between Christian faith and Christian hope is that faith is a substantial trusting in a relationship with a person. It’s a confidence, not a finger-crossing wish.

Faith is more than hope because it involves trust in a person, which may have a backward dimension and a forward element. Jesus could endure the cross because He had tasted by revelation the joy that was yet to come. (Hebrews 11:2) This allows me to have faith to patiently wait for a healing or Christ’s return and not have to link it to when or how I have imagined it will happen.

Today I read of an Australian man being killed by a kangaroo he had been keeping as a pet. You have also heard of a pet tiger, boa constrictor, or shark killing their owner or trainer. It goes reasonably well at first, but their wild nature rises and the pet kills their former friend. There is a well-known maxim that goes all the way back to the 2 BC Syrian Publius. He said, “familiarity breeds contempt.” This certainly is not always true. However, it definitely has a clanging ring of truth in it. It is true not only of wild animals, reptiles or fish; it is also true of humanity.

It’s not unusual to read about two celebrities getting married and later divorcing. That happens to more than celebrities. It may happen to your neighbor, friend, or even to your marriage. After marriage, disenchantment sets in, followed by a divorce. When serving as a pastor, couples came to me after their marriage had lost its luster. The conflicts normally consist of unfulfilled expectations. The wife or husband had expected to marry someone who would meet their emotional or physical needs. When the person discovered that wouldn’t happen, reality, love and respect went down the tubes and the disenchanted person went looking for someone else they hoped would meet their expectations. My point is, after a person became familiar enough with their spouse’s weaknesses, or even a friend’s weaknesses, contempt soon shows its ugly head.

Here is how this works. Suppose you and I venture into a new friendship? In time, our familiarity reveals my inability to meet your expectations. Even if the expectations were misguided, that disillusion could lead to contempt that would dissolve our relationship. Judas Iscariot was first fascinated with Jesus and became the treasurer of the disciples. But the more familiar he became with Jesus, the more he realized Jesus would not meet his expectations. His betrayal followed.

The Bible says this phenomenon happened to the whole church family in Ephesus. Jesus said to these good people, I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first (Revelation 2:4, NLT2)! Acts 18 records how their first love for Christ was very passionate. Incredible things happened among them and in their community. But after only 30 years, their passion became mere routine or tradition and Christ had to give them a very stern warning.

How might you describe your love for your spouse, friends, or even Jesus Christ? Could it be your familiarity with any of them has caused your relationship to lose the luster it once had? It is all too easy for a person’s admiration of our Creator to degenerate into a casual acquaintance. Our God becomes our daddy who will ignore it when we take Him for granted. When we become more fascinated with sports, job, wealth, hobbies, or whatever than with our intimate time with our Creator; this path ultimately leads to serious heartache. Our casual familiarity with our God will separate us from the awe we once had of Him.

The fact is, I do not trust my own heart for God. I must continue to reposition myself so the Holy Spirit can give me a fresh revelation of His awe-inspiring deity. After reconsidering God’s infinite tasks of carefully managing multiple universes, love, wisdom in planning for billions of individuals, I experience a sense of awe as David had when he wrote, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him (Psalm 8:4, NIV)? With that frame of mind and emotions, I have the correct attitude when I face problems or blessings that come my way. I also have a deep assurance of my current and future relationship with our God.

My alarm was going off one morning. It woke me up enough for me to turn it off but not get me out of bed. I went back to sleep dreaming I was getting ready to go to work. I don’t recall what finally jarred me enough to really wake me up! I was then in shock because I thought I was ready to go to work but I had not yet experienced getting ready.

A story was told of a woman who spent a great 30 minutes each day vicariously watching physical exercises on YouTube. After 30 minutes, she would crawl into bed. When asked about her exercise program, she would tell what she knew about a physical workout. However, her physical body betrayed a serious disconnect between her knowledge and experience of it.

I am fascinated when listening to people talk about their faith journey with God. Most interesting is how the Holy Spirit uses such a wide variety of ways to move people forward in their spiritual journey. I can reduce their storylines to two types determined by one’s personality. They either came to know God through what they had heard or read, or from one or more experience.

Two classic books that draw attention to these differences are Knowing God by J. I. Packer and Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. Both present excellent biblical truths. However, since knowing and experiencing can be significantly different, it raises the question, is salvation knowledge based or experientially based?

Paul wrote, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) This means depending only upon such things as reason, investigation, research, analysis, and comparison to learn God’s ways is folly. However, it also says when the Holy Spirit experientially illuminates the scripture (spiritually discerns); it teaches profound, spiritual lessons. He also wrote until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13, ESV). Reading the Bible is to be a spiritual exercise that engages the heart and head. It is the total person coming into alignment with the Holy Spirit, not a separatist brain figuring out the problems of the text. Humanity cries for understanding, but there is no understanding apart from divine illumination, and no divine illumination without the Spirit. When He reveals truth, the Bible becomes stunningly relevant. Personal revelation makes the Bible as relevant as if my problem just now came to God’s attention.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote of God’s word, When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies (Jeremiah 15:16, NLT2). When the Bible is my food, joy, and delight, it means I have gone past the intellectual to the spiritual comprehension of the Bible and have encountered the living, Person. Job wrote, I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread (Job 23:12, NIV). The Psalmist felt similar when he wrote; They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb (Psalm 19:10, NLT2). He also wrote; I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word. I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well. How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:101-103, NLT2).

If your faith journey has not continued to be life-changing, your greatest sense of significance and joy is still ahead. These rewards increase as you seek to know God as you do your best friend.

The name of our church youth group when I turned 13 was CA’s, which stood for Christ’s Ambassadors. Before every meeting, we would sign the chorus,

We are Christ’s Ambassadors.

And our colors we must unfurl,

We must wear a spotless robe,

Clean and righteous before the world.

We must show we’re cleansed from sin.

And that Jesus dwells within.

Proving duly that we’re truly

Christ Ambassadors.

All I understood when I learned that song was, I had come of age! I was now a teenager and a part of a youth group. That was gratifying enough for me at that time.

Years later, I discovered the original Greek word translated ambassador primarily referred to being the eldest in birth age. It was common for a king to choose an older man who best represented the nation or king’s culture to speak with the authority of the king. Today, perhaps that type of ambassador would have become an apprentice to the king by learning his character, core values, ways, etc. Therefore, the author of the chorus included the words We must wear a spotless robe, Clean and righteous before the world. We must show we’re cleansed from sin. And that Jesus dwells within.

As I recently pondered all that it occurred to me, it would be much easier to be an ambassador of a less than perfect leader than it would be to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. If the king lacked integrity, good or moral character, etc., I wouldn’t have to worry too much about living a perfect lifestyle. Why? Because the person I represented was far from perfect and others knew that. All I would need to do is lie, as the person I represented would do, to make my leader look good.

However, being an ambassador of Jesus Christ would be very different! In fact, it would be impossible to be that kind of perfect—UNLESS that person had been an APPRENTICE of Jesus. An apprentice seeks to know their trainer’s character, values, ways and reproduces them. If the apprentice had the humility of Jesus, he/she would humbly acknowledge their mistake to God and others, then seek to become closer to Christ so that more of Christ would shine through his/her responses and choices. Please notice these words: For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts (not necessarily behavior or thoughts) are fully committed to him… (2 Chronicles 16:9, NIV).

So, what quality of an ambassador of Jesus Christ have you been this last 6 months or year? Have you been representing His integrity, moral character, or ways? What more can you do so His integrity and truth, His love and justice, His mercy and righteousness are obvious to others in your sphere of influence? What practical steps can you take for Jesus’ passion for His Father and unbelievers are the fabric of your inner being and clearly reflecting who He is?

Connie received her monthly report of the condition of her blood and the numbers had fallen well below normal. My doctor showed me my recent MRI pictures which revealed I need surgery on my neck. Plus, a good friend’s wife was being checked in for a very serious surgery. That information really messed with our plans to leave town in 4 weeks to see our families on the West Coast. I’m sure many of you have faced such things and much worse.

It reminded me of Paul’s words: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2, ESV) But this is when our mind involuntarily runs off and imagines gloomy scenarios. Right?

I recently learned anxiety is rampant across all age groups, but especially among the 10 to 25-year-olds! What is triggering such anxiety? I suspect it has a lot to do with how we live our lives and what exciting or woeful imaginations set up camp in our minds. An imagination is the act or power of forming a mental image of something not connected to our 5 senses or never wholly perceived in reality. That means when we have a conflict with someone, we have imaginary conversations about what we might say to them. We imagine things about our favorite hobby/sport, health, job, future, relationships, finances and the lists go on.

So, what in the world does what Paul wrote apply to our imaginations? If you noticed in the verse above, Paul is telling us to do something—set your mind. That means it is voluntary, not involuntary. He also says to set your mind on things above. His point is you and I must choose what we will imagine or think about.

What might that look like? You might say it looks like imagining being seated with Christ in Heaven and considering what He might say or show you about your circumstances on earth. When David did this in Psalms 18, he imagined God as his strength, his rock, fortress and the one who rescues him. Can you imagine what mental images went through his mind when he wrote those words? How do you suppose those imaginations affected his stress, mood, or blood pressure? Contrast that with the effects of imagining whatever you worry about, your health, job, finances, or relationships?

Why do you think the Holy Spirit inspired writers to tell us cast our cares upon Him? (Ps 55:22)  Don’t be anxious about anything… Or … Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8, NLT2).

In Connie’s and my case, we had to set our mind on who God is and how He is carefully supervising our lives and monitoring what comes our way. Just thinking about that was like lightning comprising peace breaking through the dark storm clouds above us.

Paul wrote what he did to enable us to face and walk with divine peace through whatever this life might throw at us. I don’t know what anxious thoughts you have had come your way. I do know you can use imaginations of God, His faithfulness and goodness to break through the dark clouds in your life. Turn on your imagination and slowly reflect on Psalms 18:3-19. Be blessed!!!

Angelo Siciliano, aka Charles Atlas, was a bodybuilder who developed a method for building a muscular physic. His exercise program spawned a landmark advertising campaign featuring his name, along with extreme cartoons. This campaign became one of the longest-lasting and most memorable ad campaigns of all time. I remember daydreaming with some of those impressive cartoons and fantasizing about having super muscles.

A person can impress others, but can man impress God? If so, what would impress the Bible God? What impresses Him is not what impresses humans.  However, it offers great hope when you examine His value system.

Ps. 147 is a thrilling statement of hope for people who enjoy God being the God He is. It says, The Bible says the eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9, NLT2). That means I don’t have to be tall, dark and handsome. It doesn’t matter if I have an abundance of talent, charisma, wealth, or power. God loves the child, the poor, the handicapped, and the nobody who never gets chosen. I often have felt like David when he wrote what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:4, NIV).

This God who determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names (Psalms 147:4, RSV). The earth, where we live, is a small planet revolving around a star called the sun, which has a volume 1.3 million times that of the earth. There are stars a million times brighter than the sun. There are about a hundred billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is one hundred thousand light years across. God is in an entire class of His own.

The economy in God’s heaven takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love (Psalm 147:10-11, NLT2). ANYONE is capable of meeting that qualification. You do not have to live by the economy of our world whose value system is so skewed. Do you fear Him or put your hope in Him? If not, you certainly could do so and know God takes pleasure in you.

It would seem Abraham, Elijah, David, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, impressed Him because He used them in such incredible ways. But God was not impressed with any part of their humanity. What caught His attention was their internal, humble, child-like faith in Him. He called Abraham His friend. Imagine that! Which highly esteemed earthly leader or celebrity would proudly call me their friend? The good news for those who enjoy God being God is that He enjoys them. He delights in those who hope in His immeasurable power. It is therefore no literary coincidence that the verses on either side of God’s greatness (Ps. 147:4-5) show him caring for the weak (RSV Ps. 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 6 The Lord lifts up the downtrodden).

I pray that the truth in this blog grips each reader that God is God and He works omnipotently for those who wait for Him (Isa 64:4), hope in Him (Ps. 147:11) and love Him (Ro 8:28). If you meet those qualifications, you are a VERY BLESSED human being. He loves to be God for the weak and childlike who look to Him for all they need.

An extremely sad thing happened in our extended family. One man had the stunningly horrific experience of discovering two of his very young grandsons he deeply loved, die within 3 months of each other. That is devastating enough! He was directly or indirectly involved in both deaths. The subsequent pain resulting from these deaths has been overwhelming. The natural result of the shock is to point fingers and place blame. Try to imagine either losing your child or being the one who was associated with each death. How is a person supposed to deal with the pain, especially with the initial steps in the grieving process?

Where does God fit into that real-life scenario? Since we are believers in Christ, our minds tell us we can’t blame Him. Yet, in the recesses of our finite minds, we at least wonder if God was negligent in watching over these children. As Jesus’ close friends, Mary and Martha separately accused Jesus, saying, if you would have been here, my brother (Lazarus) would not have died. Or, if we don’t blame God, do we reluctantly blame the deaths on the negligence of a grandfather who deeply loved his children and grandchildren?

Let’s face it. Knowing God is who the Bible describes Him to be, He could have prevented it from happening, as He has done in so many other situations. No earthly human knows the full reason for all the tragedies or very unfortunate events that happen to us, our friends or to people we read about in the news.

The ironic thing is most of us have loved our pets. We watch our daughter’s dog (Biscuit). She wants to eat when we eat and seems to want to please. However, there is absolutely no way for Biscuit, or any other pet, to understand what we are thinking. God loves us and we love God. We understand He died for us, although we do not have the capacity to know all there is to know about that very important truth. We can understand, from what the Bible says, that God is love and comes to live within us. However, there is so much we cannot comprehend about all that is involved in that piece. Since He lives within us and He is love, how is it we don’t always shine out His love? We have a tough time understanding all that goes into that one aspect. I could write far more about that, but the fact is, we are finite, and He is infinite. Just as there is a chasm between what we and our pet can comprehend, there is an even wider chasm between what God’s creation can comprehend about its creator.

So why is it we become so emotionally charged when we don’t understand what God, in His great wisdom (enough to create and maintain the universe) plans and allows to happen? Our pet has enough sense to be content to not understand what we think or plan, so why can’t we accept we are not God and cannot know all He knows or does with us? Are we so egotistical that we won’t believe or trust God when He doesn’t tell us everything—even though our mind or emotions don’t have the capacity to grasp what He could tell us?

Try to imagine with me how different life might be if we didn’t think we had to understand the whys of everything that goes on in our life? Do you imagine we might be more content, at peace or rest, and happier just living within our given circumstances? I’ve been trying to get off my high horse and release my felt need to control the world around me. I’ve been learning in my retirement, I have more gratitude, more peace, more patience and more love as I take my hands off the steering wheel of my life. My goal is to mature to the level where I can face a tragedy and, after regaining my equilibrium, I can get on with living a grateful, joyful and peaceful life.

I’ve been listening to the book Generation Z Unfiltered by Tim Elmore. It is a terrific book for those raising or otherwise working with today’s teenagers. He effectively points out how those of us in a different generation focus on their obsession with phones, screens and apparent irresponsibility on their jobs. But in doing so, we are overlooking the admirable qualities this generation has. Our assignment is to rise to the occasion and help them build on their strengths rather than nag them about their weakness.

What Tim says we are doing is something we do in a variety of areas of our life, including our spiritual lives. We can become so obsessed with specific doctrine, liturgy, method of worship, etc. that, like the legalistic Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, we miss the whole point in what Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God and His passion for us to become an integral part of it. We could say the same thing about obsessions of power, wealth, etc., found in our secular culture.

This micro-legalistic living is more prevalent than we imagine. It robs a person of a more dynamic and well-rounded life. In a religious setting, those raised in a more legalistic church, or who have a stronger traditionalist personality, can unconsciously fall into that obsessive mindset. I know because as I look back, I can see that dark cloud hung over my thinking.

King Hezekiah was a righteous king of Judah, but he made mistakes, as we all do. In Isaiah 37 and 2 Kings 18, without consulting God, Hezekiah presumptively rebelled against the king of Assyria—world leading empire of the day. When the king confronted Hezekiah with his massively superior army, Hezekiah recanted and offered to serve the Assyrians again—but that was not enough for the Assyrian king. The Assyrian king sent Hezekiah a devastating letter. He put on sackcloth and ashes and went to God’s temple and laid the letter before the Lord. God promised to intervene, which He miraculously did, but He never confronted Hezekiah about his presumptive act against God’s authority. When I noticed this, my initial response was, “but God, Hezekiah acted presumptively against you! Why aren’t You addressing this grave issue?”

In this setting, I realized my righteous value system was totally out of whack. God saw the bigger picture of Hezekiah’s humble heart, and that was far greater than his sin of presumption. I haven’t always seen it that way. It was a great eyeopener for me! I felt ashamed and again in need of God’s generous grace. But also, very grateful the Spirit revealed it now.

Carrying that perspective through life is an unnecessary weight I have carried far too long. I suspect I have now been set free of it. I think of so many others in the church who demand certain behavior, dress, doctrine before God can accept them. They even insist on using only the King James Version of the Bible. We sometimes put expectations of this sort on our children instead of stressing that they embrace an intimate relationship with God.

How about you? Are you expecting more of yourself than what God is expecting? God is far more interested in your heart and that of your family and friends than He is in the minutia of right things, beliefs or behavior. His love covers a multitude of sins. That is what He wants of us as well. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8, NLT2).

I took a personality test in which my scores showed me to be a classic Traditionalist. My scores revealed my default thinking is more black and white on issues and being a rules follower. I suspect I may lean towards thinking as the religious rulers of Jesus’ day.

These religious leaders championed a form of righteousness (right living) that is still quite common today. They achieved their right living through self-discipline or determination. It was their expression of obedience to God. But Jesus said this about their righteousness. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (ESV) The Message translates that verse this way. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom. It is crystal clear; God is unimpressed with righteousness manufactured by human inventiveness. It is also clear if a person constructs their hope of entering Heaven based on their right living, they will NOT make it to Heaven.

The religious leaders had asked Jesus “by whose authority” (key word here) did He drive the money changers out of the temple? (Luke 20) Jesus uses an allegorical parable to picture the type of righteousness God does accept. He tells of a landowner (representing God’s authority) who went to great lengths to build an ideal vineyard. He rented it out before going on an extended trip. Upon returning, the landowner discovered his renter had claimed ownership of his vineyard, as shown in the renter’s physical abuse of the owner’s servant.

Righteousness (right living) was a symbol used to validate authority. The religious leaders had fabricated an elaborate system of right living and used it to validate their authority to control the people. In the parable, it meant they used their lookalike righteousness to validate their ownership of the vineyard. This mindset is justified their physical abuse of the landowner’s servants.

The defining difference between God and man’s lookalike righteousness is its source. God’s righteousness represents who He is, not just His behavior. He imbeds this part of Himself as a gift into the heart of the person who becomes a Christ follower. In contrast, God considers man-fabricated righteousness as filthy rags (literally, menstruating woman’s rags – Isaiah 64:6). It may look holy but was like fool’s gold, worthless. (Roman 3:10-16) God only honors the righteousness His Spirit plants within a person and detests whatever is created by our efforts.

You don’t have to understand the symbolism in Jesus’ parable to know this. You and I are misguided if we place living in just the right way over a passionate love for God. Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler clarifies that. (Mark 10.17-22) In that light, you must ask yourself, what is the real reason I try to live life in a right way? Am I putting out the effort in order to impress others or earn the favor of my family, friends, or community? Or am I doing it out of my passion to be an apprentice of Jesus? The religious rulers did the right things but only to impress others (play out their role as religious leaders) so they would receive their praise. They memorized the Bible and had admirable knowledge of it. Yet they totally missed the point of God’s message in it. Unfortunately, today many are just like the Jewish leaders, more in love with living right than in passionately loving the fullness of God. That is shown in how much they reflect on the Bible or otherwise spend intimate time with God. Where might you find yourself on this continuum? As I look back, at times I have been more concerned about living righteously than in learning more about the Bible God I claim to love so much.

Is God as interested in what you do in ministry for Him, in your behavior, or is He more interested the developing your spirit deep within you? There are scores of activities you can engage in. But normally, the leaders try to link your skill set with one of their ministry areas. In a recent conversation with a believer about their spiritual journey, I learned a lot about his involvement in a ministry and heard very little about his life-giving relationship with God. It reminded me of the story of a guy Jesus encountered who is often called the rich young ruler referenced in Mark 10.17-22.

The intriguing aspect of the story was a young man who had the best of all this earthly life could offer: youth, wealth, and power. However, he also had a sense he was missing some of the more important things in life than power and possessions. Why else would such a successful man come to Jesus and ask this question?

Religion, regardless of what brand or flavor it might be, is essentially composed of doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things. Knowing humanity, Jesus answered by giving him an answer that would expose the intuitive need that the man was seeking to fulfill. Carefully note this. Jesus answered You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother’ (Mark 10:19, NIV). Wow! Can you say that about how you have lived your life? The man’s response was very revealing. He said, Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy Mark 10:20 (NIV)! Does that sound like how you may have answered about your faith in God?

Please note that Jesus points to ‘why’ the man sensed he still lacked something important. Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (Mark 10:21, NIV). Please know that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with youth, wealth, or power. They can only be a hindrance when allowed to blind a person from their felt need for God’s help. If anyone trusts more in their performance than in God’s mercy and grace, their inner spirit will sense they need something more. This becomes evident to them as it did for this man when they slow down long enough to take a personal inventory. They can then sense, like this man, that there is more to Christianity than just the doing part. Please understand that doing in the form of loving and serving is essential to following Christ—but ONLY when it is done out of a deeply felt passion for God.

Jesus wasn’t saying his wealth, power, or anything else the young man had was bad—not at all! He was saying until the heart of a person is totally invested in loving and serving God, all he/she has is unadulterated religion—whatever brand it might be. Remember Jesus said, you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30, NLT2). When a person loves that deeply, even an unbeliever can sense the loving believer possesses something more significant than religion.

Let me be very clear. The Bible teaches serving in a ministry is vital to the spiritual maturation process (Eph. 4:12-13). However, there IS more to Christianity than what so many fantasize it to be. It is not just about developing knowledge or busy activities. There is an indescribable pleasure that comes from an intimate relationship with God. It can even restore health to our body, soul, and spirit. Are you more like the rich young ruler or like Jesus?