Tag: Grace

Cherish: The Greatest Treasure

Dr. J.D. Wilkins3 Comments

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It’s 8:25 a.m. at my home in Texas, and by now families with children have been up a couple hours doing “Christmas.”  The room where they gathered is trashed with torn paper wrappings, boxes, ribbons and bows.  Everyone’s smiling or frowning based on the joy or disappointment of a gift given or received, pre-determined by their expectations of what Christmas would be for them this year.  What I cherish today are the memories of Christmases past, where everyone in my family received something that brought genuine joy resulting in smiles and laughter.  Today I sat looking at the fire, and remembered fondly all those happy times.  In some ways I’m a very rich man, because I can still remember these things, and smile at myself for having been a part of it all.

The greatest treasure is knowing God is not finished with me yet.  I’m making new memories now.  The road is not less difficult or challenging, as anyone who has adult children also knows.  It’s just different, that’s all.  Things change.  People change.  Circumstances change.  But one thing never changes.  God’s love, demonstrated in such a tangible way, with the baby in a manger, who became the man on a cross.  God announced to the universe His great love for all mankind.  And God is not finished with me, or us, yet.

When is Christmas really over?  When the presents are all unwrapped?  When the tree comes down, the decorations are stored, and the house is back to “normal?”  When the returns are made, and you’ve gotten for yourself what you wished for?

For me, Christmas is never really over.  I’m not one of those weirdos’ who keeps decorations and trees up year round, that’s not what I mean.  I mean, I’m only too aware that Immanuel means “God with us.”  I get that when I stepped over the line of faith into Jesus and His grace, the greatest gift to mankind ever offered was mine to enjoy forever.  In that moment the Holy Spirit of God came to abide in me, to set up a permanent dwelling in my heart and mind.  And here’s the thing…

The Grace given at Christmas when this child was born, is the same grace God expects me to dish out lavishly on the people I meet on this grand adventure called life.  Each and every time I answer insults with a kind word, receive each anger charged look and return it with a smile, or give a cup of coffee expecting nothing in return, I’m living out the expectation of God for me. Grace giver.

I may be the only form of Jesus some people ever see, and if this is true, what do they see?

Today, I cherish the idea that Christ did it all for me.  Those who know me, know I don’t deserve this great gift.  But the love God has for me personally, is the greatest gift I’ve ever received, one I will always treasure.  I want to share it with the world; with anyone who will read or listen, that’s what this blog is really all about.

Join me in the process if you agree with me.  Share this blog on your FaceBook, send it in an email, or just share the love of God with someone today.  Be a grace giver.

Cherish

Bliss: Not Ignorance

Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

Bliss

Even if angels sit atop our trees, adorned with Christmas ease, all is not necessarily blissful this time of year.  It’s amazing to me that the Son of Man would come to offer grace and forgiveness for a lost world steeped in sin.  I know only too well, that this precious gift is not offered so easily by one human to another human, that’s what makes Grace – a God thing.  But forgiveness is within our reach, if we will but embrace the love He has shown to us in the birth of Jesus.

What a blissful thought…

That this Christmas might be filled with receiving and offering forgiveness, with a touch of grace, because we know the LORD.

This is my Christmas wish.  It is not ignorance, or naivete; just a blissful Christmas wish.

 

Bliss

Rancorous Relationships

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Daily Post:   Bitter

bitter

It tastes like the tart, acidic, bite of lemon.  That moment when you realize the majority of people in your life don’t understand, can’t understand, wouldn’t fathom the depth of pain that caused your actions, even if you explained it to them.  Even for the most transparent of people, there are parts of us that stay hidden, unveiled to no one. When these shadow driven areas determine our actions, there is almost always collateral damage.  The resulting attitudes of those around us become jaundiced or sullen, resentful or bitter, and they lash out in anger at us for hurting them in some way.  Collateral damage.

Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.  Rancorous relationships abound in the world today, because people hurt each other.  Everyone has a thought process that seems rational to them at times, which if shared generally even with their closest friends might seem to the friend as madness.  If the thought process takes form, and becomes activated in behavior, the friend can sometimes be the one who reacts like a terrorist ready to tear your head off.  Or worse, become the one who starts the rumors that ruins your reputation among others that don’t know you well.  Is any of this ringing anyone else’s bell out there?

Imagine being Jewish in the first century city of Antioch, and hearing the narrative about Jesus for the first time.  It’s a story so bold, and so brilliant you’re intrigued, but know that you can’t act like it, for fear of offending your friends and family.  After all, you’re like one big family as Jews, and the Roman government is enemy enough.  You don’t want your own people to turn on you.  But you become convinced of the action you must take, to surrender to the truth of Jesus as Lord and Messiah.  You know the moment that this comes out you will be like the others of “The Way” and you will become an outcast.  Your parents will disown you and treat you as though you have died.  The man you work for will fire you, and treat you as dead.  Your brothers and sisters will ignore you and pretend they don’t see you on the street.  Your life as you know it will be over, dead.

But you choose Jesus anyway.

What results?

You are dead, but alive.

Just like Jesus.

The bitter actions of the people in your life, who don’t understand you choices, do not determine whether the choice was right or wrong, good or bad, God does.  Their harsh rumors and speculations of how you’ve gone mad, cannot determine your next steps.

Be careful in interpreting my words here.  I’m not bitter.  I’m pragmatic.  I get that 90% of the people around me don’t understand my actions, or the reasons for my actions.  My attempts at transparency can only go so far.  That said, I’ve learned the hard way, that the very people who ought to be loving, forgiving, kind and accepting, are the ones who lash out bitterly in retribution, on a vengeful vendetta to judge and destroy those who they deem “unworthy” of grace (me).  The church can be very unforgiving, and unloving, for those who need grace most.

I’m really struggling here to make sense of how bitter feelings wreck a church, and destroy people’s lives within the fellowship of believers.  It really is this simple:  either we believe Paul was writing with the authority of the Holy Spirit… or we should quit calling ourselves Christians and join the country club instead of giving our money to churches.  Here’s what Paul says about it.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ – God forgave you.

The picture above is the epitome of this verse.

Grow up.

 

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Trendy

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via Swarm

What we called “fads” when I was growing up (think bell-bottom jeans, chia pets, and disco dancing), are more likely today called trends.  However, it might just as easily be called “mob mentality” as people swarm to what’s hot at the moment.  Some easy examples might be: the stock market, fashion apparel, automobiles, music, and yes… religion.  Let me be clear.  I said religion, not Christianity.  Not many people today rush to join the movement of TRUE Christianity.

world-religions

Pundits like to lump all faith models together in a box, and call them “religion,” and in so doing deny there is ever really any difference in any of them.  Whether it’s Islam, Baha’i, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, Unitarianism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Native Spirituality, Judaism, … or Christianity… pundits say they are all the same.  They say it’s a swarm mentality that draws us to these flames.  I contend that the religions of the world have only one thing in common.  Humans are created with an awareness of God, and have tried since the world began to worship the Creator, but in twisted man-invented ways.  Humans in their core DNA are hard-wired to worship something, or someone, so in the absence of wealth, fashion, cars, and music… they create deities of their own design.

Within the construct of each world-religious system, there are variations and themes which spread their influence in thousands of different directions.  Following the trends of ancient peoples, in the 21st century it is often “fashionable” (I call it swarmy) to announce your inclusion into one of the “newer” or “more ancient” religious systems like Scientology (newer) or Satanism (ancient).  People swarm to a widely-shared but short-lived enthusiasm for something new.  Until the next “new” thing comes along.  Or until the fallacy of the bandwagon they hopped onto fails to satisfy their need for new.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus had thousands of followers swarming into every tiny village and town He wandered through.  They all sought to catch a glimpse of the miracle-working carpenter who taught the Torah and read the Prophets with authority.  The swarming, teeming crowds became so strong at one point that He had to get into a boat and push off shore just a bit to keep from getting trampled under foot. [Matthew 13:2]  Most of the crowds from His first year had abandoned Him by the third year, and were no where to be found in the end.  Thousands cheered and celebrated as He entered Jerusalem on Sunday before Passover.  Thousands yelled and cursed Him, as He carried His own cross through the streets to Golgotha.  Do you see the “swarm” mentality in this historically accurate narrative?

It takes more commitment than a “fad” mentality to be in relationship with the Creator of the universe.  Jesus told one woman, “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.  Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” [John 4:23-24]  These words apply today, at least as much as when they were spoken, perhaps even more.  Combine this thought with what Jesus said that night he was arrested, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” [John 14:6]

These two foundational truths compel us to seek more than a fad, more than a trendy spiritual answer.  We find it only in the ultimate reality of Jesus’ words to one of the Jewish leaders named Nicodemus.  John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and ONLY Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”   Jesus died for the swarming mass of humanity.  When Jesus said “everyone,” everyone means me.  Everyone means you.  It requires more than just being part of the swarm.  Stepping over the line of faith, and believing these three verses, receiving the grace offered in Christ, is a personal commitment.  It is how a person fulfills their created purpose.  Living in this grace and extending God’s glory, is what true worship means.  It requires more than just being part of the swarm.

Laodicea

Dr. J.D. Wilkins2 Comments

via Lukewarm

Laodicea was located on a plateau several hundred feet high, making the city easily fortified, but vulnerable in another way.  Located in a valley but up on a plateau, the city had no natural springs or sources of water at the top.  Consequently, the city had to pipe in the water from miles away, using an elaborate aqueduct system, and this water system was vulnerable to attacking forces.  Antiochus II established the city, naming it for his first wife, establishing the town’s founding date as sometime before 253 B.C., since by this time he had divorced her.

There was a large Jewish contingent in the valley’s three cities, which led the local governor to issue a decree to stop them sending the temple taxes to Jerusalem.  Of course the committed families tried to send it anyway, but this tax shipment was confiscated. From the amount of gold confiscated by the Roman government, scholars have determined that around 7,500 Jewish men lived in Laodicea at the time.  Which means that several thousand more women and children would have lived there also.  At the time of peace in the Roman Empire, these families prospered as the city grew and prospered.

The city served as an important commercial center, banking center and industrial center. It was so rich in fact, that when ruined by an earthquake in 60 A.D., the city used its own resources to rebuild; it needed no additional assistance from Rome.  The most famous product coming out of Laodicea at the time was soft, black wool.  This wool, extremely valuable and sought after, was used in clothes, carpets, and for many other products. Another important aspect of the city’s wealth came from medicine.  In Laodicea an eye-salve was discovered that the city then exported all over the Greco-Roman world.  These three aspects of the city – finance, wool, and eye salve -are seen clearly in what Jesus has to say to this church.

Revelation 3:14-22 is a letter from Jesus to the church in Laodicea.  We look back at this ancient document and wonder if it could really hold some information which applies to our lives today.  The clear answer for those who want to find it is, yes.  The church of Laodicea looks so similar to many churches today, and many scholars have said so.  Consider this quote from John R. W. Stott:

Perhaps none of the seven letters is more appropriate to the twentieth-century church than this. It describes vividly the respectable, sentimental, nominal, skin-deep religiosity which is so widespread among us today. Our Christianity is flabby and anemic. We appear to have taken a lukewarm bath of religion.

In fact it was this church’s lukewarm condition that led Jesus to say:

Revelation 3:16
So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

In this letter, Jesus is calling lost people to step over the line of  faith, the weak in faith to become zealous in their convictions, and the lukewarm to become committed through repentance.  The point of Revelation 3:16 is not to bring condemnation, but to stimulate the church to return to Jesus in faith and service.  It is restorative, not judgmental.  It is a second chance, or maybe a third.  That’s why the spitting out part is not the last thing Jesus says to this church.  He also says:

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

If anyone… is the operative phrase here.  Jesus excludes no one from His grace.  Jesus will reject no one who comes in faith.  Jesus is all-inclusive to those who return to Him, or having rejected Him come in repentance for their lack of faith.  For the church today, for people of faith all over the world, this letter to Laodicea ends with an applicable truth.

Revelation 3:22
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.