A GOOD SMITING

In my life there has been three times I know I have been smitten by God. And yes, all three times I needed God’s hand of correction. I am not going to go into the details, but let me tell you God knows just how to get our attention. There was no doubt in my mind it was God who drew me up close to Him, there was no doubt it was God who flooded my life with fear. In 1 John 4 we read, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect (selfless) love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:17-18) I will be the first to testify “fear has torment” and often for others under the fear. Now we think these verses talk about God’s love being made perfect in us, but I believe this is not what John is talking about. Here John was talking about the fear that jumps on us (often from God), the fear we feel in the pit of our stomach, the fear we feel in hopelessness and despair, the fear we feel from the shame and humiliation we may have to face out from our words and deeds. Now it is true there is no fear in God’s love towards man this type of fear is an awe (where we get the word awesome) we find in God, but I am here to tell you my friend there is fear in a self-love we can hold when we think our way of life and even our physical life is being threatened. God will allow this fear in our lives to get our attention and if we respond to Him correctly then the love and appreciation in our heart for God will replace the fear if not it will torment us day and night. When we respond to God correctly no longer are we thinking of ourselves, but are now thinking of God and how He has saved us from total ruination. It is God’s perfect (a selfless love; please see Matthew 5:48) love in our lives as He smites us and as He corrects us it is what draws us closer to Him and anytime we draw closer to God we are made whole and complete. When is the “day of judgment” you might ask? When God brings us face to face with our words and deeds as he did with the Prophet Nathan and David in 2 Samuel 12:1-14. My friend unless you have gone through something like this or have allowed God to lift you from a horrible pit my words are strange and foreign to you. In Psalms David said, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” (Psalms 40:1-2) The key to salvation here for David and us is to “wait patiently for the LORD” then in God’s good time and when He thinks we have learned the lesson he will incline (turn towards) unto us and hear our cry. Many Christians would say God would never do this well these are the same Christians who know not the love of God’s discipline in their lives, because they have never allowed God to deal and judge in their lives. At the end of Hebrews the writer tells us, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:5-11) There it is; a good smiting will end us in His holiness and the peaceful fruit of righteousness. My friend unless God can have free reign in our heart and lives to correct us we will never know God. The more we allow God to correct us the more we will be able to know the heart and ways of God. I wonder why we think God does not deal with us as we deal with our own children? We correct and discipline our children so that they can grow up and be productive, mature, and responsible adults, well God is no different His intentions for us are the same we hold for our children to learn how to be a functioning member of society. Now God does not spank us or send us to bed without our supper as we would a child, but His ways are just as affective. When God wants to get our attention over something we have done or said He will bring conviction into our lives which is the precious work of the Holy Spirit. How dear and precious conviction is and it is God’s intention for us to respond to the gentle tug at our heart, but if we refuse and resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit God will raise the ante to chastisement. Here is where a good smiting by God comes in; the gentle tug of the Holy Spirit was rejected maybe because of a hard heart or an unwillingness to give way to God’s desires so God will allow things to happen in our lives that will threaten our self. I really believe God never wants to chastise His children (as we never want to chastise our children), but there are some children out there that will not listen to a gentle appeal and God must take it to the next level. Now if chastisement does not work God will have no problem with letting our friends and neighbours know what he is doing. After chastisement is open rebuke, you can ask David what that felt like when Nathan said, “Thou art the man.” God knows what it will take to break us and get our attention. If open rebuke does not bring us to our knees then God in His love and desire to give us mercy will bring judgment in our lives for our unwillingness to submit to God’s dealings. For someone who God must bring into judgment their heart is hard towards God and His people and are in dire straights of losing everything. This can happen also in a country as we see in the life of America. And lastly if God’s judgment does not get our attention than the final stage of God’s correction reprobation (total darkness) where our salvation can be lost is rewarded. Their mind and heart has been seared by sin, pride, disobedience, whatever, and nothing God can do will cause a change in their heart condition they know not right from wrong, they have no desire for God and His ways and they slip into eternal darkness while alive on earth. This my friend is never God’s intention, God desires we all come to salvation (our choice), but we also read in the Bible where Hell expands it borders daily. 

David knew something about a good smiting by God and how important it was to his spiritual growth and development. In the Psalms we read, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted (or smitten); that I might learn thy statutes. 72The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. 73JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. (Psalms 119:71-73) A good blessing will not carry us very far in God, but I am here to tell you a good smiting by God will cost our mouth so that we can learn. In Deuteronomy 26 we read of 42 rewards: 14 blessings and 28 curses, remember a reward from God is something we receive from Him based on our behavior and character. I wonder why God would be more concerned with the cursing than with the blessing? Maybe He knows a good blessing does not carry us too far into spiritual maturity, but a good cursing or a good smiting will help us to learn His statues and His commandants. Also in Psalms we read, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 4Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. 5Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” (Psalms 141:3-5) When our kids were growing up we would have them learn these verses and share them at our family devotions. There is only one righteous and that is God and see what the results of His smiting will be, “it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:” Isaiah also knew of the smiting by God in verses 4-7 in Chapter 50 we read, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:4-7) Isaiah knew only God could do a work in our lives that could give us the tongue of the learned, to know how and when to speak to those down and out, those who have lost all hope, and through this smiting the LORD opened his ear. Why did Isaiah not turn back? Because he knew this smiting was from God, “therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” and in the end he would not be ashamed. Even Jesus (our Master) was not spared from God’s smiting. In Hebrews again we read, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” (Hebrews 5:8-9) In Philippians we read, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” (Philippians 2:8-9) Wow Jesus, “yet learned He obedience,” Jesus, “humbles Himself and became obedient.” Jesus first learned obedience at the hands of Joseph and Mary. Many Christians today want to be exalted and have a great name in the nations, but do not want to humble themselves and suffer loss by a good smiting from God. Is the servant greater than the Master? My friend a good smiting from God will soften and even quiet our words towards circumstances and situations in our lives and towards people. A good smiting from God stills our emotions and hunger for things of the world, a good smiting from God stills all of those things in and around us those things we think are important and leaves only God and what He wants before us. Let us remember the next time God draws us to His side by bringing us down to where He is please know it is for our benefit and spiritual growth. They say the best view of God is always seen from the bottom of the barrel and if we are serious about serving the LORD the best thing for us is a good smiting from God. Written by David Stahl

WHAT IS HOPE

At the end of 1 Corinthians we find a run of three powerful words which are connected in spiritual function and operation: faith, hope, and charity (or love). Starting in verse 12 we read, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13And now abideth faith, hope (Strong’s #1680 joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation), charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13) Three little words that are critical to all we do in God. Now most Christians go after “faith” and “charity” (love) as to being the most important, but in reality the middle word “hope” is the word that makes it all happen. My teacher Charles Haun asked two pastors from Kenya what the best concordance to use to study the Bible; after some time and after much debate among them themselves they replied, “Strong’s Concordance” to which Charles relied, “no the Bible.” My friend the Bible is the best concordance or reference book on the Bible. We kind of understand the word “faith” as the writer to the Hebrews defines it, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Many people ask me to give them a verse that really defines faith in a practical way and I take them to Esther, “if I perish I perish” or to Job, “though God slay me yet will I trust Him” now that is faith that transcends theory and the parching of thought and words, but if you really want to understand the word “faith” from the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11, it would be from verse 32 to 40. For example verse 36 and 37, “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;” now that is “faith.” We can really understand the word “love” as defined in 1 John, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:8-10) Sadly we use this word “love” to mean so many different things today even the homosexuals today refer to the lust they hold in their hearts for each other is God sponsored, but this can never be because God’s type of “love” is holy and righteousness where there is never any darkness (perversion, evil, sin) in it. John tells us, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” (1 John 1:5-6) So now we have a pretty good understanding of “faith” and “love,” but how about that middle word “hope?” I think the importance of this word gets lost in the tons of sermons and in the betweens of “faith” and “love,” but make no mistake my friend “hope” to our salvation and spiritual growth and development is just as important as “faith” and “love” maybe more important. No matter what we do in life (which includes our walk with the LORD) to be successful in it we must be able to see ourselves doing it. Over the last three months I have been coaching a basketball team (to beef up BHG’s account) at the middle school where I substitute teach. As we ride the bus to the games we talk about what has been planned (types of defense and offense, etc.) for this game and then I ask the kids to close their eyes and sit quietly imagining different parts of the game. I ask them in their mind to start the game at the tip off what is their responsibility then what happens if we get the tip? What happens if we do not get the tip? Where are they to be on the court in their mind? Where are they running plays? Where are they running out of bound plays? My goal is to have them paint a picture in their imagination so vivid they can see themselves in action. I learned the importance of imagining things when I was studying for my master’s degree. I went over my notes so often all I had to do is roll back my head and look up where I could see my notes in the air. How could I not get a good grade on my tests? I could even turn pages in my mind. God has made our mind a very powerful organ and when we engage our imagination nothing is impossible, but this my friend takes work, commitment, and dedication. Hope is what keeps us going until we see the reality of what God says comes to pass. It is not faith that keeps us going, but hope. Faith is the operation, the power that energizes the word of God in us to believe through the good and bad times. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) this is why we must hear clearly from God to what He wills in a certain situation before we can have faith and then hold on to a God inspired hope until the victory is won. Hearing what? A good Sunday sermon? What our Christian friends tell us the LORD is saying? No what God personally has spoken to us about a given situation or circumstance in our lives and then we must allow this word to literally paint a picture in our heart and spirit. Before we left for Germany in 1996 I knew I would be traveling to many countries both in the service of the U.S. Navy and in the service of God. I would sit before the LORD (quiet and still) and imagine what this would be like. I imagined what the people would look like, what the counties would be like, what the landscape would look like, what the church services would look like of course they all were beyond my understanding when they happened, but what this did in me was build up my expectation. My imagining what God has called me to do painted pictures inside of me that developed my hope and expectation. Even when traveling while in Germany it was this expectation and hope that kept me going during tough times. Times when I was sick, lonely, sad, or disappointed, but within me was a God inspired hope that kept me. All along a two or three week trip to Africa or Asia I would imagine myself walking down the jet way to the airplane to board, walking down the hall to baggage claim, and then to the waiting arms of my wonderful wife. I could just feel her arms wrap around me and pull me to her breast. This hope is a leading of God that keeps us going forward no matter what we see or feel, it is evidence unseen (but in our heart) in reality until we walk in a present experience of fulfillment. Hope keeps us going until whatsoever we are hoping for comes to pass. Now there is no formula like all we have to see ourselves doing something and it will happen, oh no this thinking is wrong. God does not operate on what we think, feel, or say, but on His will and what He has spoken to us regarding His will. David who knew something about hope said, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalms 19:14) Notice not the meditation of my mind, but “the meditations of my heart.” The word “meditation” here is Strong’s #1902, but is from the root word Strong’s #1897 which means imagination. Let the words of my mouth and the imaginations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. What we imagine in our heart will come to pass in our lives. This is why David wanted his imagination to be acceptable to God; he wants his life to be acceptable to God and he knew what was in his heart would define and detail what his life would look like. In Proverbs we read a similar (something Solomon learned from his father David) truth. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” (Proverbs 23:7) In the Greek the words, “as he thinketh in his heart” is translated as a gate operates or opens. Our heart is the gate (the gate is also a place of decision all throughout the Bible) and whatsoever we open our gate to and allow behind we shall be that. So if we open to the things of the world we shall be that. But if we open to the things of God we will be that. And if our imaginations or meditations are of God then we shall be those things God spoke to us those things we have allowed behind our heart gate and we will not be moved. Abraham knew something about hope, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” (Romans 4:17-18) I wonder what kept him going until he saw the promise of God’s word? “Who against hope believed in hope.” What kept this hope alive in him? Every time he went outside and looked at the night shy and saw the stars, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:4-6) or every time he stepped in the sand “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:17-18) God’s word came back to him stronger and fuller and like Mary he pondered these words in his heart. The Apostle Paul too knew of hope and of hopelessness. In the 27 Chapter of Acts we find Paul in one of these seemingly hopeless situation, “Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. 18And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; 19And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” (Acts 27:17-20) Many people and yes many Christians today have allowed troubles and life’s many situation and circumstances to destroy the hope in their lives, leaving them like the 200+ folks of the ship with Paul to say, “all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” If this is you my friend take heart and look to the middle word “hope.” It is not “faith” or “love” you need now it is “hope” because only hope can keep us going until the battle is over and the victory is won knowing the victory comes when we do the will of God now that is hope. Written by David Stahl

WHAT IS DISCIPLINE

Over the last seven months Karen and I have been losing weight something we originally thought to be impossible at our age. It seems as we get older the harder it is to lose weight, but in reality weight loss is difficult only because as we get older we exercise less discipline in our lives. Now I use that word “exercise” in particular because as we get older is seems for most people the less exercise (activity) we have going in our lives. Increased exercise and discipline eating are the two major ingredients in weight loss. Many diet companies are getting rich on people trying to lose weight when all it takes is a real desire to lose weight, control the amount of calories going into our body, and increasing our daily activity; walking, running (for those who can), going to the gym. We have been amazed as the pounds just melt off our bodies as we exercise some discipline in our eating and activity. Did you know there is no real difference in our Christian walk with the LORD and our physical well being? Both our Christian walk with the LORD and our physical well being both require discipline to certain principles and rules. In the natural we cannot eat cake and ice cream until it runs out of our ears and expect to lose weight as in the spiritual we cannot expect to grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD if we fill our mind up with the things of the world and the cares of the day, it will not happen. We must discipline our thoughts and lives, we must bring every thought, every motive, every desire into the subjection of Christ Jesus. Paul shares these verses with the Church at Corinth and us, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) Please notice the parenthetical (innermost thought by the speaker in the text) thoughts of verse four here Paul was thinking about the struggle or “warfare” we must engage in to pull down “strong holds” (two words not one) or those things we depend on for strength, those things we are propped up on for support, things in our lives that make us strong, but the direction in God is weakness not strength even “every thought” all must be brought into captivity of the obedience of Christ. The weaker we are the stronger the LORD is in and through our lives. This teaching is contrary to what you hear in most denominations and religions today. Most denominations and religions teach we must be mighty in God to “the pulling down of strong holds,” but that is not what Paul said, it is not us, but our weapons (read the verse again) that are “mighty” we are to be weak, we are to decrease so God can increase. Many say we must be high, powerful, and great, well that is not what Jesus said, oh no Jesus said we are to learn of Him how gentle and lowly (Matthew 11:29-30) of spirit He is, but who wants to be gentle and lowly of spirit? I really believe the greatest characteristic of Christ missing in the church (especially in men) today is gentleness. David said in Psalms 18:35, “thy gentleness has made me great.” If we truly desire to be great in God we must get back to being gentle. Now please do not tell me one can do this without having discipline in their lives. Gentleness comes by way of discipline and perseverance. It is much more than the “power of God” taking control (as most denominations and religions teach) and changing our lives, yes God is there to give us the strength and ability to turn from sin, but it is up to us to do the turning which comes by way of discipline. James tells us, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:6-10) The word “resist” here is not the type of resistance most Christian think of when they say I will stand and resist something or someone, oh no the word “resist” here means to flow in the opposite direction; so if sin is flowing to the right we must flow left. If evil is causing bad things to happen we must flow or do the opposite of what is happening because of the sin we have judged. Where do we get the strength and ability to resist evil and sin? Discipline and the learning of the lessons God has purposed for our lives. Discipline enables learning to happen in our lives. Today we see little discipline in the lives of most church members maybe that is why we see little learning in these same lives. Without discipline to “resist the devil” (evil or sin) we will not be able to turn from the temptation in our lives. James also tells us it is not the devil (he gets blamed for a lot of things that is not of his doings) that causes us to stumble, but our own desires. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:13-15) Did you know the devil cannot read our mind and know our thoughts? Did you know the devil unlike God is not omnipresent? Did you know the devil is not God! It is our own lust that draws us away and then we are enticed (not the underhanded dealings of the devil) and when lust brings forth sin, then sin brings forth death. When we yield to temptation it is because of the lack of discipline in our lives: lack of discipline in reading God’s word, lack of discipline of spending time with the LORD, lack of discipline spending time with fellow believers, and the more. Christian discipline in our lives gives us a solid foundation on which to live our daily lives and without Christian disciplines we can easily find ourselves drifting away from God and back into the disciplines of the world. Either our lives will be nurtured and guided by the disciplines of the world or by the disciplines of God it is our choice and oh how subtle this movement is. Drifting away from God is seen in retrospect and always seen after we wake up from the calamity and loss we can experience. Let us guard from this drifting. 

     While meditating on this article the LORD opened my understanding to some thoughts that will help us (me to) with this need for discipline. Paul who was a great man of spiritual discipline shares with us in 1 Corinthians, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) I cannot tell you the number of sermons I have heard on this verse comparing Paul’s discipline to a gymnast and how they must work out everyday to be fit to compete in the arena, well some of this may be true in physical context, but in the spiritual that is not what Paul was saying. Paul was not talking about disciplining his body by doing calisthenics, but was talking about disciplining the collection of his thoughts, ambitions, and desires as one would have to daily manage a dead body chained to them under a Roman death sentence which ultimately killed the living person. The word “body” in verse 27, is Strong’s #4983, a dead body (used in the mortification punishment (see Romans 5:15 and Colossians 3:5) and where we get the word mortician) or a collection of one’s thoughts, ambitions, and desires. Every Jew and Gentile alike feared this punishment and knew exactly what Paul was talking about or a collection as we see in the Body of Christ: the agitate collection of all of the Christians in a given church, area, or even the world making up one group of people. Paul was talking about disciplining or bringing “into subjection” not his physical body, but the collection of all of his fleshly thoughts, ambitions, and desires. Now this was not just any subjection, but an extreme form of discipline. The word “subjection” here in verse 27, is Strong’s #1396, to make a slave and to treat as a slave i.e. with severity, subject to stern and rigid discipline. Paul said he treats his own thoughts, ambitions, and desires as a slave so that when he has ministered to others he himself should not be a castaway or disqualified by God. I do not know about you my preacher friend, but this verse really gives me pause. If Paul had this concern about his spiritual well being and knowing the revelation he received from God where are we found? 

      I am amazed at the closeness between the words “disciple” and the word “discipline” you cannot have one without the other. To be a disciple of Christ one must be disciplined in their daily Christians living. I will even take it much further one cannot be a Christian (as the LORD has arranged things) and not be disciplined. Many Christians ask, “what does the Church need to day” and many would reply, “a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit” well there is no need for this the Holy Spirit did not become stale, it is us who have drifted and become complacent. It is us who have settled for a compromised apostate religion instead of a spirit-filled life because we lack the wherewithal to discipline ourselves to the things God said are important. What the Church needs today (I include myself here) is a fresh dedication to spiritual discipline in our lives. A fresh commitment and perserveance to our walk with the LORD without it no man shall see God now in this age and in the ages to come. Written by David Stahl

UNTEACHABLE

When we first come to the LORD our heart is soft and open, truth has no problem finding its way to our heart and Christian living, but as we go on in the LORD there seems to be a spirit that begins to grow in us and if not careful it can move us out of God. Now it is strange that this spirit gets its origin from the hearing of the word of God. Truth not applied correctly leads to misunderstanding which leads to misapplication which can lead someone out of God quickly unless they become teachable. I have seen this in many Christians over my many years and personally I have seen it in my life at times. This is a very dangerous area in the LORD to get over in. And yes it is more dangerous than presumption; presuming you know the truth, but in reality you are wrong. There is a big difference here: when one is unteachable they know the truth (they get it), but they do not apply the truth correctly in their understanding and the misapplication causes them to be in error and as time goes on to err – to wilfully to lead someone astray (have it be family, friends, or church) in their daily walk with the LORD and man. Paul gave Timothy some great advice we all must take heed to, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16) But sadly early on in church history Nicolaus of Antioch (Acts 6:5) who gave his name to a group in the early church who sought to work out a compromise with paganism to enable Christians to take part without embarrassment in some of the social and religious activities of the close-knit society in which they found themselves. It is possible that the term Nicolaitan is a Graecized form of Hebrew for Balaam, and therefore allegorical, the policy of the sect being likened to that of the Old Testament corrupter of Israel (Numbers 22). In that case the Nicolaitans are to be identified with groups attacked by Peter (2 Pet. 2:15), Jude (11), and John (Rev. 2:6, 15 and possibly 2:20-23) for their advocacy within the church of pagan sexual laxity. Early Christian references in Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian suggest that the group hardened into a Gnostics, a term derived from the Greek word “knowledge." Until modern times it was applied exclusively to a body of heretical teachings denounced by the church Fathers in the early Christian centuries. In other words these folks started their own religion and their own teachings the words delivered by Paul and the disciples were not good enough for them. And why? They were unteachable. The words, means, and methods of God changes NOT, but what changes is the thinking of man. The Nicolaitans were seemingly a class of professing Christians who sought to introduce into the church a false freedom or licentiousness abusing Paul’s doctrine of grace. God’s view (we should always be concerned what God’s view is) of the Nicolaitans was, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” (Revelation 2:14-15) In 2 Peter we really get a good look at God’s dislike for the Nicolaitans, “which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” (2 Peter 2:15-18) God hates the doctrine and He hates unteachable (read the Bible) people they are ungrateful, selfish, and self-righteous caring only for themselves. Yes, God desires none to be lost (2 Peter 3:9), but at the same time the Bible says Hell expands (Isaiah 5:14) its border daily. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article the unteachable Christians gets their origin from the word of God and believe it or not there is a heart condition progression that one follows from a soft heart, to a know-it-all heart, to an unteachable heart, ending with a hard heart and out of God if not careful. Surprisingly enough it is the word of God that is the beginning point of the drifting away from the truth and the misapplication that ends in a hard hearted Christian. There is a process you can track, sadly I have seen it sadly I see it today. When we all come to the LORD He gives us a new heart for Him and His ways it is a soft, pliable, and workable heart that God can get some truth into. The soft heart is the “good ground” for the planting of the word of God and the more our hearts stay soft, humble, and contrite before God and man the more of God’s truth and revelation He can get into us. The softer our heart is toward God and man the less likely we will become unteachable, but strange as it may seem the longer we go with God and the more we start understanding spiritual things the more we think we know something. I have found the longer I go with God the less I know. The things I thought I knew (things I would fight to the death for) now I am not sure about. Did you know truth is progressive? It is not I never learned them, but now God has opened up a new wrinkle to the existing truth to me. The truth has not changed I have changed and now I can handle a deeper understanding to the truth that was once delivered to me. Unlike the Nicolaitans and unteachable Christians I have not started another sect, started a new church (classic sign of someone in rebellion from a church split), or perverted the truth to family and friends, but allowed my spirit to flow with what God is saying to me. As we move along in our walk with the LORD we start gathering many things to us and one of those things is knowledge, now knowledge unto its self is good: to have an understanding of history, timelines, Bible stories, facts, etc. is important to the teaching of the word of God, but they never replace the time spent in knowing God. Here our character comes into play. Many people just have (as a character flaw) a know-it-all attitude. Remember when Jesus saves us from our sins He does not save our character oh no our character flaws must be dealt with by God if we are going to be the minister of the Gospel God intends us to be. I have a good friend who is a great Bible teacher, but has character flaws (as we all do) and when I was asked by him about one by him I told him the truth and now he does not talk with me. Take heed to measure your words when telling the truth to Christians. If we are a know-it-all before we are saved then we will be a know-it-all after we are saved. Here begins the process that if not dealt with by God can lead us out of God. We start gaining knowledge of the Bible and at the same time the LORD begins to share some truths with us well our flesh says, look at me look what I know. Look at me look and what I know is another way of saying look what I know that you do not know. A know-it-all heart condition is self-centered and selfish seeking more knowledge to puff itself up, they know everything and no one can tell them better, they are usually arrogant and self-serving. When we started our adult Sunday school class in Germany we looked for a teacher who was the opposite of a know-it-all and found Augustine. God really does not care what you know, but He wants to know how much your care. After some time Augustine went back to Nigeria and another Nigerian Ostia became our adult Sunday school teacher, well from the start things went well, but over time and being put in a position of authority his real character was exposed, well he was a know-it-all no one could suggest anything (not even me) to him without him getting offended and going high and to the right. After much division in the church I had to remove him from this position and he did the typical thing by causing more strife and tried splitting the church, finally I asked him to the just leave the church and the last we heard he was living with some Italian lady so he could get papers to stay visa free in Germany. Know-it-all Christians are unstable. James tells us, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:” (James 1:7-9) A know-it-all Christian is NOT a “brother of low degree” they are “unstable in all (now the Bible means all here) their ways.” Their unstableness is what presses them into being unteachable the next stop on their way out of God. An unteachable Christian (any person for that matter) is a know-it-all on steroids. They just seemly refuse to receive sound doctrine, sound advice, sound counsel, anything that is contrary to what they believe. They too are selfish and self-centered on steroids. No matter what they will not consider another point of view. Now in the natural some would say we must not compromise the truth of the word of God, well this is true, but with the unteachable Christian they leave the things of God (assembling with like believers, etc.) for their own beliefs. They stop going to church and start listening to Christian tapes or worse watching Christian TV. Many sink themselves in to religious studies learning languages, more facts and more information to cover their lack of spiritual contact with God and other Christians. When we started our Men’s Fellowship at the church we selected a Nigerian named Tony to lead the fellowship, well at first everything was great he did a great job but I noticed he hung around Ostia a lot and soon became a know-it-all. Bad company does corrupt good morals as the Bible says. Well as time went on his attitude toward me changed, he stopped coming to church and started watching Christian TV. He started beating his wife and stopped working. His heart towards me, our church leadership, and God became hard hearted. God sent me three times to his home to talk with him about coming back into fellowship with his family (who we had to rescue), his Christian brothers and sisters, and God, but he refused. The last we heard of Tony was he took his own life and the German authorities cremated his body. My friend it a dangerous thing to walk this know-it-all and unteachable path, it is not God’s intention for us. God desires we walk with Him with a soft heart, humble, and contrite (will we always no we will not), but we must take heed to ourselves not to get over into an unteachable spirit that leads to a hard heart and out of God faster than sin. I am speaking from experience. Written by David Stahl

EXPECT FAILURE

One of the greatest revelations we can ever hope to have about ourselves is not our strengths, but our weaknesses. Charles Haun always said, “show me a man that knows his weaknesses and I will show you a man who is going somewhere in God. It is our weaknesses that define our real character, not our strengths. It is our weaknesses that detail our potential and ability in God not our strengths. We should know that every Christian who is called by the LORD to know Him in His victory, nonetheless, a Christian who is full of confusion any doubt and one who has failed (sometimes many times) in this deeper desire to know the LORD. In fact we may get the impression that the LORD no longer helps us in prayer as He once did. We may even feel we are losing a great deal of time and making no progress. Confusion and perplexity are bound to follow. Nonetheless do not stop and do not let anyone even someone who is older in the faith keep you from pursuing a deeper relationship with your LORD. I have known people (so called) “older in the LORD” than I who give advice that sounds right, feels right, looks right, but in the end the advice given was wrong. Remember in God if it walks, sounds, looks, and tastes like a duck be careful it may be a chicken. What appears in the natural is not what things are in the spiritual, so too with our walk with the LORD. What seems right (sound advice and makes good sense) in the LORD often times are the direct opposite too what God wants for our lives. Remember, the LORD is calling us to a walk of faith in His divine presence; with a simple vision of our LORD and with His intense love toward Him, like a little child would have toward its mother we must cast ourselves into the gentle, yet stern hands of our LORD. Such a relationship, especially in times of perceived failure, is easy. It is also the most secure relationship we can enter into with Him. The level of relationship we are seeking is a relationship free from a wandering imagination and from reasoning. Both of these are too distracting and can get us involved in speculation and introspection, especially during period of failure and I promise you my friend walk with the LORD long enough and you will have them, God will see to it. Often in the beginning of our Christian quest God will introduce us to the school of loving knowledge about Him and the school of the internal law knowing ourselves. But then He will bring us into darkness and dryness thinking we have failed or missed it. We can understand darkness, but why dryness? Dryness seems foreign and strange to us. Ah dryness for the exact reason He introduced us to His love, to draw us to bring us near to Him. Yes dryness and failure draws us near to Him as does encounters of love and touches of unseen realms in the spiritual. The LORD brings dryness because He knows so well that it is not by any means of our reasoning nor our efforts that will draw us near to Him. Nothing we can do will ever draw us near to the LORD. No nothing! Our efforts will not bring us to understand His high and exalted ways. How then will we learn His ways? By humble resignation to God’s will. This is where we all must begin. Noah is a perfect example of this. He was called a fool by the world (us too if we truly desire to follow the LORD) and later when the flood came they found themselves without a sail or an oar. In all of this Noah walked in darkness, he walked by faith alone. In darkness, in the wilderness, and alone is the place is where a Christian comes to know and depend to lean on the LORD. Where do we get such strength? In the wilderness! Where do we get such power? In the wilderness! The wilderness is the making place for power, strength, and patience. After some time in the wilderness Solomon said, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5). Only in the wilderness (not in the palace halls or well watered plains) did Solomon learn (a process of dying to self, loneliness, separation, and ridicule) to lean on his beloved. Now please do not think Noah understood the mind of the LORD, oh no he did not. As much as possible Noah believed the words God spoke to him, but after that Noah operated in patience. We should pay little attention to dryness or failures, oh expect them they are coming to say otherwise would be down-right foolish. We must never give up our desire to know God even in the face of the dryness or failure that comes our way. We must walk with a firm faith then rest in patience, dying to our self and to all of our natural efforts to know God. Remember, the LORD cannot err (willfully lead someone astray) nor does He intend anything towards us, but that which is for our good. Wow what a revelation! When things go bad against us and we cannot see God’s intentions we often think we have failed, but not so. Expect failure, but in the failure we must always be patient looking for the way out. Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13) When temptation, loss, failure, etc. overwhelms us our first reaction is to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, to suck it up, or even blame someone else; we see that in verse 12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” We are strong in our own strength and might, but when this happens take heed because we are on our way down where loss and failure abides. The place where God dwells is in a humble and lowly place. If we want to be strengthened and lifted up in failure and loss that is only given by God to the humbled. James tells us, “But he giveth more grace (Strong’s #5485, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech) Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:6-10) Not grace for salvation, but “grace” which “affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.” The way up is first down! The way out is down! “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” Who wants to be afflicted, mourn, and weep? The one who wants to be lifted up by humbling themselves. Sadly when in failure and loss we concentrate on the loss and failure trying to overcome in our strength and ability instead of doing what Paul told us to do, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” With every temptation and failure God provides a way of escape. We must not focus on the temptation and failure, but look for the way of escape. It is there right before our eyes. The LORD does not want us to fail He wants us to learn this is why He gives us a way of escape each and every time, but we seem to get stuck in failure time and time again, why? We are not looking for the way of escape. Where does the escape come from? It is somewhere deep within us. Therefore we must come to Him silent, believing, suffering, and with patience. With confidence press on! Rest in Him and be guided by His hand. This is better than all the good intentions and goods in the world. If our pursuit of Christ is pure that is sufficient reward. A seed is laid in the ground. Then it seems the seed is lost, but afterward when spring comes that seed grows up and multiplies. In John we read, “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except (no other way) a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24-25) Here Jesus is talking about being “glorified” now we would have thought it was time for Jesus to be exalted, given a name above all names, but that was not what Jesus was talking about. Jesus was talking about going to die, going to the cross. There is a spiritual principle in operation here, death before glorification. Like that corn of wheat or the seed laid in the ground Jesus had to die to be fruitful, well the same divine spiritual principle is for us today. We too must die, experience loss, temptation, and die to be fruitful in the LORD. Jesus is the master and is the servant (us) greater than the master? God does the same thing with us. The LORD deprives us of comfort and even of understanding. Furthermore we see no spiritual progress in our life. In a way there is none, but yet let enough time pass and there is enrichment that has been added to us far beyond our hope life will take root and spring up. We must never look down upon ourselves if we cannot achieve what we have set out to do in our pursuit. Persevere in patience. Trust in the LORD’s infinite grace as though we were blindfolded. Do so without a great deal of fanfare, thinking, or reasoning. Place our lives in His kind, paternal hands, resolving to do nothing except what is His divine will and good pleasure. My friend expect failure it is coming again God will see to it, but with the failure comes a promise of an ever abiding love from the LORD and a way to escape, are you looking? Written by David Stahl

OUR TRADITIONS

I was sitting in a packed church one evening just looking at the people and the surroundings when the LORD spoke to me, “for all of these people to go to heaven they must believe they have lived their lives in a religious lie. They will have to come to realize their holy men have lied to them all of their lives and they will have to understand their parents also have lied to them.” I bristled in my spirit in astonishment and slid back in my seat. What an obstacle for these mostly older folks to get over to believe they have been lied to all of their lives by people they have counted on for counsel and help and more importantly people they love and people who have told them all of their lives they love them. I cannot imagine this happening in their lives. Sad to say, unless they allow God to open the eyes of their understanding and reject the religious traditions of their youth these folk will probably not spend eternity with the LORD. Thanks be to God He is righteous and looks at our heart. Traditions hold us tight around our heart and often prevent us from seeing the truth about ourselves and the world around us. The best example I can give is what we all see during holidays. Every year 86% of all Americans celebrate Christmas (word not found in the Scriptures) based on a lie. Almost everyone knows the story of Santa Claus is a lie, yet we (every year) continue this lie from one generation to the next. Instead of only talking about the birth of Christ we have a counterfeit story running parallel about some fat man in a red suit driving a sleigh of reindeer around the world in one night giving toys to good boys and girls, people of all ages (a lie), but we yearly continue this myth. With each new generation born we indoctrinate them with traditions and genealogies that only lead them astray from the truth of the word of God all for the sake of stimulating our economy at the end of the year. In 2012 America spent $11.2 billion (in spite of dire economic times) in two days for Christmas, while the poor steal or do without, the homeless wander, and needy go hungry. At the heart of most traditions is greed and selfishness. In the Spring America celebrates Easter (word found once in Acts 12:4, but translated passover) with a bunny rabbit who gives out candy to people, (bad people can get candy) which is a lie like Christmas. Instead of talking about the death, burial, and resurrection (the Gospel) of Jesus Christ we talk about a bunny rabbit that gives candy to people of all ages. Churches today are in the act with face paintings, Easter egg hunts, and so much more. What does this all have to do with the Gospel? Nothing! Now I am not going to go into all of the pagan rituals and religious traditional practices that surround the historical myth of Easter my intent is to lift up the name of Jesus. But, my friend we have “truly” (taking something from the physical realm and projecting it into the spiritual realm) drifted so far from the true meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the great price He paid for my sin and your sin. What does Christmas have to do with the birth of Christ? Nothing, but we continue this American tradition at the demise of the truth about the Gospel. Now many people, including Christians, would say what is the harm in a Christmas tree, decorating our house with lights, and giving presents? Jesus got presents why shouldn’t we? It was not your birthday. Or at Easter what is a wrong with giving away candy in a basket? During these two holidays we have special church productions or programs to get the two timers (those folk who come to church two times a year), but when the truth is mixed with a lie the lie always wins the day. Would it not be best to just tell them the story of Jesus and leave the Christmas lie out? But no we think we have to have something worldly to hook (as if the Gospel message is not good enough) the people; we have a harvest festival in the fall, during Christmas and Easter some special presentations to get the people who would not come normally, well if you have to have something special to get the two timers there something is lacking in your church. Most pastors today are so afraid of offending members (keeping their rice bowls intact) they keep the truth from their people and cover it with song and pageantry. Peter told the Christians in Asia Minor, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9) Well . . . are we or are we not a peculiar people? Are we or are we not a holy nation? Are we or are we not a royal priesthood? Are we or are we not a chosen generation set apart for the Master’s use? If we practice the traditions of Christmas, Easter, and other religious rituals in any shape or form then we cannot move in the truth of this verse. Traditions in the church are killing the witness and Spirit of the church. Paul ran into this same problem when he visited the Church at Thessalonica. The Church mentioned in Thessalonians like all of the Churches mentioned in the New Testament came face to face and struggled with the religious traditions and rituals of their day. My friend the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is in stark contrast (it is meant to be) with our religious traditions and rituals. The religious traditions and rituals are of the world, worldly in heart and spirit (selfish and fleshly), while the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is of heavens, heavenly in the heart and Spirit of God. John tells us “That which is of the Spirit is Spirit and that which is of the flesh is flesh.” (John 3:6) Today we try mixing the flesh with the Spirit (a Christmas tree at church) while telling ourselves we are sharing the good news, but in reality all we have done was muddy the truth of the word of God. I know this is hard, but the message of the Gospel is hard too. Our message must be either a lie or the truth. Either we believe in God and His word as it was written or we believe the 1,000s of stories, fables, myths, and genealogies the world and most churches believe. We must take a stand for truth and righteousness for the word of God and His traditions. Paul tells the Church at Thessalonica, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15) That means the Church at Thessalonica (like today) was wavering in what they believed. What you believe will take you in the direction you will end up some day and what we believe determines the level of commitment we will have. If you believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny you may not end up with the LORD you may end up with the folks sitting in church, I first mentioned in my article. Not only in Thessalonica, but Paul had this grave concern for the Church corporately in Asia. In 1 Timothy we read, “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies (strong’s #1076, birth, linage, traditions, and practices) which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” (1 Timothy 1:4) Paul visited the Church at Ephesus about A.D. 63 following his release from his first Roman imprisonment. Soon thereafter he left Timothy in charge of the church and wrote his letter about one year later. Paul’s immediate purpose in writing this letter was to issue an affectionate appeal to Timothy concerning the welfare of the church and gave Timothy instructions for perfecting the organization and safe guarding the Gospel message. Again in Titus Paul on his way to Crete warned the church to maintain church organization, sound doctrine, and holy living by staying away from traditions, foolish questions, and genealogies, “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9) When is the Body of Christ going to stand up and say these fables and stories about Santa Claus and the Easter bunny are downright lies and not participate in them? My friend at the heart of religious tradition is always a lie and deception from the truth. This is why religious tradition in the church and traditions of men in society are so bad. Paul instructed the churches he visited and wrote to, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”(2 Thessalonians 2:15) Brethren we are to, “stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.” What traditions is Paul talking about? Well certainly not Christmas, Easter, and religious rituals I am sure. We are to keep the traditions that were delivered to the early church, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) Did you know you have to die to be a saint? Better to die now to our selfish and self-centered ways than to die later at the Great White Throne Judgment. You will not get out of this life alive. We are to take heed, to keep, to live those traditions that were “delivered unto the saints” so, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” (Ephesians 4:14) and be able to, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16) Unless we grow up in the LORD in all things we will always be tossed to and fro, deceived by every tradition (like Christmas and Easter), myth, fable, etc. The key to spiritual growth is speaking in love; not always saying nice swellings words of flattery, but able to tell the Brethren; look out you are heading off the cliff, wake up you have a ditch in front of you. If not we will not be able to be “fitly joined together,” we will not be able to supply the Body of Christ with the things God has given us to give others. The traditions we keep have great bearing on our spiritual growth and development; are we focused on the traditions found in the word of God or are we keeping things of this world with one hand while trying to hold on to God with the other? We cannot hold both. We must let go of either this world’s traditions or God it is our choice and around Christmas and Easter it is easy to see who has let go of God. Written by David Stahl

A MEDITATION ON CHRISTMAS

When I meditate on this time of the year and what we call the Christmas (word not found in the KJV of the Bible) season I must conclude this is the most divisive time of the year just ahead of Easter. I wonder why these two holidays divide so many people in the world. Now I will tell you from the start Karen and I do not celebrate Christmas how can we the word is not in the KJV Bible, but we do celebrate the birth of our precious LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. As Christianity began to spread many were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs among their converts. We even see this throughout the New Testament Church as Paul constantly battled against pagan and cultural traditions from taking root in the young Church. At first the Church forbade this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail. Bible historians claim that the Christmas celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also to the Persians (Babylonian Chaldeans) whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. Oddly enough it was during this period the three Wise Men (also Magi) (Matthew 2:1) learned of the Star of Bethlehem by reading the prophecies of Daniel the Great Magi (Daniel 1:1-7). Sadly this religious deception continues today, even though the faces and names has been changed the spirit and intent has not. We Christians seem to be good at making up things to satisfy our flesh for fulfillment. Now as I said Karen and I do celebrate the birth of Christ, there is a huge difference. As we watch the news we cannot believe all of the fighting to keep Christ in Christmas. Where in the Bible did Jesus ask us to remember His birth? Now I can find plenty of Scriptures in the Bible where Jesus has asked us to remember His death, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) Who wants to remember Jesus’ death when we can remember His birth? Yet few Christians really remember His death (Romans 6:3) while they go crazy in remembering His birth. I wonder why? Yes there is a wonderful story about the birth of Jesus in the Bible, but where are we commanded to make His birth an annual holiday like we in American have made: Independence, Veterans, or Valentine Day even Halloween? And when you merge religious with traditions and customs you have an unbeatable national money maker. Is not Jesus’ birth much more? Yes my friend I am afraid we have gotten off track and the merchants of the day (and for 100s of years) have capitalized on our selfish greed (maybe only in America, but I think not) and great presumption. The same way Hollywood has recently discovered the untapped market for Christian movies. I find it really strange how many Christians today would rather go to a movie then to Church to hear about Jesus. I wonder why? It is not about fighting to keep Christ in Christmas or even about a baby in the manger. You know we really like seeing baby Jesus in the manger, but you know my friend Jesus is not a baby any more, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34) Today Jesus is not a defenseless baby in the manger He is our victorious King of kings, Lord of lords, and some day soon He is coming back to earth not as a baby, but as a judge (to kick butt) and rule (to set righteousness in order) in the earth. Something else we are puzzled about is why Christians want to beat up on the Atheist in Washington State who put a sign beside a manger display in the Capitol building. I thought we were to witness to them and tell them about Jesus? There is not much of a Christian witness when we shake our fist and gnash our teeth at someone over a wooden display. How can this sign destroy the eternal timeless message of our precious savior Jesus Christ? It cannot and will not. Has the love of God been displaced by Christians wanting their traditional religious symbols? I too can speak for God and sadly I must say yes. Jesus did not come so that we could decorate our trees and yard with gold and silver balls or blinking lights. Jesus did not come so Christians could deck the halls with a blow up Santa Claus and reindeer on their roofs and lawn. What do we do with these verses? “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not.” (Jeremiah 10:2-4) Maybe we should ignore them or maybe the Holy Spirit made a mistake? I think God is very clear in what He is saying, but we continue in the lie with Christmas trees (a German custom) out from our American tradition (now transported to the world) and because we do not want to offend family members. Just look at the Christmas trees in churches today? What do we do with these verses? The answer will be what we do with Jesus. Never forget the Gospel message of Christ is very offensive and at times even divisive to the non-believers, but truth is truth. Either we will stand for truth or compromise for the lie for the sake of peace on earth. The truth is Jesus did not come so we could have songs to sing at our annual Christmas musicals. It is amazing how old Christmas recordings from people long ago come back to life every Christmas. Jesus did not come so we could run ourselves to death, buying presents for people, while going further into debt. It is no wonder support in America for missionaries and humanitarian programs dwindle to almost to nothing this season of the year. I am afraid the true character and nature of man comes out during Christmas. We even plug in a written list to a jolly fat man in a red suit that drives a sleigh of reindeer around the world in one night to make sure we get want we what for Christmas. Why do we think we should get a present on some one else’s birthday? Our selfishness and self-centered nature really comes shining through. Oh Lord please forgive us for the indulgence of our wrong attitudes, greed, and lust. Jesus did not come to give us a Christmas season to feed our passions. The Bible is very clear why Jesus came. Jesus tells us in His own words, “The thief (not the devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 101:10) Jesus came so that we “might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” not to get a bunch of Christmas presents to satisfy our flesh. Jesus came so that we might (our choice not His) have the life of God dwelling within our heart and lives. The creative eternal life of God moving in us and out from us to the world. Also in John Jesus tells us, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Jesus came so that we might have life eternal (one part of salvation) which is knowing His Father (and ours), so that we too could “know the only true God” as Jesus did. So we too could know the sublime unity of knowing God as Jesus did. I would think that would be worth far more than anything we can buy each other. Did you know, Jesus (even though the Prince of Peace) did not come into the world to bring peace as many of the major denominations and religions of the world tell us. Religious deception always leads us away from Christ into the traditional religious worship of the customs of man (like Christmas and Easter) and into a good works salvation thinking. Oh no Jesus Himself said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance (Strong’s #1639 to cut into two parts, cleave asunder, sever) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) Jesus has come to cut our hearts out of the world with His word, the sword. Jesus has “come to set man at variance against” or sever every relationship where we love someone or something more than Him. Jesus came so that we could take up our cross (not Jesus’) and follow Him. Jesus came so we could lose our life so that we could then find our life in Him. We know and are persuaded if we lose our life for His sake we shall find it. We also know many of our friends will disagree (we hope and pray this is not the case) with this article, but that is okay getting the truth of the Gospel message out is more important than our friends getting offended at us. If they get offended at us over this article we know they probably are not our friends anyway. We have learned this truth the hard way. Please do not allow yourself to be deceived (your choice) by any pastor or person that says, “it is not a Heaven or Hell issue or it does not really matter” oh really? This thinking my friend is just spiritually wrong and a very subtle form of deception that has been carried on for 100s maybe 1,000s of years by the religious denominations and merchants both working hand-n-hand to get customers. Sadly at the heart of why we focus on the Christmas story and baby Jesus in the manger is so we do not have to deal with a risen Savior. How much more religious can we (like the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17)) who could not totally sell out be than to bow down and worship the Christmas story and the sweet little baby Jesus in the manger? This satisfies our religious flesh and helps to ease our guilt and feeling of disobedience from rejecting God’s word to us. Who wants to allow God to deal and judge in their hearts exposing areas where we must allow Him to work? It is much easier singing another song about Christmas as we buy presents for our family or even as we buy a present for some poor people who live down the street who we neglect the rest of the year. It is far less painful to go to every church musical and spend all we have than for God to be able to show us who we really are. Who wants to allow God free rein in our heart and lives to conform us into the image (icon) and character of Jesus Christ? Very few people do and the rest continue in this traditional religious lie year after year. I think I will end with a very sobering word; if you need a traditional religious holiday to know God sadly my friend your heart is very far from Him and you will never come to know Him. Let us turn our hearts away from the religious traditions of Christmas and allow God to bring the truth of His character and nature to us. It is our choice whether we desire presents on Christmas morning or the knowledge of God, we cannot have both. Written by David Stahl