Love Deeply

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Pet 1:22

 

It was a simple scene: A dilapidated mobile home, a dying tree, and a swing hanging from a branch. The Holy Spirit used these three elements to expose a rotting cavity in my soul. The disproportionate tree looked like a fat hunched-over man. Lightening must have shattered the top half years before. My first thought was that any decent arborist would have removed the oak long ago. My assessment of the ugly tree was arrested by the swing. Some child obviously treasured the stumpy old growth. The rundown dwelling in the background hinted the tree and swing may have been the child's only solace. He or she would grow up with fond memories of the dear bent trunk; the same one I would have summarily destroyed.

 

The black place in my heart God revealed through the tree was my preoccupation with perfection. If a tree is not symmetrical I want it cut down. If a human is not beautiful and rational I want them to change. When someone fails to progress at the rate I deem appropriate I disregard them. I only love God's creation when it measures up to my standards and in my foolishness I usually set the mark higher than I myself can attain. No wonder I am often disgusted with myself and the humans around me. The tree had disrobed my dark thinking.

 

What I need is more plain simple love. I need to brim so full of goodwill that I cannot help swamping those around me with joy no matter how deserving or willing to receive they may be. Giving love is like the sand in an hourglass. I am the top half others are the bottom. I must learn to let the sand of love flow according to how much I have and not according to what they possess. To withhold my sand unless they have value of their own is no true definition of love. The miracle of God's love is that as I pour myself into others He refills me from above.

 

The tree, the swing, and the trailer allowed me the mercy of realizing my pathetic need. Now I can go about the business of calling on the Lord to give me more love so I can pass more on.

 

Prayer: Patient Jesus, let me love no matter what.

Sermon- Great is Your Reward Nov 25, 2007 – China

Intro

Because of our time together earlier this year and because Andrew his kept me informed of what has happened in your group I now feel a great love for each of you. The Lord has put you into my heart and I have a deep fatherly affection for you. I want to protect and encourage you in any way I can. It will sadden me beyond words if any of you falls away from Jesus and the reward He has for you.

 

Good News for the Repressed

Because I love you I am excited to share some very good news today about your situation. The economic hardship you are living in and the persecution of Christians places you in a special category for a double blessing. Listen to what Jesus said to repressed people:

 

Matt 5:3-5

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

 

And listen to this:

 

Matt 5:11-12

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven…

 

I was recently slandered and abused because of my trust in Jesus. It was the first time in my life. Many people have ignored me or muttered against me but I have never been openly attacked and forced out of an area of ministry. Now that the shock has passed I read these words of Jesus and I am beginning to rejoice. I have received hostility from the powers of Hell because of my dependence on Jesus. That is really good news.

Rewards

To understand why persecution and suffering are good news we must first understand what the Bible teaches about rewards in Heaven. I am not talking about gaining entrance to God's eternal Kingdom. I am assuming we all know how to get into Heaven.

 

John 14:2-6

"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

 

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

 

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

John 10:7-9

Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

 

I assume we all know Jesus is the way to Heaven. However, once we have entered Paradise through the Jesus Gate we will discover treasures that were building up while we were on earth according to what we allowed Jesus to do in us. We get this false idea that in heaven everybody is equally blessed. To be able to be with Jesus and see God's face are indeed glorious blessings that outweigh anything, however, some will receive extra bonus blessings. Let me take time in the Scripture to show you that, after salvation through Jesus alone, God rewards according to what we do.

 

Matt 16:27-28

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

 

Matt 6:19-20

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

 

Matt 19:29-30

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Rev 22:12

Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

 

Luke 19:22-26

His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

 

Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

 

'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

 

He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

 

In all of these passages a specific reward is given according to how we allow Jesus to invest our earthly lives.

Negative Levels of Punishment

Just as there are positive levels of reward, so there are negative levels of punishment in Hell.

 

Matt 10:11-15

Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

 

Notice it says it will be MORE bearable for Sodom. In other words there are different levels of negative reward or punishment according to what was done in the body.

 

God is a just God and nobody is getting away with anything. Every evil act and every kindness is recorded in God's books.

 

Rev 20:11-15

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 

Notice there are two books. One is the Book of Life; the other records every action. If your name is written in the Book of Life every evil action of yours is transferred to the cross and paid for while you enter Heaven. Over in the Book of Remembrance all your evil actions are crossed out in the red blood of Jesus. All the good you did is recorded and sent on into heaven in the form of multiplied treasure. If your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life then you are punished for eternity for every evil act recorded in the book. Remember all this the next time someone harms you and you want to take revenge. And remember it when you are given an opportunity to perform a kindness.

 

God rewards. However, Jesus also said:

 

Matt 19:30

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

The rewards have nothing to do with how high we advance in our doctrine or denomination on earth. The greater rewards are given to those who show love in the face of hatred, forgiveness when abused, and trust in God when earthly life turns upside down. The one who is innocent as a child and living free from all bitterness will receive the greatest treasure in Heaven.

Baby Grace

In closing I want to introduce you to a three-year-old girl I met in India this February. She was abandon in an orphanage, her crib pushed away from the others, she cried and struggled for her final breaths. I prayed and wept over her for a long time but I doubt she lived more than a day or two after I left. There was no one around to tell me her name. So I will introduce her as Baby Grace.

 

I am so glad for how God has arranged rewards in Heaven. For three short years of misery and neglect on earth, I want Baby Grace to be received into Paradise with a level of blessing that is a multiplied reverse proportion of her earthly pain. And hallelujah, she will. She was last on earth and Baby Grace will join those who are first for eternity.

 

What are you struggling under right now? How are you suffering? Friend, rejoice, dance, sing out because as you turn this problem over to Jesus you will be rewarded. You will not be rewarded if you escape the situation outside of God's will. You will not be rewarded if you accept the situation as hopeless fate, but as you turn it over to Jesus and call on His inner strength to endure you will be rewarded and celebrate those multiplied blessings forever and ever. God sees and He is with you keeping track so He can bless you.

 

 

 

 

Rev 3:7-13

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name….

 

11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Prayer

Sermon- The Amazing Hovering Christian Nov. 25, 2007 – Sequim, WA

Chinese Christians

As many of you know Dani and I are recently back from a five month around the world missions adventure. We had special airline tickets that allowed us to travel to up to 15 places as long as we traveled in the same direction and went all the way around the earth. Many of you prayer for our ministry and I am here to report your prayers were answered. We ministered to hundreds in the name of Jesus.

 

Our first stop was China. We met some amazing Christians. It is illegal to meet and we had to use extraordinary measures to meet with the underground church so we did not expose them to greater risk. There was one secret house church that God has parked in my heart as a protective father type. I preached to them this morning by using the webcam. I could see and hear our dear friends there and they could see us. Because of the time difference we did this last night at 5pm which was Sunday morning at 9am their time.

 

These wonderful people of God are an inspiration to me. They risk imprisonment and worship for 6 hours on two days a week. However the greatest threat, the thing that I pray hardest against, is that they would cave in to doubt and sin. That is the biggest issue among the Chinese Christians.

 

Indian Christians

Next we flew to Southern India. This is where our most intense ministry happened. We have many amazing stories of what God did. Christians in India face persecution from the Hindus and Muslims they live with. It is nearly impossible for a Hindu to convert unless the entire family accepts Christ because of the pressure the family will use to get the believer to renounce Christ as the only gateway to God. But as Jesus said about the rich man going through the eye of the needle, with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible. We saw many conversions of whole families.

The evangelists I had the privilege of training knew they would be abused, beaten, stoned, and perhaps martyred as they went village to village with the Gospel. Still they went. How inspiring to all of us. However every Christian we met struggled between the pulls of the world and their faith in Christ. They are at risk from the pull of sin, the rampant practice integrating Jesus into their Hindu gods, and legalistic dependence on self.

Eastern European Christians

Now let's go the Eastern Europe. In the six weeks we were there we got to minister to Christians in Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. These folks are still recovering from communism that left as recently as 1989/1990. They are simultaneously grappling with the ungodliness that comes with modern westernization. The threat to these Christians is that they would revert to godless communism or move into godless hedonism.

 

Something in Common

Are you noticing a trend between all these believers from around the world? They all struggle between their faith and the pull of the world around them. Does this struggle sound familiar to anything we endure? If you ever think an evil thought, or think yourself better than others, or fail to seek Jesus with all your heart than you have the same struggle I have and we share that in common with Christians all around the world. The Apostle Paul was this same kind of struggling Christian. Listen:

 

Rom 7:14-25

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

Faith Ball

Paul was like this ball (demonstrate). He wanted to rise toward God and be fully Christ-like but he was still subject to the spiritual laws of temporal existence. The gravity of sin pulled on his old nature. Paul was Spirit Filled like this ball is filled with air. There has probably never been a Christian as filled with the Holy Spirit as Paul. Yet his outer body added the weight of sin. Paul calls it his sinful nature. In the original Greek the word for sinful nature is Sarka which means flesh. Paul's flesh was of the corrupt earth and therefore subject to the gravitational pull of earthly sin (let ball hit floor).

 

Paul knew he had two choices, give in to the gravity of sin or live by the Holy Spirit that was in him. He knew that to give up and be pulled down by sin would mean he would abandon grace. Paul feared that possibility. That is why he said:

 

 

Phil 2:12

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

 

1 Cor 9:27

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

 

Faith Not Works

Let's not be confused by this. Paul knew that fighting sin did not save him, only the sacrifice of Jesus could save him. He said:

 

Eph 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

 

If Paul gave in to sin it would be the outward sign he had inwardly abandoned grace. If I am on a soccer team but I show up at a game without my uniform the other players are going to ask me if I am still on the team. If I stop fighting against the sin in my heart you will know I have abandon the grace team. Paul stayed on the team of Jesus until his death. He knew that was the only place where there was hope for him.

 

Blown By the Spirit

So rather than give in to sin Paul chose the other alternative which was to walk according to the Spirit.

 

Rom 8:5-8

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

 

In John 3 Jesus says the Holy Spirit moving a believer is like the wind blowing.

 

John 3:8

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

 

So Paul allowed himself to be blown by the Spirit of God (demonstrate with shop vac). However notice how this ball hovers in mid air. What makes it do that? Simple, the air blows up and gravity pulls down. The ball is caught in the middle.

 

The Holy Spirit blows us away from the world while the gravity of sin pulls on that part of us, the flesh, that is still subject to temptation. The result is this miraculous balance that is the true Christian life. An amazing mystery is at work here. The constant pull of sin humbles us to realize we cannot make it to God ourselves. It is the humility of our sinful condition that drives us to depend on faith and the cross and Spirit of Christ; to stay in the middle of His invisible power. We cannot move toward perfection without the Holy Spirit and we cannot have the Holy Spirit without the humility of imperfection. So the Christian life is one of constant tension between two forces.

I want to demonstrate that while faith in Christ alone is essential, grace covers divergent doctrines more than we expect. Notice what happens when we move the ball off the center of the air source (demonstrate how it stays up even at an angle). In matters like the second coming, cessation of gifts, eternal security, eternity of hell, irresistible grace, baptism, and a hundred other non-essential doctrines there is a lot of grace. Only when we get totally off of the centrality of Christ do we fall.

Hovering

Are you frustrated by your own sinfulness? Do you crave more of God but your weakness gets in the way? Good! That is where you should be. If you were not bothered by your sin then you would not be a miraculous hovering Christian. You would either be one who gave in to the pull of the world's sin, moved far away from the true Jesus, or depended on your own good works and godliness to reach God.

• The pull of the world
  
• Abandon the true Jesus
  
• Dependence on self
  

 

What kind of Christian are you? I pray you are a miraculous hovering Christian. Those are the Christians around the world to whom Jesus says:

 

Rev 3:11-13

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Highly Esteemed

“Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed," he said. "Peace! Be strong now; be strong." Dan 10:19

I e-mailed this verse from Daniel chapter 10 to Dave Fortescue, a co-laborer I greatly admire. Dave was born in Zimbabwe, trained in the States, then returned home as a missionary. His white-skinned round body and pale blue eyes make him an enigma among the black Africans he longs to bring to Christ. The Lord was using Dave along with a handful of the faithful to launch a revival movement in Zimbabwe when I was called away by my mother’s death. On the heals of our separation one discouragement after another was hurled at Dave and they began to consume him. He had what it took to continue the revival if he would depend on Jesus and stay strong. I finally rejoiced over a message from Dave that included the lines, “[We] met on Saturday to pick up revival again. Good things to look forward to.”

I am just like Dave. I find it difficult to believe I am highly esteemed by God and capable of His power working through me. I cannot get past the brokenness of my life to move on to glory. How can the perfect Almighty be enthusiastic about a person with my hang-ups?

In high school a hypnotist provided entertainment during an assembly in our gymnasium. He put a group of students into a wakeful trance then told them they had heavy weights pulling down on their bodies. They drooped and sank in their chairs, some slipped to the ground unable to rise.

Satan deploys untruth to weigh us down until we are rendered ineffective for the Kingdom of God. “You are worthless, unclean, God disdains you, opposition and failure will stop you at every turn.” However real his suggestions feel they are nothing but the lies of an evil hypnotist. Illness, disagreements, lack of funding, and temptation are never eternal nor are they limiting to God. Not only can He work around them He can work through them. God is not disgusted with those in Christ on the contrary we are highly esteemed, praised by Heaven, and capable of astonishing works of power and grace.

Prayer: My King, make my heart strong for You.

Back To Blogger

I'm back on Blogger instead of MySpace. I got tired of the spam and lewd adds on MySpace. I stayed there to bring a little of Jesus’ light into a dark corner but I began to feel like Lot in Sodom. So I hightailed it out of there before any fire could fall.

Dani and I continue to preach, teach, and encourage wherever possible while using Sequim WA as a home base. We are praying about missions trips for 2008 as there are several invitations to consider from the amazing believers in China, India, Hungary, and Africa. We continue correspondence with them and some ministry via the internet. In a few weeks I will have the privilege of preaching in China via webcam. How cool is that? For now I am writing diligently according to a schedule that will have a book completed in 2009, the Lord willing.

Watch for regular postings of challenge and encouragement on this site…

Love & Peace.