Today’s Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4, 5; 2 Thessalonians 1, 2, 3
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Observation: Verse three is so straightforward as to be a little breathtaking. Paul writes two phrases joined in such a way that the second explains the first. Phrase one says, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified". Now if one were to address this phrase to the congregation in church and pause at that point asking, "How does one fulfill this -- how is one sanctified?" there would be a variety of answers from praying and reading the Bible, to meditation and accountability, to church attendance and personal discipline, and so forth. I doubt that anyone would think to say this: "avoid sexual immorality." If one did say this out loud, the others in church might think this person to be a pervert! And yet that is what Paul wrote.
Application: We so often seem to keep our Christianity in a kind of unreal, out of this world, context. But Paul knew that if Christianity was to have any real impact on people, it had to be real, and raw, and on the ragged edge where people actually live and struggle. So Paul links sanctification and sex directly. If you want to be truly spiritual, it must involve your sex life. If you or I or anyone thinks that one can isolate his sex life, doing anything he pleases, without negatively impacting his spiritual life, that is a deadly self deception. Any true Christian life must be rooted in practical spirituality. Jesus doesn't just want to save your soul, he wants to save you -- every part of you -- every aspect of your life: your thoughts, words, action, hopes, dreams -- your relationships, your health habits, your emotional condition, and, yes, your sex life. This is the kind of salvation that God has for every person. I call it holistic salvation. Some people have a salvation that is like a thin woodgrain veneer over particleboard. It may look a lot like hardwood, but there's no hardwood there. But God wants us to be the same on the inside as on the outside -- like solid wood through and through. That is how I understand integrity. If you cut the thing up, it's the same all the way through. We say, "This is a oak chair. It's made of oak." If you took a saw to it, there would be nothing but oak all the way through. Of course, you don't have to cut it up to tell if it is real oak. You can turn it over and inspect it carefully and determine the chair's integrity. So if I say, "I'm a man of God," then I am representing myself to be made of God all the way through. So if you were to inspect my life, God should be evidenced in all of its parts. If any area of my life does not show God, then I lack integrity. I must repent and get God into that part of my life so that I can be genuinely and authentically Christian.
In the verses following verse three, Paul elucidates what it means to "avoid sexual immorality" and makes it abundantly clear that it is not optional for any Christian. His bottom line is stern: "..he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." You can't reject this and still be a Christian. You can't reject this and still have the Spirit. This is brutal, practical Christianity.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being a practical God. I am grateful that Jesus Christ lived a life on this planet in a physical body so that he could personally experience what it's like to be human, "tempted in all ways, like as we." And having thus lived, you not only understand, but you give us help so that we can rise above our fallen humanness and be set on a Rock upon which we can stand. Help me and all who read this to be challenged to live in righteousness and holiness in our entire lives, including sex, as you would empower us to do. May we be people of integrity.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Title: Three Lessons From Matthew's Gospel / Topic: Living The Life Of Christ
Today’s Reading: Psalm 125; Matthew 26; Matthew 27
#1 Scripture: Matthew 26:6-13
6 While Jesus was in Bethany... 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. 9 "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
#1 Observation/Application: Like the disciples, we can be so cheap when it comes to the things of God. Notice their words, "Why this waste?" This reminds me of those who criticize any church that constructs a beautiful church building or spends a lot of money on something fancy for the church. But Jesus rebukes them, correcting their "cheap hearts". And we who love the Lord today need to spend more money on Jesus so that he will say of us, "They have done a beautiful thing to me."
#2 Scripture: Matthew 26:34-35, 69-75
34 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." 35 But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you..." 69 ... a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said. 70 But he denied it... 71 ...another girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72 He denied it again... 73 ...those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them..." 74 Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
#2 Observation/Application: Most of us are pretty hard on Peter for his denial of Jesus. But as I was reading, I thought of times that I have done and do things that do not identify me with Jesus. In effect, these actions and words deny Jesus. Reading this story and thinking about it causes me to repent of actions and words that to not show that I belong to Jesus. This story should cause us all to recommit ourselves to affirming and not denying Jesus with our lives.
#3 Scripture: Matthew 27:62-66
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day... 65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
#3 Observation/Application: It is amazing to me that the enemies of Jesus can't seem to give up on hateful and destructive actions toward him. Here, even after they have had Jesus brutally killed, they are still worried. It makes me smile. Because, deep down, they know that there is something about Jesus that they can never kill. And the truth is, even with their extraordinary efforts to kill him and keep him in the grave, they failed because Jesus rose from the dead! Hallelujah! No power of man can keep him down. And if we cling to him, we will be raised with him.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your greatness, your power, mercy and grace that you give to us. I pray that we will always make full use of these attributes that you desire to share with us. May we be fully participating in the divine nature that you have put into the lives of those who love, obey, and serve you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
#1 Scripture: Matthew 26:6-13
6 While Jesus was in Bethany... 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. 9 "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
#1 Observation/Application: Like the disciples, we can be so cheap when it comes to the things of God. Notice their words, "Why this waste?" This reminds me of those who criticize any church that constructs a beautiful church building or spends a lot of money on something fancy for the church. But Jesus rebukes them, correcting their "cheap hearts". And we who love the Lord today need to spend more money on Jesus so that he will say of us, "They have done a beautiful thing to me."
~ ~ ~
#2 Scripture: Matthew 26:34-35, 69-75
34 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." 35 But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you..." 69 ... a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said. 70 But he denied it... 71 ...another girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72 He denied it again... 73 ...those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them..." 74 Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
#2 Observation/Application: Most of us are pretty hard on Peter for his denial of Jesus. But as I was reading, I thought of times that I have done and do things that do not identify me with Jesus. In effect, these actions and words deny Jesus. Reading this story and thinking about it causes me to repent of actions and words that to not show that I belong to Jesus. This story should cause us all to recommit ourselves to affirming and not denying Jesus with our lives.
~ ~ ~
#3 Scripture: Matthew 27:62-66
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day... 65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
#3 Observation/Application: It is amazing to me that the enemies of Jesus can't seem to give up on hateful and destructive actions toward him. Here, even after they have had Jesus brutally killed, they are still worried. It makes me smile. Because, deep down, they know that there is something about Jesus that they can never kill. And the truth is, even with their extraordinary efforts to kill him and keep him in the grave, they failed because Jesus rose from the dead! Hallelujah! No power of man can keep him down. And if we cling to him, we will be raised with him.
~ ~ ~
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your greatness, your power, mercy and grace that you give to us. I pray that we will always make full use of these attributes that you desire to share with us. May we be fully participating in the divine nature that you have put into the lives of those who love, obey, and serve you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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