07 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in Quotes
Tags
aflame with the fire of God, attraction of sin, Charles West quote, critical spirit, decision make you, doing the supernatural, Elizabeth Browning quote, facebook picture quotes, faith, foundations are shaking, Hebrews 11:1-2, John 5:39, keep your happiness, no opinion of God, Oscar Wilde quote, Plutarch quote, real riches, returning for a bride, search the scriptures, Sumrall quote
03 Thursday Oct 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
aflame with the fire of God, Bartimaeus, beggar, blind, Divine Power, Elizabeth Browning quote, faith accesses God, faith comes by hearing, God is real, have mercy on me, illustration of the sun, Jesus, Jesus is alive, Lazarus, Luke 18:38, Romans 10:8-11, Son of David
The story of blind Bartimaeus reminds me a lot of Lazarus, the poor beggar who sat outside of the rich man’s house everyday begging. Lazarus had a meager existence. No one really cared about him. His medical care consisted of dogs licking his wounds. Bartimaeus was a beggar too, but blind. Both had the daily routine of begging others for sustenance. In Jesus’ time, beggars were at the bottom of the social ladder, only slightly more important than dogs.
Faith Doesn’t Need Eyes – Faith Comes By Hearing!
Blind Bart couldn’t see, but as with many blind people, he had a keen sense of hearing. On this particular day, he could tell from the rumble of the mob that “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” No doubt, Bart had heard of Jesus. Perhaps he heard about how Jesus healed people, even restored sight to the blind!
Even though Bart couldn’t see Jesus with his own eyes, he believed based upon what he had previously heard. He didn’t just believe Jesus was in his city: he believed Jesus had the power to change his life. So he cried out, “Jesus! Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38) The term “Son of David” was a term reserved for the coming Messiah, the King. It was a title of Divine Power. Bart was confessing Jesus was more than a mere rabbi or teacher–He was the King! Bart had more insight to Who Jesus really was than almost any other figure in the New Testament! Wow!
Faith Accesses God
Faith is the first step everyone must take to receive mercy from God. Faith is not just believing God exists, it is acting on that belief. Real faith causes your heart to leap and your mouth to open in confession. This is why I like to read and re-read Romans 10:8-11.
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.
These verses remind me how I accessed the Lord with faith the very first time. They also remind me that I can access the Lord over and over again with that same faith. I call it working my faith muscles. The more I work them, the larger they grow.
Bartimaeus is a great picture of people in the 21st century. We have never seen Jesus with our physical eyes, but we have heard about Him. Faith then comes by hearing… It is not just believing facts about Jesus, it is trusting Him with our whole life. When people ask me “how do you know Jesus is real?” I know He is real because I have met Him and He lives within me. In fact, I have talked to Him today. He is not just some historical figure, another man of religion who died long ago… Jesus is alive and I have a relationship with Him. Like Bartimaeus, I was blind before I met Him but now I see.
The Good News was Jesus wasn’t too busy to take time out to minister to old Bart. He was just a week or two away from sacrificing Himself on a cross for the sins of mankind. I am sure there were hundreds of people vying to get Jesus’ attention, but one lone beggar crying out in faith caught the Lord’s heart. Faith will access God every time.
You may think that in the larger scheme of things you aren’t very important. In comparison to the entirety of the cosmos, our planet is just a small rock circling a minor star. You are just one of over eight billion human beings sharing space on the third rock from the sun. In spite of this, you are of such great importance to God, that when you call out to Him, He pauses to help you!
The mighty sun burning 93 million miles away provides the gravitational pull that keeps all the planets in orbit. Yet that same sun will still warm your face on a cold day as if it had nothing else to do. Likewise, the creator God who keeps the entire universe running will stop and answer your cry for help as if He had nothing else to do. God isn’t distracted by the millions of other voices. He always has time for you.
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
02 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
Bartimaeus, being blessed, being told to shut-up, blind Bartimaeus, crowds, decision makes you, feeling spiritually uncomfortable, friends, genuine faith, getting loud, God's word, Jesus, no concern for others, not receiving God's best, over-exaggerate our own importance, status quo, Sumrall quote
What if I told you there are people, even well-meaning people, out there preventing you from receiving God’s best. These folks are not hidden, unscrupulous, vicious individuals skulking around dark corners. They are some of your closest friends traveling the road with you. The problem is the noise they make. It is the rabble from their wake. They never shut-up long enough for you to hear or be heard. God has a word for you today … and everyday. Some of His messages are more important than others. There is a high likelihood you cannot hear God’s revelation for the confluence of voices surrounding you. This was exactly blind Bart’s problem. Yes, he was blind. But his biggest problem was the crowd.
35 As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; Luke 18:35-40
This company of onlookers following Jesus was like all the other crowds surrounding the Lord. Except…this bunch was preventing this man from connecting to his destiny! His new eyes were passing by on the road right in front of him. Bartimaeus was just five minutes from being able to see. In the middle of this crowd were some nay sayers attempting to keep old Bart from seeking the Lord. Jesus’ disciples attempted the same thing with children just a few verses earlier. What do disciples know? The Kingdom belongs to children and blind men.
Here is the point about crowds…. they have no concern about others. They really don’t care about what is happening around them until someone has the audacity to halt their parade. When they get the news that their parade is about to be stopped for someone other than them personally… this is when they get louder.
Every person in the crowd could have called out to Jesus on this occasion. Only one audacious person was heard… blind Bartimaeus. What did the crowd do? They were audacious too, but not for Jesus. They sought to shut-up the one man crying out with all his heart for the Lord. They rebuked the seeker for being loud and boisterous. Bartimaeus’ courage was met with a ferocious rebuke. These “gatekeepers” believe they know what is best for you and for Jesus.
Why is it that most religious folks and even non-religious folks don’t want other people healed, restored, or redeemed? Everybody says they want the “good” from heaven to be passed around to all people. But, in reality, the exact opposite is true.
The truth is we don’t want others to get blessed until we are blessed. We want the Lord to notice us first. It is like we feel the cupboard of heaven has limited supplies. God isn’t acting fairly unless we are served first. It is sad, but true. I think this is one of the reasons we feel uncomfortable in churches where some believers express emotions and worship passionately. Since we don’t worship in this fashion… no one else should either. Since we personally do not feel the urge to get passionate, neither should others. Since the blessings of God haven’t touch us personally, then no one else should be passionate either.
Someone wrote an article a while back on “why the other line at the grocery store always moves faster than the one you are personally standing.” It really doesn’t but when you are in the line moving quickly, you really don’t think about all the poor stiffs sitting still. But, when you are stuck waiting, all you can do is think about why you are stuck and others are moving forward. In other words, it is easy to fill victimized and never give serious consideration when others are stalled. We all have a tendency to over-exaggerate our own importance and rarely consider what others are going through. Hey, if it is not happening to me, then it should not be happening to anybody. Right?
Not one person encouraged Bartimaeus to get louder. They all told him to shut-up. We have all been yelled at or shouted down. This is why we too react like the crowd. Religion even has the gall to say things like, “It is a sin to question God. It is wrong to plead, seek, and go after God like the blind man. It is wrong to be passionate!”
Wrong!!! The blind man proves it. It is not wrong to call out, to question and seek God like a mad man. It might be socially and religiously unacceptable but it is never wrong in the eyes of Jesus. Blind Bart knew better on the road that day. He got louder.
We don’t like those who speak up, who leave the status quo, who refuse to keep quiet, who reject compliance as a way of life. We would rather have people shut up than say disturbing things from a genuine faith. So we tell people to be quiet…because in reality…genuine faith scares us to death. Since God has yet to answer us personally… He is not going to answer some unknown, blind man!
Have you gotten quiet? Have some of your friends discouraged you from seeking the Lord more passionately. Have they said something like… “It didn’t work for me, so it is not going to work for you. I tried praying like that but it didn’t work. God didn’t hear me, so He is not going to hear you. You should just settle down and get quiet.”
If blind Bartimaeus could speak to us again today it would be… “Seek the Lord with all your heart. Don’t listen to the crowd… get louder until the Lord hears you.”
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
30 Monday Sep 2013
Posted in Dying to Self, Quotes
26 Thursday Sep 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
absence of bad, agathos, all things are not good, believing in God's goodness, God allows evil to exist, good, good originates with God, how can we believe God is good, Jesus, Romans 8:28, worshipping ourself
Have you ever heard someone comment, “How can God be good when thousands are killed in disasters and tragedies everyday. I can’t believe in a God who would allow situations like this to happen.”
Let’s say they are right in their observation… and God isn’t good. Let’s take it one step further and say God doesn’t exist. Thousands of people are still going to die tomorrow from tragedies, accidents, and disasters. Blaming God or getting rid of Him doesn’t solve the problem.
How do we answer the dilemma? If God is good, why do bad things happen?
The answer is – If an event isn’t good, then it didn’t have its source in God. In other words, He didn’t author it. Yes, God is totally sovereign and He is in control. God allows bad things to exist in our world for reasons we will never be able to fully understand. Our problem is we use the wrong standard for goodness. People use their own standard for what is good and bad. Good is whatever is personally good for them and the world in which they live. When we blame or accuse God for the bad in the world we are basically saying, “I know better than God and my standard for goodness is higher than His.” Are you going to believe in God only if He acts like you want Him to act? You would be better off carving a god out of a piece of wood or chipping one out of a rock.
Many today have become their own standard for goodness. In essence, they are worshipping themselves and their own standards. Once this happens we will never be able to discern the true source of good and bad. We will remain blind.
As I was saying in the previous blog, the proof of goodness cannot be discovered in our experience or circumstance. Good can only be discovered by going to the source. God’s goodness doesn’t mean that bad things will not happen to you. We live in a bad, evil world. Jesus even warned His disciples that even more bad things would happen to them because they were followers of Him. So the absence or presence of bad doesn’t prove or disprove anything. The only ones who struggle over this issue are those who refuse to come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The good news is found in knowing that God is good. He promises to take the very worst life has to offer, if we let Him, and create eternal good from it.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
This verse doesn’t say “all things are good“. All things are not good, but God can cause “all things to work together for good.” When we allow God to set the standard for good, then it doesn’t matter what happens. Circumstances and situations may get extremely difficult for us. But God’s goodness can be discerned even in the middle of evil situations.
I don’t always know what “good” God has in mind when He allows tragedy, heartache, and disappointments to come into our lives. But I am not in charge and I am not God. I can ask Him and He may answer. But I am not in charge and I may never know. My job is to trust in the Lord’s leadership. I have discovered that the worst thing to do in difficult circumstances is to consult other people before I consult the Lord.
Romans 8:28 reminds us all of what we need to know. “God causes all things to work together for good.” I may not be able to see how God is working for good… I may not be able to feel God working for good… I may not even understand how God could work out some terrible situations for good. If God says He will, then He will. It is His job. My job is to continue to love Him and stay in my calling as His child. God always knows what is best.
The greek word for good is agathós. It means what is inherently (intrinsically) good; as to the believer. Agathós describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith.
Did you catch this? If we cannot intrinsically believe God is good, all the time, everywhere, in everybody, and especially towards us personally… then how can we ever, ever, ever pray and believe in faith towards Him. We cannot! Believing in the goodness of God is an absolute necessity. If you want to radically change your prayer life today, set God as your permanent standard for goodness. You will see Him and His Kingdom in a whole new light.
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
25 Wednesday Sep 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
being able to process good, belief system, Charles West quote, discerning good and bad, experiences and circumstances, foundations are shaking, James 1:17, Jesus, knowing our source, Luke 18:18, Matthew 19:16-17, only good comes from God, prayer, rich young ruler, spinach and chocolate, the good life
Did Jesus really mean that no one is good but God alone? I think He did. This means that no one, absolutely no one knows what is good, and conversely no one knows what is bad… outside the Lord telling them. Yet we hear people inform us of what is good and bad all the time. People say, “So-in-so is bad and so-in-so is good. Why doesn’t God do something about ______ bad things and why doesn’t He do more _____ good things.”
If believers are not careful they will even fall prey to thinking and speaking like this. Eventually, not discerning good from bad will affect your belief system.
What if I told you that you personally don’t know good from bad, would you believe me?
What Is Actually Good?
How then do we determine what is “good” … and what isn’t “good”? You probably already have a belief system in place to process goodness. The best way to know goodness is to use Jesus’ system.
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:16-17
Jesus wanted this rich young ruler to teach Him the standard of good. The young seeker was like most people. He thought the good life consisted of good things, good circumstances, and good feelings. In other words… if it was good to him personally, then it was good. He had been earnestly keeping most of the Ten Commandments from his youth. Like most people I know, he thought by keeping these good commandments he was good enough for heaven.
According to Jesus – Good is defined by source (God) not by experience. Follow my logic here. Anything that is good, comes from God because God is good. If it is not from God, then it isn’t good. If something isn’t good, then it didn’t come from God. It doesn’t matter how good it looks… how good it feels… how good it tastes …. if it doesn’t come from God, then it isn’t good. Also, if it isn’t good, then it didn’t come from God. Can you agree?
Most of us can look at these last statements and understand that this is how it ought to work. The Bible says, “God is good.” Jesus confirms God is good… Therefore, only good can come from Him. But, our experience and circumstances betray how we really process goodness. This is how we really process goodness.
Spinach didn’t come from God but chocolate did. There will be no spinach in heaven. Spinach is a result of the fall of man. It is a part of the curse God placed upon the ground. As a result, people in hell will eat spinach and people in heaven will consume boat loads of chocolate. How did I come to this conclusion? I am being facetious of course, because I don’t like spinach. In fact, I might even be allergic to it. Conversely, I love chocolate… all chocolate. It is good. It tastes good and it feels good in my mouth. In fact, I love just about all things dipped in the stuff. The truth is (as much as I hate to admit it) spinach is good for you. It even provides a spiritual lesson for us today.
Here is the point: Good is not determined by experience, it is only discerned by discovering it’s source. I may have had a bad experience with spinach, turnips, and cauliflower but that doesn’t determine whether they are good or bad. Goodness is determined by its Creator, not by any experience. In reality, chocolate tastes good all the time. Chocolate makes me feel good in limited quantities. In fact, chocolate has a soothing attribute about it which makes many people happy, happy, happy. But a steady diet of only chocolate wouldn’t be good for me. Why? Experience is not the gold standard for goodness.
Likewise, you can never determine whether what you are going through is either good or bad by how you feel or by what you are experiencing…. never! If feelings, experience, and circumstances are your guides you will miss goodness every time. The only way to know whether something is good or bad is by knowing who authored it.
Paul and Silas were in jail. Peter and John found themselves in jail too. By all objective assessments, jail was bad. But no… they considered it good and rejoiced. This explains why most believers simply collapse in trying circumstances… they are only looking for a chocolate experience.
This is why most believers do not know how, why, and what to pray for in difficult circumstances. They pray for “bad” things (chocolate) and neglect praying for God’s “good things” (spinach). They never take time to discern something’s source.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
Every good thing has God as its source. God only produces that which is good. We might use it for a bad purpose (marijuana, cocaine, alcohol) … but goodness is determined by its source, not by experience.
Today, ask God if what you are going through is from Him. Stop attempting to discern your circumstances and problems. Our call as believers is to discern the Lord and the Lord’s will. Psychics and mediums strive to interpret circumstances. Believers seek the Lord. Only the Lord can teach us whether something is good or bad. He also knows how to take the bad in life and make something good out of it. More on this next time.
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
24 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
bad things happen, basic lessons of life, calling God good, clearer picture of God, complaining, discerning good and bad, doubting the goodness of God, goodness of god, Jesus, Luke 18, only seeing bad, opinion of God, Plutarch quote, reality check, reason prayer fails, rich young ruler, suffering, thankful, tragedies
A young man tried to call Jesus “good” one day. We don’t know his motivations. Maybe he was flattering the Lord or maybe he honestly saw Jesus as being good. Jesus didn’t let the compliment sit. He corrected him. In all of Jewish history no rabbi was ever called “good“. This title was reserved for God and God alone. In the English language “good” and “God” are interchangeable. It is the extra “o”.
Jesus wanted to know why the young man called Him “good.” Jesus has a way to get to the heart of any issue. I don’t think Jesus was denying His Deity… He simply wanted this young man to give further thought on what he just said. Have you ever called something “good”, but knew in the moment you were making an over-exaggeration? The noun good in modern vocabulary gets tossed around far too often. It really doesn’t mean much anymore. Jesus was basically saying, “If you want to call Me good, then you must be willing to call Me God. If you will not call Me God, then you can’t call Me good!” In other words for Jesus, knowing God as being truly good was serious business. Jesus knew if a person knew God, they also knew good. If a person couldn’t discern good, it meant they didn’t know God.
In your estimation… has God always been good to you? Are you willing to call Him good, right now, in all things?
The “goodness” of God is one of the first and basic lessons we learn. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stick to us throughout our life. We have to relearn this lesson time and time again… I know I have had to start over. Your first prayer over meals was probably something like this… “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” Did you ever learn the chorus: “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me?”
We are told things like this as children and then the hard realities of life kick-in and we begin to wonder if God is really good. The Bible constantly reminds us of God’s goodness. But just because the scriptures speak of something often, doesn’t mean it seeps down into our innermost being.
Here is the point… Continually being able to discern God’s goodness can prove to be difficult for many people. Sometimes we don’t see, detect, or even discern the goodness of God in certain situations, especially when something bad happens to us personally. When we experience a heartache, a tragedy or disappointment … it appears as though God isn’t so good. Why? Good is not happening to me!
Let me say, it is easy to see bad. I can have a thousand good things happen to me in one day and only focus upon the one bad problem. As I type this blog, it is 77 degrees and feeling nice… but I know I haven’t thanked the Lord for any of the good things He has given me today. Part of our problem is we spend too much of time complaining about the bad things around us and never spend a nanosecond thanking the Lord or rejoicing over the good we know He provides. If you are one of those people who can only discern the “bad” issues of life, you have larger issues which need addressing. True discernment detects both good and bad… and discerns the source.
I am going to discuss this more in my next blog but if you struggle with discerning the good and bad of life… maybe it is time to start over and get a clearer picture of God. You need an update! Your files have become corrupted. If the Bible is correct and God is indeed good, then no one can know true good without Him. He is our definition. He is our compass. He is our Northern Star. If we don’t know Him or understand Him, then we cannot truly know what is good. If we don’t really understand good, then we cannot detect bad either. Sound crazy? Stick with me because I believe this is one of the major reasons most believers don’t get immediate answers to their prayers…. they inwardly doubt the goodness of God. Yeah, Yeah… they say God is good, they sing it, and they even speak and teach it. The problem is …. inwardly they doubt it! In other words, they don’t believe in a good God. Nothing will cause your prayer life to sink, stink, or come to a crashing halt like doubting the goodness of God.
Hey, you either pray to a good God or you don’t. It is this cut and dry. More next time.
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
23 Monday Sep 2013
Posted in Luke, Our Spiritual Process
Tags
a Pharisee by nature, bad, black and white, do's and don'ts, horizontal commandments, Jesus, John 5:39, keeping the law, Luke 18:18, negative boundaries, negative law, positive law of love, releasing our possessions, religion, religion verses a relationship, sin, the rich young ruler, the Ten Commandments, vertical commandments
A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 18:18
This young ruler didn’t ask Jesus what “bad thing” or “bad sin” he needed to stop doing in order to get into heaven. He asked Jesus about what he needed to do next to ensure he inherited eternal life. But Jesus met this young man on the grounds of the Ten Commandments. In fact, Jesus only mentioned five. Jesus alluded to all the horizontal commandments (commandments directed toward men)… but He didn’t mention the vertical commandments (commandments directed toward God).
Isn’t this what most people think about God, the Bible, and salvation. They believe it is mostly composed of a list of “do’s and don’ts“. Most are somewhat familiar with these lists and know which ones they have broken and which ones they have kept, even from a young age.
“Ah ha,” the young man replied, “I have already stopped doing all those wrong things. What else have You got good teacher?” He must have thought Jesus was letting him off the hook by only mentioning 5 of the 10 commandments. Lucky day!
Jesus said, “Well, if you are really serious about this whole business, if you really want to be perfect, why don’t you go out and sell what you have and fully serve your neighbor.” This response shocked the rich young ruler. He was expecting more negatives from the Lord… maybe even some new commandment… something exotic which no one else was performing. He wasn’t let off the hook, he was pierced through the heart!
Jesus had directed the young man to search beyond the negative law to the positive law of love. This was, of course, more than the young ruler was ready to commit. Jesus knew by releasing his possessions (which had a grip on his heart) that this would cover all the commands and assure the young man a relationship with God.
This young ruler is like most people. He felt relatively comfortable with the negative law. We expect a certain negativity from “religion.” Religion is constantly watching and on-guard. Religion has laws which keep everybody in-line. Knowing where the line of black and white flows is a comfort. We can walk right up to it and continue to feel relatively safe.
The young man was good at not doing this and not doing that, but he was not ready for the unlimited reach of God’s love into every area of his life. By simply releasing his possessions… he would have been giving God everything and the Lord would have been able to give him everything in return.
I am personally uncomfortable with this whole concept of being a Christian as Jesus explained it. I am a Pharisee by nature. Most people are as well, whether they admit it or not. We are more comfortable and content with the negative approaches to keeping the law and following religion… because we like to know where the limits are. The scales are either tipped our way or they are not.
Unfortunately, the young man walked away. He is the only person who ever came to Jesus seeking help and walked away in worse condition than when he first arrived. Thankfully our story doesn’t have to end like the young ruler. Jesus didn’t offer His life so that we might further follow a religion. He gave Himself so that we might have a relationship with Him. The choice is always ours.
Blessings – From God’s Incubator,
Pastor
12 Thursday Sep 2013
Posted in Quotes, Times of Testing
10 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
eisakouo 