LIVING IN CHRIST

“I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not ‘mine,’ but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.”  (Galatians 2:20 The Message”)

All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. The more I realize that Christ must be all to me and in me, that all in Christ is indeed for me, the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ. The Christian life is no longer the vain struggle to live right, but resting in Christ and finding strength in Him as our life, to fight the fight and gain victory of faith. 

-- Andrew Murray in “With Christ in the School of Prayer”

#5361

WHAT GRIEF NEEDS

Editor’s note: Joe Bayly wrote a book many years ago about how he and his wife coped with the deaths of three of their sons. He gave the following advice:

Sensitivity in the presence of grief should usually make us silent, more listening. “I’m sorry” is honest; “I know how you feel” is usually not -- even though you may have experienced the death of a person who had the same familial relationship to you as the deceased person had to the grieving one. If the person feels that you can understand, he’ll tell you. Then you may want to share your own honest, not prettied-up feelings in your personal aftermath with death. Don’t try to “prove” anything to a survivor. An arm around the shoulder, a firm grip on the hand, a hug: these are the proofs grief needs, not logical reasoning.

I was sitting, torn by grief. Someone came and talked to me of God’s dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly, he said things I knew were true. I was unmoved, except to wish he’d go away. He finally did.

Another came and sat beside me. He didn’t ask leading questions. He just sat beside me for an hour and more, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply, left. I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go. 

-- Joe Bayly in “Last Thing We Talk About”

#5360

A DEADLY MYTH DEFUSED - Part 2

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2 NIV)

Only by setting our sights on Heaven can we find our way through the confusing maze of this world. Without fixing our gaze on God’s throne above, we are certain to lose our way and self-destruct.

Sailors who navigate the open sea know there is only one sure way to chart their course and set their direction. Under the dark cloak of night, navigators know that there is only one unchanging reference point by which they may establish their way. That fixed point? The North Star. In the uncertainty of night, mariners know that the North Star above is the only reliable compass by which they may navigate the open seas.

That’s exactly what God calls us to do. As we sail the uncharted seas of life under the veil of night, we must establish our direction and set our course by the unchanging heavens above. If we fail to fix our eyes on Heaven, we will become lost, disoriented, and ultimately, shipwreck our souls.

Many lives have been lost in the vast, open sea of this world and have been unexpectedly sunk by unseen, jagged reefs lurking beneath the surface. All because people failed to navigate their lives by the bright light of Heaven above.

Don’t let this happen to you. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. Establish your direction and set your course by Heaven.  

-- Adapted from Steven J. Lawson in “Heaven Help Us!: Truths About Eternity That Will Help You Live Today”

#5359

A DEADLY MYTH DEFUSED - Part 1

I want to destroy a deadly myth. One so subtle that it hardly seems dangerous. But one so lethal it would delude our faith and damage our walk with Christ. What is that deadly myth? “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.” Don’t you believe it.

Just the opposite is true. We must be heavenly minded if we are to be any earthly good. Heaven must impact our lives today. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2 NIV)

We must reorient our thinking and refocus our hearts toward Heaven. Ever decision we make must be in the light of eternity. Every investment of our lives must be made from the perspective of Heaven. In the midst of hectic schedules and fast-paced lifestyles, we must choose to preoccupy ourselves with the unseen world above where Christ is enthroned as Lord over all.

Let us live for the world to come, not for this present age. Let us live for what is timeless, not temporal. Let us live for the spiritual, not the earthly. Let us live for the invisible, not the visible.

There is a restless longing in every person’s heart. God has placed eternity within us (Ecclesiastes 3:11) -- a strong desire for the world to come. Whether we realize it or not, our souls long for a place called Heaven. This yearning for our home above calls us to live radically different from the ways of the world. 

-- Adapted from Steven J. Lawson in “Heaven Help Us!: Truths About Eternity That Will Help You Live Today”

#5358

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE

“Although [ships] are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”  (James 3:4-5 NIV)

There is power in our words. Our tongues are like two-edged swords. They can protect and defend, or they can cut down and destroy. We are in control of them.

Sadly, many people act as if it was the other way around; their tongues control their minds. James compares the tongue to a rudder. When a rudder is left unintended, the ship flounders. Likewise, when our tongues move uncontrolled, the result is disaster.

A wise person keeps a firm control over his or her words. Only words of life and light should be spoken, and with God’s help we can hope to always have such graceful speech. 

-- Dan and Nancy Dick in “Daily Wisdom from the Bible”

#5357

 

A FORK IN THE ROAD

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”  (Joshua 24:15 NIV)

I’ve always laughed at Yogi Berra’s old dictum: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” However, it’s not very helpful in making significant decisions in life.

When we come to a fork in the road, where a decision on which way to go is required, it becomes a crucial moment in our lives and the life of the church. Crucial moment literally means "the moment of the cross." So when we face a fork in the road we need to take the path where the shadow of the cross falls, not where the culture is beating a path. I believe wholeheartedly that you'll not only see the shadow of the cross, you will see the fresh footprints of the Savior. 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson

#5356

OUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

In order to receive and offer reconciliation, we need to be able to claim a self whose very identity lies in God, a self which we know can neither be given away nor stolen. 

-- Roberta Bondi

#5355

SIGHS TOO DEEP FOR WORDS

“In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words.”  (Romans 8:26 Amplified)

Sometimes words can get in the way.  When my spirit is sighing with the weight of the world, it’s encouraging to know the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. A sigh is nothing more than a letting go. Like letting go of all your breath. We have to let go before we breathe in again.

The Spirit of God joins in the sighing, a mysterious conversation that goes on within the very being of God. These divine groanings reach to the depths of our deepest needs and reach up to the heights of God’s grace. 

-- Marty Haugen

#5354

ONE OF LIFE’S HIGH-RISK ADVENTURES

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”  (Romans 12:10 NIV)

Commitment is one of life's high-risk adventures. For when we commit ourselves to people, we look into a future that is not going to be quite like the present, and we promise that we will be there, truly present, consistently and caringly, with people who may not be able to give us all we had expected from them. And the way we will make our commitment work is not by contract, not by force, but by the risky personal gift of trust.

-- Lewis Smedes in “Caring & Commitment”

#5353

TAKING THE BIBLE SERIOUSLY

We need to take the Bible seriously. That means taking seriously the context in which each book was written and the rich variety of literary forms in which it comes to us…

Sometimes it reads like the front-page account of an actual historic event. Sometimes it’s like reading… parable and poetry, story and song. Sometimes it feels like… good and evil struggling to win a victory. Sometimes Paul’s letters are like reading a [personal message to a particular group of people] while reading the prophets is… filled with fantastic images and mind-blowing metaphors. None of it reads like a scientific textbook or a self-help manual.

The grand sweep of the biblical story is the account of a life-changing experience with God that required the use of nearly every literary form to attempt to convey it.

When we take the Bible seriously in terms of the context in which it was written and the form in which it comes, we begin to discover what Paul meant when he said, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NRSV)

-- Adapted from James A. Harnish in “A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church”

#5352

UNEARNED AND UNDESERVED

“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].”  (Ephesians 2:8-9 Amplified Bible)

Salvation is worth working for. It is worth one’s going around the world on one’s hands and knees, climbing its mountains, crossing its valleys, swimming its rivers, going through all manner of hardship in order to attain it. But we do not get it that way. It is to the one who [simply and humbly] believes [in Christ]. 

-- Dwight Lyman Moody

#5351

IN THE LIKENESS OF HUMANITY

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)

Our earthly existence takes on new meaning when we remember that God [in Christ] chose to put on our humanity and chose to wear that humanity as an ordinary working man.

Our ordinary existence is not so ordinary when we remember that God chose this existence to give us a true picture of the divine. Therefore there are no unimportant moments in any lifetime.  All are precious gifts of opportunity to know and serve the One who made us and chose to stand with us and like us in the gift of life. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God” (Nashville, Tenn.: Upper Room Books, 2003, Used with permission)

#5350

JESUS OUR GUIDE

“’Lord,’ said Thomas, ‘we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’”  (John 14:5-6a)

In “A Slow and Certain Light,” missionary Elisabeth Elliott tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rain forest east of the Andes. They sought no advice, just a few phrases to converse with the Indians.

She writes: “Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers came to me -- confident and, we think, well-informed and well-equipped. But has it occurred to us that with all our accumulation of stuff, something is missing?”

She suggests that we often ask God for too little. “We know what we need -- a yes or no answer, please, to a simple question. Perhaps a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way.

“What we really ought to have is the Guide Himself. Maps, road signs, a few useful phrases are good things, but infinitely better is Someone who has been there before and knows the way.” 

-- From “750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers” compiled by Craig Brian Larson and Leadership Journal

#5349

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

Men, I hate to break it to those of us who like to exercise worn stereotypes, but women are not the only gender to have benefited from the social revolutions of the past thirty years. Like it or not, John Wayne is long gone; sometimes manly men really do just need to have a good cry; and the idea that strong, silent men are supposed to “bite the bullet and get the job done, by golly, because we don’t ask for help from anyone…” is not only pathetically inappropriate but fundamentally contrary to God’s best intention for our lives.

Men who want to grow in Christlike grace need one another.

Men who intend to be the kind of followers Christ empowers through His strength and love more often than not discover their purpose and their power in community.

Besides, we were created specifically for relationship, relationship with God and with one another. We were created for communion with God and with other men. Being alone runs contrary to the most primary and basic intention of creation. 

-- Derek Maul in “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men”

#5348

SPIRITUAL PREPARATION FOR MISSION

When we expect spiritually immature people suddenly to become committed to outreach, we end up asking people to serve a compulsion, not God. Look at the example of Jesus and His disciples. He did not call them and immediately ask them to care for the poor, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, heal the sick, and make disciples of all nations. Instead, He spent the early part of His ministry preparing them. He focused on forming their faith. Eventually He gave them small missions of teaching and healing. When they failed and became discouraged, He encouraged them and taught them how to succeed. It was only toward the end of His life that He gave them the authority to fully serve Him in mission, and it was only after His death and resurrection that He commanded them to go out and share the gospel. Mission and ministry were the result of spiritual preparation and maturation.

In far too many… churches there has not been enough focus on preparing people spiritually for mission. We prepare people for mission by creating an environment of trust, encouragement, compassion, vision, selflessness, and sacrifice. Spiritual leaders recognize the importance of first forming people spiritually for their mission. 

-- N. Graham Standish in “Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power”

#5347

WHAT A MESS!

Six-year-old Brandon decided one Mother’s Day morning to fix his mother pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom, but it was getting very bad. He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked! Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.

Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky. And just then he saw Mom standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his mother just watched him. Then, walking through the mess, she picked up her crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting her own pajamas white and sticky in the process.

That's how God in Christ comes to us and deals with our messes.  We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend or we can’t stand our job or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do. That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. 

-- Adapted from an unknown source, submitted by a SOUND BITES subscriber in Wisconsin

#5346

THAT SINKING FEELING

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?’”  (Matthew 14:29b-31 NIV)

I've heard many Christians say that faith is not a matter of feelings. Generalizations can be misleading. God created us -- feelings and all. In many Bible stories, we see God being "moved" to action. Many miracles of Jesus are preceded by heartfelt compassion.

It is not wise to deny our feelings. Rather, we should seek to know the source of our feelings. Peter, in his joy and relief of seeing the Lord, began to walk on water. But fear of the rough sea soon caused him to sink. For Peter, fear of being overcome by the sea literally became a sinking feeling.

Do you ever get that sinking feeling? Denying it won't change your situation and going it alone isn't going to save you. Instead do what Peter did: Immediately take hold of the Lord's hand. A rescue may seem far away, but the Lord is always within reach. Your feelings can be a very powerful way in which the Lord works out His plan in you. 

-- Alan Neal

#5345

THAT ALL-TIME RELIGION

“Calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, Jesus said to them, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”  (Mark 8:34)

I am not here to please the dominant culture or to serve any all-show, no-go bureaucracies. I live to please my Lord and Savior. My spiritual taste buds have graduated from fizz and froth to Fire and Ice. Sometimes I’m called to sharpen the cutting edge, and sometimes to blunt the cutting edge. Don’t give me that old-time religion. Don’t give me that new-time religion. Give me that all-time religion that’s as hard as rock and soft as snow.

I’ve stopped trying to make life work, and started trying to make life sing. I’m finished with the secondhand sensations; third-rate dreams; low-risk, high-rise trades; and goose-stepping crusades. I no longer live by and for anything but everything God-breathed, Christ-centered, and Spirit-driven. 

-- Leonard Sweet, excerpted from his “Magna Carta of Trust” published in his book “A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Cafe”

SHARING GRACE

Jesus said, “Since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”  (John 13:14-15 NLT)

Grace has happened to you. Look at your feet. They are wet -- grace soaked. Your toes and arches and heels have felt the cool basin of God’s grace. Jesus has washed the grimiest parts of your life. He didn’t bypass you and carry the basin toward someone else. If grace were a wheat field, he’s bequeathed you the state of Kansas. Can’t you share your grace with others?

To accept grace is to accept the vow to give it. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#5343

FEAR OF CHANGE

“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there [by the pool], and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’”  (John 5:5-6 NKJV)

Who wouldn’t want help? Someone afraid of change.

This man was sick for quite a duration. At a point approaching four decades, it was the only life he knew. He may not have liked it, but he learned to survive as a beggar. Times were tough, but on the upside he hadn’t had to learn a trade or put his back into hard work. His home was his mat. His community was the pool, and he was who he was. It’s amazing what people can learn to endure.

And isn’t there a touch of this man in all of us? We accept a lot of things that we know could be better. We say, “Well, that’s just my life,” as if it’s engraved in stone. We decide God must want us to be here, because if he didn’t, he’d make something else happen. In other words, we blame God. And if it’s God’s fault that we are in the situation we are in, then why would we ask Him for help?

After a while we get used to things, and a limited life is less frightening than the thought of change. Resignation is better than disappointment. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins”

#5342

OUR RESPONSE MATTERS

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:28 NIV)

We cannot always or even often control events, but we can control how we respond to them. When things happen which dismay or appall, we ought to look to God for His meaning, remembering that He is not taken by surprise not can His purposes be thwarted in the end. What God looks for is those who will worship Him in the midst of every circumstance. Our outlook of inquiring trust glorifies Him. This is our first responsibility: to glorify God. In the face of life’s worst reversals and tragedies, the response of a faithful Christian is praise -- not for the wrong itself, certainly, but for who God is and for the ultimate assurance that there is a pattern being worked out for those who love Him. 

-- Elisabeth Elliot in “A Lamp for My Feet” 

(Elisabeth Elliot, 1926 – 2015, was a Christian author and speaker. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca people (now known as Huaorani) of eastern Ecuador. She later spent two years as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband. Returning to the United States after many years in South America, she became widely known as the author of over twenty books and as a speaker. Elliot toured the country, sharing her knowledge and experience, well into her seventies.)

#5341