Getting Back to Christianity

Hello again!

Today we’ll be moving from Ruth (which we finished up last Saturday) onto 1 Timothy. – This is what God gave me today in His word:

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (1 Timothy 1:3-7)

What is the only “doctrine” that is indisputable among Christians; the only doctrine that causes stewardship by faith instead of speculations? What is the only doctrine which charges someone to love, and gives them the capacity to love by giving them a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith in God? What is the only doctrine which should never lead to vain discussions, or cause people to want to become teachers of the law?

Is it the Baptist doctrines? No, it can’t be those. Those have led to some many vain discussions among believers it’s: stunning. Could it be the “doctrine” of Catholicism? Catholicism is the epitome of what this doctrine can never be: they are not only teachers of salvation through the law, but their message is entirely void of love. Could this doctrine be the doctrines of the Armenians, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, or Jehovah’s Witnesses? No, no, no, and no. The answer is no, because none of these doctrines or religions can give someone a pure heart! None of these can cleanse someone’s conscience, or make them want to love others, and none of these can give someone a sincere faith. The only thing that can do that, is the Gospel.

Jesus, and not any one group, is the only one that can cleanse our conscience, give us a sincere faith in God, and give us a pure heart. – Only by looking at the cross, and seeing the great love that He has poured out for us, can we gain a desire to love others. That’s why, at first, those who followed Christ were called Christians. They were called that, because they were so radical in their faith that people came to identify them very closely with the one that they followed. They were not called Baptists, because baptism wasn’t nearly as an important thing as following Christ was to these people. They weren’t Catholics, because those who were around them knew that their obedience to the law sprang out of their love of Christ. We need to get back to that: to where people see that we identify so closely with Christ, they can only call us Christians.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Joy and Marveling

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:38-39)

In yesterday’s post, we talked on how going to the cross, repenting, and asking for forgiveness is the only way a Christian who is lacking peace (or anyone else) can gain true peace in Christ. In these verses, we see the proof of that. Jesus assures them that He is not a Spirit by telling them to look at His pierced hands and feet, and to touch Him. Now, quite obviously Jesus is no longer with us physically, however, we are still invited to Spiritually do what the disciples did physically.-To see Christ’s pierced hands and feet, and to “touch” Him (when I talk about Spiritually “touching” Jesus, I’m talking about times when we feel extremely close to Christ; where it’s almost as if we were “touching” Him). And when we do so, it should create the same response in us as it did in the disciples:

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, (Luke 24:40-41a)

They couldn’t hardly believe in was Him for joy. For us, this might equate to having such a profound revelation in Scripture that we can hardly believe Jesus would show us such a thing for joy and marveling, or some other such thing. Regardless though, the point is this: Looking at Jesus’ nail pierced hands and feet, and realizing that He truly did die for us, should produce nothing but peace, joy, and utter marveling at how great our God truly is.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Getting Cold

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? (Luke 24:37-38)

In yesterday’s post, we talked on the peace that Jesus gives everywhere He goes. However, His disciples don’t seem to become exactly “peaceful” when Jesus appears. In fact, they thought they were seeing a Spirit! Now, remember, if anyone on Earth were to be able to recognize Jesus, it would likely be these men. They’d eaten with Him, traveled with Him, and obeyed Him. And yet, at first, they believe they’re seeing a Spirit.

This is what happens to everyone (with some variations) that go through their circumstances. Namely, it happens to everyone who has had Jesus with them day in and day out. Who have lived with Him, who have traveled and obeyed Him whole heatedly… Only to suddenly seem to “lose” Him, and enter into a sort of “cold period”. And who then proceed to almost curl into them-self; who run away from and hide from their enemies. (John tells us that the disciples were hiding “for fear of the Jews”. See: John 20:19). Anyone who does this, will not recognize Jesus, at first.

As you may have gathered, I’m not talking about people who do that physically, as the disciples but those who do it Spiritually, which is something we are far more prone to doing. It’s even somewhat easy to go from seeming to have Jesus with you, to seeming to enter a time where His presence seems a little farther off. It’s even possible to get so doubtful of Christ and His saving power, that we don’t even recognize Him in the Scriptures.-We don’t even recognize Him when He “appears” to us. But, how can we keep ourself from becoming “cold”? How can we keep ourself from drifting away from Christ?

By making sure we can’t drift away. By that, I mean we should identify what weaknesses we have; where we have a tendency to give in, and then ask God to give us His strength to cut off all possible access to whatever is making us weak.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Good Amongst the Bad

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. (Luke 23:10-12)

Even in this, seemingly the darkest of times, Jesus is able to make two enemies friends. Granted, the two people in question are a tyrant and a corrupt official, and that he brought friendship between them by being mocked and beaten… But even so, it’s still quite incredible. Not only that, but Jesus hasn’t stopped doing incredible things, even two thousand years later.

There are times in the Christian’s life where things are simply going bad. There are times when, as happened with Peter in the previous chapter of Luke, the Devil “sifts” us. But even in these times, Jesus always makes some good come out of it. As Paul puts it when writing to the Corinthians:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Paul’s faith was strengthened by the affliction that he and whoever he was with experienced. Likewise, when trials of any kind come to us, we can know for a fact that some good will come out of it.-In Jesus’ case, two friends were made, and the whole Earth was saved. Now, nothing so dramatic as that will ever happen again, however, Jesus can and will give us the strength to stand firm during the time of trial.

The point being this: when trials come, let’s ask Christ to give us the strength to stand up under them.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Guilt

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:41-42)

The cross was such a daunting prospect, that Jesus asks that it be taken away from Him. Think about that for a second. Imagine how you feel when you’ve done something wrong; you feel guilty. When you tell a lie, you feel the guilt of it. Now, try to imagine all the guilt you’ve ever felt. It’s impossible, but go ahead and try anyway. Now try to imagine your parent’s guilt, and their parent’s guilt, and on up your family tree, and add it to your own. The  pure amount of guilt, all the way from Adam and Eve down to you, is so utterly staggering, it’s unbelievable. Now multiply that by all the individual people in the World, who all have had families and have family trees like you, and imagine all the guilt their kid’s will eventually accumulate, and on and on until finally the World comes to an end. And when faced with having it all put onto Himself, Jesus does nothing more than pray that the cup might be taken away from Him. Some people believe Jesus was being selfish here on the Mount of Olives, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of or seen a less selfish display, except for when Jesus was actually on the cross.

Jesus has crucified our guilt, our sinful nature, and our shame, along with everyone else’s down through the centuries. The Christian no longer has anything to be guilty about. Because Jesus was willing to experience the worst horror in existence, we now have the opportunity to experience a guilt free life, and later, Heaven. Now, though nothing we can do will ever have the same impact as what Jesus did, we too are to be as Jesus was here. When trails come, we should recognize that it’s God’s will that they come. Trying to fight God is like trying to fight the wind: it’s impossible. So let’s not try to, rather, let’s acknowledge that God really does know what’s best for us.

Anyway, the point is this: Jesus has done what no other could, and has removed our sin and guilt and shame, by taking them all into Himself, and dying.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Spiritual Food

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:19-20)

Just like our physical bodies, our Spiritual selves need to eat. Jesus has shown us how we can feed our starving Spirits in this passage.-Through eating His body, and drinking His blood. (Quite obviously, Jesus never intended this to ever have a physical meaning; any physical interpretation of this is barbaric, rather than Christian.) And we are able to do this, in the Bible. The Bible is to the Spirit as food is to the body… or, to be more accurate, understanding the Bible is nourishment.

Jesus has given himself for us in every imaginable way. He has died, given up Heaven for a time, and even taken time while He was on Earth to teach us, and He even provided a way for us to grow Spiritually. It would be foolish of us not to take what He’s offered.-It’d be foolish of us not to acknowledge Him as our savior, and then to find nourishment for our souls in the Bible.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Tax Collectors and Pharisees

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Most Christians will tell you that, in this parable, they identify with the tax collector, and were disgusted by the Pharisee (myself included). And this is quite a good stance to have; the tax collector’s cry for forgiveness is something we should all relate to, while the Pharisee’s prideful speech to God is something we should all try to avoid. But how many of us really do relate to the tax collector?

Living up to what we say is important, especially when it comes to salvation. So, we should ask ourself: are we living lives where we demean other’s, or do we forgive and overlook things? Do we think that we can do anything to save ourself, or are we secure in the knowledge that Jesus’ death and Resurrection has paid for all of our sins? And finally, are we begging God for forgiveness, and asking Him to give us the strength to stop, or do we act like we can somehow forgive ourself by our own actions?

If we are living as the Pharisee was, it’s time we beg for forgiveness.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Giving Thanks

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:11-18)

This is something of a sad story really. Ten were healed, but only one, and him a Samaritan to boot, came back  and gave thanks. But why is that exactly? After all, we had ten lepers healed, what made this one person decide to come back, and why didn’t the others return and give thank’s as well?

Well, so far as we can tell, the one who returned to give thank’s was the only foreigner of the bunch.–Nine Jews, and one Samaritan. Now, remember that when Jesus saw the lepers, He told them to go and show them-self to the priest (in order to be pronounced pure from their leprosy). Therefore, the reason for only one person, and him a foreigner, becomes fairly obvious: the Jews would’ve taken the command to obey the law as being more important than giving thank’s to God. See, their problem, was that even after Jesus had cured them, they still wanted to be pronounced pure by the law, instead of wanting to give glory to God.

We need to follow the example of the Samaritan here. It’s all too easy for us to, even after Jesus has cured us, still want to somehow try to obey the law for salvation. Trying to obey the law is perfectly fine of course. Doing good of any kind is, in of itself, perfectly fine. It’s just we first need to give glory to God by recognizing that it’s by Jesus’ blood and His mercy only that we are saved, and whatever it is that we do, is only an off shoot that springs from what He did for us.

The point being this: doing good is just fine, in fact, it’s the very evidence that we are Christians; even obeying the law is fine (so long as we don’t force that obedience onto others). But we must realize prior to all that, that we’ve been saved by grace, through faith in the son of God, not by good works, or obedience to the law.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Contradiction

Hello again!

This is what god gave me today in His word:

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. (Luke 16:16-17)

It appears that Jesus has just contradicted Himself, and in the time it takes to draw a breath too.-The Law and the Prophets were valid until John came, but it’d be easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away before one dot of the Law becomes invalid? Come again? Not only that, but as Paul tells us that all Scripture, including the Law and the Prophets, is God breathed, and useful for numerous tasks [2 Timothy 3:16], he seems to support Jesus’ second assertion… But, is there perhaps some way to tell for certain what Jesus meant?

He meant exactly what He said, and Paul meant exactly what He said. We no longer have to obey the ten commandments because Jesus’ death and Resurrection has made us poor and spotless in God’s sight. However, the Prophet’s and the law aren’t meaningless. This is because of two reasons:

1. Because if you were to live a perfect life, you would indeed be saved apart from Jesus. The problem with this being that this is a physical impossibility. No matter how you look at it, even someone in the most ideal of circumstances will sin at least once in their life time. Just look at Adam and Eve.
2. We can still learn from them. By “learn from them,” I mean we can receive all the things which Paul said that we can learn from them, namely: teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

The point being this: first and foremost, the Bible doesn’t have any contradictions in it. Numerous people say that it does, but it simply does not; it’s all how you look at it. Secondly, though we can learn from the law and the prophets, they cannot save us.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Older Brother Syndrome

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:25-32)

Older brother syndrome, as I like to call it, is easy for any Christian to get into. Older brother syndrome has three main causes: jealousy, pride, and hate. It typically displays itself, in jealousy of another’s gifts, in thinking that we are somehow better than another Christian, and in hate towards another Christian.

Older brother mode is easy for anyone (including myself) to slip into. When we think that, because we aren’t falling in an area that a fellow believer is falling in, we are somehow better, we experience a bit of the older brother syndrome. Likewise when we hate someone because something good happened to them that didn’t happen to us, or when we’re jealous because someone can do something better than us. We’ve all experienced periods, no matter how brief, of older brother syndrome. But how can we overcome it? Do we perhaps need some sort of medication for this “syndrome”?

No, what we need is Jesus. No one has more right than Him to act like the older brother in this parable, and complain that we should be allowed to enter Heaven. But He’s gone as far as possible in the exact opposite direction of playing the part of the older brother. (Which makes sense, as He is the one who gave His very life so that we may live.) And He can enable us to do the same. If we ask, He will give, if we knock, the door will be opened (etc.). So, let’s not grow into older brother’s, instead, let’s let Christ grow us up to be more like Him.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland