The idea of right expectations is such a big deal, the Lord directed me to also point out scriptural expectations that are the product of God’s heart, righteous expectations, and lifegiving expectations. A little of this program is a bit of a repeat, but only because we really, really need to get this in our heads and hearts, firmly holding on to the Lord’s values so in our day of calamity under the pounding of dismal forebodings we have something to grip to when our world spins out of control under our feet.

“Always expect the worst, then you’ll never be disappointed.” Is that a dismal thought or what? And you’d be surprised how many people have adopted that as part of their method of operation, almost like their life’s frequently repeated slogan which if said enough times somehow it will be true. It almost makes sense doesn’t it? Almost, but not quite, there’s something wrong with it, and most of us feel it in our bones. For me, there is no hope in the saying. Even so, many of us find ourselves thinking the “worst case scenario” without even trying.

It is a fact that bad things happen to good people, but it is a greater truth that God is good all the time. If we really believed God is good all the time, why oh why then do we accuse Him of less than good when things don’t go well for us? Think about it.

God is not driven by our pain and confusion, but on the contrary, He takes us by the hand and will not let go. Hosea 11:3-4, “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”

That is just one expectation we should hold firmly that is born out in scripture concerning God’s intentions and actions toward us. To say, “Expectation is just disappointment waiting to happen” is terribly not true and short circuits our vision of the very One who died for our sins.

As people who keep company with God we should always, and yes, i said always, we should always live in a constant expectation of God. In the last program the picture of expectation is as a projective thought, picture or aspiration of what we look forward to, and i mean “look forward to” in the sense of things to come, good, bad, real or imagined.

We can’t throw out expectation because of fear or negative thinking, it is actually a valuable commodity as long as it’s turned in the right direction.  Again, what we envision for ourselves as the things which are up ahead in our future, they become a subtle target, whether they’re good or evil, bright or dismal.  It is what we believe will happen to us in the future, both near and far.  It is the truth we are all moving in the direction of our expectations, even when we do not realize it, even when we don’t want to, and that our direction is largely not dictated by the circumstances around us, but more by our expectations which we picture and imagine for ourselves in the present and future.

Friends, i’m here to declare that God has given a better platform for us to stand on, and we must plant our feet on the word of the Lord…God and His values are our standard of operation, not the philosophy of Eeyore.

Aside from all the typical promises in scripture, are there other scriptures which the Lord gave us, and continues to give us, in that the word of the Lord, once spoken, never ceases to be spoken. Are there other scriptures which reflect the hopeful heart of the Lord which would be guide lines for us in having right expectation?

Now, pertaining to the power of our words, let me say this, and hear what i’m saying here, Almighty God cannot be “conjured” or treated as an object since He is the real Master of the Universe and subject to no one. Blasphemy, or taking the Lord’s name in vain isn’t just in some words of profanity, but it means to use His name or live in His name with triteness, to take Him lightly giving no weight to who He is, for to give someone or something no weight is to curse them. When we sprinkle His name around like sprinkling salt on food, it is a flippant action which reflects a lifestyle of living in His name with triteness. It is an evil to attempt to use the Name of God for selfish or manipulative purposes, which is why i spoke about giving our words more power than they have, turning the word of the Lord into “wishcraft” rather than living in the power and authority of His name to give Him glory. Do you hear it? This is no small matter and should never be brushed over lightly.

Some folks can’t stand to “rabbit trail”, but there are things of the Lord which can’t be found unless we “rabbit trail”. So, in my focus on one issue, i rabbit trailed onto 66 great expectations given to us in the New Testament. The Lord does not give us these things for us to take them lightly. Let us give weight to prophecy, Old Testament written, or present day in “the now”, it is given to us as something to grip to when life swirls under our feet.

The first expectation to grip to is in Matthew 5:44-45, where Jesus is speaking to the multitude in what is called, “the beatitudes”…..He says, “…but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the offspring of your Father who is in heaven.” In this the precedent is set that we need to have an expectation of being the children of God. If it cannot be done then God would not have extended us the expectation. It is an example of the goodness of God toward His enemies, and if we will set our feet in the direction of being like Jesus, we not only have the hope of becoming, but the assurance that we are. Let those words stick to you: “hope of becoming” and “assurance that we are”.

The second expectation is in Matthew 9:6, ““that you may know” the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”. It is important for us to know not only that we are the children of God, but to also know that we know that we know Jesus has the power to forgive sin and is the only source of forgiveness for what separates us from God.

To use the phrase, “that you may know” is written to believers who are uncertain of the reality of their life in Christ, their salvation, what’s true, and who to trust. It is a phrase the Lord purposely uses many times that we would have assurance, and righteous expectation.

Is your Jesus a domesticated, well heeled Savior? At the thought of that, all i can say is, Yuk!, who wants a savior like that? My God is very, very dangerous, but in a good way. The King i know is wild and wonderful that we may know Him and marvel! One of these days lightning is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun in the east to its setting in the west, and there is going to appear in the clouds the faithful true one riding a white horse, His eyes shall be as flame and His vesture dipped in blood, and His name shall be called the Word of God. Whether from terror or sheer excitement, we will tremble and so, so many will wonder how, how we ever lived so long with the humanized version of a domesticated, harmless Christ.

These things are written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into the world. Really believe.

           Kristen Gmerek wrote, “The art of constantly expecting something to happen in your life is one that unfortunately comes naturally to human nature. Whether it is the expectation of an action, an experience, or even the notion of living beyond the moment, there is a significance to that expectation which is engrained in all of us; as if we are wired to believe that this is the best way to cope with the fleeting essence of life itself. The truth is, it’s not, and if you have ever experienced disappointment, then you have experienced expectation.” Friends, that completely excludes the righteous expectation of God.

i find this terribly depressing. If we were living without Christ it might be worth taking seriously, but seeing as how most of us listening to this ARE living with Christ in our hearts, we have a hope which transcends the dismal downward spiral of the world. True, we are all moving towards our expectations, for better or worse, but if Jesus is the center of my life, i have more to look forward to, in a good way, than even thinking of trying to live life with no expectations. How dismal, to live life without expectations. i suppose it depends on what we expect and of whom.

Righteous expectation that cannot be cut off is motivated, driven and managed by faith that is built upon the unwavering trust in Jesus, it is an expectation that is built upon the faithfulness of God. Our expectations are based upon the goodness of God  driven by faith which declares the Lord is good, loving, and he is faithful. He does not withdraw or close His hand.

The purpose of all these things written about Jesus is explained in John 20:31, “…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

There are 7 great expectations in John, “that you may marvel”, “that you may have life”, “that you may know and understand”, “that you may believe”, “that you may become the children of light”, “that you may remember”, and in 16:33, “that you may have peace.” Pay attention, these are righteous expectations, not just dreaming that things are something other than what they are.

Expectation and hope are intrinsic to each other in the Bible. Romans 5:5, “…and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Let’s look at this from another angle. This scripture speaks of the same type of expectation which compelled everyone to gather in the upper room in Acts 2, and as a result they experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Check it out now, they didn’t just show up on that day with a bunch of crazy expectations. When they came together that day, they came with an expectation, here it comes, with an expectation that was driven by the promise made to them by Jesus concerning the sending of the Holy Spirit in Acts1:4. They came with expectation out of obedience which was the instruction not to depart from Jerusalem until they had been baptized by the power of the Holy Spirit. The believed the word of the Lord, knew God was faithful, and came with the expectation an extraordinary thing was about to happen. The motivation in their expectation was not driven by guessing, conjuring, wish-craft, or by drawing straws, it was driven from an informed position that looks a lot like faith. Faith exercised based on the promises of God ARE our great expectations.

So i suppose a good question to ask ourselves at this juncture is “what drives your expectations?” Ooooo! Now that’s a pretty prickly question if we’re honest.

          Do you think the woman of Matthew 9:20-21 who crawled through the crowd to touch the garments of Jesus, do you think she was acting on some whim and wild idea? Those kinds of expectations may seem to “leave the house” but they never really go anywhere, subjecting anyone who employs such whimsical expectation to repetitive disappointment. But that woman with the issue of blood, noooo, i think there was something greater going on. She acted not on impulse but on her faith which was based on a promise. The location of where we stand is a position of faith, arrived at by the truth presented to us by the word of God about the person of God and his values. He is faithful and on His unwavering promises and the information about Him our faith is built.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We draw on the assurances about the things which we hope for and the evidence of these things even when we have not seen them, we have expectations by what the word of God reveals to us about God.

Why do we look for the evidence of things not seen? That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That you may have certainty, that you may have strength, that you may eat and drink at the Lord’s table, and that you may not enter into temptation. We believe in Jesus and grasp after Him with the expectation that we may have salvation, that we may be justified, that we may belong to another, no longer slaves of sin and fear, that we may know the will of God, that we may  with one voice glorify God, and above all things in a hopeless world, that we may abound in hope.

These are great expectations! In our knowing Jesus, who is Lord and God, we have righteous expectations and it is good that we may learn His ways, that we may be a new creation, that we may devote ourselves to the Kingdom of God, that we may obtain Christ Jesus the prize, that we may be able to victoriously endure temptation, that we may be recognized as approved by God, that we may have a good answer for those who ask about our faith, that we may not prove empty and be ready. What kind of foolishness is this saying about “expectations are just disappointments waiting to happen”? What a pointless, lifeless, hopeless life without expectations, and who better than the ever-faithful Jesus to show us the expectations we should possess?

The word of God is our standard, not the dismal forebodings we obsess over. We need to possess God’s expectation based on what He has done, past tense, and what He has promised for today and in the future (present and future tense). Our faith and expectations are not based on how we feel, nor the circumstances around us even if we’re wedged with our back to a corner, surrounded by the enemy. It is not based on popular opinion or the rule of the majority. Friends our expectations, not just were, but hourly and daily, are (present tense) based upon the infallible, inerrant word of God, and on the integrity of Jesus, the Lord.

That, THAT right there is exactly the reason why our expectations should be driven by faith; such expectation is guaranteed to produce the right results while at the same time, helping those who are called according to His purpose to achieve Godly goals and objectives in life. Such expectations will never let us down, nor can ever be cut off because the promises of God are always dependable and reliable, for He is yes, and amen to those who love Him. Without the power of expectation, i’d be willing to bet the house that those promises would go no further than just being promises. Great and righteous expectations are powerful and i believe it is the power of expectation in faith, which sets in motion the leap and gain delivering us into the promises of God.

           We take up our cross daily and believe in the virgin birth, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we may abound in every good work, that we may not be wrong and do what’s right, that we may know what is the hope to which God has called us, that we may be filled with the fullness of God, that we may be sure and live long, and that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Those are great expectations.

The life we now live we live by the faith of the son of God, that you may learn how to discern what is pure and excellent, that you may have ample cause to glory in Christ, that you may be blameless and innocent, and that you may rejoice and be less anxious. We press on toward the high calling in Christ that we may know how to answer when we stand before kings, that you may stand mature and assured, knowing your hope and faith are powered by the promises of God, that you may walk properly and that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope, that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Timothy 1:18 says, that you may wage the good fight, and in 3:15 that you may know how to behave. These expectations are what should fill our head and heart, not the pending calamities and dismal forebodings this world might try and fill us with. God has a better plan and a more sure foundation for us to stand and deliver from, that we may not be sluggish, that we may receive what is promised, that you may not grow weary in well doing or become fainthearted, that you may do His will, being perfect and complete in Jesus, that you may not be judged because we grumbled and complained and spoke evil of the body. It is God’s heart, for anyone who is compassionate and merciful, that James 5:16 would burn in our hearts, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” That you may be healed is a great expectation. i believe the Lord wants us to know and have the great expectation of incredible accomplishment when the righteous pray, are honest, and are in right relationship with the group of people they connect with, our community of believers, that you may be healed.

His heart is that you may grow up into salvation, that you may stand and proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, that you may obtain blessing, that you may also rejoice, and again i say rejoice, that you may become partakers of the divine nature, able to recall the details of the story of Jesus, the gospel of God; that you may not sin, that you may know you have eternal life, that you may win a full reward, that you may be in good health, and that you buy from the Lord gold refined by fire, so that  so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

C’mon y’all, this is good preaching. In our expectations which are born from the promises of God, our moral judgment and temper are determined. i fully believe we are headed toward our expectations for better or worse. What do you expect? C’mon, it’s a good question, What do you expect? To answer that question can indicate more precisely what you believe of God. Now may the Lord show kindness and truth, now may the Lord your God add to the people, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Think about it.

The woman of Matthew 9:20-21 is someone of my constant revisiting. This short but miraculous report is also reflected in Mark 5 and Luke 8, it was pointed out three times so i take it that the Lord wants us to really see this. Matthew 9:20-22, “And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.”

He said, “your faith has made you well”. The Greek word for “well” in this verse is “sozo” meaning more than just not sick, more than not sick and doing well, but made whole, body, soul, and spirit, all together as one person, made well. This is a very long way from where she was an hour before she was made well. A couple hours or so before her encounter with Jesus, and for 12+ years she’d had an issue of blood and, by the rules, she couldn’t touch anyone, nor could anyone touch her or anything which had anything to do with her. No one could go visit because, according to the rules, she was defiled, meaning you couldn’t even go in her house and sit in her chairs because the defiled one had likely touched it and you would be defiled also. She couldn’t hug, be hugged or kissed by her grandchildren or her children, if she had any, nor her neighbors. They couldn’t touch her. This poor woman had been touch deprived for 12+ years, probably largely deprived of socializing or human interaction. And to top it off, she was a woman and rabbis weren’t even supposed to speak to women much less allow themselves to be touched like Jesus did. i imagine she was nearly the very personification of desperate, sad, sick, and sore. But i think we can assume she must have had an expectation of Jesus in order to take such a chance. He said, “Your faith has made you well.” She was willing to break all the rules and went forward with her expectation, her faith was exercised based on the promises of God who IS the source of our great expectations.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts,

Our faith and expectations are based on the integrity of the person who is the focus of our faith. No one can be that person except Jesus. Our expectations should be driven by faith which, through Christ, sustains us in our time of trouble. What’s the driving motivation of your expectations, who or what is the prime mover?

Have courage and high expectations that in the Kingdom of God, something good can happen to you and for you at any time. Pray for your neighbors, drive carefully. i hope you’ve enjoyed the program and i’ll talk to you next time. Amen, and amen.

Many years ago i entered into a business relationship with two other people. We created LLC rules, wrote checks to the business, and it seemed all things were good. i had been warned about being in business with one of the men, but i thought i was wiser than they, and, of course, i didn’t listen to the wisdom of my fellows who had history with him. Eventually, one partner, who was supposed to be a firm believer, took the business property, refused to respond anymore, and the entire venture became such a bitter pill, i just wanted out, even if at a loss.

i have learned from history and have vowed to never repeat it as best i can, with all my heart. History is radically important to be remembered, and those who don’t know or remember history are doomed to probably repeat it. But, there is something greater to have than just a memory or history, and that is insight about that history. Insight is knowledge, knowing, learning, discernment, and notion, but more predominately insight is thought of as discernment. Oh, if when i was much younger than today, oh how i wish i would have had discernment, and i’m pretty sure that good discernment is probably gotten by having had bad discernment and then learning from it. It is true, we need hindsight, and clear hindsight is good, but more than just hindsight we need insight into our hindsight. Just having hindsight without wisdom concerning what it is we are viewing in the rearview mirror, doesn’t improve our chances for not repeating history.

Insight should be at the top of our priority list. Proverbs 2:2 “Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding.” (Msg) Having wisdom and insight changes our values and interests, and today’s society drastically needs a change in values and interests. In this present world those who do not know the Lord function from a very different set of values and interests and they are as far away from God’s heart as the east is from the west. To get understanding and wisdom often includes some squeezing and re-shaping, but in the end, it is the Lord who makes us better and better. John 1:4 says of Jesus “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”, and Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Making insight and wisdom a life priority for ourselves is regaining life and our relationship with God which was lost in the Garden of Eden.

A wise man probably won’t tell you he’s wise, he’ll probably say he has realized he doesn’t know anything and there is truly only one who is the sole possessor of wisdom and knowledge. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,….”

Making insight and wisdom a priority in our lives puts us in touch with the Knowledge and Understanding of God. Considering the way history has gone, we can say with surety that without God, our own wisdom and insight has brought the nation to ruin. God alone has what we need. God alone has wisdom and insight, and our having God’s Knowledge and Understanding is something we so desperately need. Hindsight is good, but more than hindsight we need insight, and that righteous insight is the property of God. He will give it to us if we ask. It is His good pleasure to share His wisdom, insight, knowledge, and understanding with us if we are willing to humble ourselves, believe on Him, and simply ask Him.

Yes, another beautiful evening as the sun sets low on the horizon. Spring has sprung, flowers are pushing their way thru last year’s rubble and ground cover to start the yearly cycle of spring, summer, fall, and winter … round and round. We all know it gets dark every evening, every day of our lives it gets dark at night, but yet so many are still afraid of the dark. You would think we’d get used to the idea of night. Everyday it gets dark at some point, and everyday, many are afraid of the dark. i wonder  …  are we really afraid of the dark or are we diverted from the real truth in that our fear is more about being afraid of what or who might be in the dark, something or someone cloaked in a lack of light which might harm us? When we can’t see, our imagination runs wild inserting some drooling monster lurking just out of view … odd, how we tend to not think about what goodness might be out of our sight, but lean toward the possibilities of unseen badness. Actually, being afraid and fearful keeps us locked in dark places. You might be surprised at the people who see a path of escape and safety, but are too afraid to step into freedom. It’s as if they’ve been prisoners and slaves so long they can’t image being anything else anymore.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts.

Last program i asked a question: What will it take for you to be OK with God? And, what will it take for you to be ok with yourself? i know, i know, we so easily stand up straight and quote scripture about trust, courage, and faith, but yet, if we could observe the life habits of most believers, their lives would tell a different story than what they’ve spoken about themselves.

Evidently, it wasn’t enough Eve had a relationship with God. She wanted something more, almost like saying the Lord was insufficient, and she had to have something else to make her OK with her place and life. She was even willing to take to herself something which was incompatible with life in the garden in order to be OK. Her perfect place to live wasn’t enough, God wasn’t enough for her, Adam wasn’t enough, her never being sick or wanting for anything wasn’t enough, her immortality wasn’t enough in that, for her, sin had not occurred yet, so there was no death and dying until sin entered in for herself and Adam. But yet in all of the goodness of God at her fingertips, she needed something more to be OK.

In this present day, i call the condition, “Jesus and … ” In Isaiah 43:2, God said, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”, or 1 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you”, somehow we think we need more than God’s grace and assurance. i’m exploring my own heart lately, and how much of a grip does “Jesus and … ” have on me?

We say often, Jesus is all i need, and all i want. We close our eyes and sway with the music, hands raised declaring regularly with all sincerity, but our lives speak a different story. It seems what we think we believe and what we really believe are often not the same as much as we’d like. i am eternally grateful the Lord takes up our slack far more than we can imagine, truthfully, we are incredibly ignorant as to the vastness of our lack of knowledge and understanding, and just how much God makes up the difference in our falling short.

The word “congruent” means in agreement or harmony. By the blood of Christ, He balances the books of the whom-so-ever’s which believe on His name, that’s called reconciling. He makes us congruent with His values. With the constant onslaught of the media and news service, which are regularly put in our eyes and ears, we are not as prepared as we think to alter our way of life based on sound reasoning and solid evidence. We have become accustomed to having several conflicting ideologies floating around in our heads, and we end up feeling as though God is not enough and we must have something else to complete us.

For many, disillusionment with other believers and the church come easily, self-righteously, concluding others are strange or hypocritical. When some sing too loud, are out of tune, wear questionable clothes, have bulging eyes, double chins, overweight, underweight, hair too big, too much make up, or even just laugh a little too loud or too often, to us, they are just too peculiar to engage with any seriousness. Always “too” something, according to our very subjective measure of what is “excessive”. We are secretly sure the faith of “those” others is probably just some religious hype they don’t really understand.

Of course, we, ourselves though, we are all together ok. “I’m fine, just fine!” Carefully singing softly so if we’re out of tune or time no one notices. Many are careful to wear what is perceived as “acceptable” clothing. If we’re over weight we tend to sit at the back so as to not feel like a spectacle, or if we laugh we make sure it is about things acceptable, not too long, not too loud, always at the right things, nodding approvingly with a slight benevolent smile we’ may have practiced in the mirror.

How often do we minimize some aspects of what Jesus said, and exaggerate others in order to advance a personal agenda? Would that be an example of Jesus AND an agenda making us ok? Usually the agenda is first and Jesus comes after, using Him to advance ourselves. i think, often, that our personal, unspoken agenda supersedes and is competitive with God’s values.

Is Jesus really sufficient for you? C’mon, don’t just say “yes” and blow the question off. Ask the Lord to show you if that’s really true and embrace His answer. Do we really need to be recognized from the platform as “someone others should pay attention to” in order for us to be OK? That is Jesus and recognition. Isn’t it enough God has spoken to you, or do you need to also be validated by someone other people recognize as being in authority in order to feel like you’re getting what you need?

If you wonder if that’s you, i’m going to be transparent here: i started to get wind of my own subtle dissatisfaction with God because i noticed every time a great lead guitar part came up with one of my favorite tunes, i would imagine myself on that stage, playing the strings off that guitar, so hot my hands would catch fire right before the eyes of the congregation. i would imagine people lauding my name, shaking my hand, wagging their heads, wide eyed and saying “wow” alot. i would imagine anytime i walked in a room, people knew my name and wanted to ask me questions about my latest project, or encourage me to expound, in profound terms, concerning some topic being discussed. Here it is: i found myself dreaming of being validated as often, or maybe even more often as i thought i needed to be loved. That’s Jesus AND validation. You know, God will validate each of us if we give Him time, but i think most of the time, we need Jesus AND recognition far more immediately than we’re willing to wait on God to do it correctly.

Is that too honest for you? Too close? My friend, pop the bubble of your own illusion, and if you’re disillusioned, remember, you had to have had an illusion first in order to become dis-illusioned. That scenario of myself perfectly describes the “Jesus and … ” mentality. If God said, “My grace is sufficient for you”, then i should have no need to have Jesus and the recognition of my peers in order to be ok, right?

           Hector sat in the great congregation somewhere near the front two rows, nearest the head pastor where all the other suits sat. He was middle aged, tan, poised, had the chiseled features of a movie star with gracious, defined workman’s hands, the sort of hands everyone loved to shake. Every Sunday he sang with such conviction and held his hands up just right. He had all the moves down pat so he looked like someone others should revere and look up to. Hector loved his life as long as he didn’t think about it too deeply. Over the few years i knew him, and having had many discussions about what constitutes real life in Christ, i started seeing a Hector who was really pretty sad, never quite satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great guy, but he was always looking for that little bit more, Jesus and…  He was indeed a man of faith, but it seemed it was never enough.

Before he was in the full time service of the church community, he had a professional-type job in town. He was good at his job, climbed the ranks with many accolades. He was smart, and efficient, people liked him and they liked talking to him. Somewhere along the line though, he decided that albeit he had a 4-year degree in something ‘er other, he really wanted to get his masters in divinity, and then, yes, THEN, he could really serve the Lord. His wife was very satisfied with where they were, all she really wanted was for him to be consistent and repeatable, steady and reliable. But noooo, Hector needed something more. He said Jesus was all he needed, but the way he lived he was never really OK with God or himself.

Hector quit his job, which created a burden on his family who never really wanted to do the full time ministry thing from the start. He achieved his divinity degree, and got into full time ministry somehow. Oh, God was more than big enough, but Hector needed more. He had to have Jesus and ministry to be OK, he needed Jesus and recognition, Jesus and leadership, Jesus and looking good, Jesus and …  something more dynamic, or so he thought.

Eventually his wife left with the kids. She left him with his suits, his spiritual relevance, glitz and glamour, and his need to be more than … well, just more. He was so sure God wanted him to have the house, the car, the recognition, and the ministry, oh and especially the ministry. He figured all this must be God, after all, look at how easy it was to get into a leadership position. All the right doors just opened up for him.

Friends, not every blue sky is from Heaven, and not every storm is from hell.

He really loved to walk the halls of the church admin building and spend time praying while looking out the inspirational big picture window of his office. i myself must admit though, the halls were beautiful to walk through and the view was spectacular. It all came so easy it surely must have been given to him by the Lord. Right?

One day, i happen to be at lunch and Hector happened to be at the same place. i don’t believe in coincident, so i figured it must be an appointment made by the Lord. As we made small talk it was evident he was looking good as usual, but the truth was he was all to pieces. As he began to unfold his dilemma, he told how He was doing the dream, except it felt like it was someone else’s dream, a dream built of slick seminary advertising he’d seen in a Christian magazine printed on glossy paper. A dream built of wanting to be, you guessed it, more. He related how his wife wanted to reconcile, and in the turmoil of the unfolding drama with his family, he began to realize God was big enough to take care of all his needs. He explained that when he started seeing that Jesus was indeed sufficient, he had the revelation that all his days had been made up of “Jesus and”, minimizing God and maximizing an agenda, minimizing some things Jesus said, and maximizing others in order to support “his badge of ministry”. A few months after that lunch, i learned my friend Hector reconciled with his wife, left the big ministry, and now oversaw a much smaller church where he’s connected, regularly inspires the congregation in faith and life-giving depths of honesty. i heard he considered his real strength was, not his rugged good looks, not his divinity degree, not his charismatic influence, but his best playing card was Jesus, honesty, transparency, and being authentic.

Friends, the enemy kept Hector spinning in “Jesus and … ”. As long as Hector believed he needed more than Jesus, he never really grasped what God had intended for him. As long as he felt the need for more than Jesus he was never completely committed to the faith he declared as more important than anything else. In light of that, i’ve got Revelation 3:16 in mind. What do you think?

i think luke warm faith is worse than no faith at all.

           In case you’re considering putting off addressing your issues of the “Jesus and…” phenomena in yourself, why would you delay the investigation? It’s not like something will magically change and you won’t have to be honest or responsible, we can’t ignore our issues till they go away. We can’t be indifferent enough to make our deep seated challenges go away. This deep rooted problem of “Jesus and … ” didn’t get there over night, it won’t disappear overnight, and it didn’t suddenly appear because it’s contagious like a cold having been caught from someone else. It’s something which grew over time and was born out of unbelief and irresponsible thinking, being allowed to grow in the dark somewhere in our hearts. The fact that it was “allowed” means there was a choice, and we indeed, are choosing.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “The longer we bide our time on dealing with issues, the greater our chances are of running out of time.” The longer we let “Jesus and … ” stand, the more prevalent it becomes, undermining our faith, short circuiting the plans God has for us, and then it may not be long before we are replacing the name of the Lord with our own.

“Jesus and … ” grows in the fertile soil of secret dissatisfaction, and here is something i know, secrets have a way of not staying secret. Friends, we can’t win a race by not entering the race, problems don’t get solved by NOT dealing with them. For our issues to be solved requires we have an attitude to win, and winners are a pretty determined bunch for sure. Do you have a mind set to win, or is it an attitude willing to resolve easy issues but satisfied to let stand other, more difficult things requiring too much uncomfortable honesty?

We had a home church at our house. A lot, i mean a lot of people came and went. After many months i wondered why many of those folks who came, said they just absolutely loved the presence of the Lord there, loved the closeness, authenticity, transparency, and honesty, but then never came back. So i went around and found some of them, inquiring as to what motivated them to not come back, if they didn’t mind talking about it. Some didn’t want to discuss it, but several did. The answers were pretty telling. Among other reasons, they all, individually, said, the transparency and the level of honesty was just too uncomfortable, it was all too close and too revealing. One lady said she was used to operating in a certain way among believers in a larger church body, and could no longer, as she put it, she couldn’t “be herself”. My interpretation of what she was saying was that, in a larger body she could get away with posturing and acting out and no one would doubt or challenge her. She was very believable as long as a low level of transparency and honesty was good enough. Another person said they were used to being “in leadership” and were uncomfortable with their statements and declarations being challenged. Oh … wow.

Winners don’t just jog for exercise, they’re in it all the way. They read books and magazines about running, they set goals for themselves, and they train and push themselves toward those goals. But as far as our relationship with God, generally, not many act like someone who is determined to win a race.

To grow as a Christian, we’ve got to be in the race. If we are going to win at football, we’ve actually got to be on the field and we must move the ball. Now, i realize that sounds completely obvious, but in reality, there’s a lot of folks trying to run a race they’ve never actually entered. Transparency, emotional availability, honesty, and authenticity are not exactly top of their list of things important.

Do you have the attitude it takes to win? And now that you’ve heard this, you’re responsible for the insight you’ve gotten, so, what are you gonna do about it? You can’t un-ring the bell once it’s been rung, and once you’re aware of “Jesus and … ” heart postures, it can’t be ignored.

i believe we all have the human tendency to want quick fixes, and easy answers to strenuous problems. But this is not a sprint, this is a marathon. Learning to be honest and authentic takes time and determination to get closer to the Lord. i believe a lot of people are attracted to deliverance ministries due to the sales pitch which sounds like: “Do you have major problems? Are you dissatisfied? What you need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray over you in tongues, you’ll have an emotional experience and maybe even speak in tongues yourself, and you, yes YOU will be delivered once and for all from all those tough problems you’ve been struggling with.” The emphasis on instant, and miraculous deliverance from any problem is very troubling to me. i’ll add that i firmly hold to the promise of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The point is not whether anyone believes in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but of instant deliverance coupled with a “Jesus and … ” mentality, instantly getting out of dealing with real problems. We may be delivered today, but at some point, we simply must do the work to resolve the issues below street level which got us needing deliverance to begin with. Taking anti-depressants may help someone get over the hump in the moment, but truly, it’s just a band-aid, and doesn’t actually solve anything in the long run.

Do you think in the story of my friend Hector, when God brought him to his life changing conclusions that Jesus was sufficient, do you think he came to that easily and instantly, like he woke up one day with a bright light in his room and an overwhelming epiphany? Nope, it took time and trial, it took persistence, pursuit and a heart to be an overcomer. It took honesty and transparency. He didn’t simply “let go and let God.” and suddenly everything was beautiful. He had to find his “long haul attitude”. Previously, Hector was obsessed with always trying to “arrive”, but yet he was constantly plagued with the feeling of “Not having arrived”. His real answer was not “from the world” but “from the Word”. Jesus was/is his answer. He is sufficient and necessary, and that is sufficient as in competent and ample, and necessary as in the bottom line rule, can’t live without Him. God is big enough to take care of us, and searching to get more than Christ doesn’t solve anything, but complicates everything.

i  believe many treat Jesus as necessary but not really sufficient, so they are always searching for “Jesus and … ”, they need something else to be OK with themselves and God. They seem to believe that faith in Christ is one of many conditions in order to be truly saved. Other conditions in addition to faith in Christ would be Jesus AND baptism, Jesus AND joining a church, Jesus and a covering, or Jesus AND a specific style of music.

When we start letting legalism dictate to grace how it will act and look, we’ve entered into the “Jesus and … ” phenomena. Jesus AND the right clothes, Jesus AND a certain way of acting, Jesus AND good works, Jesus AND the feasts, Jesus AND the law.

Paul warned the church in Galatia of the “Jesus and … ” attitude, necessary but not sufficient. Galatians 3:2, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”

The inverse of necessary but not sufficient, is sufficient but not necessary. That may seem like something which only points to the world, but then, when we live like Jesus is all we need on Sunday, and then we put him aside the rest of the week, taking care of all our issues on our own, we’re saying He is sufficient for salvation but isn’t necessary to do life. i’m a smart guy, it’s the truth, but in all my smarts i’m not smart enough to run my own life. Nope, just not.

The Lord is not only fundamental and paramount, but He’s also abounding and exuberant. We discount His abundant provision of Himself when we hold ourselves and others to rules which imply Christ is not enough, subtly fertilizing a “Jesus and … ” mentality. We exempt His necessity when we ignore Him, taking matters into our own hands. Whoever you are and whatever you’re facing, i can assure you, Christ Jesus is more than enough, and if you feel you must have “more” than Christ, then the lie has found it’s root in your soil. Is your life built around the love of God? Jesus is sufficient, always, every time, without fail, and there’s never a time He is not. Think about it.

Hebrews 9:26, “ …  for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

“Once for all” is a key phrase here. i don’t know how you read it, but i read it as saying whoever you are and whatever dilemma you’re facing, Jesus Christ is more than enough. How sufficient and necessary is Jesus to you? Is He enough for you or is the Lord only pretty much enough, for the most part sufficient, and more or less necessary? Yes, i’d bet most of our listeners go to church and are involved somewhere, but that doesn’t mean we’re not secretly dissatisfied with our place in the Body of Christ. Is Jesus your “once and for all”, “one and only”? Maybe you’re like everyone who wants and needs a Savior, just not exactly that Savior? Maybe you agree with the truth God speaks to you, but not with God who said it, you know, the old “it’s not what was said but who said it” thing.

Under Levitical law, sacrifices were not sufficient but they were necessary. Every time a sin was committed a sacrifice had to be offered, still no sacrifice was sufficient, and was only good for a year. Not only that but the priests themselves were insufficient in that they fell short of the glory of the Lord, so not only was the sacrifice necessary yet insufficient, but the very people who were appointed to make atonement were themselves insufficient and unable to offer any complete redemption. The sacrifice for sin was only good for a year, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is good for all of eternity. Instead of many sacrifices, His is once and for all, never needing to be repeated. Jesus is sufficient and necessary.

This has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation. This programming is meant to inspire us all to a deeper walk with God, below the surface of our presentation face where we’re always being so safe. Safe in our music, safe in our decisions, safe in our faith, safe in our opinions. It’s time to walk on water, take a chance with God.

The Lord says, “behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every person what is theirs according to what they’ve done.” It’s nearly payday friends, is your life built around the love of God, or have you built the love of God around your agenda for more? Jesus and  …

He is sufficient and necessary. Always. Drive carefully this week, be a responsible person and think, think before you act or speak. Pray for your neighbors, you truly do make a difference. And a big amen right there.

There is no doubt as to who the listening audience is for these broadcasts. The programs are meant to encourage the body of Christ and to inspire us all to put our thinking caps on and think. Use your God given ability to pray, consider, and think. If any of us believe God doesn’t speak to mankind anymore, to me that’s just confusing. i can’t imagine why my Father would not speak to me; i can’t imagine why my blood brother Jesus Christ would not speak to me; and i can’t imagine why the Holy Spirit would not allow me the words of God in the now. In light of that, considering there was a series on the nine fruits of the Spirit, it’s time to talk about the gifts of the Spirit.

A year and some months ago i decided to not do any programs on the gifts of the Spirit for the sole reason that i realized i didn’t know enough about them to do much more than just mention them. i didn’t hardly understand what they were nor how they work. Oh, don’t get me wrong, i actually thought i knew, but the more i read scripture, the more i knew that i was wrong. Since then i’ve been praying and asking the Lord to make me to understand a little better, taking notes, writing down little resonant heard at the most unusual times, and trying to gradually give some definition to a greatly misunderstood topic, the gifts of the Spirit.

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11.

We all have gifts God has given us. i believe each person is born with gifts and capacities to employ, or not, to use or abuse, but more importantly to use for the betterment of the rest of humanity. Yes, the rest of humanity. 1Corinthians 12:7, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” What do you think Paul means by “common good”? Do you think it’s ONLY where you’re comfortable, in church, or does “common good” mean for the wellbeing of the, in general, world we live in?

God’s gifts aren’t just to be used in church, the safe place that is not likely to criticize us nearly as much as when under the scrutiny of the world. We, the church, must take our fruits and giftings beyond the safe place and practice them for the benefit of a lost and dying world, learning to do that in such a way so as to not immediately put people off while still reflecting God’s values and standards, still pointing to Jesus. You know, it’s tough to give away what you’ve got if you’re not there to give it away.

To have gifts of the Spirit is truly operating in the miraculous, yet most of us, in one way or another, share the most common ailment of all men, the strange disinclination to believe in a miracle even though it’s right in front of us. We possess the gifts of God right in the middle of our hearts, and these days in which we live, those gifts are increasingly becoming more important to understand, employ, and deploy.

Come go with me concerning the Gifts Of the Spirit. Let’s dig in our Father’s pockets to see what good things He’s got hidden in there, that is if we’re willing to study a little and chase after His wisdom.

 Not to be negative, but right off i think it needs to be reiterated that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not to boost or promote ourselves personally in any way. Paul repetitively points this out in 1Corinthians 12, that the gifts are for the building up of the church, not for the exaltation of ourselves. Surely many of us have met those who have employed their God given spiritual gifts to advance their personality or, by showing outwardly their amazing gifting, it may even be evident there was a secret hope of being promoted to some elevated position.

In Acts 8 we meet a guy named Simon. We shouldn’t take this lightly. Evidently, God considered it important enough to put in the Bible, so let’s take it seriously. Acts 8:9, “But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.” It would seem that if you wanted to know if Simon was an amazing person, just ask him and he’d tell you exactly that. Yea. he was just “that” kind of guy. In vs. 10 the people called him “great”, saying “With him is the power of God”, and i think it’s of special note that the Greek word for “power” there is our English word “dynamite”, they were literally calling him “the dynamite of God”. Wow! Quite a title for himself, huh? The people paid attention to him, it cost them something and they were willing to pay for it, they “paid attention”. i’d bet he was a very charismatic and influential fellow, and maybe even had some real gifts. Scripture doesn’t exactly say, but just by the description given, we could conclude he desired to be an outstanding personality, to attain the lofty places of privilege and to popularize himself by staggering the community with his demonstrations of power and foretelling. i would guess he was cloaked with seeming devout zeal, casting himself as someone who was advancing God’s work. (Circus music playing in the background)

To this day, there are many out there selling themselves to the public for the same reasons as Simon, but, this was never, ever the true purpose for Spiritual gifts, and we should not put off God’s gifts due to some bad actors in the mix, and i say that emphatically.

Unfortunately, it appears many people are blindly swayed, mesmerized with awe and wonder that they nearly place a halo on the head of anyone who frequently exercises their spiritual gifts. When Peter stood on Solomon’s porch after the Lord made a lame man walk, he had something to say about people being mesmerized Acts 3:12, ““Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?”

The church in Corinth was encouraged to “come behind in no gift” in 1 Corinthians 1:7, but yet it was a pretty unspiritual place. God’s purpose behind His generous endowment, or manifestation, was not, by any means, meant to confirm or broadcast the spiritual superiority of the operator. i find it odd that we as people though, tend to put on a pedestal and sensationalize those who do actively and accurately operate their gifts, and it doesn’t appear some of those who have been somewhat pedestalized were in any real hurry to get off the stage either.

In general, we do tend to lift up those who we admire, i think that’s unavoidable to a degree, of course, after all, we’re just people and most of us can think of someone we admire. Now, you’ve got to really hear this part: of those who are called to exercise their gifts from an elevated dignity or platform, it is their responsibility to not allow themselves to be enthroned. People love to have their senses tickled, we enjoy being entertained. i know i certainly do. Honestly, if watching someone exercise their gifting was not sensational, i sort of doubt too many would desire such a gift. Like watching someone do foot care as a kindness at a retirement home, or visiting the elderly and incapacitated. Those two are pretty non-sensational, not glamorous nor glorious appearing. As a result there doesn’t seem to be too many lining up for the gift of hospitality and mercy, but yet, hospitality and mercy are very much considered of very high value in God’s economy.

True, according to Romans 11:29 the gifts are without repentance, but friends, the gifts can remain even when the spiritual standard of Christ and our relationship with Him have deteriorated. i think we can all be in agreement that the gifts of the Spirit should temper by the fruit of the Spirit.

Ok, so, having spoken of these beautiful gifts while casting a note of caution, let’s press on to see the positive aspect and see what the real purpose is as the Lord reveals in His word. As a reminder, i’m not saying watch out, be careful, and don’t, i AM saying think, think, think, but also be audacious, and go for it.

It seems to me that the value of the gifts of the Spirit and the appreciation of their benefits are governed largely by the position they are allowed to occupy, which their value to believers as is largely determined by their worth to the church, which means if a body values service above all things, then the other gifts are likely to be left to go fallow. That doesn’t mean they aren’t available from the Lord, it simply means we typically believe what suits us or what we’re comfortable with instead of embracing all the Lord has for us. In some congregations, the gift of tongues is far more important to them than prophecy, it’s highly likely that it is safer to them, so the value of the other gifts is considered lower than the others. Let us remember, just because someone doesn’t recognize God’s gifts of the Spirit, doesn’t mean they aren’t there, it just means they don’t recognize God’s gifts.

Here’s a sticky statement: If the gifts are allowed to rise to a place of dominion, appropriating the platform where the Lord should stand, their value will become nil. Similarly, if they are caused to not be exercised at all, many times being trampled, or are wrongly decided that God doesn’t do these things anymore, which is foolish, then again, the value of God’s gifts will become nil. In our efforts to employ God’s gifts, sometimes we go overboard in the sensational. But i must say, and if you hear anything here, hear this: when everything becomes sensational, eventually, nothing is sensational. Let me encourage us all to allow God to be all He is. Let Him do what He does best and that is being God. If your Father wants to give you extraordinary endowments, let Him. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit working together are needed to produce the full potential of the church.

Gifts of the Spirit should work together, complementing each other in tandem with Fruits of the Spirit. Friends, there is, truly, a need for them to be active in the church. In 1 Corinthians 12:1 Paul encouraged believers to not allow themselves to be ignorant of what they were, and in 1 Corinthians 14:1, he encouraged everyone to also zealously pursue them. Paul makes the point that as much as all believers may desire the manifestations of the gifts, and yes, i think it would be safe to say everyone loves to be wow’d, we are encouraged to not get caught up in our shorts over the sensational but more that the goal is to build up the church. Let this next sticky statement, linger in your thinking: Just because you have a different gift, doesn’t mean you have a lesser gift. All are valuable and God employs each as is necessary to prosper the Kingdom.

i feel like we’ve caught three forward gears so far, but let’s catch 4^th gear and get up to highway speeds.

After the discussion of what the gifts are, and there are truly many, many variations in those spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, the most important part of it all comes in 1 Corinthians 14 when Paul writes of the necessity of love which is the overarching bottom line of all that God does. If the gifts of the Spirit are practiced without love, there comes upon the body a type of diminishing and maybe even dishonor. When love, the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22 is allowed to govern the beautiful gifts, it’s like fine oil in a machine. Just like character must exceed ministry, so love needs to exceed our gifting. It just makes it all work well together. Love reduces friction, tends to clean up sludge, and reduces wear on moving parts, just like quality engine oil.

How much do you value your ability to do your part in the Kingdom of God? Just like the life of the engine in your car largely depends, in no small way, on the quality of the oil you put in it, so does your effectiveness in employing your spiritual gifting depend on the quality of your fruits of the Spirit, love being like the oil, and the more the love of God has gripped our heart, the more effective we’re going to be. Do you want to be sensational, standing high and glorious on a platform of your own making, or do you want to bear fruit, lasting fruit in the name of Jesus?

How often do we call our “comfort zone” our spiritual discernment? Please take a moment and consider that. Judith Bardwick calls a comfort zone an “anxiety-neutral position”, sort of sounds more like a political statement, huh? All jesting aside, it means … as long as we operate within our comfortable, familiar doctrines of faith, as long as we feel at ease, in control, and we’re experiencing low anxiety and stress, we tell ourselves it must be righteous discernment. Your comfort zone is a place where your uncertainty, suspicion, and vulnerability are minimized. Think about it. How often are we uncomfortable talking about spiritual gifts, and we turn it into a spiritual thing by claiming “discernment”, but really it’s just us stepping beyond the edges of our comfort zone. i think so many avoid the topic because they have an underlying attitude that says, “I’m uncomfortable, therefore this conversation must not be God!” Hmmmm.

My comfort zone actually has nothing to do with the idea of Godly discernment.

i’d bet most people who are uncomfortable with discussing the gifts of the Spirit, call themselves discerning, but i think it’s highly likely what they call discernment is actually their comfort zone.  Discernment is the redeemed version of suspicion because when discernment conceives it brings forth building up and edifying which is quite the opposite of suspicion. Let’s recap the idea of sound doctrine again:

– Sound doctrine is made from cover to cover of the Bible;

– sound doctrine is born of 2 or more scriptures;

– sound doctrine applies to the entire body of Christ, not just for the rich, and not just for the poor with a “special excuse” why the well-to-do’s don’t have to adhere to the same rules.

Considering that sound doctrine is from cover-to-cover of the Bible, then we must take the time to understand God’s intent, not avoiding the conversation any longer. Friends, there are things we, in the body of Christ, must begin to talk about. We can’t avoid the discussion of gifts any longer, we can’t avoid the discussion of whether God speaks to us or not, etc, etc. We’ve got to look to the Lord to help us better conclude many topics we have avoided in our modern culture which seems to think that soon as we are uncomfortable, then running away is a good option. No, not at all. Just because we may have come out of a church body with poor and abusive leadership, in no way means we don’t need leadership. Similarly, because we came from a church body which abused the gifts of the Spirit, does not invalidate the gifts of the Spirit.

Paul’s discussion of the gifts is nothing new. Actually, they’ve been being spelled out since the O.T.. They are for yesterday, today, and tomorrow, never to be ignored simply because they challenge our “comfort zone”. We all should know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that each divine gift, or enablement/manifestation that God gives to ordinary people, just like you and me, is for the purpose of building up His body for the purpose that we can function the way the Lord wants us to function. God’s opinion is more important than our opinion and if exercising our gifts and fruits of the Spirit is the way He wants us to operate, then, gosh, why shouldn’t we live like that? The Lord is supernatural, and i don’t see why His children shouldn’t be like their parent?

Our opinions of the gifts of the Spirit will pass away, but His purposes are forever. As was previously said, just because we don’t believe something God said, doesn’t mean it isn’t true, it just means we don’t believe it.

Friends, we are called, called to not only realize and recognize our gifting but to develop them as well. The Lord has called us, in our ordinary lives doing our ordinary things to build up those around us, and mind you, that doesn’t mean walking around only saying sweet things. It means being honest, accountable, transparent, and emotionally availability with tact and diplomacy too.

Some would say we have to have a basic understanding of the gifts before we can employ those gifts, but honestly, i don’t think that is a true rule of thumb. There are people who naturally function in their gifting and don’t necessarily know they are doing it. They are just that way and it flows naturally. Haven’t you met people who are just charismatic and engaging and people just like talking to them? i would suggest that’s one of the attributes of an evangelist probably. Sure, maybe sometimes, some folks use their God given gifting for the wrong things, but none-the-less it is a gift, an endowment and expression of the Lord. Because we don’t categorize and labelize what our gifts are doesn’t make them any less than what they are. And, again, just because we have a different calling with different gifts doesn’t mean it is a lesser calling with lesser gifts.

If we’re going to develop the gifts the Lord has given us, it would seem good to actually have a basic understanding of the gift. It is difficult to develop something we know very little about. Now, i’ve gotta’, say, there are some gifts of the Spirit where the Lord gives us a good bit of information, and there are other gifts which aren’t so well defined nor is there much of a layout on how to do it.

But He does not leave us ignorant and He did give us some information. From 1 Corinthians 12:1, let’s recognize God’s idea of a spiritual gift, it’s a breath-of-God thing, from the Greek word pneuma, where we get our word pneumatic, they are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. We don’t get them from the store, can’t get them by reading a how-to book, no one can loan them to you, nor can you buy them at church. Spiritual gifts are exclusively a result of the breath of God, so if you don’t believe God breathes on people anymore, then i hope you ask yourself the question: If God doesn’t breathe on us and speak to us, what are we left with?

Then in 1 Corinthians 12:4,5,& 6 Paul says there are different kinds of distributions, all from the breath of God. From vs 4, the distribution is the Greek “charisma”, in this case “gifts of grace”; from vs 5, different kinds of “service”, Greek “diakonia” (deeah-ko-nee’-ah), a root word for deacon, meaning servant gifts; from vs 6 there are different kinds of “working” gifts, Greek “energema” (en-air’-gay-mah) where we get our word for energy. It could be thought of as the power to accomplish God’s directives. The Lord gives gifts, but also gives the power, “energema”, to operate the gift.

Those three distributions, grace, service, and the impartable energy to operate the gifts are so closely associated with the quality and idea of His name, that the mention of His name calls the three distributions to mind, and thinking of the three fosters the vision of His name … Jesus.

i think it’s also good to note that 1 Corinthians 12 is not an all inclusive list of spiritual gifts. There is also a short list in Romans 12:3-8, and again in Ephesians 4. While we may want to categorize, aggrandize, rank, typecast, and specialize the spiritual gifts, like personal gifts, ministry gifts, public gifts, extraordinary gifts, or ordinary gifts, i hope we all never forget there are many, many spiritual gifts which are not exactly listed.

1 Corinthians 12:7 says we all have at least one gift which the Lord has given us, so no one can say, with any honesty, that God has passed them by when it came to gifts, which brings me back to the idea we must all keep in mind that just because we have a different calling and different gifting doesn’t mean, in any fashion, it is a lesser calling or lesser gifting.

Romans 12:4, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function … ” 1 Corinthians 12:7, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” A manifestation is a bestowment or an endowment, an ability or talent, in this case, given to them by God. We all want our Heavenly Father to give us stuff, mostly things we call valuable, but in this case, what God calls valuable is apparently different from what we often call valuable. Maybe we need to rework our ideas to match the Lord’s ideas and values, you think?.

This is an overview so the next part is given in hopes of drawing the gifts into a better context.

Speaking of the fruits and gifts of the Spirit isn’t something which suddenly appears in the N.T. for the first time. Be encouraged to do your own diligence and search these things out yourself, but, from way back to God’s description of the priests robes in Exodus 28, Moses was given a detailed description of fruits and gifts in the metaphor at the hem of the priests robe where there was to be embroidered blue and purple pomegranates, and between each embroidered fruit was to be a golden bell that made a little tinkling noise when the priest walked. Think about it, the tinkling of the golden bells were tempered by the embroidered fruit in-between the bells. Does that sound like a theme in the New Testament? Yep, indeed it does. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says that without love we are a clanging bell, without the fruits of the spirit to temper the gifts of the spirit, we are just out there clanging, and banging around. Think about it.

With little golden bells at the hem of the priests garment, just like the priest couldn’t make a move without everyone knowing where he was, i believe the Holy Spirit gifts operating in us is like that, everywhere we go, everyone knows who and where we are. Unless God hides us, wherever we go, we have a righteous chiming to us. And yes, i used “we” in the broad sense because in Revelation 5:9-10, scripture says we were a ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation, and that we have been made a kingdom and priests to our God. The language of that verse includes all believers.

1Peter 2:9 says we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and like it or not, if you’re a believer in Christ Jesus, you wear a robe with bells and pomegranates at the hem, meaning, you are a living, breathing, walking, talking representative of the fruits and gifts of the Spirit. If we don’t want to believe God’s word, that doesn’t negate God’s word. Just because we don’t believe it, doesn’t make it not so.

By observation, many believers are looking to acquire the gifts of the Spirit without making the fruits of the Spirit a first priority. According to John 15:8, we are called to be fruitful. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” i don’t find anything there saying we should be amazingly gifted, but more importantly, to be fruitful, like the Lord commanded us in Genesis 1:22.

The goal is not to influence people to “get it right” but to be able to ask themselves better questions leading them to a deeper relationship with the Lord. Be inquisitive as to who this amazing person is in our lives, what is God about, how does He think, and why does He say the things He says? We can have no obvious gifts, and no Bible to refer to, but if you have a relationship with Jesus, there, now you’ve got something worth living for.

Support for this programming was given by Living In His Name Ministries, Bill and Gary at Big Pine Fast Food and Mortuary, CaseOn Builders on Spartanburg Hwy, Sisters Coffee Company, His Heart Missions taking the gospel to all the world, and of course, the one and only, our good friends on main street, Trinity Bakers, that’s right, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Stir up the gifts within you, let these words stir up your sincere mind, to stir up your strength and courage being honest about what is it that constrains you, going beyond your comfort zone, that “negative stress position” and see what God has for you. Be an adventurer to know God and let Him be who He is in you. Allow Him to renew your desire to be fruitful, renewing your appreciation of being active in God’s plan. Find your gifting and use it with all your heart for the Kingdom of Heaven. Did you hear those key words and phrases? “Stir up, be honest, go beyond, be an adventurer, allow Him, renew your, and find your,” those are action words if i ever heard any.

Drive carefully this week  …  pray for your neighbor and be nice to that person in the mirror who looks back at you, exercise your gift of grace for yourself and others  …  Be strong and courageous, and i’ll talk to you next time. Amen.

There is no way to know what we could achieve in life if we made more of the right choices. Of course, someone a long the line is probably going to ask, “Right choices according to who?”  Learning to do a good job of choosing, evidently, is not something we do well as humans, but, if we partner with God, then comes the power to choose wisely.

It would seem that the decision making machine in us to choose seems to follow from one generation to another. Someone’s grandfather chose the path of alcoholism; his son chose the same path, and the father’s children will be met with the same choices: to drink themselves into oblivion, or not. We even have the power to choose whether we are angry or not. The other person didn’t “make” you angry, c’mon, you are choosing anger as your reaction. No one made you jealous, you are choosing, choosing to become circumstantial rather than resting with Jesus, who is seated, ?get that?, seated at the right hand of the Father. He’s at rest. Are you at rest with Him? Consider your choices at your intersections: there are other choices.

Intersections are a fork in the road, so to speak, where a choice must be made. We can sit at that crossroad, intersection however long we like, that too is a choice, but eventually, at some point, we must choose a direction. But sitting at that intersection and not choosing is much a kin to sitting on a fence. It’s only a moment of rest before the indecision concerning our choices becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Fence sitting is inevitably always uncomfortable.

i sat at a light once, more than once, unsure about which way to go, left, right, straight … but when the light changed, there were blaring horns and people yelling. i had to choose, rightly or wrongly, but i had to make a choice. Often our lack of choosing affects everyone around us, just like that traffic light. My indecision caused everyone behind me to be forced to comply with my lack of decision. Volleyball games are often won and lost on one players indecision – in a moment of paralysis about the choice to hit the ball or not, the ball hits the floor, the moment to win or lose is decided for the team due to the lack of decision on the part of one player. Choices are often not easy and have a far reaching impact, and often on more than ourselves.

To my understanding, when coming to a 4-way intersection, there are only 3 choices in life, going back is not an option because that would be like re-making history, and there is nothing in history which would ever allow itself to be relived in order that it could become something other than what it is. But, there is still, in front of us, a choice of left, right, or straight ahead.

God is the God of choices. He came up with the idea of intersections, or choices and it was His idea of our having options and the will to exercise our free will to choose.  He brings us to many intersections across the course of life, and one of His goals is to bring us to maturity so we can make good and Godly choices for ourselves, our families, and quite possibly the world around us. Christianity is the only religion which does not prescribe and demand external behavior such as praying five times a day facing a certain direction, abstaining from this or that, what to wear, wearing a certain kind of hat, only drinking a particular kind of tea, etc. God gives to us a life of constant individual decisions and choices, although i must admit, sometimes the barrage of choices is truly overwhelming. We, granted by God, have the right to choose: we can choose to be truthful, or lie; we can choose to live or die; we can even choose to express ourselves poorly or well; we can choose to come or go from the church body of our choosing and we’re not in debt to explain if we don’t want to. You decide. But consider carefully, Joshua 24:15 “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

Galatians 5:16, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. Here the word “walk” literally means “to walk around,” where we allow our feet to take us is our own choice, and Gal 5:16 is saying to let God direct our walking around. “Walking” is about how we conduct ourselves. Another implication of the word “walk” means orderly arrangement of our steps, not a haphazard one of going here and there. Gal 5:25, “If we walk in the Spirit, let us walk in an orderly fashion by means of the Spirit.” This time the word “walk” in Greek means not only to “tread around”, but to “tread around with order”, in a row, a column. It is orderly, directed by the Holy Spirit, not some haphazard going around like an intoxicated driver, going from ditch to ditch, but instead, one of order and consistency. The Holy Spirit must be the arranger of our walk in our daily lives. Is He? Only then is our freedom truly of the Spirit.

i find most intersections in God’s Word are places of the supernatural. Take the incident in Luke 19:28-34 and Mark 11:4 where there was a colt tied outside by the door in a place where two ways met, or, at the fork in the road, near to Bethphage and Bethany. Bethpage, meaning where they grew figs, and Bethany, meaning where dates were grown. If we carefully read it, it’s an amazing sequence of events. Everyone made choices. Jesus chose to be obedient to the Father and prophecy correctly; there was the choice to be obedient by the disciples, you can read how the villagers chose to allow the disciples to accomplish what Jesus had asked of them. The people chose to lay their clothing across the colts back for the Savior to ride on into Jerusalem (v35). Other people laid their clothing down in honor before Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on the colt (v36), and they made the excellent choice to glorify God who rode on the colt rather than glorify the colt on which God was riding. Did you get that? They glorified God who rode the donkey rather than glorify the donkey God was riding on. What do you make of that?

Job had reached a major intersection, more than once, where he had to make the choice, driven by his friends to admit sin which wasn’t true so he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore, or go with God, trusting and believing that God is righteous, even if he had no understanding or answers from the Lord?

And ultimately, Galatians 5:17 from the Message, “For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are in direct opposition to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?”

Psalm 1:1-6 speaks of living life in two ways. There is a choice given to everyone, to either live for the Lord, or not. Mark 4:25, “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:25 contrasts the results of life which is lived in two opposite directions. It basically says, the more you have, the more you have, and the less you have the less you have, the more you go left, the more you go left, and the more you go right, the more you go right. The coefficient of slipping says the more you slip, the more you slip, and the more you grip, the more you grip. Our choices have momentum and weight, the more we choose wrong, the more apt we are to choose wrong. And the more we choose right, the more apt we are to choose right.

So, why don’t you let God help you choose? Or better yet, let Him choose and then follow Him. That’s not to say you’re not responsible for your choosing, but still, God is much better at knowing the good choices than we are. Choosing right gets easier the more you choose right. Choosing the right is good for our conscience too. A good, sound conscience is key to making good choices. Making a good choice, choosing to do right when at an intersection puts us in a position of planting righteousness, for planting righteousness reaps righteousness.

Thank you for joining me, i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries.