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Freedom has been Americans’ main theme and most important value.  It is our national anthem.  It seems that when a society gives people more freedom, they are considered to be more culturally advanced.  Many have now come to believe that no one should be allowed to tell another what they can or cannot do.  The idea of doing things for the mutual betterment of all has been buried under narcissism.

But exactly what is freedom?   Should a child have freedom to kick and bite his teacher or an adult have freedom to abuse or bully others? Does a mother have a right to abort her baby while the baby or even the father has no rights?  Does a common laborer have no recourse when he/she is forced to pay more money for health insurance because a group of politicians passed a misguided or poorly written law regarding health insurance?  Do protesters have a right to express their feelings when causing mayhem in the streets breaking into stores and burning cars?  Where does one’s freedom begin and end—or does it?   Does such freedom really produce great relationships and create a trusting society?

Freedom is wonderful…and destructive.  Jesus did say, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free (John 8:36, NLT2).  But is that the same type of freedom clamored for in our culture today?  The biblical idea of submitting to following Christ to gain true freedom is a paradox.  This becomes clear when compared to an alcoholic or addict in bondage to his/her addiction – the result of his/her passion for so called freedom.  Most of us have friends or relatives who are in bondage to something that is slowly destroying them. 

Most Christians understand and accept Jesus’ freedom is different—until it comes to how they manage their money, eating habits or insecurities as evidenced in their varied antisocial behaviors.  Christ lived and died to set us free…to live a God-fearing life designed so we can enjoy His joy, His peace and His authentic freedom.  But in order to enjoy those incredible, tangible delights, we must submit another freedom that we cherish.

Several years back the Holy Spirit called me out of my delusion by asking me to take a position I personally did NOT want to take.  I literally experienced 24 hours of the most traumatic anxiety I had ever experienced.  After reluctantly accepting it, it took me about a year and a half before I finally stopped my passive resistance to my step of obedience.  I’m ashamed to say my fight wasn’t as much against the assignment as it was against what I deemed as my rights/freedom.  God was patiently merciful while I wrestled my way through my tirade.  When I finally calmed down, He allowed me to see what He would do through me.  I finally embraced it, and today, I see the foolishness of my misguided desire for freedom. 

Jesus was most miserable when He was fighting with His human desire to avoid the cross.  He was so miserable His sweat was as great drops of blood when He was PRAYING!  But when He finally surrendered and prayed “not my will but yours be done,” He displayed the most incredible courage to endure abuse and His cross.  He then enjoyed the unbelievable joy of Easter morning and ultimately ascended into Heaven to be with His Father. 

What mask have you been wearing to hide your desire for misguided freedom?  Has God been calling you out while you fight as I did to try to justify your God-given right to have this freedom?  But is the inner battle between your freedom and God’s calling worth it? 

One of the more impacting books I’ve read in the last 40 years is “The Kingdom of Self” by Earl Jaybay.  He was a clinically trained chaplain at a renowned psychiatric clinic who worked with a lot of addicted people.  He found their biggest problem wasn’t their addiction; it was their false belief they had the power to control their addiction!  Their continued freedom rested on whether they continued to live a life of surrendered lifestyle.  Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous found the same thing to be true.  Freedom from alcohol was when addicts live out submission to God’s authority, whom AA later called their higher power.  It is like Jesus taught us to pray, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10, ESV).  

In college, one of my favorite songs was the Sammy Davis Jr. song “I Gotta Be Me. – I’ll go it alone.”  It is all about me.  As humans, we don’t want anyone’s help unless they will make me feel better about me—even if it is only for a few minutes.  History has shown that a world based upon selfish thinking only results in wars whether they be between nation, husband and wife or even pastor and parishioner.  Being king of our life is not as good as we imagine. 

A paradox sounds ridiculous but is a hidden truth.  It is a quirk in logic that demonstrates how our thinking sometimes goes haywire, even when we use perfectly logical reasoning to get there.  The Bible is inundated with paradoxes.  A classic one is Luke 9:23-24 (NLT2) [Jesus] said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.   Earl Jaybay found this be exactly true for those he worked with.  Yet is goes against every fiber of our culture today.  The prevailing attitude today is, “I can do and be whatever I want, and you’re an idiot, bigot and graceless if you try to stop me.”  A recent news article reported a high school football player head-butting an official — sending him flying backward, all because the referee threw a flag on his selfish choice.  He had to be restrained in his intentions to do the same to another official.  

There are two kingdoms in your life that are in conflict, the culture of this world and the culture of the kingdom of God.  Every hour you and I breathe we must decide whether we are going to choose to follow our selfish desires (kingdom of self) or what God says in His word it the right way (kingdom of God).  Those decisions can be about our sexual feelings, our eating or spending habits, how we treat others (especially family), or what we watch or read.  Paul described it this way, So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members (Romans 7:21-23, NIV).   

Consider the most recent inner battles with which you’ve been wrestling.  Our Lord is watching you wrestle and is cheering you on to follow what He has instilled within your spirit to be the right choice.  Each choice you make to deny your selfish ways is a step towards becoming more like Jesus who lived in the world (kingdom of self) but was not of this world (kingdom of God).  I have personally gone through extreme agony wrestling with my way or God’s way.  While it was mental and emotional torture to go through, I have no regrets for choosing His way. 

I recently turned 73 years of age.  I’m now exchanging physical strength and stamina, memory, mental focusing abilities and certain capacities for a significantly improved relationship with my God and a much greater perspective of God and life.  I left college thinking I knew most everything important for life and ministry.  But after being a few years in ministry, I realized I knew very little, and my knowledge and wisdom were misguided and only a little more than naïveté.  I thought I loved my bride, Connie, but now clearly see that love was a drop in the bucket compared to mature love.  Living life has a way of changing how we think and respond. 

God also transforms our spiritual perspective over time.  In my recent reflections in Isaiah, I compared Isaiah’s perspective of God in chapter 6 with his perspective in chapter 25.  In chapter 6, God’s presence frightens him which is indicative of a lack of relational closeness.  By the time he writes the prophesy in chapter 25, in contrast to being afraid of God, there is now a sense that he has a different relationship with God which has led to warm praise and exaltation of Him for the wonderful things He had done as well as the wisdom and faithfulness He had made evident. 

This comparison caused me to wonder to what extent I have allowed the Holy Spirit to transform my relationship over the years and thereby my perception of Him.  Is my worship warmer and more heartfelt, or does it now have an impersonal, ritualized tone to it?  I’ve learned from experience that I am not always yielded and therefore fail to learn as much as He has planned for me to learn in first grade, or subsequent class, so I must take the class again.  I have also observed that pattern is true for far too many believers.  Sadly, I’ve also noticed some seem remain for decades in the spiritual elementary grades. In the last church I served, a professionally created church survey revealed there were those who had been in those early elementary classes for 25 years!   In that light I must seriously consider how much I have allowed the Spirit to transform me.

How about you?  How much have you been taking initiative to work with the Holy Spirit’s efforts in transforming you into the likeness of Jesus Christ?  Paul pointed out a believer’s goal must be to grow 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).  THAT is a high standard!!  Do others see you thinking, doing and responding as Jesus did while walking in his humanity on this earth?

As a child I remember putting marks on a door frame to identify how much I had grown.  It felt great just to see I had grown half an inch.  It took at years before reaching my full physical stature.  The Bible uses physical growth as a metaphor to spiritual growth when it uses the terms “babe, little children, young man and father.”  Looking back at the life-changing, paradigm shifting milestones in your spiritual growth, in what specific areas have you allowed the Spirit to transform you from one stage and to another into His likeness?  From what I have observed in scripture, a motivated adult can move from spiritual birth to the early stages of maturity in 3-5 years.  After that spiritual transformation looks more like grad school.  If your spirit has not been transforming as quickly as it should know this; a) God is very eager to help you grow, b) you may very well need to realign some hardened areas of your thinking that have led to your spiritual stall, c) the result of that realignment will be a fresh flowing relationship with God.  I know from experience the growing experience will be marked by deeper peace and greater joy.  

Is the life Jesus lived on earth the type of life you would like to live in your world today?  All believers admire His character, virtues, powerful deeds and words and want to imitate those elements.  What is often overlooked is His journey included rejection, harsh criticism or harassment from religious leaders, and all-night prayer time before his arrest; the parts of which developed the courage we esteem.  Which aspect of His life is it that you want to imitate?  The miracle power or what He learned through suffering? (Heb. 5:8) Does it all come in the same package or do you think you can be selective?

To be very transparent, I’ve been known to selectively pray His prayer, “May this cup pass from me,” when facing overwhelming odds.   While I avoided praying the last part of His prayer, “nevertheless, not my will but your will be done.”  The most physical and spiritually traumatic moment I’ve experienced was when presented with a challenge of what I had classified as a distasteful assignment.  The Spirit very forcefully asked, “Are you saying you will NOT do this?”  Excruciating as it was to submit to Him then, I now see it was a necessary choice in order for me to see the incredible victories that would follow.

I’ve come to believe that when a person prays for an easier life, his/her prayer is misguided—unless the person wants to be a wimpy believer—if there is such a thing.  If we want to be a stronger person than we are, we must to pray to that end and not be a whiner when we encounter mountains in our path.  Christ will not lead us to greatness through an easy or self-indulgent life. An easy life does not lift us up, it only takes us down. Heaven is always above us, and we must continually be looking toward it.  Paul wrote Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13, NLT2).  

God calls us out of the survival lifestyle that has become our norm into a life of even greater discomfort where we are less able to control our circumstances.  He did this with Joseph, David, Gideon and scores of others.  Gideon was managing to survive by hiding while beating the hulls off heads of wheat in order to feed his family.  In that most deplorable condition, God called him “a mighty  man of valor” (Judges 6:12) then called him to save the Hebrews from their intimidating and contemptable enemy with only 300 men and paltry weapons.  That sounds to me like an invitation to go from an abysmal lifestyle into a death defying one. If you fast forward, you find because he stepped out into the terrifying, uncomfortable life, God empowered him to do this remarkable miracle we remember still today. 

Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal preacher who served in the mid-1800s said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle.”  Moses told the Hebrews, The LORD will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you.  So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Deuteronomy 31:5-6, NLT2).  God challenged Joshua and many others through history in a similar way.

With all the mass murders in the news, we live in perilous days when those around us desperately need to hear God’s word spoken to them and see a real man or woman of God.  God is calling each of us out of our comfort zone to be courageously willing to position ourselves to lovingly offer hope and truth to those who have lost their moorings. 

It is hard work and difficulties that ultimately lead us to greatness, for greatness is not found by walking on a smooth path laid out for us through a romantic walk in the meadow. It is found by taking initiative to follow His whisper in our innermost being to the life Jesus lived.

I tend to get impatient at traffic signals, in checkout lines, when people are late for meetings, or the answer to my prayer doesn’t come when I would like, etc., etc.  A recent Barna survey showed most of us struggle with impatience.  As the survey reported, patience scored as the second lowest practiced virtue in Christians today.  Only self-control scored lower. 

In the midst of that, the Bible says Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices (Psalm 37:7, ESV).  We know that King Saul’s impatience brought God’s judgment upon himself (1 Sam. 13:8-14).   I shudder to think of all God’s promises and learning opportunities I’ve missed because of my impatience in getting things done.

The stunning part is the Bible says So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help (Isaiah 30:18, NLT2).  Really?!  I thought I was waiting for Him when actually He is waiting for me!

Why would He wait for us?  This offers important insight into His ways.  He is like the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen (James 5:7, NLT2).  As a farmer or gardener waits for his grain or her veggies to ripen, God too patiently waits until the seed of His purpose for us ripens.

The Bible explains He waited until the fullness of time had come, [then He] sent forth his Son, born of woman… (Galatians 4:4, ESV).  He has a purpose we can’t see or understand that must ripen before He moves on.  Revelation 14:15 and 18 record that although God sees the hearts of men are evil, He waits for them to ripen before He brings judgment.  So why should we be surprised that He waits for the righteousness planted in our hearts at salvation to mature in such a way it changes us into the likeness of Jesus Christ?  Paul explains He has predestined [a believer] to be conformed to the image of his Son(Romans 8:29).  He planted His life in each believer and then waits for each of us to allow His Spirit to change us from the inside out. He also explains we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).  So, if a person isn’t being transformed into His image as He has purposed, it most likely is because the person isn’t spending time waiting in His presence beholding the glory of the Lord which is when His Spirit brings about the metamorphosis.   He is therefore waiting for us to make choices to spend extended time with Him in His Word, so He can finish that phase of His purpose in and for us. 

Accepting the truth of His waiting on us will renew our motivation and inspire us to wait in His presence.  It will also empower us with confidence that our waiting will never be in vain.  He wants to answer our request to be made like Him more than we even desire that to happen. 

Has your waiting on God been misdirected?  Have you been thinking God has been holding out on you when in fact He has been waiting for you to take time to marinate in His glory, so His Spirit can finish His purpose for you?  Your fullness of joy will be enhanced as you wait in His presence.  Doing so will also transform your desires and prayer which will result in them being fulfilled sooner.

I expect others to see through my eyes and think as I think more often than I like.  We all know that expectation is insane, but that is a common default.  We even think God looks at life as we do.  When He does something that we don’t understand or with which we disagree, we tend to withdraw a step or two from Him.  To think and respond in such a way is only to make God in our own image.  The reality is, if God had no greater mental capacity than you and I, He wouldn’t be God, and He would not be able to help us much.      

The story is reported in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13 of when David first tried to bring the sacred Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  In the process, the oxen stumbled, and when a guy nearby reached out to keep the ark from falling off the ox cart, God immediately killed him!!!  Now a common person would consider a god who kills someone trying to protect something sacred as the kind of god who has a hair triggered anger problem.  They would not want to worship or serve Him.  It certainly would be confusing to say the least. 

By reading on, we learn the reason God suddenly did that. He had said the ark should be mounted on long polls and members of the tribe of Levi should carry it on their shoulders.  Since we serve this very same God, we need to know what this story can tell us about God’s value system and ways.  If not, we too could be killed for our justification for breaking His rules.  After all, the Old Testament (Malachi 3:6) and New Testament (Hebrews 13:8) say God never changes.     

The late radio broadcaster, Paul Harvey, used to say something like, “And now here’s the rest of the story.” The man killed was a Levite who we might think of today as a vocational minister.  The Levites’ primary task was to lead people into God’s presence to worship Him.  When the ark needed to be moved, they were to mount it on long poles and carry it from one place to another.  So why didn’t they do what they had done for many generations?  We can only speculate, but we know when the Philistines captured and then returned it to Israel, they mounted it on an ox cart.  Uzzah must have reasoned that if they did it, we also can, so he ignored the traditional way of moving the ark for a more convenient way.  However, to whom much is given, much will be required.  James 4:17 (ESV) So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.   The Bible is very clear.  God is not like a grandfather who smiles and calls it a mistake; sooner or later He judges sin. 

When reflecting on the “rest of the story,” I mused on how many times God has spoken to us with that uncomfortable inner conviction or in His gentle whisper, and we have blown it off thinking we had a better solution as Uzzah did.  If you recreate how this incident unfolded, you will find Uzzah was near the back of the ox cart where the ark was and was unusually quick to intervene as soon as it appeared the ark might fall to the ground.  He intuitively knew something might just go wrong with his attempt to follow the model that worked for the Philistines.  When it did, he reached out to steady the ark that he and other Levites should have been carrying and instantly died when he touched it.

God’s Word doesn’t offer harmless religious suggestions.  Communion may appear to be a simple religious ritual but notice what the Bible says about it.  For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.  That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died (1 Corinthians 11:29-30, NLT2).  How serious do you take Biblical truth about tithing, prayer or things like gossip, immoral sexual activity, lying, etc.  How serious are you about continuing to seek to know Him, so He can be known to others?  Are these things just religious opinions?  This is a sobering thought needed to be seriously considered. 

My last blog focused on an enlightening translation of the original Hebrew word translated “mind” in the verse, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3, ESV).  The gold found in digging was the word mind here is more often translated imagination which occurs before your words are even clearly shaped in your mind.  It was pointed out how the imagination is often discounted as not important, but it is really one of the greatest gifts God has given you, and it should be devoted to Him.  

In digging more deeply, another gold nugget in that verse is the perfect peace which is the promised consequence of the imagination (mind) stayed on God. 

The Hebrew word stayed used in Isaiah 26:3 essentially means choosing to risk one’s life trusting in God’s capacity and commitment to sustain them.  It would be as intense as a trapeze artist completely committing him/herself to a balance beam and a cable to hold them up 25 stories above the ground as they walk between two buildings.  A mind (imagination) stayed on Him, which will require initiative, would be like metal attracted to a magnet that snaps back to imagining close communications with Him as soon as the mind is released from the distraction and allowed to idle down.  In the natural this happens when a person is emotionally charged with buying a new car or house or meeting a new friend but must go to a mind demanding job.  But as soon as they get off work, they again begin thinking of the new car, house or friend.

Dreaming is fun, but it must include initiative in order for there to be more than the pleasure of fantasy.  When initiative is combined with imagination, together they generate creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects that actualize their objectives.  The fruit of that synergy is so gratifying in that it provides you a high sense of significance. 

This is taken to a much higher level when, out of close fellowship with God, a divine revelation component is added.  Our human imagination can lead to misguided actions which lead to experiencing exhaustion and sapping life.  When His imagination is added, we are enabled to see life with fresh eyes.  Hosea 2:14-15 shows us that times of trouble and desert experiences can help us unlearn misguided dreams and perceptions and produce in us dynamic hope and real faith.  More importantly, His Spirit also brings His perfect peace and presence which provide a level of confidence that will endure whatever fire or flood we may experience. 

Can you imagine being that dependent upon God to provide you with His wisdom in the choices you make or in the words you think and speak?  This offers me hope!!  By turning my imagination loose to envision myself seated in Christ in Heaven, my mind is renewed to the point He becomes everything to me.  He begins to live and move and have my being.  As His child I naturally lean on His love and wisdom and thereby experience the promised peace of mind.  Learning to habitually imagine myself in Christ gives me greater confidence, strength and energy and even love for others.  To think I can receive all that by just taking the initiative to have my mind stayed on the One I love is astonishing.  It is inspiring to think my imagination will never be at the mercy of my impulses but will always be at the service of God.    

When operating a day-care several years ago, we observed the children have wild imaginations, like a dinosaur living under their bed or in their basement.  Crazy.  But adults also imagine things.  They may imagine being a star of some sort, an argument with someone, that they heard you say something you never said, or that you are angry at them when you are not even close to being angry.  What is it that shapes imaginations?  Insecurities or too much pizza?  The Bible gives us one clue.

Here’s a fascinating usage of the Hebrew word translated “mind”, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3, ESV).  The gold is found in digging, so let’s dig.

The Hebrew word translated mind here is more often translated imagination which occurs before your words are even shaped in your mind.  Isaiah 29:16 uses it for the actual piece of pottery: “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it…” that the object was not shaped properly?  David used this same word when he said to his son Solomon, As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.  If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever (1 Chronicles 28:9, NASB77).  He later used the same word when he prayed for the Hebrews, O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee (1 Chronicles 29:18, KJV).

Here is the first gold nugget (more in the next blog).  The imagination you often discount as not important is really one of the greatest gifts God has given you, and it should be entirely devoted to Him.  Yes, your own imagination can misrepresent reality, be the source of greed, silly fantasies or villainous illusions and can feed mental illness.  However, some of what comes from that arena of your life is priceless.  Children often utilize this gift very early in their life because it provides unlimited opportunities.  The imagination stage is where innovations, entrepreneurial dreams, intuitive insights or intimate relationships with God are birthed.  Furthermore, everything you have can be taken away from you. But, no matter what the circumstances, your imagination can never be taken away from you.     

If you bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and release your imagination to revel in who God is and the truth He reveals in His Word, you will discover HIS imaginations within you will be a major asset to your faith when facing a trial and provide a confidence rather than an arrogancy in your daily life.  This is because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together in your imagination to lead you into what it is like to have His mind.  You then are able to enjoy His perfect peace and abounding joy producing confidence to face any challenge in life.  AND you will be much more fruitful in what you do in His name.

What have you been doing to shape imaginations that result in leaning more fully on the Holy Spirit or produce deep, lasting inner peace?  Do you believe reveling about the greatness of God can be fruitful to your daily life?  I’ve found doing so is slowly changing my thinking, emotions and behavior.  Could the phrase stayed on Him offer more insights on this promise?

Is jealousy the same as envy or very different?  If you ask a person when they have felt jealous, they very likely will describe when they felt envy.  Jealousy occurs when a person already possesses someone or something and wants to protect it while envy occurs when a person lacks a desired item, attribute or position.   However, when envy is mixed with jealousy, jealousy becomes polluted. If a person has a partner and a more attractive and capable individual enters the scene, that the first person may actually envy the attractiveness and capability of the third party although expresses it as pure jealousy for their partner.   The mixture of the two can make jealously ugly and abusive which is typically experienced by most humans. 

James wrote about wars and fighting between humans. What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires [envy] at war within you (James 4:1, NLT2)?  He points out the source of the fighting is not what others do that feels threatening, but rather in the envious thoughts one wrestles with in his/her own mind and emotions.  James then goes on to define that inner conflict as spiritual adultery—trying to love the world and God at the same time.  His point is that God will not tolerate a bride having a love affair with the world while she is married to Him.

Verse 5 can justifiably be translated in a couple ways.  But, given the context of the previous verse where he calls the readers adulterous people, I understand the English Standard Version as capturing the better interpretation when it reads, Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us” (James 4:5, ESV)?  Moses said something similar about God when he wrote, You must worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you (Exodus 34:14, NLT2).  These similar thoughts bring out a most profound truth.  Most of our fighting with others is actually a battle between us and God regarding who will be king of our lives.

Since God lacks nothing for Himself, He therefore has no envy.  He has a healthy, untainted jealously for the spirit He plants within a person when he/she becomes a believer (Ezekiel 36:26).  For the individual He insists our spirit must not become smothered or otherwise distracted by any envious thoughts we wrestle with in our mind or emotions or those stimulated by who or what is around us. 

The fact that we want more than what God has given us only reveals the pride within our heart—we deserve more than what He has given us.  That pride is what is hindering us from receiving God’s grace which is essential to our salvation AND joy in this life.   James actually addresses that fact when he writes in this context, … he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble” (James 4:6, NLT2). 

Point, just as a good husband would not put up with his wife having multiple on-going affairs (or vice versa), God will not put up with believers who refuse to stop loving the world which includes loving themselves more than God.  If we will humbly recognize and go to God admitting our prideful envy, He will have favor on us and give us more of His grace that brings us His joy.  I don’t know about you, but more often than I like, my prideful and envious heart put me at odds with God as well as those around me.  Holy Spirit, please help me apply this truth more often in my life.

John Calvin was a God-fearing, French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva, Switzerland during the Protestant Reformation.  He was a principal figure in the development of the branch of theology later called Calvinism.  His followers further developed his concept to the point some have said he would roll over in his grave if he saw how it has evolved today.  Other founding leaders have had the same thing happen to what they espoused.   How does this happen?  In essence, the followers embrace their predecessor’s basic concept/theology but never owned their trailblazer’s heart.  Therefore, each adds his/her own interpretation or ideas of what the teaching meant and before long it becomes only a shadow of what was intended.  This has happened in businesses whether it be Walt Disney who birthed Disney Land or Sam Walton who started Walmart. 

This same thing happens in discipleship.  Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations.  However, those who have endeavored to do so have essentially made converts of their own way of thinking.  Some are not much different than the Pharisees to whom Jesus said, … you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are (Matthew 23:15, NLT2)!  The problem wasn’t with Judaism but with how the Pharisees had reshaped it to be something very different than God had intended it to be.

Jesus’ meaning of discipleship was based on devotion to Him as He was devoted to His Father, not on as adherence to a belief or a creed.  Jesus described that form of devotion as so exclusive that He said, if you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26, NLT2).  He went so far as to say, if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it (Mark 8:35, NLT2).  Practicing this type of life Paul said to the Ephesian elders, … I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24, ESV). 

I fear that today we have been led to substitute doctrinal belief for personal belief.  That’s why so many are devoted to causes and so few to Jesus Christ.  People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, rather only to the cause He taught.  Jesus’ first obedience was to His Father’s will, not to the needs of men.  Our salvation was the natural outcome of His loving obedience to the Father.  If I am devoted to the cause of humanity alone, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter.  However, if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity even if I’m treated as a doormat or serve in the smallest and most remote place.  The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and a characteristic of the life is its discreet nature.

What might happen if more believers where you live actually lived out the devotion Jesus modeled for us in His devotion to His Father?  What might it take to change the culture among believers to be totally focused on loving Jesus more than the causes that have evolved from what He taught?  This gives me pause when I consider how much I’ve followed what I’ve been indoctrinated to believe rather than what Jesus and His disciples literally lived out.  Holy Spirit, please help each of us recalibrate our thinking of what devotion to God is all about.