Sunday, July 27, 2008

Pleading

2 Cor. 5:20 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God."

This is powerful stuff. You can almost feel Paul's heart. In v18 Paul said that God gave us the ministry of reconciliation. In v19 he said that God has committed to us the word of reconciliation. God has given us this ministry to serve in. He has made us His representatives. He has given us His voice...His very words and the urgency is palpable: "as though God were pleading", He is begging through us, "we implore you" for Jesus sake to be reconciled to God. The word for reconcile here is actually an accounting term, when you give money for something in return. It is an exchange. What is it? It is Jesus giving His life so that others can have eternal life in return. This is the ministry, the word of reconciliation. That Christ came and gave it all so we could have it all.

Reconcile is deeper than that however. It also means to be brought into favor with someone else. God cannot accept us because of our sin. There is a barrier there. The veil that Paul talked about earlier is blocking the way. This wall of separation has been taken away through the blood of Christ. It is torn down. It is gone and we can be brought near to God.

The point is, God has given me this ministry. God has given all of us who know Him this word of reconciliation. He has made me His representative to others. Paul begged. Paul implored. Paul pleaded with people to be brought near to God.

I have to ask myself the question: How much do I plead with people to come to Christ? How important is this to me? Who are those that I care about who need to be reconciled to God? We have this word. We have this ministry. God has entrusted this to us. What are we doing about it?

(By the way, if you are reading this blog and you can't say that you have a living, breathing relationship with the God of the universe through His Son, Jesus...let me encourage you, no...let me plead with to you let Jesus tear the wall down. This is literally the difference between eternal life with God and eternal separation from God. Please...be reconciled to God.)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Brand New

2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things become new."

"Therefore" One of my old pastors used to say: "If you see the word 'therefore' know what its there for." In other words, look back. Therefore, so then, because of this. Because of what? Because we are dead, because we no longer live according to the flesh consider this. If anyone, anyone means anyone...any person, me, you, my wife, my kids, my neighbors, my boss, the person I just had a disagreement with, the President, the ruler of Iran, _______________ (fill in the blank), if anyone is in Christ, what happens? They become a new, fresh, unprecedented creation. The old stuff in my life, the original state of my birth passes away, the old person perishes...it dies and each and every part of me becomes new, becomes fresh, is unused and not worn out.

Man, this is hope. So many people are walking around today thinking that they are living life, but inside they are tired, worn out, aimless. If we are really honest, we know that our lives are empty. We try to fill them with entertainment, sports, sex, food, drink, drugs, relationships, but we end up finding out that it all gets old. Jesus said that if you want a fresh start, if you want to live a new life, if you want to live on purpose with purpose come with Me. The old stuff will die and you will have a fresh, new life. You will be a brand new person. Here is a ton of hope for the hopeless. All things are new.

The question for me is this: I know that I am in Christ. I have been changed. Is everything still becoming new? How fresh is my walk with the Lord? Have I returned to the old dead ways or am I living in the newness that He has given to me? I am a brand new creation. Live like it.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Held Together

2 Cor. 5:14,15 "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: That if One died for all then all died, and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

Another way: For the love of Christ holds us together, because we pronounce that this is right that Jesus died for all of us - individually and collectively, that those of us who are alive should no longer live selfishly for ourselves, but for Jesus who died and came back to life.

What is the thing that holds my life together? What is the driving force that gives me stability? Is it my goals, my desires, my family, my hopes and dreams, my job, my ministry...what is it that secures me? Paul says that it must be the love of Christ. That really is the only stabilizing, compelling, motivating, centering factor in my life. Sure, I receive a ton of support from my wife and kids. Yes, I have an identity as a lawyer, but those things should not be my foundation. My foundation is the love of Jesus. Knowing this love causes me to determine what is right, and this is what is right - Jesus died for me. He took me on the cross with Him. He took my garbage, my shame, my sin, my eternal destruction on the cross with Him. In a sense I died with Him.

The cool thing is that He didn't stay dead and neither did I. He rose to life. I rose to new life. A new life where I no longer live for the garbage I once did. I no longer live for the things that put Jesus on the cross. I no longer live for myself. Selfishness put Him there. Pride put Him there. Independence put Him there. Now, in my new life I should live totally for Him...not me.

As I think about this, the questoin is: "Who am I really living for? Me or Jesus? How is this evident in my life? When I go to work, who am I working for? Who am I representing when I open my mouth? Who controls me? Who controls my money, my time, my energy, my body, my thoughts, my eyes, my attitudes? Is it Jesus or is it me?

His love holds me together to live a resurrected life for Him.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Make Me Smile

2 Cor. 5:9 "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him."

I enjoy making people smile. Sometimes it is done by being goofy. They just smile because I do something weird. The best time, however, is when I do or say something that not only puts a smile on their face but a genuine warmth in their hearts. My kids do this to me. You know, sometimes you watch what they do and you smile and are satisfied inside. They have made a wise decision, or they have said a timely word, or their life is honoring God. It makes me smile inside and out.

I think that this is what Paul is trying to portray here. Basically he is saying that he always wants to make God smile and be satisfied with his life. He said that he makes this his aim. This is his ambition. He earnestly runs after this, that his life would be pleasing to God.

The thing that is amazing is that he says that he wants to do this in two rhelms - whether present or absent. In order to grab what he is saying you have to go back to verse 6 and verse 8 when he talks about being present and absent. Being at home or going abroad. Living in this present world or living with the Lord. While here in this body he wants to strive to make God happy. He wants to run after the pleasure of the Lord and make Him smile. Their weird thing is that he knows that he is going to do this in heaven too...passionately run after the favor of the Lord.

Interesting, I should do the same thing here as I am going to do in heaven. Even though my address may change someday, my purpose will stay the same.

We are not there yet. While I am here make it my goal to run after the smile and satisfaction of my Lord.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Heavy Stuff

2 Cor. 4:11 "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

Am I alive? Is my heart beating? Are my brain waves functioning? Am I breathing in and out? I am (thankfully). This is what we call "living". Paul was too, but he said that he was constantly giving himself up to die. He was always giving his body over to lose his life for the cause of Jesus. Why? So that the life of Jesus - the absolute fulness of life, real, active, genuine and vigorous would be visible in his flesh that was in fact perishing.

So it is like this: Living--> Dying--> Real living. You see, we have it backward. We think that we have real life now. We want to experience all that we can, now. We want to party all that we can, now. We don't want to deny ourselves anything that we can have. We think that this is real living, and Paul says: "No". If you are physically living you must die. You have to constantly give yourself over to death. You must, 24 -7 die to yourself. Die to experience everything. Die to seeing it all. Die to partying. Die to giving in to every desire. Die to being selfish. Why? So that we can experience real, genuine, meaningful, purposeful life...the life of Jesus living through us. All of the other stuff is empty. What Christ wants to give us is full.

Sometimes I walk around in a cloud only thinking of one thing...me. If I want to experience real life I must deny myself so that the life of Jesus can live through me, which will visibly reveal itself to others who see me. People will see real living, real purpose. I will not be consumed with "stuff" (which God may bless me with anyway). I will instead be consumed with pursuing Jesus and His purposes.

Kind of reminds me of: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." Gal. 2:20

This may seem like heavy stuff. It is but it is something that Christ asks us to consider. Do I want to live or do I want to really live?

Friday, July 11, 2008

Priorities

2 Cor. 4:5 "For we do not preach ourselves,but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus sake."

Priorities. We all have them. Sometimes if we are really organized we write them down and order our lives according to the list. For those of us who are not so together, we still have a list. We carry it around in our minds. Ultimately, what we say or what we write down does not really establish what our priorities are, but rather what we do...the decisions we make. Way too often what I claim my priorities are gets screwed up. I say that Jesus is first in my life and I say that others are second and I am last - you know that old JOY thing: Jesus, Others, You, but I act out this priority list in reverse really showing what my true priorities are. I make decisions based upon what I want. I toot my own horn. I want others to serve me.

This is not what Paul was all about. He had the JOY thing down. He did not proclaim who he was. He did not push his personal agenda. He did not exalt himself with people. The One he proclaimed, pushed and exalted was Jesus. Christ was preeminent. Jesus was the One who was lifted up.

Then what did Paul do? Where were his priorities? With others. He served people. He was a bondservant, a voluntary slave to others. He gave up his interests to serve the interests of others. Kind of reminds me of someone else. (See Phil. 2)

I need to look at my life. I need to constantly reevaluate what I do and why I do it. This thing called "self" is very sneaky. We need to kill it and then we need to live for Jesus and others. Proclaiming Him - not me. Serving others - not me. This is hard, but it is the only way to live the Christian life and ultimately make an impact in the world around us.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Letters

2 Cor. 3:3 "Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."

Letters. Anymore they are kind of old fashioned. I mean, with e-mail and text messaging and IMing and blogging, actual letters written by hand on a piece of paper sent by snail mail are kind of out of date...but, let's admit it, they are something special to receive. I still like to go to the mailbox and pull out a hand written letter by someone. There is something different about it that shows me that this person cares. (I have to apologize to my girls...they did not get many letters from me while they were in college...sorry.)

Look at what Paul says: "You are a visible letter of Jesus that we serve, not written with ink but written by the Spirit of the living God of the universe, not written on the flat surface of a piece of paper, but written in your physical body, that is on the surface of the character of all that you are inside." (My translation.)

I am a visible letter of Jesus. I am someone that the Spirit of the living God is writing. He is writing the letter of Jesus in my inner person, in the very center of who I am, the character in me that makes me live and move and think. The question that I ask is: "What is He writing?" "What are people reading when they see me, when they hear me talk, when they see the decisions that I make?" Are my words and actions a hand written letter by the Spirit of God that they really want to receive or is there a contradition there? Are they instead reading a quick, emotionless e-mail from Glen that is written in my flesh?

I want to be a visible letter of Jesus to others. I want them to see His heart through my heart. I want the Spirit of God to be the Author. Lord, help me to be your letter to others...expressing your words, engaging in your actions, communicating your heart.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

We Win

2 Cor. 2:14 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in evey place."

Defeated. Depressed. Discouraged. Disheartened. Dispairing. Down. Can any of these words describe me at any time in my life? Sure. I know that circumstances have entered and gotten me down in the past. Things have occured around me that have resulted in discouragement. I know that it happens to everyone. That is why I am glad that Paul reminds us of our true position in Christ. We Win. "Thanks be to God who ALWAYS leads us in triumph in Christ." If anyone should walk around with confidence, if anyone should have a smile on their face, if anyone should be able to encourage others even when negative things enter our lives, it is believers. Why? Because we will ALWAYS triumph in Christ. This verse does not say that triumph, victory, winning is only going to happen periodically if I am lucky. It says that I will ALWAYS triumph in Jesus. If rotten circumstances hit, I should ask the question: "What victory does God want me to experience through this?" This verse is a promise - we will ALWAYS triumph in Christ.

What is the natural result of this positive outlook? We will smell. We will project a fragrance. Not really a scent that people will take in through their noses, but instead a certain air about us. An aroma that will lead others to pay attention.

I can think of people who are like this. No matter what, they are encouraging people. They are positive people. They are building people. Even when things are not going so great in their lives. Sadly, I can't always say this about myself, so how can I see it happen? How can I have an air about me where people sense victory? I think what I need to do is keep my mind and heart focused on what God is doing. It is God who is at work, not me. He will bring about the victory...always.

Aromatheapy is a big deal now. We should be aromatherapy to people around us, allowing them to experience His knowledge in every place. After all, we win. We ALWAYS will.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Restoration

2 Cor. 2:8 "Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him."

Restoration. This is an amazing concept. Dictionary.com defines restoration as: "a return of something to a former, original, normal or unimpaired condition".

Here we have this guy in the Corinthian church who was really living in gross sin. The problem was that the Corinthian church was looking the other way and not doing anything about it. So, what did Paul say that they should do? "Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." I Cor. 5:5 Pretty tough stuff. In other words, abandon this guy. Give him over to the evil one so that he will see his life destroyed but his spirit saved.

Apparently the church listened because this guy was being devoured by sorrow, pain and affliction. (v7) It looks like he learned his lesson and was repentent of what he had done. The question then was: "What do we do now? We booted him and now how do we handle this?" Paul's response: "Reaffirm your love for him." To reaffirm means to make your love valid - it even goes as far as visibly confirming it.

Paul saw what was going on in this guy's life. He sinned, he repented (was sorrowful) and now the church needed to respond by publically loving him, restoring him, building him up again and welcoming him back.

I have seen so much junk in my short lifetime in the church. I have seen people sin and fall and be corrected. I have seen some repent and I have seen others go their own way to the point where their flesh was destroyed. Sad stuff. Frankly, the church needs to be a hospital. We are all sinners. We all mess up. When that happens, surgery needs to take place. Cutting needs to occur. It can be painful. The thing is, when the correcting happens and there is genuine healing (repentance) we need to reaffirm our love. We need to restore. If the correcting was done publically the restoration needs to be done publically. We need to love those who have fallen and have gotten back up by the grace of God.

Sin in the church is serious. It needs to be dealt with. Love in the church is powerful. It needs to be visibly experienced.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Independence Day?

(I am jumping to chapter 4 because that is where I am studying right now, and what I read today is so appropriate...I will hit chapter 2 and 3 later)

2 Cor.4:7 "For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."

Dependence. This isn't the kind of word we like to think about, especially today...Independence Day. Our country was established on the principle of independence. We fought for this. We do not want to be dependent on any other country. We want to rely upon our own ability, our own ingenuity. We seem to have carried this concept into our individual lives. Yet, Paul seems to keep hitting this theme. (See 2 Cor. 3:5) We are dependent upon God. Why? Because we have this treasure. The word for treasure here does not actually mean the valuable stuff that you find in a box. It actually means the box. It means "treasury". A place where treasure is collected. A place where valuable things are saved. In fact, this word for treasure could actually be translated: "casket". We are a casket that is made out of clay. (This is where Jars of Clay got their name. I am sure that the name "Caskets of Clay" would not have gone over very well.) The point is, we are frail, temporary, breakable vessels. We really have no inherant strength. We are, in a word - dependent. Anything that we are able to accomplish is not of us at all. Instead, when God uses us for anything truly valuable, for anything eternal, it is because of His power.

The word for power is dynamite. It is power that is excellent, superior, beyond measure. Paul is getting across the truth that God wants to display His unlimited power through frail human beings. Why? So it is His glory that is on display...not ours. Because clay caskets do not have a lot of power, not a lot of glory. But when they are filled with the power of God, God can do immeasurable things through us so people can see Him.

Dependent...not on ourselves. We will crumble. Dependent instead on the God of the universe who wants to show the world who He is...through us. Amazing.

Think about that one on this Independence Day

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Yes!

I am done with my study in I Corinthians, so here I go with number 2:

2 Cor. 1:20 "For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."

"Yes" is a great word. I know that my kids loved to hear that word when they asked me if they could do something. The dreaded word was "no". The other dreaded word was "maybe". They didn't like that word because they knew that it really meant "no". The same is true for us. We love to hear the word "yes". It is positive. It is encouraging. It gives us permission.

Now look at this verse: "For all the promises of God in Him are yes..." Not "no", not "maybe" but "YES"! So what are some of these promises that we have "in Him"?

"Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"He who believes in Him is not condemned..." John 3:18
"He who has the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life." John 6:40
"But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, who those believing in Him would receive" Jn. 7:39
"...we might become the righteousness of God in Him" 2 Cor. 5:21
"In Him also we have obtained an inheritance." Eph. 1:11
"In Him...you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Eph.1:13
"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." Eph. 3:12
"And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." Phil. 3:9
"For you are complete in Him." Col. 2:10
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us." I Jn. 5:14

These are just a few of the promises that are "yes" "in Him": Everlasting life, no condemnation, we have the Holy Spirit, we are secure, we are right before God, we have an inheritance, we have boldness, we have access, we have confidence, we are complete, He hears us. Now this is not an exhaustive list, but even if it was, wouldn't it be enough? I mean this is crazy. Jesus, the God-man, the great I AM makes me complete. I have everything and am everything and will do everything that I may ever need to have, be and do, I will live forever, completely forgiven, pure before God and His Holy Spirit is given to me to live with me, to seal me, to comfort me, to direct me, and I am heir to the King of all creation and I can go to Him at any time, with any request and He listens. Wild.

The promises in Him are yes and amen! Grab them. Hold on to them. Have confidence in them. Live like it..."to the glory of God".