An Offensive Defensive - February 25, 2018

II Timothy 1:14 - Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

Some claim World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey originally stated, "The best defense is a good offense." Others attribute this quote to NFL Coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. Regardless who first said it first in these exact words, the idea has been around a long time. The suggestion is to be proactive and not wait for one's opponent to get the upper hand. Instead, one should look for all opportunities to set the tone of engagement by applying force where their foe cannot resist. Boxers know better then to allow a challenger to engage their own strategy. To do so causes the non-aggressor  to take a defensive posture. They can then only fend off their alpha counterpart by defending themselves as well as possible. The prize does not go to the one who defends best, but who offends effectively. The purse or the treasure lies in the wisdom and strength to overcome. Similarly, the prize on the gridiron is protecting the pigskin and carrying it to the end zone. One cannot get there merely defending one's end of the field. There must be a wise, strategic onslaught to score the points necessary to win the day.

 

Boxers guard their bodies and their faces when fighting in the prize ring. Football players guard the football as a team, yet aggressively seek to carry it into their opponents back field. Even in an offensive position there is a defensive dynamic at work. Wisdom to know when to take a loss on a play rather than give up possession is often crucial. Trainers in boxing and coaches in sports such as football are continually telling their champions how to execute. However, these are meant only to exhort and encourage. They cannot fight the fight nor play the game. They have entrusted others to faithfully fulfill their expectations. Likewise, God will not enter the ring for us nor will He take the field in our stead. However, the Holy Spirit will be there always to encourage and exhort us with His wisdom to offensively defend what has been commended to us.

Thank God that Paul tells us to guard "the treasure" within through the help of the Holy Spirit. Too often, Christians believe they must concentrate more on the promises, or determine to not sin in a certain area. While these are notable exercises, they are pointless if we have not first turned to God through His Holy Spirit to help us. The best we can hope to do in our own power is to defend ourselves by greater effort. However, in order to offend the enemy and make him shrink from his assault is to first surrender to Jesus Christ in all our affections. Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). This is not mind over matter but instead regarding what matters most to our God. When we seek to guard our minds and hearts, then we are merely making a positive thinking construct. In so doing, when we first seek the Lord and ask Him to help us rule our minds with His desires, then He fortifies our hearts with the security of the Holy Spirit. It all comes down to Whom or what we allow to guard our minds. For in so doing, this is the entity which will inevitably guard our hearts. If it is our intellect, we will succumb to the devil and our flesh. It it is humility of mind as found in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:2), then no power or demon from hell will ever be able to break in and spoil the treasure of God.

Treasure is only effectively guarded when there is both strength and wisdom involved. It is not merely enough to defend our position as aforementioned in these sports analogies. However, we must use the strength of our God through our surrender to His wisdom. It is superfluous to believe someone can compete in athletics without the proper instruction or coaching. Similarly, why do so many Christians believe they can guard what God has entrusted them without submitting to God's wisdom? It is a strategy doomed for failure. God will not guard the treasure without our involvement. That means stepping into the prize ring or taking the field to do His will. Once we are equipped with the strength of His might and the wisdom of His counsel, our defense will be an offense that will not be easily overcome by any man or devil. May we all understand how to offensively defend the great treasure given to all who know Christ.

Gracious Father, may You equip us and arm us accordingly to guard what You have entrusted to Your servants. May we reveal Your wisdom in this great offense as we defend Your great treasure within. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

The Necessity of God's Judgment - February 18, 2018

Isaiah 26:9 - At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

I often marvel when the godless become all inflamed when someone mentions the possibility that God still allows the earth to be judged through natural disasters. These do not know my God. For my God is a God of both judgment and mercy. This is the reason He is holy. There is no other way He could be otherwise without the juxtaposition of these two character traits within His Divine Nature. Somehow, those who mock the God of the Bible have instead this sickening, mealy-mouthed god who chooses to wink at sin. This "god," in their thinking, does nothing other than look the other way when nations continue to live like the devil. Then, these reprobates expect His grace "to be shed on thee" no matter how they have lived. They believe Jesus, if indeed He is the Son of God, was some type of a milk-toast savior who would not dare say anything bad against anyone. Those who believe this have never studied the Holy Bible. Or, if they have, they have allowed another spirit and not the Holy Spirit to guide them in their pursuit of truth.

The truth is this, beloved of God. The Lord God Almighty has put every nation on a probationary warning that He will no longer tolerate sin. He refuses to bend His character to adjust to ours. He will not excuse immorality, lasciviousness, licentiousness, or perversion. If the Lord Jesus turned away from these and did not judge them, He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah on that final day. No beloved, He will do no such thing. These that would shrink from understanding both a God of mercy and judgment fail to see those scriptures where Jesus condemns the sins and unbelief of those cities in ancient Palestine. Jesus pronounces the following woes from the Gospel of Matthew:

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24)

I can guarantee, by the word of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures, judgment of this type looms large over our sensually-soaked world. One might say, what miracles have we seen in our present world that would qualify us for the type of judgment Jesus speaks? The miracles of His grace are all around us, every day. However, the godless are too interminably stupid through their continued refusal to believe in the God of the Bible that they have lost all their understanding regarding God's miracles. The miracle that God allows the heart of the unrepentant to continue to beat while they mock His holiness is the greatest miracle of grace and mercy outside of Christ's redemption. That God continues to allow godless, perverted humanity to draw breath is a miracle when they continue to live their selfish lives. Yet, when God does begin to speak through calamity, whether it is a natural disaster, a health epidemic, or a financial meltdown, the godless speak of the intolerance of those who would suggest such things. They vehemently speak with vitriolic anger asking how can we believe in fairy tales and angels and all this religious mumbo-jumbo? They curse God out of a position of total ignorance regarding who God is and what He desires to give them through His mercy. He is graciously offering them a wake-up call as Isaiah states in our lead verse. If they will but understand that God's judgments are merciful and full of patience. He is trying to teach the world about His righteous character and how He will not accept the world's selfish, sin-soaked lifestyles. He is the Judge of the earth and He is coming one day soon to hold court.

For all those who would consider my words hateful, then you do not understand my intent. My God and my Jesus are not "touchy-feely" Persons. They are part of the Holy Godhead who are full of love and mercy but at the same time unswerving from what will be the coming judgment. For God to behave any differently than as the Judge and the Lover of our souls would be to demean God and make Him less than He is. He has come in every instance of calamity the world has experienced. And, He will continue to appear in the midst of every judgment the earth is yet to endure. He uses these to show us we are out of control and lost without Him. If we do not surrender to Him and experience His mercy now, we will experience His judgment both now and in the life to come. Choose this day whom you will serve ... As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).

Heavenly Father, forgive us, heal us, and save us from ourselves. Allow Your judgments upon this earth to drive us to an understanding of Your righteousness and Your kindness. May we see You as You truly are ... a wise and holy God that is in love with a rebellious race. May we come to You! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Knowing Jesus - February 11, 2018

John 8:31-32 - So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

In my early youth, there was nothing I enjoyed more than spending time with my dad. Didn't matter what we were doing, I just liked being with him. I remember one summer when he had promised me a week with him on the road and how disappointed I was when he had to cancel. He was working a sales route up in South Dakota, and more than see a state I had never been to, I just wanted to be with my dad. He took me later that summer to Kansas which was still good, but I still remember the huge disappointment of the initial letdown. As I grew older and more cynical, I was less enamored about spending time with the "old man" as I would call him behind his back. During my rebellious teens, the more he would tell me what to do, the more I tried to do just the opposite. While it still bothered me to disobey him, I nonetheless wanted to do what I wanted to do. My troubled feelings were not enough to keep me from following my own selfish desires which eventually aided my addictions.

While my father was not a godly man, he nevertheless tried to live morally and understood the consequences of where my behavior was taking me. No amount of talking or cajoling to behave differently really mattered. It was not my final concern if it broke my parents hearts. Often, it would cause me great consternation that I was upsetting them, but I was still going to do what I wanted to do. Because of this rebellious attitude, it would take years to undo the mess of not listening to sound advice and living destructively. Occasionally, I would listen and make a pittance of change but it would never last. I was not ready to listen to wisdom on a daily basis which could change the course of my life.

Likewise, throughout the Gospels, we see continual instances of those who wanted to live according to their desire and yet reap the benefit of being called God's children. However, Jesus was always quick to point out they could not pick and choose how they were to follow God. It is understandable why Jesus told the Jews in our lead verse the importance to continue in His word. It does not matter if they took what seemed like a clever saying of a great teacher and sought to apply it in some abstract manner. The Lord wanted them to know the importance of not selectively reasoning His sound bites in their minds, but to take all of His words to their hearts. In Jesus' admonition, truth that ultimately sets people free is that which a person allows to become an active dialogue within. Passing from the brain to the heart, it becomes the Living Word within that changes thought and action. The result is the demonstrative expression of their desire to embrace not only the message, but the Messenger. This is the definition of a disciple, to bring oneself under the discipline of the Teacher.

The discipline of Jesus' statement to the Jews is profoundly rigorous. Undoubtedly, some desired to just take bits and pieces of Christ without accepting everything He required. Like these, we might be just as eager to accept the promises of God. However, it is often easy to take a promise out of context or without its conditions. Jesus' words here are a wonderful promise how the Son certainly sets us free through the knowledge of the truth. The quid pro quo of Christ's promise in this instance is the word "If" and then the condition of continuing in His word. What does that mean, to continue in His word?

In simplest form, it means obedience to what Jesus says. That does not mean picking and choosing what He says either. It means studying His love letters written to us in the Holy Bible everyday. It means understanding that Jesus was so full of love that He often spoke the truth with brutal honesty. It means loving the Jesus that weeps over the lost but equally as much the Jesus who whips sin out of His temple. Those who would just seek to "follow" Jesus' teachings will never come any closer to knowing this Man then if someone tried to follow the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi expecting to know him. Instead, we must out of love and respect give ourselves to know Christ intimately by giving ourselves to His word.

It often grieves me when I hear someone say they follow the teachings of Jesus. Most of the time this shows me they have never met the Savior. No, what they follow instead is an idea or a concept. This is not Christianity. To be a Christian is to fall in love with the Man, Christ Jesus and want to know everything there is to know about Him. It is to become like Him because we have surrendered to Him, not to an idea. In the same way that children should obey their parents out of love and respect, so should we embrace the active dialogue that God gives us in His word that is able to change our lives. Then, beloved, we will know truth and the truth will set us free!

Heavenly Father, help us to know the truth of Your word. Set us free by not understanding a concept but by knowing the Man, the Living Word of God, Christ Jesus. Give us wisdom and understanding to do so. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

After These Things - February 4, 2018

Genesis 22:1 - Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am.”

Testing can be either a pleasant or unpleasant activity, depending on one's preparedness. As a student, I did not like the discomfort generated by not studying. So, I would usually give it my best shot to try to understand the exam material. Usually, I was satisfied with the outcome. However, there were those particular times when no amount of preparation seemed to help. After a setback such as a less than desirable grade, it was time to cut my losses and get ready for the next test, whatever that might be. It was usually not that important how I did with one grade, but rather the summation of the entire examination throughout the course material. The obvious bears worth mentioning, how one must continue to do the next right thing to accomplish the desired goal. Often, the next right thing is a series of tests that result in creating something much more important than any knowledge. That thing is often defined as character.

 

While the Patriarch Abraham is known for his great faith, one might not fully understand how he first obtained his godly trust. As with every effect, there is a cause (or a catalyst, if you will). Few take time to truly understand the causation or the context of Abraham's greatest test of faith. We look at Abraham's obedience to sacrifice Isaac and we shake our heads in wonder. However, a test of this colossal size only occurs "after these things." It is a decided moment in the heart of God and at a point in a man or woman's life when either heaven or hell is about to bend, respectively. However, this moment was also a series of faithful and not so faithful exercises throughout the life of the patriarch. Often, Abraham did as God desired and believed Him. At other times, we see him lying to save his own skin. Nonetheless, all of that was now moot in the light of the one great question; Could Abraham totally give away what he loved the most? The test in which Abraham became known for ultimately was the result of many previous tests of which no one will know of on this side of eternity other than he and God.

In the same way, how much was the Son of God tested upon this earth before His greatest test on Calvary's tree? We know of His temptation before His ministry in the Gospels, and His trial in the Garden of Gethsemane. But what about His other thirty-some odd years where we hear nothing in regard? Without question, He lived a continual life of testing, temptation, and trial that  culminated in the greatest triumph ever accomplished. He was examined in all areas throughout His life and, finally, on that fateful day was found perfect and complete. Jesus knew His life was predestined for that moment when---after all these things---He would lay down His life for all those before Him who had failed the test. Then, as our surrogate, He passed every exam the law could ever require from us. In a very real way, Jesus Christ "tested out" of every obligation the Father ever required of us and gained our entrance into God's eternal presence forever.

Both Abraham and Jesus knew all about "after these things." The former learned faith through obedience, while the Latter lived the perfect mortal life and showed us how to live, die, and then be raised into new life. While Jesus is our perfect reflection of the Father, Abraham is our imperfect model to show us how the journey is always preparing us for that moment when we can say, "Here I am!" We will not do everything perfectly, but we must continue on in faith. In time, we will come to that place in our journey which is "after these things." Then, may we like Abraham, be ready for anything the Lord would require of us.

Holy God, thank You for all the trials and tests you bring our way. Often, it is difficult to embrace what You are doing in the midst of the testing. But help us to see as You see regarding what You are doing. For we know it is a perfect result, and we desire to trust You for the outcome. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick