Tag: power

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To thine own purpose be true.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” 1 Timothy‬ ‭4:14-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​“This above all: To thine own self be true.”William Shakespeare wrote this in Act 1, Scene III of the famous play, Hamlet. The Apostle Paul writing centuries before, told Timothy something far more eternal, and far more profound. Paul’s version would be, “This above all: To thine own calling and purpose be true.”

Not only does every person carry a purpose from God within, but each person is encouraged to find it, let others help shape it and then fan the flames of that calling into an effective, God-glorifying pursuit. You can only be you! You SHOULD only be you! God’s purposes, His truth is eternal, so Timothy as well as you and I should be completely focused on that.

No matter how we may fantasize or compare to others with more wealth, influence, fame or following – we cannot be someone other than ourselves! Several phrases come to mind to help me deal with my own deficiencies. My favorite, God works in and with my weakness. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I have no idea how or why God continues to see my sin and weaknesses, yet still uses me to participate and accomplish His will.

I love how Paul closes this thought with Tim. “Stay true,” he writes, “for the sake of YOUR salvation and OTHERS.” I am leading my own life in godliness, attitudes, loyalty, discipline and persistence. However, in that pursuit, there are others watching, learning, listening and some are following. That’s a huge weight of responsibility on every believer. That’s a responsibility as a parent, with our own littles, teens and twenties following. That’s a responsibility as a husband or wife with our lifemate following. That’s also a responsibility as a good friend with our community following.

I cannot neglect those gifts of purpose, I must pursue them and focus on being and doing what no one else on this planet can be – ME.

Prayer

Dad,
I may not like what I see in my sin or the reflection in the mirror each day. However, when I look back and see who I used to be, the way I used to believe and behave – wow – you have changed me significantly! I press on, with your grace. I press on in my weakness as your power is perfected in my life. I keep moving forward with faith in who you are and who you have made me to be. Amen.

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Leading in a vacuum.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” Acts ‭7:51-53‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​What in the world makes us so weird and trippy about religion? These men, and they were all men btw, who murdered Stephen for his mouthy truth telling were nothing more than elevated scribes from Ezra’s day, some 400 years earlier.

Ezra was a “scribe and a high priest” in the Old Testament, which was a well respected position and important place of honor in Israel.

Ezra did something extraordinary. He started a school, a school for “ready scribes.” These were writers, translators and keepers of the written laws of God.

Interestingly enough, it was the Persian king, “King Artaxerxes, King of Kings,” who appointed Ezra to this task. “This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.”

Artaxerxes speaking, “And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it. Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.” Ezra‬ ‭7:10, 25-26‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

God was certainly with Ezra, and I am sure he was a great guy for the job. However, it’s worth noting that God never told Ezra to create this special class of scribes who would eventually become the religious leaders of Jesus day (Pharisees and Sadducees). They were like a religious council both controlling the high priest and the people of God. And no doubt these religious council leaders still operated under the authority of the school of scribes started by Ezra.

Just remember it was Artaxerxes who charged Ezra and his appointees to punish, with death, anyone who would refused to obey the law of God. Plus, Artaxerxes was the first guy to finance their newfound positions, “Any silver and gold that is left over may be used in whatever way you and your colleagues feel is the will of your God.” Ezra‬ ‭7:15-20.

Whoa. This was still in place when the religious leaders used temple funds to pay Judas to betray Christ! All that power, all that wealth, used just to force the New Testament people to obey their massive rules attached to the law of God! So when they didn’t like what Stephen was saying, they were in their Artaxerxes given rights to stone him to death. Wild huh? Do you think keeping the priestly, scribe-like position is a good thing for the Church today? I am not a fan.

Prayer

Dad,
It is so disturbing to think of what we are capable of being and doing in a vacuum of godly leadership. I’m sure that Ezra’s motives were pure. Maybe his actions were a little off, but wow it started a very long line of spiritual abuses of excess and misappropriation of justice. It’s a good thing we don’t run the Church like that today… or do we? Christ’s example of servant leadership was supposed to be the preferred model, right? It seems hard to lead without power and money. Yet, this is how it should be done, if we are to lead under the authority of Jesus – right?

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The heckler.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke‬ ‭12:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Luke writes that some guy… just some dude yells out complaining about his brother. Is this a joke? Seriously. This could not have been a real comment with the guy expecting Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute with the family.

Then, instead of ignoring the comment, Jesus bantered back – haha “who made me judge?” It is kind of ironic response given that Jesus would judge ALL THINGS.

Arm-twisting is not going to be helpful in this case. However, Jesus does take a heckled comment to give the crowd a perspective on wealth as well as being poor. That’s right, he talks about a rich fool and those worried about their next meal.

For the heckler he says, looking beyond the cheap laughs, beware. He gives this younger brother a gift, the wisdom of God.

Guard against greed. Money? Yes. Power? Yes. Success, stature, social standing? Yes. Yes. Yes. Guard against every kind. Ah, but Jesus used the word, pleonexia: covetousness, avarice, aggression, desire for advantage. The word is two words combined: possess and more, the lust for more.

Jesus warned against the exceeding abundance of possessions. Where certainly the holder of such abundance loses control and the abundance now possesses or owns them! When there is an abundance, you no longer rule over it, it rules over you. Jesus, in a way, asks the brother, that’s not really the life you want, is it?

Who wants to be a slave of anything or anyone, let alone to a bunch of amassed wealth, power or influence. How many rich are trapped by their own wealth? How many politicians are trapped by their own power-base? How many celebrities are trapped behind the image or fame portrayed as success? All of them are simply rich, powerful or influential slaves – they are not free. Do you think money is what you need? How about power or popularity? Guard against pleonexia!

Prayer

Dad,
Whoa. I do not want to be a slave of abundance! No wonder you want me to be generous. Does generosity play a role in not listing for more? Not being owned or enslaved by the obsession for more? Wow. That’s amazing. Can the joy of giving BE the antidote for the poison of pleonexia? That’s a lot to think about. Sounds like wisdom to me!

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Am I a one percenter?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.” Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The heart searches, but does it find fulfillment? First of all Solomon was afforded something most humans never have access to – leisure.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard about this 99% of the world don’t have a lot. Does the majority of humanity even have the resources to enjoy leisure?

Solomon had a life that gave him the opportunity to even ask the question, “What do I really want?” Most work, sleep and eat very little and have no time to ask about dreams, wishes or even a moment to search for Solomon’s list.

Look at what he tries out for fulfillment. Pleasure. Laughter, enhanced by wine. Then he pauses and admits, “I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.” He knew he was entitled. He knew he had the access, money and opportunity to push every boundary possible to see what’s out there to fill the emptiness and/or cravings in his soul.

He tried more noble pursuits, like building. Oh, he didn’t build these things himself, he only dreamed the design and architecture of what he desired. Slaves built HIS dreams. Read the plurality of he “built,” big homes, vineyards, gardens, and man-made lakes (reservoirs). He bought slaves! He bought people to serve himself and his kingdom. And, he had the unashamed, zero self-awareness to couple those purchases with animals. He bought people like he did animals, and used them for his search for fulfillment! He acquired massive amounts of wealth, wealth upon wealth, money that makes more money, by ever increasing in value. He hired singers and had numerous sexual encounters with women and possibly men as well (concubines). He captured his plenty in this sentence, “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure.” He even tried actual WORK. What did he go out an pull a weed? Did he play slave for the day?

What is the point of all this pursuit? And, why the excess? Solomon decided, since he was the wisest human to ever exist until Jesus came along, that he would find the answers and record them for anyone interested in knowing what’s out there.

You know what he found, exhausting every known pursuit – nothing! Nada! Zilch! He writes, “There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.” I question the wild, abandoned pursuit of any of these things Solomon thought would bring him fulfillment or satisfaction of life itself.

But, I do know this. One, he did it so that I don’t have to wonder, “what if.” Two, Jesus, being the wisest ever, lived a totally and completely opposite kind of life. He didn’t live for pleasure, humor, wine, buildings, vineyards or gardens. He didn’t buy people or animals to amass a popular image. Jesus was financially BROKE, not having any real money or real estate to his name. Every cool little luxury he had was borrowed! Yeah, donkeys, rooms, goblets, gardens and even his own tomb – all donated by others. He died naked and even wore someone else’s burial clothes!

Solomon lived a life of excess and ecstasy so we can see how worthless it really is. Jesus lived a simple life, even a poor life, to show us the perspective of God towards a truly generous and eternal life. Jesus owned NOTHING, but had EVERYTHING. And, in God and accomplishing his mission, found the fulfillment that Solomon searched for.

Prayer

Dad,
If I am living the 1% life, and I believe I am. Then I really need to pay attention to a couple things: To whom much is given, much is required and I need to live a far more grateful, thankful existence. I need to constantly tend to my generosity and gratitude!

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A demon goes to church one day

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority. Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.” Luke‬ ‭4:31-35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One day a demon and the Son of God walk into a church. In older movies, evil is portrayed as mystically being afraid of going into “holy” places or crossing thresholds of good. Along with the symbols and odd objects writers thought would repel or put fear in an agent of evil, the idea is that Satan knows his boundaries and certainly cannot have access to or reside in a space that’s been dedicated to God. Well Luke and the other gospel writers told us thousands of years ago – none of that is true.

Evil spirits, can and will inhabit humans and pretty much go anywhere they want and cause problems and suffering anytime they can.

We should learn truth from the Bible because God is the creator of all things and tells us about things we should be aware of in His word. None of these stories of evil or demonic possession are to be given any more attention than necessary. The point of these stories isn’t to highlight demons or sickness or really even healing. The point of the story is who Jesus is – God in flesh and all authority and power is at his disposal to do the will of his father.

In this story, Luke tells us there was a demon in church that day and had full control of a human being. The demon used the man to shout out its questions and concerns, and the questions are pretty telling. “Why are you interfering?” Like they owned the place – and the man himself. And, “Have you come to destroy us?” They knew their destiny was destruction, but had no sense of when it would happen. Then the confession – “I know who you are.”

That was enough talking so Jesus commanded it to come out of the man. Then after one more dramatically staged protest, throwing the man to the ground, out he comes. Luke adds another interesting note, “without hurting him further.”

Folks wickedly romanticize these interactions with demons or agents of the enemy. They highlight “deals” or “promises” being made to give power, fame or money. The Biblical writers write truth – the enemy’s plan is always the same – killing, stealing and destroying. Anyone who toys with demons ALWAYS gets a prison sentence of death.

The New Testament folks were far smarter and aware of these physical, spiritual interactions of demons and the human soul. We, as westerners, just pretend that evil entities are psychological states of mind and are basically emotional manifestations of our wounds from our origin stories.

We are such fools to ignore the realities of a personal, evil entity at war with God and humans. We just prescribe drugs and group therapy! I’m sure that those who actually have a demon controlling them are frustrated that we keep medicating their bodies without treating their soul. Our modern streets seemed to be filled with these Zombies that wander, hopelessly waiting to be free.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I’ve seen these hopeless victims, not in our churches (although some are probably there), but in the streets of my own city. My heart breaks for them. I pray, sometimes I give them food or money, not to “further” their addictions or illusions, but to let them know that I care and trust that a moment of hope transfers in my words. I want to give them so much more – life, hope, freedom, love. Lord, please continue to lead and direct me to be bold and compassionate just like Jesus.