Rooster Coburn July 31, 2015

⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:4 ESV

Steadfast: 1.  not subject to change  or  2. firm in belief, determination, or adherence

How steadfast are we in our devotion to God?  James writes that trials strengthen faith and faith produces steadfastness.  Only when steadfastness has had "its full effect" will we be perfect and complete.  This side of heaven, I doubt that will ever happen.

Sure we say we have complete faith in God, but what about when the message from the nurse at the women's clinic says, "Please give us a call Monday morning.  We need you to schedule a follow-up visit."  How steadfast is our initial reaction when the boss calls you into her office on a Friday at 4 p.m. and starts the conversation with, "This not easy for me. . ."

Hopefully after the initial reaction, shock, and fear dissipate the steadfast faith will kick in.  But first reactions are too often the true arbiter of our inner-self.  Sadly though it is these types of scenarios just described that test our faith and it is through these tests our faith grows.  It seems ironic (perhaps unfair) that the types of things we wish to avoid are necessary to bring us into a fuller faith in God and matures us as Christians.  

As our Lord and Savior prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”  Luke 22:42 ESV  Look at what Christ achieved through his steadfastness all the way to the cross.
 
   

How Do I Know July 29, 2015

¹⁷ If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.  John 7:17 ESV

Recently there was a discussion in our small group at church about following the will of God.  My contribution to that conversation was that for me following was often not the biggest challenge, but knowing the will of God.  The days of the ghostly finger writing on the wall have passed and I don't have any wool fleece to lay in the front  yard.  All too often I have made decisions based either on my research/wisdom/feeling or after a very cursory period of prayer.  Many times those decisions turn out not to have been the best.   

But Jesus tells us how we can increase the odds of making the right, God-led decision.  If we are truly yearning to do God's will, crying out to following His leading, passionately searching for His guidance, we will "know whether the teaching is from God".  Ten minutes of prayer before purchasing a house does not qualify.  The old "God, let the stoplight turn red before I get to the intersection" blessing on a decision I want to make is perhaps worse than not acknowledging God at all.

Folded hands.  Obedient attitude.  Humble spirit.  Sincere supplication.  Impassioned pleas.  These things are pleasing to God.  This is how we can come to know God's will.  Time with God should be refreshing at times, exhausting at others.  Christ left the Garden of Gethsemane physically drained, but spiritually filled.  He had to know the will of God before leaving the garden.  A 10-minute throw away prayer would not suffice.  His only prayer was to do the will of God.  Not to die, run, or call down angels.  Just his Father's will.

His will was obedience.  If we truly desire to know God's will for our house, spouse, career, then our prayer must be singular-  "Your will, not mine."  We must make that predecision before ever entering into the prayer closet that our will is subordinate to what God wants for us. 



 

Beatitudes or Platitudes July 25, 2015

Blessed are . . .  Matthew 5:3-10

When we first read the statements of Jesus they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unobserved into our unconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes seem merely mild and beautiful precepts for all unworldly and useless people, but of very little practical use in the stern workaday world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Ghost. They explode, as it were, when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of these Beatitudes we say – ‘What a startling statement that is!’ and we have to decide whether we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is child’s play; the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies Our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the stern work of a saint.

The teaching of Jesus is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things and it comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with. We have slowly to form our walk and conversation on the line of the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations: it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.*

*http://utmost.org/classic/am-i-blessed-like-this-classic/

"Blondes have more fun."  "Everything happens for a reason."  "Time heals all wounds."  

Physician Heal Thyself July 23, 2015

This past Sunday I taught a S.S. lesson about how easy it is to slowly slide away from God.  Not a fall-off-the-cliff experience.  No fist-shaking, "I am made at  you God" tirade.  Nothing close to the impudence of Jonah.  A few extra snooze buttons.  Going to shift quiet time/blog entries to the evening.  I'll just do my prayer time when I am walking the dog this morning.  All of a sudden it is a week without any blog entry, little Bible student, and few effectual prayer times.

For me the most deceptive of this type of distancing from God is the lack of any real "sin" involved.  It is very easy to justify all the other activities.  Additional sleep- gotta' be rested for work.  An extra chapter read at night- at least it it not television.  Lights out 30 minutes early- need a few extra winks just tonight.  

But just like quitting an exercise program or eating nothing but Twinkies, at first there was some sense of "ahhhh" and relief, but it was not long before the distance from God created a sense of unease.  However, never being one to give up easily, as I continued to prioritize other things above God time, it became more and more the norm, as opposed to the exception.  It wasn't long before I no longer even thought about the time wasted on other things.

Then Les had to be out of town and ask me to teach the stupid S.S. lesson and the conviction started all over.  Only this time, I listened and am starting to retrain myself in the spiritual disciplines.  I know it won't be easy.  Sports Center will still beckon in the mornings.  And Law and Order reruns will still tempt after a hard day at work.  But nothing good ever came easy, and easy was ever good.

Please pray for me in my return to God time.

Reassigned July 17, 2015

The Spiritual Sluggard

July 10

 

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together – both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ-realization, not of self-realization. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.

The test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice and meanness and ingratitude and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritual sluggards. We want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of retirement. We utilize God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realize Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things are effects and we try to make them causes.

"I think it meet," said Peter, ". . . to stir you up by putting you in remembrance." It is a most disturbing thing to be smitten in the ribs by some provoker of God, by someone who is full of spiritual activity. Active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work may be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement. Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement – "Go tell My brethren . ."

http://utmost.org/classic/the-spiritual-sluggard-classic/

"We utilize God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realize Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him."  What a line!  A sermon in a sentence. 

Kristi and I recently traveled to Jefferson City and met with a public school retirement planner.  We are both starting our 30th year as public school teachers and retirement is in the not too distant future.  Foremost in my mind when considering retirement are two things.  First, having enough money to live comfortably for the next 30-35+ years.  (Most likely on the low end of that considering my diet of fast food and frozen pizza.).  Second, and just as worrisome, is having enough to do each day for the next 30-35+ years.  (See disclaimer above.)

If I step back from both worries and use scripture as a foundation, neither one should be a barrier to retirement.

Worry 1- Financial concerns- Matthew 6:25-26 ESV- ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

Worry 2- Idle hours- ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Matthew 9:37-38 ESV 

 

I know church attendance is not a requirement nor an indicator of a person's personal walk with Jesus Christ, but certainly it an indicator of the spiritual health of a country.  That coupled with the data in the accompanying graph paint a picture of a rapidly secularizing United States of America.  Were there only more workers for the harvest. 

Two words that should never be said together are retired and Christian.  Perhaps "reassigned" would be a better term.  We have been reassigned from ATT to more time in the harvest.  Our job description has been changed from principal to neighborhood lend-a-hander.  Writing reports will give way to writing Sunday School lessons.  This is not to say that we are to wait until retirement to engage in Christian service.  We are to be missionaries at work, on-the-job evangelists, but as we move into retirement that "extra" time can be dedicated to countering today's trends of a decline in church attendance and secularization.

"To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it."  
AARP = Always Actively Reaching People

End Goal July 12, 2015

The Spiritual Society

¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:13 ESV
 
Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption. The Church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the look-out for the development of its own organization. The rehabilitation of the human race on Jesus Christ’s plan means the realization of Jesus Christ in corporate life as well as in individual life. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this purpose – that the corporate Personality might be realized. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy spiritual retirement; we are here so to realize Jesus Christ that the Body of Christ may be built up.

Am I building up the Body of Christ, or am I looking for my own personal development only? The essential thing is my personal relationship to Jesus Christ – "That I may know Him." To fulfil God’s design means entire abandonment to Him. Whenever I want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ, but only about realizing what He has done for me.

"My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God."

Am I measuring my life by this standard or by anything less?

http://utmost.org/classic/the-spiritual-society-classic/

 "God, please grant me wisdom."  "Lord, I ask that you make me more like you."  "Dear Jesus, may my life look more like yours each day."  Each of these are noble sentiments.  Worthy prayers.  Grand aspirations.  But each also stops short.  Why do we want to have spiritual wisdom?  What is the purpose of increased Christ-likeness?

Our Christian growth should not be the end unto itself.  In the fourth chapter of Colossians, Paul tells the church at Colossae, "we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."  "Bearing good fruit in every good work."  That is the end goal.  Therein lies the purpose of spiritual growth.

What good does memorizing 100 Bible verses if we still gossip about a co-worker?  How much benefit is derived from increased Bible study if we are still lose our temper with our children?  Is God really pleased with daily devotional times that do not increase our sharing of the Gospel message?  

"God, please grant me wisdom, so I may be a Christian leader at work."  Lord, I ask that  you make me more like  you so I can increase my patience with my teenager."  "Dear Jesus, may my life look more like yours each day so others will be drawn to your saving grace."  Now, those are prayers God can get behind.

 

Where is Your There? July 9, 2015

⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.  Matthew 13:58 ESV

In this verse from Matthew, the "there" is Nazareth.  But what could we substitute for the "there" in our lives?  There = our home.  There = our church.  There = our business.  There = our personal relationships.  What blessings, wonders, and miracles are we missing because of our unbelief?

Jesus told His disciples if they had faith only the size of a mustard seed, they could "say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20 ESV)

Peter's faith allowed him to walk on water.  (Matthew 14:29 ESV)

The Israelite's faith caused them to walk around a walled city for seven days before shouting the city into destruction.  (Joshua 6 ESV)

Why then do we allow our lack of faith to hinder God's working in our lives?  If God can suspend the laws of nature to allow a person to walk on water, surely He can get us through some office ridicule for reading the Bible on our lunch hour.  If obedience in walking in circles can collapse a fortress, will He not also take care of our bills if we are faithful in our tithes and offerings.  

When God calls us into action, He will equip.  But it is our faith that will allow us to see His plans come to furution.  Our lack of faith can result in God's lack of action.  When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink.  If the Israelites had skipped a day of walking in a circle around Jericho, on the seventh day, the walls would have stood firm.  

Do not let your lack of faith keep God's blessings from your life, your family, or your church.

One or the Other or Both? July 7, 2015

 
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  Matthew 7:13-14 ESV
 

Yet again we see an apparent contracition in the Christian life.  In Matthew 7, Jesus preaches how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of heaven.  So difficult in fact that only a "few" will enter.  What constitutes a few when considering the millions of people who have lived since Christ's resurrection is anyone's guess, but the feeling I get is a small fraction of humanity will spend eternity in heaven based on this verse from Matthew. 

However in the 11th chapter of Matthew, a much different picture of Christianity it presented, and again by Christ.  Here he speaks of an easy burden and light load.
 
^"29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30 ESV

So which is it- a difficult, narrow gate or a light burden easy to bear? 

July 2, 2015

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV

 Last week in Sunday School, we discussed the passages from the sixth chapter of Joshua were the people of Israel conquered Jericho and put to death "with the edge of the sword" all the "men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys."  (Joshua 6 ESV)  The Jericho incident is not the only time where God ordered the wholesale destruction of an enemy of Israel in the Old Testament.  Although I have read several commentaries as to why God so acted, it is still hard to fully understand and even harder to explain such action to an unbeliever, especially one looking for an excuse to stay distance from a relationship with Christ.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 is another set of verses I find troublesome.  While I agree with these verses, they are almost defeatist.  Our hearts are "deceitful" and "desperately sick".  Furthermore, God will give us exactly what we deserve!  No hope there.  If God gives me what I deserve, then there is no chance of any eternal happiness.  Taken as stand alone verses, this passage from Jeremiah could cause one to either curl up in a ball with the covers over one's head or try in vain to work one's way into heaven.  And taken out of context, I might choose one or the other also.

But, as with all scripture, singular verses taken at face value seldom represent God's intended message.  Just prior to today's verses, God tells Jeremiah,

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV 

So while verses 9-10 seem fatalistic, the two preceding verses remind us what we can do to avoid God's punishment or discipline- trust in the Lord.  Simple.  Straightforward.  To the point.  No sacrifices required.  Church service not necessary.  Mission trips optional.