Fear of Death

The twentieth century New Testament in Revelation chapter two, last clause of verse twenty-three states “...and I will give to each one of you what his life deserves.”

It’s evident from this verse’s context that Jesus is speaking of the here and now.  He’s just finished pronouncing a here and now judgment on Jezebel and her children.  Further on in the letter he tells the church of their eternal reward if they’re able to overcome. He’s made it plain that some spiritual rewards -as untraceable as they may outwardly seem- come in this life time. This thought seems to accord with Paul to Timothy in 1Timothy 5:24/25 nicely. 

This also  reminds me of Hebrews 10:26-27 that says something like, if we keep on sinning nothing remains but a certain fearful expectation of judgment. 

And yet, that same epistle tells us believers that by taking on humanities nature, through death, Jesus has delivered us all, who were subject to slavery, all of our life time, from the fear of death. 

Don’t you suppose people living, yet afraid to die, intuitively believe there’s a reason that they deserve to die? Perhaps some vague gnawing of guilt, shame or even a confused uncertainty. 

This is exaggerated today, as the sum of all fears- dying unexpectedly from an unseen and unexpected cause- covid19 for instance, hangs over many weakened souls.

It is inconvenient and even a horrible thing to be sick. It’s worse to be sick unto death, and in some regards, being afraid is even worse than that. Fear doesn’t leave with it’s cause. 

Fear reaches into the core of a soul and claims it as a residence, forever renovating and expanding it’s dwelling until it may be violently rejected and overthrown by faith. 

Perhaps, even worse though, is the allowed guilt, shame and sense of inferiority that opens the door to fear in the first place. Remember the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 

All sin....that which has consequences now. That which has eternal consequences. He’s cleansed us from all sin. 

And He’s promised great reward beyond cleansing. We’re not simply washed, in Christ we are restored. 

The reward he has in mind for you, in this life time and the world to come is rich, full and free. 

With your reward in your hand, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Holding the affections of Christ.

As I pray through Paul’s layered prayers for the Philippian church, I’m again arrested by the affections of Christ in chapter 1:8. 

Paul’s longing there suggests he’s put his own affections on the back burner in order to see that the primary relationship has it’s free course in lives. This idea may prove harder to live than it seems, but more on that another time. 

This verse reminds us that the Lord really does have feelings and thoughts toward us, that move Him to action.  He has a greater and better vision for you and I than we can ever personally scrape together. Our paltry sense of being is as nothing when measured by His heart and mind. 

But, we all need people in our lives to believe for us, on His behalf, past the threshold of our own blindness into this glorious and liberating freedom. 

What would our lives reflect if we had the courage to hold ONLY Christ’s affections,ALWAYS Christ’s affections and FULLY Christ’s affections for the loved ones He’s connected to us.

Frankly, I don’t know the personal cost but I do know we would be a church that has rarely been glimpsed on earth. A Body of Christ that showed His fullness of glory to a lost and broken world. 

May the Lord Himself, cause our love to increase and abound towards one another, until that day our heart wakes to realise that His love in us has fully moved in and taken over our own affections. 

Recipes

Recipes

It’s a fundamental assumption that if one follows a recipe he can expect to get identical results. 

Why is it then, that we handlers of the Word of God, expect to read and explain a book- follow a recipe- written by and about men who angered, convicted and stretched their hearers beyond relational endurance that we’re surprised when they resent, reject and resist us?  

Surprised may be too mild of a word. Those of us who’ve been in the kingdom for any length of time can look wistfully over our shoulders and count the many men and women, who having embarked on faith’s adventure, only resign and lay it down in the confusion and disappointment of rejection. 

Those who handed us the recipe for life, those whose writings we’ve studied for decades, those whom we’re nearly as familiar with as our flesh and blood family were often counted as failures by their contemporaries.  It’s us today, who recognise their integrity and revelation, who have made them into our hero’s.  

The world has changed.  One day we won’t, any longer, be able to hold a hope of being highly regarded by general society. Ultimately, what impacts society interfaces with the church so, ultimately you can expect Christian culture to pressure it’s leaders to dampen their own spiritual ardor.  It seems I remember reading some little something about that somewhere...anyway,

What to do with our recipe then?

I suppose we could make it a little more palatable by adding extra ingredients to please the crowd’s tastes, but that can’t end well in the long run.

No, I think we - especially we leaders- are going to have to redouble our own commitment to The Truth, ask God to strengthen our Spirt and begin now to harden ourselves to the relational and emotional string pulling that is certain to come. 

I rejoice in this, the success of ministry is not measured by anyones receptivity to ‘my’ words- it’s measured by whether I spoke the right words, in the right spirit and for the right reasons.

After all, I’m just following the recipe.  

Fully Invested

Having just finished a profitable week of church prayer and fasting, I woke this morning mulling over the boundaries challenged, yet knowing there were others still a’waiting, with this thought: 

There’s a difference between giving something all that’s needed and giving something your all. 

Giving all that’s needed MAY involve great risk and require great sacrifice without laying claim to all of you. 

Giving your all, eventually costs you your life and ultimately, relentlessly, works in you until your identity has been reshaped by the sacrifices and risks you’ve made. 

Our identity; what we value, how we see ourselves and how we project ourselves to the world around us, is likely the great treasure hidden in the soil of all of our hearts. 

As I’ve aged and grown as a believer, I’ve matured enough to willingly risk and sacrifice for the greater good.  Even in that, I know it’s not enough. 

I won’t be able to stay the same individual, with the same interests, appetites and practices and attain unto the Lord’s intended purpose for my stay on the planet. 

God give me, Lord give us all, the grace and wisdom to strive unto spiritual excellence, then let us go beyond.  Let none of us comfortably replace the goal of perfection in Christ with our own sense of having simply done enough.