We typically think in concepts, and one key concept in scripture today is the idea of what to keep and what to toss out. That may seem like a simple thing, but consider carefully the world of a hoarder. To them, they feel they need to “keep” everything, so much so, in their world, all of their precious stuff they are so compelled to keep causes them such misery and sometimes even death. Even in light of knowing that, many of them still choose to keep everything they’ve gathered to themselves, even though they know it’s killing them.

What does God say we should keep, and what should we toss out? Once again, that may seem simple, but all that dividing up can be some very tedious thinking. God’s idea of the word “Keep” is to seize upon and hold tightly, and to guard closely and retain a watch over. Opposingly, the idea of to “cast out” or “NOT keep” is like when God did NOT keep Cain, as in did not retain and closely guard. In a positive sense, we keep, as in plan for the future and set aside money, as in we Keep in order to retirement.

Similarly, there is a basic difference between those who work for salvation and those who believe God’s promises. If we want to work for our salvation and our place in the Kingdom, we will be acting under our own steam, defending ourselves and always working to get the reward we think we should get. Can we keep ourselves? God says to those who believe His promises, He keeps with all power.
i once moved to a large old house, storing all my oh-so-precious things in an upstairs room. There were old smiles framed in memories of way back when, long grown and gone, only coming to visit now and then. i saved boxes of clothes and books, magazines of styles and new looks, carefully saved, useless, this and that, and left over extra in sealed bags of knick-knacks, all just seemingly so important i just HAD to have them.

Five years later, i had not so much as rummaged through that stuff and wanted to use the room as a spare bedroom. i found myself grieving over the idea of “What if i need such and such?” or, “That was my old jacket from high school, i might could use it.” My son shared his wisdom with me in the moment, saying, “Dad, if you haven’t needed it or thought about it in 5 years, chances are very good you can get rid of it and never miss it.”

There are things which are tenative, and things to seize upon and hold tightly, things to guard closely and retain a watch over, as well as others to let go from our grasp and allow to retire altogether. i’m not going to go through a list of things to keep and things to retire, that’s for you to decide. But what i am going to do is talk about what God says is valuable to keep.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, and have mercy on those who doubt. That is keep in the sense of hedge around and guard, protect and attend, with “attend” meaning to nurture, like someone growing a garden. Keep, as in “keep my commandments” comes with the idea to not hedge around and hold captive, more than merely doing what God says, but, here it is: to cultivate, tend carefully, hear the counsel of the Lord and let it change your heart that you would be fruitful and prosperous. i really like that one. It pertains to a man who “keeps a wife”, meaning he should bless her, cultivate and watch over with kindness to cause her to prosper and be fruitful, not fence her in and hold her captive.

Keep the charge of the LORD, actively conducting yourself in his ways, keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. “Keep” and “keeping”, as in observe and continuously present tense – actively guard, with “his ways” as a different word than “his statutes”, as a different word than “his commandments”, as a different word than “his rules” or “his testimonies”. It means to prefer His preferences and standards above our own and you know, you can tell an awful lot about someone by merely observing their preferences. To “keep the charge” is to exercise great care and devotion to what the Lord has asked of you, and let other things fall to a lower level of importance.

We have to keep our body or practice some self-control. Let us keep in step, or march in time with the Holy Spirit. Practice to keep awake with all perseverance, meaning don’t let your eyes get used to the dark. Keep, or in this case, focus your eyes on the Lord and those who are a good example of how to walk uprightly. Let the peace of Christ keep you in perfect tune with God. Keep away, or guard yourself to not frequent the places and people who disrupt the unity of the Body of Christ, my paraphrase of 2 Thessalonians 3:6. Keep God’s preferences and standards and walk in a way which doesn’t dishonor yourself or your testimony with “keep” meaning, again, to yield and let God’s words persuade your heart. God wants your heart not your rule keeping. Keep as in guard and defend your conversation and style from the love of money. Keep God’s prescription for His idea of health and prosperity.

There are many more things to keep as God sees them to be important. What the Lord has to say is far, far more important than what men say. Let me encourage you, go look it up and find out what to keep and what to let go. Let us unclutter our lives.

i think this next part is so important, here it is again. Consider: In Matthew 19:17, Jesus said to “keep the commandments”. i must admit, most folks want to lay severe penalties against others if they’re found not doing the law, but the word Jesus used there really does mean “keep”, but with the implication of not “something to be fenced in” but more “to aim at something” rather than “if you don’t do it to the letter, God is going to get you.” It more means “keep” in the sense of a man who grows a garden, cultivates it, fertilizes it and causes it to be fruitful. NOT just do the rules, but allow yourself to be persuaded and yield, and let God’s counsel persuade you and make you to be fruitful. Did you get that? Not just rules to keep but more someone to be. Yield. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Do we think He’s tricking us or lying somehow? No, never. He would not ask us to do this thing if it were not possible. Selah.

What do you think?

Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

            Isaiah 25:1, “Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”

An attribute of God is His faithfulness and if we are His children, firstborn in the Kingdom of God, then we reflect this quality also. We are faithful in friendship, faithful in marriage, faithful in keeping His values…faithful – meaning dependable, reliable, consistent, and repeatable.

When we say God is faithful it means He is totally trustworthy – more exactly, “perfectly faithful”… and of course, most of us probably knew that, but do we really believe that?

The opening scripture, written by the prophet Isaiah, speaks of God not only having made plans in the beginning but He has perfectly accomplished them, just as He said He would. He knew the end from the beginning, so, from the beginning He has declared the end. In all the universe, the Lord is not only the impeccable example of faithfulness, He is the very personification of faithfulness.

When i first moved here, one of the first things the Lord told me was to be consistent and repeatable, be dependable and do what you say…and if i had trouble doing what i said, then promise less and THINK before i opened my mouth that, as a testimony of God’s faithfulness, i would be known as faithful as He is faithful.

Faithfulness is the concept of unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something and putting that loyalty into consistent practice, regardless of extenuating circumstances. If we’ve promised someone to be somewhere at a certain time, regardless of if something better comes along, we do what we’ve said. If we’ve given our word to our kids to do something and the boss calls, we keep our commitment to the kids… being consistent and repeatable, thereby teaching them by example to be the same. Ultimately, faithfulness applies to God himself with regard to his perpetual love towards his children that is not dependent on their worthiness.

Literally, it is the state of being full of faith in the somewhat archaic sense of steady devotion to a person, thing, or concept. i realize that sounds a little academic, and it is in a way, but truth be known, faithfulness and loyalty speak of the heart and core of God towards us. It is a fruit of righteousness, and if we have believed in Christ to salvation, then we are, indeed, the righteousness of God in Christ, as stated in 2Cor 5:21.

These days, in a world of moveable boundaries, flexible morals, loose ethics, and principles that change colors depending on the backdrop, i believe the fruit of the Spirit, faithfulness, is one of our most excellent testimonies to the greatness of our God.

Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” We need to get that down in our heads, He is faithful! It seems to me that if we, who say we believe, really, truly believed the Lord is faithful, we would most certainly act differently many times.

Having faithfulness as a part of our righteous character…it is visible in our intent or how we lean towards God, and from our intent His goodness flows out onto the world like a wave; His faithfulness in us plants seeds of righteousness and grace everywhere we go. i like the idea of making things beautiful wherever i go…wouldn’t that be wonderful if wherever we went, dead flowers bloomed again and grass grew where there was no grass…all due to the presence of God in us that He would be glorified? It seems to me that is the picture in Isaiah 61:3.

The Lord has a way of pointing out His attributes to unbelievers…whether they see them or not is their choosing, but His illumination is there…and don’t you know, the world takes note of our loyalty to Christ, our dependability, our inclination to be consistent and repeatable, it is light through a prism in the eyes of others. Did you get that? When we are faithful like the Lord is faithful, the world takes note of our loyalty to Christ, our consistent dependability and reliability and it’s like a light through a prism in the eyes of others.

When we claim to be faithful and then our actions reveal our infidelities, with fickle loyalties and a wobbly commitment to the truth, no wonder the ever-watching world has become disillusioned with Christianity.

Faithfulness is related to that of fidelity and several times the original Bible translators interchanged “faithful” with “fidelity”…anytime we see the words, “Hi-fidelity” on a stereo or an album cover, it means it is considered “faithful” to its source… as believers, it is the fruit of righteousness to be “faithful” to our source. Fidelity and faithfulness are the characteristics of the one who can be relied on.

Titus 2:10, “… showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Paul used the word “adorn” referring to the “garland of grace” we wear, with faithfulness as part of that crown. Our lives are lived in “patterns of grace”, we are crowned with a “garland of grace”, and by the blood of Christ, we are dependable, consistent, and repeatable with hi-fidelity, faithful to our source.

The contrast to fidelity would be “infidelity”. When a business partner has sworn loyalty to the company but shares company secrets and does work secretly for another company…that would be considered “unfaithful”. Loyalty and faithfulness, or “fidelity” is to Godliness, what disloyalty and “infidelity” is to Godlessness. Do we practice “fidelity” to our church brand, or are we faithful to our source? i think… maybe…these days many are more in love with their brand than with the source of their salvation.

We wear our faithfulness as a ring or bracelet, it adorns us like jewels for all to see as a reflection of Jesus in our hearts. Faithfulness isn’t just how you act, it’s more than what you do… it’s our dependable, consistent, and repeatable lifestyle.

Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are entirely just, A faithful God without prejudice; He is Righteous and True.”

First, faithfulness applies to God Himself and expresses His total dependability. He is absolutely and entirely believable and trustworthy…He means what He says, and does not waver…His works and His words are inhabited by His faithfulness. Psalm 36:5, “Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” His reliability and steadfastness also describe His works… Psalm 33:4, “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.”

Second, it applies to us, His people, and is characteristic of those made right in God’s sight. i believe, seeing as how we are the righteousness of God in Christ, we should be, among all people in the world, the most believable, and most trustworthy… keeping our word with unwavering integrity…as He is, so are we in this world.

Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD: but they that deal faithfully are his delight.” That scripture brings up a point: If you’ve got something good at home, you are greatly blessed and God delights in your faithfulness… keep what you’ve got and don’t be a relational vagrant or emotionally vacant, in fact, do everything you can to not even entertain the dream of being with someone else or being somewhere else.

This next part is important so listen up: The grass IS NOT greener on the other side, it’s green where you water it! 

The gardens that grow the best flowers and vegetables are the ones someone has diligently and faithfully tended. When we leave this earth, everyone will look back and want to know they did the best they could with what they had as best they knew how. In a beautiful, well-watered, green garden, the weeds are pulled, the soil is turned, the dead flowers are removed… it is fertilized and watered regularly. Someone invested time and effort to make it beautiful.

i want to say it again: The grass IS NOT greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.

There is never a good excuse for a lack of faithfulness to righteous things, even if we’re constantly surrounded by temptation. Temptation isn’t the problem, it’s a heart problem.

Take it from a man with personal experience: If you’re in a relationship that’s a secret, something is wrong. If you have to sneak to do it, lie to cover it up or delete it to keep it from being seen, something is wrong. Oh man, do we need to get that. Here it is again: If you’re in a relationship that’s a secret, something is wrong. If you have to sneak to do it, lie to cover it up or delete it to keep it from being seen, something is wrong. We should be faithful to investigate and resolve our internal conflict. You may think, “I’ll never get caught.”…well…be wise and think again, secrets have a way of not remaining secret.

If we say things to others that are hurtful and not quite truthful… when they protest our words and we say, “Oh, i don’t remember saying that,” making ourselves not responsible, that is not being a faithful friend. It just seems to be an awfully convenient thing to say in order to avoid our own liabilities and disloyalties. We are not only faithful to keep the word of the Lord, but we should also be faithful to be responsible for our own words and actions.

Faithfulness doesn’t need to sneak, lie, cover-up, or delete, and if you’re tempted, stop standing there like some impervious soldier bravely facing into the wind. We don’t have to keep standing there letting temptation dictate how we act and what we do. Most temptation is avoidable if we’re interested and we only need to weather the storm. Remember that scripture about ‘resisting the devil and he’ll flee from you? Yea, it really does work you know… it’s the truth. When we’re in the valley of the shadow of death, it is only a shadow to us who are believers. What are we willing to leave behind of ourselves so that we would not sin against God?

Joseph was faithful to God and when temptation pounded on his door, like the wise and faithful man he was, he ran away leaving his, probably, very expensive garment in her hands.

i knew a guy who went to prison for 5 years which served to help him get over his addiction to drugs, gambling, and thievery. While in prison he met the Lord which turned his head and heart around. At about the same time, the enemy started sending temptation after temptation to try and cut his feet out from under him, but he was determined to face into the wind, weathering the storm. He told me that one day he couldn’t take the pressure anymore and cried out to God, “Lord, please take the seemingly endless line of temptation out from in front of me!” The Lord instantly replied, “You don’t have to keep standing there where you can be tempted. Temptation has no more power over you other than what you allow.”

         Hab 2:4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness”

i meet so many people who are or have been incarcerated. They often tell me they want help finding a job, getting some identification, or a place to live… they want help getting free of their bad habits and addictions, and there’s always the sincere presentation that they want to know Jesus above all things…they want to come to Bible study and church, and they are always just so believable in the moment. From years of practice, true though, some are straight up, but many are good at appearing faithful and sincere. Over the years, i’ve come to call their intentions not exactly the truth, but the “momentary truth”…meaning, in the moment, in the “now”, they mean what they say and it’s true at this juncture of time. But, for many, what is true today, may not necessarily be true tomorrow. Most of them are well-meaning “in the moment”, but rarely do i find one who, straightforwardly and plainly just shows up, and is faithful to continue showing up.

i read somewhere that 80% of success is being faithful to simply show up. i think so many folks are often just sad, or defeated within themselves, so much so that they think there’s no point in showing up. Being faithful is showing up regardless of what we think the outcome might be. If you have a job interview and you think there is no chance of getting the job, be faithful to the Lord and show up for the interview…you never know what will happen. If you tell someone you’ll meet them for coffee, be faithful to your word and show up, and if you can’t, call as soon as you know you’re not going to make it. It is courteous, considerate, and it is being faithful to your word as God is faithful to His word. Because He keeps His word, we are empowered to keep our word.

On a side note, if a man is only as good as his word, what does it say of him if his words are profanity, accusing, and complaining, casting shadows, or slandering others? What do you think that speaks of him? That person may say, “Well, i’m just getting at the truth, and the world around me has lied to me”, while they’re busy cutting the legs out from under everyone around them. What does that say of him? Can it more be an attitude of, “i’m hurt and i’m gonna make you all pay!”

i believe a man’s word is no better than the man behind it and a faithful man keeps his word. It’s better to not give someone your word knowing it will hurt their feelings than to make them happy with promises and not follow through. Take it from me, years ago i used to be an old mr. go-along-to-get-along and i’d make a commitment in hopes someone would like me in the moment. Promising to be faithful and then not following through is giving someone false hope…and friends, false hope is far more cruel than the truth ever thought of being. Oh man, say that again – false hope is far more cruel than the truth ever thought of being. Numbers 32:24, “Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

Jesus was the pinnacle of faithfulness and we would be just flat-out egotistical to think we could become like Jesus merely by trying. True, there is something to be said for making an effort and endurance, of course, but by our own effort, we’ll never be like Jesus. We cannot succeed on our own… ain’t nobody smart enough to run their own life. In light of that, even so, each true believer does have the potential to behave as Jesus behaved because each Christian has within them God’s Holy Spirit. Now you may not believe there is such a person as the Holy Spirit. Ok, you do what you like, but i’m a witness and i’ve seen His presence like a heavy wind moves the tree tops. At one time, you said, “Lord show me these Holy Spirit people who are like the people in Acts 2, and He did. Now years later, you are questioning if the Holy Spirit is someone or something which was invented? Ok…you do what you want, but it doesn’t change anything.

1 Cor3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”.

We can each be faithful to our calling because the Lord lives in us and empowers us to accomplish His will. The Lord empowers us to have self-control, gentleness, and to be faithful…without Him in our lives, we would not have these character traits. C’mon church…stand up…we can do this!

Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, it is one of the fruits of righteousness, and yes, i’m speaking about our character.

The world around us seems to not mind too much if they are faithful or not, but i do believe that most folks probably mean well, but often, if they fail in faithfulness they take a posture of indifference. For me, i don’t believe it…i think most people truly do care if they are faithful and their posture of indifference or deflecting, saying that others do the same thing, is simply a defense mechanism for dealing with pain.

The problem with adopting a posture of indifference and deflecting is…the longer we practice those things, the better we get at doing them…and the better we get at doing them, the more we become indifferent for real. Indifference seems to easily fall prey to blind loyalty in an effort, maybe, to at least stand for something. !BUT…

And you’ve gotta get this: Being faithful to God’s values does not mean blind loyalty to men…blind loyalty is not loyalty no more than peace at any cost is peace. There’s another one worthy to say and say again that you would hear and hear again: Being faithful to God’s values does not mean blind loyalty to men…blind loyalty is not loyalty no more than peace at any cost is peace. i think too many, these days, are more loyal to and in love with their brand, rather than being true to their source… their brand being their denomination, church leadership, or even political party. Of course, their brand may BE their source, and in that case, things are certainly a dead end in the end.

Do we think the enemy of our soul cares what we do as long as we are not being faithful to God’s values? Alexander the Great said, “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” Having the righteous fruit of faithfulness in our lives means we are faithful to the Lion of Judah, we are sheep led by a lion. We can not be blindly loyal to our church denomination and still be faithful to God… at some point, i guarantee, our blind loyalties will cause us to compromise our God values. Being faithful means we are conscious and responsible for our actions, thinking and careful about what we commit to. If we say to ourselves that we are “too busy” to think about being consciously responsible…remember…if you’re too busy, you’re the one who said ‘yes’. T.D. Jakes said, “It is your life, you are the one writing the composition, and if you don’t like the way the script is turning out, through Christ, you have the power to change the storyline.” Big think about it on that one!

Our fully awake, carefully committed faithfulness to God is a testimony to the world which arouses faith in others… it is not always easy to find people who do what they say and say what they do, and if they find they are having trouble being faithful to their commitments, they have learned to promise less and be more committed to the things they’re loyal to. It is better to be faithful in a few things than to sound good by promising a lot and failing to follow through. Take the story of faithfulness and loyalty in Luke 19 where the big boss was going on a trip and left money for his servants to invest. When he got back he asked them how their investing went and the very first person whose reply is recorded in scripture said he invested a small amount and got back a large amount. To that, the big boss, in vs 17 said, “’Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’”

God gives increased authority and influence to those who are faithful to His values…our gifts don’t govern our character, our righteous character governs the administration of our gifts. Let me say and then say again, so hear and then hear again: our gifts don’t govern our character, our righteous character governs the administration of our gifts. 

Among the fruits of the Spirit, as listed in Galatians5:22-23, faithfulness is very close to God’s heart, it speaks of His Che’sed, His loyalty and commitment to all He says and does, to His love and purposes for the blessing and benefit of His people. Jesus went to the cross because He was faithful to His word. Jesus rose from the dead because the Father was faithful to resurrect the Son. Jesus is glorified because the Holy Spirit is faithful to point Him out. The Lord is not “God of the final hour”, He is always right on time, just as He said…He is faithful, and because He is faithful, we can be faithful, to the end and beyond. Amen and think about it.

According to Proverbs 20:6, those who are faithful…loyal, dependable, consistent and repeatable are difficult to find and a real treasure when found. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”

We are to be faithful to follow Jesus. We can’t just keep on doing the same old things we’ve always done…we have to change. Not to be repetitive, but, How many people have lost sight of Jesus all because they’ve been loyal to their brand rather than following the Lord?… as He changes direction, we too must change. We have to look to Christ, not to our traditions. He may want us to do the same things for a long time, and they may become traditional to us, but we can never let those traditions become more central to us than God is, nor let them become so important to us that we can’t hear him saying, “It’s time to change.”

When Israel was in the wilderness, they had to listen to what God was saying. They didn’t go to Canaan by the quickest highway, because first they had to learn to trust God, and learning to trust God is learning to be faithful. When Christ calls us to follow him, we need to follow. We can’t just pick our own path — and we can’t even stay on the first path he puts us on…we have to continue to follow him. We must let him change us as is necessary.

Psalm 15:1-5, “Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who can enter Your presence on Your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their word even when it hurts.”

Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is another evidence of God’s presence in us. Let the Lord teach you to trust Him, you are indeed a gleaming gem in Christ, faithful, gentle, and a diligent possessor of self-control.

        Sin, what is it? We use that word in a lot of ways, but i do believe we’ve gotten an odd twist on what it is, how it came to be there, and why, oh why, is it a big deal? One author wrote that, “sin is the denial or ignorance or avoidance of that basic condition. Sin is the word we use to designate the perverseness of will by which we attempt being our own gods, or making for ourselves other gods. It isn’t essentially a moral term, designating items of wrong doing; it’s a spiritual term, designating our God-avoidance and our god-pretensions.”

Is sin a one-time event which we only see as “this time” or “that time”? We say, “Oh, i sinned.” or “When i did this or that i was in sin.” Is it a one-time event that happens over and over? i say, maybe, but i also say it is actually, according to God, more than that. What came first sin or death? It’s kind of a “what came first the chicken or the egg?” sort of question. It’s a word that can be used as a noun or a verb, and is not the same as iniquity or transgression. In the words greatest simplicity it means to miss the way or mark, which i find to be not nearly specific enough. And of course the ever popular “fall short”, but “fall short” is shortsighted and a little myopic because it’s not simply “falling short”, but more to fall short of spiritual wholeness, to twist the standard, and carries a sense of guilt. Many times, sin is more a condition that is allowed to persist, as in the theme of our lives. By the fact that it is allowed to persist means there is a choice being made, and the more we choose sin, the more we typically choose sin and the repercussions of our choices are not readily seen until we’re far from God. And, once again, we are faced with the fact that we are choosing, as opposed to something that happens to us which is outside of our sphere of control. Sin does not merely leap on or fall on us like a snake seizing it’s prey. We don’t wake up one morning and say, “Oh my gosh! Sin just fell on me in the middle of the night! Where did that come from?”

Sin was not sneaking around the garden waiting to get on them. They rebelled and broke relationship and it made them die. But then, God did tell Cain in Genesis 4:7, “sin is crouching at the door”, meaning it’s ready to seize you. Do you see it? There’s tension in the verse with the picture of a trap poised to spring.

One time, when he was young, John Wesley asked his mother to define sin. Her reply was, “whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”

The question is not so much what we did, that is a given by evidence of our actions, but i think it’s more important to discover of ourselves how and why we were attracted to behaviors which impair the tenderness of our conscience, removing our relish of righteous things. How did we get there? i believe, it’s highly more probable the stage was set to slowly hand power over to our flesh to lord it over our spirit, long before we realized we were enveloped in a destructive condition which persists. We need Jesus in our lives so as to prevent our destructive, persistent processes to evolve into a failure to persist. A failure to persist is like the ultimate defeat. The engine quits, our vehicle stops, we’re out of gas and so we decide, “What’s the point?” and we capitulate unto death.

Iniquity is a wrongness of character, and it’s root word means to bend, twist away from the light, to distort. Transgression paints the picture of rebellion which supports a breach of relationship, to cast off allegiance and fidelity. God is calling us to Hi-fidelity which means “to be loyal to the source”. Ooo! i like that.

As you can see then, the idea of sin is different, although the three, iniquity, transgression, and sin are inseparable traveling companions. One gives birth to the other in a vicious downward spiral.

There used to be a ride at the fair called a “Tilt-a-whirl”. Wikipedia describes it as, “a rotating platform, where parts of the platform are raised and lowered, with the resulting centrifugal and gravitational forces on the cars cause them to spin in different directions and at variable speeds. The weight of passengers in these cars (as well as the weight distribution) may intensify or dampen the spinning motion of the cars, adding to the unpredictable nature of the motion.”

i think of iniquity, transgression, and sin like that. They whip us back and forth, using our weight against us, slamming us back and forth until we are swirling in our head and heart, unable to be steady on our feet and our balance is all messed up.

Let us not be so narrow minded we don’t think further than the Webster’s dictionary. God has a much broader view explaining in more detail the importance of the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

We don’t have to be slaves. It doesn’t have to be that way. Romans 6:16-18, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

By the blood of Jesus, we do not have to allow the condition of sin to persist. The Lord lays out a list in Philippians 4:8-9 of things to think about other than whatever facilitates the obscuring of the Lord in our lives.

For me, i’m learning to prefer God’s preferences over my own. i don’t always win, but by His blood and power in the Holy Spirit, i am winning every hour, every minute of every day, because Jesus has overcome the world. He has taken away my thrill of iniquity, caused my heart to prefer to not transgress, and handed me the power to never allow sin and death to persist. It is true, we are more than conquerors’, we are overcomers, and if we’re going to be overcomers, we must DO the things which overcome.

Think, what is it in you, where is the starting point, that allows you to slowly change to not really having a problem with losing a little relish for rightness of character? What is it in you that gradually enables wearing your belt of truth j-u-s-t loose enough that you aren’t bothered too much by weakened reasoning too often? If you’ll set your eyes on Jesus, He’ll resolve those questions while on the way to where He’s taking you. i believe the Lord solved many things in the heart of the prodigal son when he decided to leave the place of his demise and go home. He set his eyes on home, where he was going more than where he had been. i believe the Lord resolved many issues on his road home.

What do you think?

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.