I did not post last Wednesday as I felt I needed another week with my verses. Probably I needed the extra time because instead of choosing two verses I chose one verse and one longer passage. I’ve enjoyed committing these verses to memory, though.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
-Romans 8:1 (ESV)

This verse has been used generously in the book Thin Within, which I just finished going through. I’ll have to write a post about TW later. For now I’ll just comment on how wonderful it is that this verse has come “alive” to me. I knew that I was not condemned for my sins, Jesus paid the price, yadda yadda. But the verse had no personal meaning to me until TW brought it alive, and now I’ve memorized it along with its reference so I’ll always have it close to me! No condemnation. God is not angry with or disappointed in me. His grace, along with his forgiveness, flows unceasingly over me, even while I’m in the midst of doing wrong. He forgives and forgives, often the same offenses over and over and over. With an awareness of that kind of strength of love, it’s hard to continue in sin. It makes me want to change, to do better. It also takes away my need to beat myself up for mistakes. The price is paid, I’m already forgiven, and all God wants is for me to turn from my sins and press ever more into him instead.

“…He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’
So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
-Hebrews 13:5b-8 (ESV)

The truth about the Lord is that he is unchanging. He isn’t here one day and gone the next, willing to help you and then  leaving you high and dry at another time. He is forever faithful, and he always has been, and he always will be. So for me this means I can trust him and have utter confidence in him. I’ve learned a lot recently about relying on God and his strength to get me through tough times (moments, weeks, or years). How do I know whether I’m acting on my own strength or on his? Well, have I asked him to strengthen me? Has he promised he’s there, never to abandon me? Then I can know he’s there, empowering me. I can know I’m not going at it all alone, and I can be sure that if I falter, he will hold me up.

What can anyone else do to me in light of that? I used the only associate this verse with physical things – such as the persecution Christ-followers faced a lot in Biblical times. I didn’t see how that applied to me because, seriously, who is trying to beat me up or put me in jail? These past two weeks, however, I’ve been thinking about this in terms to other kinds of affects people can have on me. Emotionally? Sometimes people cause me such pain that I lose heart, I feel like I can’t go on, and I want to run and hide in my bed and not have to face the day ahead of me.

But what can man do to me? How can their painful interactions even compare to the goodness of my God? No matter how hurt I am, he is with me! He never forsakes me. He is there, willing to help me through each trial, and this includes my emotional pain as well as any physical calamity that may come. People can’t crush my joy (maybe my happiness, but not my joy) when I’m standing firm in my God and his promises.

Who has spoken the Word of God to me? My mom, Grampa, pastors, youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, some friends… Thos who have taught me from the Bible – when I look at their lives, I see people who have confidence in God. Strong faith. I see them taking things to God in prayer rather than fretting. I see joy. I see patience and other fruits of the Spirit of God. I see contentment. So, the outcome of their way of life, their faith? I want that! Yes, I’m definitely ready and willing to try imitating THEIR faith if I can get that kind of abundant life from it. Bring it on!

I’m glad that God is faithful to me. Without fail, he is always there for me, always loving me, always strengthening me. He will never leave me nor forsake me.

Our culture seems to lack faithfulness. In fact, our culture lacks all of the fruit of the Spirit. These fruit, or qualities, are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23), and there is a very good reason that we don’t find these qualities abounding in society. They aren’t human nature.

Culture

I’m expecting that by the time I have teenaged children, the divorce rate in America will be between 60-75%. The signs are everywhere that marriage is failing. Know what I see all the time in movies and other media? Aside from divorce, what I see is people questioning the very idea of marriage. They ask, “How can I really say I’ll love one person for the rest of my life? How can I promise to stay with one person forever?”

The thing is, people are rebelling against marriage because it’s not natural to them. We all need to have human companionship, but this idea of one man and one woman committing to each other for a lifetime and becoming one flesh is a Biblical thing. Maybe it has been a process. Throughout time, ever since the Fall, creation has been constantly degrading, and maybe things like the fruit of the Spirit will become more and more difficult to grasp the further we fall. I don’t know.

What I do know is that I fear for future generations. Christians need to continue to strive to bear good fruit and set examples for their children and friends!

Our Example and Our Reason

Jesus was both fully man and fully God, thus making him literally a perfect example of how to behave as a human being. For one thing, he was human and someone we can emulate. Secondly, he was God, so he did not fall short the way we will. We aren’t divine; none of us is perfect. But we do have a perfect example, and if we strive for perfection, we may achieve excellence.

Jesus was faithful to his family and friends as well as to God the Father. Even unto death.

“Faithfulness matters because it matters to God. Period. The longer I walk with the Lord and the more I fall in love with Him, the more I am convinced that the core characteristic that He is looking for in us is faith(fulness).”
-Why Faithfulness Matters – BeBroken.com

Living Loyally

As much as loyalty is highlighted as a virtue, it’s not always easy to be loyal. Still, it’s my goal to be known as a loyal person, with God’s help. I hope that my friends know that they can always count on me to stick by their sides and love them. I know my husband believes in me to always love and honor him. I pray that God continues to help me continually draw near to him and glorify him with my life.

But on a personal note, what I’m struggling with lately is believing in others’ loyalty to me. Sometimes it feels like friends are only friends as long as it’s convenient. People only seem to check up on you when you give them cause to worry, and people are only there for you if and only if you’re there for them. It’s a hard thing to deal with, but I must remind myself that faithfulness does not come naturally, even to me. I must remember that where humans fail, God never does. And I must continue striving to be faithful to my friends, not to earn their loyalty in return, but because God expects it of me. He expects me not to live a life that comes naturally, but rather to live a supernatural life, one that I can only live with his help.

Christians and money. I believe that Christians have an oft-ignored responsibility to handle their money with care. The Bible actually has a lot to say about money, and yet I wonder how often we really consult it or God before making financial decisions.

The Bible on Riches

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…”
-1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)

That is probably the most famous Bible verse about money. People often misquote it as “money is the root of all evil,” but the wording implies a slightly different meaning. As it says later in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

What God calls for in the financial area of your life is the same thing he calls for in other areas: wholehearted commitment. So let’s get something straight here right off the bat. God doesn’t tell us that it’s wrong to be wealthy. In fact, as seen in the Old Testament, God often blesses faithful men with riches. What needs addressing is what is most important in your life?

“The call of Jesus is often personalized based on what he knows challenges our allegiance to him.”

(Read more: Click here Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike)

“As [Jesus] went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?’

Jesus said, ‘Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.’

He said, ‘Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!’

Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, ‘There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.’

The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, ‘Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?’ The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: ‘You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.’

That set the disciples back on their heels. ‘Then who has any chance at all?’ they asked.

Jesus was blunt: ‘No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.’”
- Mark 10:17-27 (The Message)

Using Money Wisely

God loves when we give to the poor and spend our money on those who are in need. However, God doesn’t always call us to do that. There are other good ways to use money, some of which are stated directly in scripture and others that we glean from various stories and from our knowledge of God’s character.

“Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. ‘That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.’ They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.

But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.’
-Mark 14:3-9 (The Message)

Here’s a brief list of what I believe to be good and poor uses of money, based on my faith and my studies.

The Good:

• Charity – Giving to the poor. God cares for people through his servants. Jesus praises the idea of giving money, food, and shelter to the poor. Proverbs 22:9: “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”
• Supplying our family’s needs – The Bible teaches that it is good to work for your wages, and those wages are meant to help provide for your needs. Proverbs 28:19: “He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.”
• Giving gifts to loved ones – Jesus likens God’s blessings to the gifts we give to our children. It is good to give gifts to those we love. God does it, and he is the perfect example for us to follow! Matthew 7:11: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
• Helping the church – The church can also help provide for needy people, but first the members of the church need to give to it. This is called tithing because in the Old Testament Jews were required to give a tenth of their wages to the Lord. Giving to the church is the most direct way we can give to the Lord. 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
• Helping missionaries – Missionaries aren’t paid a salary. God provides for their needs through us. And indeed they have many needs, and their work is rough. Mark 6:8: “These were his [Jesus’] instructions [to those he sent out]: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.”
• Playing – Before you say this is a stretch, think about the good things the New Testament has to say about celebrations and parties. God doesn’t call us to be solemn all the time. We are meant to enjoy life! Sometimes, this means playing. The word of caution is to make sure you have taken care of your responsibilities first, and to remember that not all recreational activities available to us are necessarily good in God’s sight. So be careful, but have fun. Ecclesiastes 5:19: “…When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.”

The Bad:

• Hoarding – Just read Ecclesiastes if you question this. Hoarding is no good. It’s meaningless to build up treasures in this life. Put your money to good use, instead!
• Showing off – Pride comes before a fall. God does not think highly of boasting.
• Worshiping – Again, man cannot serve two masters. Worship the God who blessed you with your money, not the money itself.

Seek Ye First

How should we treat our money? I believe that as Christians, we should pray before making decisions about money. No one answer is correct in every situation. You can’t always save it. You can’t always give it to the poor. You can’t always use it on gifts for loved ones. Seek God, and he will guide you, though sometimes that guidance is so gentle we barely notice it. Keep seeking him. Keep praying.

What are your thoughts on the matter? I’d love to get other opinions on this – or any feedback you’re willing to share!

Christianity is a hard topic to discuss. I claim it as my religion because there’s nothing else to claim that people would understand! But even so, who really understands what I mean even if I do use a common word like “Christianity?”

Denotation

Let’s get some definitions straight. “Religion” and “Christian” are words used so loosely that some may be unsure of their meanings. For the purposes of this discussion, let’s keep these definitions in mind.

1. Religion: a specific, fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

2. Christian: a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Jesus Christ.

• Real
  Jesus Christ was a real person who lived a real life in a real past. He did real miracles and healed real people and died a real death for real sins. When I’m using the word “Christian,” it’s not a synonym for “someone with good behavior” or for “someone who’s decent.” Being a Christian isn’t like being Latino; you can’t inherit it from your parents. It doesn’t mean that you go to church sometimes or all the time, or that you take communion, or that you pray.
• More Than Real
  A Christian is someone who recognizes Jesus Christ as not only a real person, but the one and only Son of God. Matthew 3, Matthew 14, and II Peter 1 make reference to a voice from the heavens speaking that “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.” John 3 says that God gave “His only begotten Son,” because of how much He loved the world, so that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. (Also see I John 5)
• Not Only The Son
  Not only is Jesus the Son of God, but he is also one with God. Romans 10 says you must confess that Jesus is Lord. In John 14, Jesus tells Philip that he who has seen Him (Jesus), has seen the Father. Jesus the Son and God the Father are two parts of the Holy Trinity.

3. Holy Trinity: the union of three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) in one Godhead, or the threefold personality of the one Divine Being.

• The Trinity’s third member is the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost in KJV). John 14 says Jesus will ask the Father to send us the Spirit to be a Counselor with us. Romans 5 says that the “love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (NASB) I Corinthians 2 says that the Holy Spirit teaches us about spiritual matters. The end of the book of Matthew says to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Beyond The Dictionary

The word Christian appears only three times in the Bible. Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and I Peter 4:16. The disciples of Christ were called Christians (or Christianos) by Gentiles (non-Jews) in Antioch. By my understanding, the name was first meant as a sort of insult, but that doesn’t really matter – it later grew to a title of honor. To be named as a follower of Christ means that people could see that their works, behaviors, and teachings mirrored those of Christ. They could see Jesus through these people.

Now, we call ourselves Christians; we are not given the name by outsiders. Is it in hopes that people can see Jesus through us? Or is it simply convenient? I am sometimes hesitant to even take the name for myself because I know how little I deserve it. To me, it would definitely be an honor for someone to be able to look at me and say they see Christ in me enough to call me a “Christian.”

Christ-likeness, that’s what it really means.

Who was He? How can you emulate Christ if you don’t even know Him? Many people name themselves Christians though have no idea what Christ was like or what his teachings were. It’s true that Jesus says all that’s required for salvation is to believe in His death and resurrection and confess that He is Lord, but the life of a Christian involves more than that. There is more. There are other things involved in being a Christian; things that don’t make you more or less saved, but that show your obedience and love of God.

Who Is Jesus?

• Fulfiller of Prophecy
  The Old Testament contains about sixty Messianic prophecies (with many more – over 300 – references to the coming Messiah), and Jesus is the only man in history who fulfilled every one of them. (Click for list of references.) Therefore we know that he is the Son of the God of the Bible, who created the world. The foretold Messiah.
• Sacrificial Lamb
  The purpose of Jesus’ life was to die for sins. Sin, brought into the world first through Adam and Eve, and passed down from father to son. In the Old Testament, God set up a system of sacrifices for people to atone for their sins. Sin cannot be forgiven without the shedding of blood. Romans 6 says the wages of sin is death. There is no way around it. A Holy God cannot overlook sin, un-holiness, evil. In the New Testament, Jesus, as a sinless, pure Lamb of God, gave himself for a sacrifice, so that we would not have to. This is why we no longer make sacrifices. This is why we can be sure of eternal life. Jesus took on the sins of the world to save us from death and separation from God. That is the meaning of salvation! That is the meaning of John 3:16!

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11, NIV)

The Message puts it like this:
“Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!”

• Redeemer
  Jesus’ death, though, means nothing without his resurrection. He conquered death! He rose again on the third day, as it was prophesized and as He said He would. (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, I Corinthians 15)

Salvation

Some people use different phrases to refer to this same concept. To be saved, to be born again, to become a Christian – they all mean that you are accepting salvation, which is the free gift (see Romans 6) given by Jesus, possible only by His death and resurrection.

In Ephesians 2, it is reiterated that we are saved by the grace of God, through faith. It is not “of ourselves,” or not “of works.” In other words, it’s nothing we have done or can do; it is the gift of God. In Romans 3, we are reminded that there is “none righteous, no not one,” and that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Where, then, is boasting? How can we pat ourselves on the back when we know that it was nothing we did, but a gift? We can’t.

So, the question is, where does that leave us? First of all, it leaves us as still sinners. As the saying goes, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” We’ve been forgiven of our sins, but we will still continue to disobey and misbehave (sin). Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with it. Romans 7 is a good example, where Paul says, “…the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (NASB)

It’s a struggle! We will always struggle with sin because our very nature is sinful!

“So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not!

“If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace–a new life in a new land!

“…What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death be the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.

“From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

“That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time–remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!–into God’s way of doing things.” (Romans 6:1-2, 8-13, The Message. Click for NIV.)

To summarize, we must do our best not to live in sin any longer. Just because we are forgiven does not give us license to live as we please. In John 14, Jesus says twice that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. II Corinthians 5 says that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.

Where does that leave us? Read God’s word! Learn what he has to say. Find out what pleases God, and what grieves Him. Spread the Good News (the Great Commission)! We are ambassadors, or representatives, for Christ! (II Corinthians 5)

(Read More in Part Two)