Today I drove to Idaho Falls with my wife for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We had a good drive and did a small Bible study on the way over. We read Luke chapter 2 and 3 but what really struck me again was a passage I had read before but God seemed to really open it up to me within my heart. Luke 3:7-16 and says:
7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Maybe the reason this passage of scripture stuck out to me so much is because of what would happen later on in the afternoon after we arrived. We played cards with some family members and I was jokingly cheating and trying to win at the card game. I said jokingly, "I am just trying to win." Immediately one of our family members said, "and you call yourself Christian." I immediately stopped in my mind and thought of what the passage of scripture we had read on the drive over and felt very convicted of my behavior.
I realize that my family member was partially joking and probably didn't intend on me taking it to heart, but I did. As I reflect on the scripture I will try to explain what God was teaching me through John the Baptist in Luke 3.
As John rebuked the people he rebuked them for not living a lifestyle that bore "the fruits worthy of repentance". He warned the people not to just say or trust in the fact that they had Abraham as their father. This is really the part that hit me hard, what I believe John was warning the people of, is placing their faith solely on the religion they were born with or that they call themselves by. This struck home as my family member said, "and you call yourself Christian". In continuing to reflect on more of that passage of scripture John tells the people not to say their sorry or just ask for forgiveness but to actually change their behavior.
And even before that he says that the ax is laid to the root of the tree ready to cut down those trees that don't bear good fruit. Wow! If there is a better picture of showing the urgency of a believer to bear good fruit, I don't know what it would be. I believe John might say to me, don't just say your Christian, but rather live it.
I realize that, in context, John is ushering in the Christ and teaching and baptizing people with the baptism of repentance. Many times I have thought of repentance as more of a prayer or an asking of forgiveness and saying I'm sorry to God for my sin. What we see from the man who ushered in the Christ and repentance, was that repentance is a change in behavior as a result of our faith in God.
In verse 16 he says, "but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire." I see this as a great promise today, as a post-resurrection believer. Jesus not only came and baptized but died and rose again so I could live that lifestyle change John was talking about in this passage. The Holy Spirit he talked about is here and lives within me to bring conviction to me and to allow Him to change me from the inside-out.
The following verse is a powerful one as well, in verse 17 he says:
"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."
What is interesting is John says that his winnowing fan is in His hand. In the harvesting of wheat, after the wheat had be broken up by a threshing board, the farmer would take the winnowing fan and clean his threshing floor by using the fan. The chaff would arise and blow away with the wind and the grain would fall at the farmer's feet.
There are a ton of thoughts I have on this passage of scripture but the overall picture God is giving me is that we are not called to be Christian in name only. We are called to have a lifestyle change as a result of our being baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire. When we recieve Christ and are born again His Spirit begins to change our behavior, while this could seem impossible or unrealistic for a man, are not impossible for Christ and His Holy Spirit. I will never be perfect while on earth but God is purifying my intentions and cleansing my heart as He is describing in the threshing process.
I imagine those tax collectors and soldiers in the passage of scripture were thinking, "man that will be impossible for me to change my habits and behavior after doing this and living like this for all my life". The beautiful part to me are the later verses that describe the One who was coming after John who would baptize them not in water, but by the Holy Spirit and Fire!
What a promise!
I realize also that there are many areas that God is challenging me to change and I have given people a reason to call me a hypocrite, but I hope not to convince anyone God is changing me by telling them with my words but by showing them through the transformation of my behavior through the Holy Spirit and fire for God's glory! I want to be the grain that falls at Jesus' feet!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Coaching
I can't help but apply my natural experiences to spiritual lessons that God is teaching me at the moment. I happen to be an assistant wrestling coach at a local high school and I enjoy teaching the young men how to wrestle, and more importantly, how to learn and react to their instruction. Sometimes as I encourage a young man to respond with the right attitude, or to apply himself to learning proper technique and work ethic, I can't help but hear my instruction echoing in my ears and mind.
A disiplined sport like wrestling can mirror our spiritual lives so much, it really amazes me! You know that with my Christian walk, God has chosen that my "practice" should be with Him as my coach encouraging me to continue to listen and learn from His instruction. My takedowns and pinning combinations come in the form of reading my Bible and devoted prayer and communion with my Coach. My opponents are the demons that I face from day to day, that will try to steal, kill, and destroy my life and family, and my team is not of this world, and we happen to have a great Coach.
Tonight as I was coaching I was explaining to the young men that wrestling is not always just being violent and physical, or having the best technique...but it is about breaking your opponents will to continue to fight against you. It is about defeating them in your mind and in within your "heart". God was echoing my own words in my mind and showing me that in my Christian walk, I must learn to decide within myself that I will not quit and I will break the will of my opponents through Christ. Much like a wrestler must learn to have faith in his mind and will to defeat his opponent, a Christian must have faith in his God(who is within him), to defeat his opponent. It is easy to quit when things get hard, but I teach my wrestlers that in that moment when your will wants to break is exactly when we must maintain perfect position and technique. A moment out of position will result in getting taken down, or maybe even pinned. When I have found myself out of position with God I have been taken down by the struggles of my life, thoughts or addictions that I have once overcome.
I guess what God is working on me with is the fact that a coach can be and should be a great thing for an athlete, and so much more for a Christian. In the gospel of John 1:1-5, 14 says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This chapter of scripture is really cool to me, first of all it declares the deity of Christ, which is beautiful to me, but also it says that Christ is the Word and what I believe to be the Word of God, the Bible.
To explain further, I believe for my life God is showing me that Christ, the Word, is my coach. Now there are many benefits to a coach, but I believe probably the most valuable is their perspective on where you are at in whatever you are trying to accomplish. When I coach wrestling I am able to clearly see when a wrestler is out of position, even when that wrestler is not able to feel or see himself out of position. When a wrestler will trust their coach, they will correct their performance or practice based on the coaches input and instruction.
In Timothy 3:16-17 it says:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Applying myself to the Coaching of Jesus, and being that He is, in my faith, the Word of God revealed to me. I meditate on His coaching through His word. It is a blessing to be able to look at our lives through the mirror of God's Word and see maybe my shortcomings or my folly, it is a blessing to be corrected and instructed by the perfect Coach, Jesus Christ! I am so thankful and happy to be directed by the Word of God, I hope to continue in my disipline of learning to always seek Him through His Word and Prayer.
A disiplined sport like wrestling can mirror our spiritual lives so much, it really amazes me! You know that with my Christian walk, God has chosen that my "practice" should be with Him as my coach encouraging me to continue to listen and learn from His instruction. My takedowns and pinning combinations come in the form of reading my Bible and devoted prayer and communion with my Coach. My opponents are the demons that I face from day to day, that will try to steal, kill, and destroy my life and family, and my team is not of this world, and we happen to have a great Coach.
Tonight as I was coaching I was explaining to the young men that wrestling is not always just being violent and physical, or having the best technique...but it is about breaking your opponents will to continue to fight against you. It is about defeating them in your mind and in within your "heart". God was echoing my own words in my mind and showing me that in my Christian walk, I must learn to decide within myself that I will not quit and I will break the will of my opponents through Christ. Much like a wrestler must learn to have faith in his mind and will to defeat his opponent, a Christian must have faith in his God(who is within him), to defeat his opponent. It is easy to quit when things get hard, but I teach my wrestlers that in that moment when your will wants to break is exactly when we must maintain perfect position and technique. A moment out of position will result in getting taken down, or maybe even pinned. When I have found myself out of position with God I have been taken down by the struggles of my life, thoughts or addictions that I have once overcome.
I guess what God is working on me with is the fact that a coach can be and should be a great thing for an athlete, and so much more for a Christian. In the gospel of John 1:1-5, 14 says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This chapter of scripture is really cool to me, first of all it declares the deity of Christ, which is beautiful to me, but also it says that Christ is the Word and what I believe to be the Word of God, the Bible.
To explain further, I believe for my life God is showing me that Christ, the Word, is my coach. Now there are many benefits to a coach, but I believe probably the most valuable is their perspective on where you are at in whatever you are trying to accomplish. When I coach wrestling I am able to clearly see when a wrestler is out of position, even when that wrestler is not able to feel or see himself out of position. When a wrestler will trust their coach, they will correct their performance or practice based on the coaches input and instruction.
In Timothy 3:16-17 it says:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Applying myself to the Coaching of Jesus, and being that He is, in my faith, the Word of God revealed to me. I meditate on His coaching through His word. It is a blessing to be able to look at our lives through the mirror of God's Word and see maybe my shortcomings or my folly, it is a blessing to be corrected and instructed by the perfect Coach, Jesus Christ! I am so thankful and happy to be directed by the Word of God, I hope to continue in my disipline of learning to always seek Him through His Word and Prayer.
Monday, November 21, 2011
The Lord is my Shepherd
Tonight, I've been praying to God and repenting for making idols in my life. Maybe not large, or obvious things, but certainly things I've devoted myself to more than Him. I've felt as though I needed those things or idols in my life to be me. As I prayed I begged God to reveal Himself to me and show me why I've thought I've needed those things/idols more than Him. As I meditated and prayed God spoke to me the phrase "The Lord is my shepherd," and suddenly a light came on and I turned as quickly as I could to Psalm 23. I didn't even know I had that scripture memorized but God led me to where it is spoken, it amazed me to see this, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." As I cried out for an answer to my problem of creating idols, he led me to His Word. I will try to explain as God seems to be explaining to me.
If God is my shepherd, than I will not be in want. All my desires will be met, all my dreams, cares, and wants will be supplied. I just said, "wow", because obviously in my life I've not allowed the Lord to be my Shepherd, I've wandered through an open pasture not wanting any direction from Him. As humbling as it is to realize this, it is a truth He is showing me about myself. As I lie here in tears from Him speaking to my heart and realizing my shortcoming, I can understand why I've created idols and devoted my time and life to them, before him. It is because I have been in great want, desiring that comfort that only comes from my Shepherd.
It can be so hard to look at my life humble and objectively, I suppose it is for all of us. But what a blessing I've recieved in this moment where I've allowed myself to. I am so thankful that God has shown me what I need to do, and how simple it is. Trust in Him, be His sheep, hear His voice and listen to it. I hear it all the time, just haven't been listening.
If God is my shepherd, than I will not be in want. All my desires will be met, all my dreams, cares, and wants will be supplied. I just said, "wow", because obviously in my life I've not allowed the Lord to be my Shepherd, I've wandered through an open pasture not wanting any direction from Him. As humbling as it is to realize this, it is a truth He is showing me about myself. As I lie here in tears from Him speaking to my heart and realizing my shortcoming, I can understand why I've created idols and devoted my time and life to them, before him. It is because I have been in great want, desiring that comfort that only comes from my Shepherd.
It can be so hard to look at my life humble and objectively, I suppose it is for all of us. But what a blessing I've recieved in this moment where I've allowed myself to. I am so thankful that God has shown me what I need to do, and how simple it is. Trust in Him, be His sheep, hear His voice and listen to it. I hear it all the time, just haven't been listening.
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