Lazarus At My Gate

In May 2012 the population of the world exceeded 7 billion people.  To these people we are commanded to go to preach the gospel.  This requires a heart of love.  There is a battle for our heart everyday, and we must win the battle over selfishness if we will ever be able to obey Christ's command to reach the world.  The battle can be seen in the story Jesus taught about the rich man and the poor beggar named Lazarus.  The whole story is found in Luke 16:19-31.  The beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, was laid at the rich man's gate.  Everyday the rich man saw the beggar at his gate.  Everyday the needs of the beggar were before the rich man's eyes, yet he was unmoved in his heart toward the beggar.  He never once stopped to help Lazarus or consider his needs.  The dogs came and licked the poor man's sores, while the rich man lived in luxury and fared sumptuously everyday.  Lazarus hoped for some crumbs that fell from the rich man's table.  I suddenly was convicted that sometimes my life may look more like the rich man's than the poor man's.  How many times have I seen a need and been unmoved to help?  How many times has Lazarus been at my gate, and I have not stopped to consider his needs?  I felt sorry for the poor man as I read the story, but as I continued to read, I started feeling sorry for the rich man.  Now in hell, the rich man pleads that Lazarus would come and dip his finger in water to cool his tongue, for he was tormented in the flame.  Now the rich man needs Lazarus!  He never needed him before, but now he needs him.  How many times have we felt like we didn't need the poor beggar, or the homeless?  How hard our hearts can be toward others, and yet, there may come a day when we need them.  Even though I am blessed, and now "rich", may my life not resemble the rich man.  May I never lose the love of God toward those not as fortunate as I.  May I always have a heart of thanksgiving for what God has done, and may I always know that I am what I am by the grace of God.  I could have so easily been the poor man.  What a responsibility I have toward all people, whether rich or poor.  What selfishness there is in my own heart yet to conquer.  How can I fulfill the great commission if I don't have compassion in my heart for the people near me?  Only a daily time spent with God, and the move of the Holy Spirit in my heart, can keep my heart soft and filled with compassion to move toward the unloved and the broken.  Help me God, not to be like the rich man, but to have a heart that cares for people.

The Raging Bull

The Holy Spirit has been revealing how much believers can live out of fear, instead of love and faith. After people have been hurt, often the result is to withdraw and to say, "I'm never going to let myself get into a situation like that again."  They become motivated by fear, and become unable to open up their heart to God in certain areas, because of the unhealed hurts of the past.  This fear of becoming vulnerable to God and to people cripples them in their obedience to the Spirit.  Fear is a part of life that we all have to face.  The disciples faced fear when they were out on the water, believing they were going to die.  Timothy faced fear in his ministry, and leaned on the words from Paul, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  Worry and anxiety are available to you everyday, should you choose to have them in your life.  But we are told there are 365 "Fear Nots" in the Bible, one for every day, one for every situation we face in life.  I had a dream where I was in an open field, and Judy was calling for me to come help her.  Suddenly as I looked up I saw a bull, a very large ferocious animal looking at me.  All at once, he started to charge at me.  I had picked up a handful of rocks and dirt, and as he came, fear gripped my heart.  I couldn't turn and run from him, so I threw my rock at him, and to my surprise, he stopped, distracted by the rock, and he was unable to come any closer to me.  I stood my ground, and used what I had in my hand, and the raging bull stopped and turned around and walked away.  Ps. 22:12 says, "Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me."  Bashan was east of the Jordan, under Og, king of Bashan.  In Num. 21:33-35, the Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand..."  The raging bull is the spirit of fear, and God says not to fear him!  Israel defeated Og, his sons, and all his people and took possession of his land.  Today God wants us to defeat fear, and worry and anxiety, and all their relatives,and take possession of all our inheritance that Christ purchased for us on the cross.  When fear attacks, stand your ground, use what is in your hand, and watch the bull stop and turn around in the name of Jesus.  Refuse fear, and walk in faith and love, and fulfill all that God has called you to do.          

Orthotomounta

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Tim 2:15.  The words "rightly dividing" come from the Greek word, orthotomounta.  This word literally means to cut straight.  We use the word ortho in such words as orthodontics, and orthopedics.  It means to straighten, as in straightening teeth.  When you go to the dentist, and he needs to cut your gum, you want him to make a straight cut in the right place the first time!  When a road is constructed, or a furrow is plowed, it needs to be straight, exactly where it is supposed to be.  So when we come to the Word of God, it needs to be rightly divided.  A Scripture taken out of context and misunderstood can be used to say anything the speaker wants it to say.  We so often hear Scripture being used incorrectly by those who have not rightly divided it.  Even satan used Scripture for his own purpose.  Perhaps this is the highest level of deception, to take God's own words, and misuse them to deceive and tempt.  Often the Old Testament is quoted by those who don't understand the New Covenant.  We are 2000 years removed from the Old Testament!  We do not stone witches or adulterers.  We do not live under the Law.  We are in the age of God's grace and the shed blood of Jesus.  We have a relationship with God in the spirit, from the heart.  The Holy Spirit is our teacher.  We have the 5 fold ministry gifts from Christ to help us grow.  We have the New Testament and the letters to the churches.  We are a part of the body of Christ, with many different members.  We can grow in our knowledge of the love of God, which takes away all fear.  The Holy Spirit is our guide, who leads us into all truth.  We can go to God in prayer, and study the Scriptures, and rightly divide the Word of truth.  In any matter, we can come to God and ask for wisdom, and understanding.  God will give answers, peace, and understanding to us.  He can unravel the most complicated situations, and give us knowledge of what to do.  He will shine His light of illumination on the Word, so we can rightly divide it and live by it in love and truth.  Let us be diligent to present ourselves unto God, workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

The Need For Fathers

1 Cor. 4:15  "For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."  We need our earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father, and spiritual fathers in our lives.  Our earthly father has a role to play in training and raising his children in the admonition of the Lord.  But not all earthly fathers do this, as they may be absent, or disinterested in spiritual things.  Timothy seems to have had a father like this.  All we know about his father was that he was Greek, Acts 16:1.  It was from Timothy's mother Eunice, and his grandmother Lois, that Timothy came to know Christ and the Scriptures.  Later Paul took him as his own son in the Lord, and instructed him and encouraged him in his gifts.  Spiritual fathers are those people in our lives who have cared for us, prayed for us, and raised us up in our place in the body.  Without them, we would never have made it to the place we are today.  They help us to develop our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We grow in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, and as we grow, we in turn are to pass on to others what we have learned.  2 Tim. 2:2 says that we are to commit to faithful men the things that we have heard.  There will be a succession of disipleship that follows our lives, as we disciple another, and they disciple another, and so on.  Paul was there to help Timothy through many things such as:  fear, perseverance, false doctrines, hardship, rightly dividing the Word, humility, persecution, etc.  Timothy battled a spirit of fear in his life, and so we have the famous words, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  Timothy would not have become the man he was without Paul.  Timothy needed Paul, and Paul needed to have a Timothy.  Paul had many men that he discipled, and in turn, Timothy discipled others also.  If there is anything written on my gravestone, I would like to have the words, "A Spiritual Father" written there.  May my life cause others to come fully into their place in the body of Christ.