Get Behind Me, Satan!

Take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
                                                                                                              (Matt 16:23-24 NIV)

I've only not been able to restrain my tongue, a couple of times, from telling someone "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block that cares more about the world than the Kingdom of God." I have to confess there have been numerous occasions when the words were at the tip of my tongue and I thought better of it. So, very often I witness personal desires and will being pursued way before any concern of what God would want is even considered. God's will usually takes a back seat to ours.

Peter was more concerned about having his friend around. He and the other disciples were looking for a different kind of savior. They wanted a savior and a king that would rule the Roman empire. They wanted, with him, to rule the world. They wanted Jesus to hang around and be their friend.

Jesus had other plans. He was going to save the world by dying. He was going to save the world by being the scapegoat for us. If he were not to be the sacrificial lamb; as was his Father's will, the world, in no way, could be saved. His concerns were the concerns of God. Peter's was more concerned with losing a friend.

When we compromise God's will in order for us to be able to live comfortably or even luxuriously in this world; we become stumbling blocks. Our focus is not on doing God's will; but, on doing our own or the will of others when our aim is merely to please others or ourselves. 

Jesus called Peter a stumbling block because his own desires were keeping him from seeing and acknowledging God's good will for humankind. In the church on earth, we see this often. Personal agendas become stumbling blocks to evangelism and church growth. They would distract us from the real mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God through the sacrifice on the cross by Jesus for all who would believe.

May God help us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus no matter what cross we might have to bear.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Fiery Furnace Before False Gods

  

   Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” (Dan 3:14-18 NRSV)

Two of my favorite readings for Holy Saturday are the stories about the dry bones being raised and the story about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into a furnace because they refused to bow down to the gold idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had made. They chose to be thrown into the fiery furnace before they would bow down to a false god. They survived the fire. In the end, they were commended and promoted by Nebuchadnezzar for being willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. They refused to compromise their faith. They would not bow down to any other god than the one true God.

As pastors and leaders and servants of God's church here on earth, we have to be careful that we do not compromise our faith in God in order to please others. We cannot make for ourselves mini-gods. I call them mini because they are worthless. But, in reality when we choose something other than the truth; when other things become our objects of worship other than the one true God, we are attempting to replace god. We can try all we want. God will always still be God. We cannot change or compromise that truth. Just as He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, He is with all who love and worship Him through every fiery time.

It would be a very detrimental choice for us to choose to compromise the truth causing anyone, including ourselves, to bow down to man-made gods in order to try to save themselves.

I did a word search in the NIV, the NKJV, and the NRV. I could not find the word compromise anywhere. It did come up in The Message translation of the Bible in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.  

May God grant us the strength and courage to worship no other gods no matter if it is friend or foe who would have us bow down to anyone or anything other than Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Spiritual Warfare

put on the armor of God

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." (Eph 6:10-11 NIV)

There is indeed a battle raging. However, many in the church are not even aware of it. We go about as though we are in La La Land thinking that everything is good simply because we are the church.

I'm thinking that when everything seems to be going our way maybe we ought to consider if our way is the world's way or the Lord's Way. Have we made compromises with the world in order for the world to accept us? Maybe, we need to take the time to consider who or what it is we are actually following.

Peter's first epistle reminds us that the devil is like a roaring lion. Well, the lion can be pretty quiet when it sneaking up on it's prey and the devil is not so different. He comes from behind and works his schemes while the church seems totally oblivious to the danger it is in. The devil likes to deal in deals. He would like us to compromise the Word so that we can feel safe and secure. But, safe and secure in the devil's hands is truly an illusion and a delusion.

We must fight for our lives and not just ours. We fight for all of the children of God. Christians cannot afford to be pacifists when it comes to spiritual warfare. We must take a stand, trusting in the Lord's mighty power, against the wiles of the evil one. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Eph 6:12-18)

May God open our eyes that we might see the lion who preys upon the children of God.

God's Peace - Pr. Judy 

Speak The Truth

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 NIV

So here's the bottom line, to the best of my ability and with the help of God, I will not compromise the Word of God. Jesus said:  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) I will not preach another way. I will not agree with you, in order to gain your favor or to add mere numbers to the church on earth, that there are many paths. I will not encourage the false teaching that we can be saved by anything other than faith in the one who lived and died and lives again for us; that is Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior.

If I refuse to speak to please "itching ears," I lose nothing. You lose nothing. The truth is to our benefit. But, if I acquiesce, both of us will find ourselves in danger of losing eternal life. No matter what the consequences the world might bring by pleasing God rather than man; nothing could be worse than losing our eternal souls if we chose the way of the world before His Way.

With the help of God, I will follow in The Way for I cannot live and would not choose to live without Him.

May God lead us in the way, the truth, and the life of our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J