General

Man has gotten it so backwards. We spend the majority of our lives pursuing the ‘feeding’ of ourselves and our families. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in the work ethic, as admonished by the Apostle Paul when he wrote, “If a man is not willing to work, then let him not eat.” But I’m talking about something different here.

In Matthew chapter 4, verse 4 Jesus is in the wilderness and what we know as his time of temptation has started. Satan has just encouraged him to turn the stones around him into bread to address the certain intense hunger that was upon Jesus after having fasted. That verse reads like this; Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Most of the time we read that and think, “well of course, we need the Word of God in our lives along with food and other things.” But is that all it says to us? How many of us are trying to live ‘on bread alone’, or at least something close to that? The bread here could extend to all of the temporal things in our lives, both material and non-material. And what about the second half of the statement? Jesus essentially says man is to live on, or find his life in every word that comes from the mouth of God. For it is the will of God that He commands that gives us life, both spiritual and physical. If we would but understand it we would realize that we could more have life without bread than we could by doing without the word that comes from the mouth of God. All things temporal no more provide life than you and I can breathe life into one of those very stones Satan refers to.

Consider this as well – Jesus is quoting a reference to Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3. In that verse the children of Israel are being reminded how God had delivered them with the manna from heaven when they were hungry. God provided the manna from heaven to sustain the children of Israel by His will commanded. John Wesley says this about this reference, “By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God – That is, by whatever God commands to sustain him. Therefore it is not needful I should work a miracle to procure bread, without any intimation of my Father’s will.” (John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible). Just as the children of Israel were supplied by that which God commanded, Jesus, regardless of what power He had, would live the same way – to live by His Father’s will rather than His own.

All of the things we commonly call sins, every single one of them, is a self-centered perversion of something good.

I ran across this recently and had to reprint it for you.  It’s a brilliant spoof by Doug Phillips of vision Forum.

        “I have the privilege of worshiping in a small, family-integrated church. When asked about our various church programs, I explain that we are blessed with more than thirty different organizations to which our members belong – they are called families.  I further explain that we have more than sixty youth directors – they are called parents.  In fact, we have such a full schedule of events that there is a mandatory activity every day of the week – it is called family worship . . .
        With so much responsibility on their hands, our youth directors have to really get their collective acts together . . . They have to study God’s Word more than they have ever studied before so they can wisely lead their organization. They have to be creative so they can solve the diverse problems of their special interest groups.  They have to learn to be patient.  They have to learn to love.  They even have to reprioritize their lives.
        This last part is crucial.  Only by reprioritizing life, and structuring their organizations properly, will our youth directors be successful.  They know that.  They also know there is a price to pay.  But most of them are willing to pay the price, because they have decided that the greatest activity they can do in this life is to be a youth pastor and to run a special interest organization called the Christian family.
        Here is what we are discovering:  The more we commit to faithfully shepherding our mini-congregations, the more blessing we experience.  Moreover, the more we study what God’s Word says about these little congregations, the more we see the wonder and the brilliance of God’s plan of equipping the Church and transforming the entire culture through these often forgotten, twisted and even maligned organizations called Christian households.”1

1 – Douglas W. Phillips, “Our Church Youth Group” (San Antonio, TX:  Vision Forum Ministries, 2002) www.visionforumministries.org

Some years ago I participated in a course written by Don Wellman called “Dynamics of Discipling”.  I learned a great lesson during that course that has stuck with me and helped me for many years.

In a discussion regarding priorities in the Christian life Rev. Wellman had us all make a list of our priorities.  Everyone of us put God first on our list.  Then it varied some with the main subjects of family, church, job, etc.  We were all wrong.  We were then shown two things.  First, God does not belong on the list and second, the other things on the list vary as to what is the most important based on the circumstances.  I am going to focus on the first (although the second is a great lesson as well). 

A list of priorities designates what is most important, followed by what is second, and so on.  As Pastors of course we had to put God first on our list, even ahead of our families.  That made us all feel very spiritual.  Problem is, the thing which is first on your list is not absolute, meaning that although it is the most improtant it is not always what you are focusing on.  God, on the other hand should be an absolute to us as Christians.  Rather than be on the list, God should be the list that everything else is written on.  We should approach our family, our jobs, our church, and everything else from the perspective of God in our lives.  God should permeate our family as well as our jobs and our church. 

To put God on our list, even if in first place says that there are times, places and things where He is not involved.  As Christians we far too often segregate our lives.  We have have our God segment, our family segment, our church segment (sometimes confused with the God segment), our job segment, even our entertainment or hobbies and interests segments.  Granted many of them have some level of interaction with others.  For example it may be that our primary reason for working is to provide for our families. 

But as Christians our lives are to be more integrated, with God as that which permeates all parts.  We are not to be made up of a God part along with other parts such as a family part, a career part, etc.  Our relationship with God should not be something that gets turned on and off.  When I go home from my job I am pretty good at leaving it at work.  I can usually turn it on and off pretty well.  There is never a time to leave God anywhere.  He is to saturate all of our being and all of our doing.  Lets seek to integrate our lives fully into God.

There is an oft-quoted line in the movie The Usual Suspects, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.”

We live in a world that increasingly chooses not to acknowledge the existence of an enemy we have referred to as the Devil, Satan, etc. In contrast, the Bible clearly demonstrates his existence as well as his goals. Jesus acknowledged him and warned us of his deceptive ways.

An enemy who operates in the dark is a dangerous enemy indeed. Fortunately we have the Light.

Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

Surely anyone can say the words “Jesus is Lord”. So what does Paul mean when he says that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit?

Unfortunately words are becoming increasingly empty in society. Idle promises and outrageous statements are made with little or no consideration. It was not meant to be so.

Our words are to have meaning and impact. To recite the words Jesus is Lord takes no special unction of the Holy Spirit, but to live up to your words when you do so certainly does require the power of the Spirit.

Another important word here is the word, “Lord”. It means absolute authority. To state that Jesus is Lord is both a universal truth and a personal dedication and commitment. To claim Him as Lord is to acknowledge that He is above all in both creative origin and in power. It is also to submit to Him as the absolute authority in your life.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit no one can live such a claim. Our self-centeredness, our sinful nature will not allow such a claim, nor can it live up to such a claim. We must submit to the power of the Holy Spirit, always, in order to be able to truly say, “Jesus is Lord.”