What in the World! Eggs? Really?

You can't go through a day, or a part of a day without hearing or seeing something on the news that makes you say "What in the world?"  And that is just it.  It is the world.  Jesus said in John 17: 9-11 9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.   

What are the effects of "more world, than God?"  It is a slippery slope and very hard to move back up to a higher vantage point once we drift down into the pit.  But it can be done.   Jesus in his prayer in the verse above asked on behalf of those who would be living their faith out in the world, and His prayer helps us see that we are in the world, but we are not of this world anymore once we have a born again life.  We will appear different, and that is because we ARE different.  Paul wrote to the church at Rome in Romans 12:2  "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  THEN you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will."  The effect this world can have on a believer is usually less than good and the ongoing draw of this world will cause you to go down a path that is not leading to anything good.  Conformity to the ways of this world is a sure formula for destruction and a very weak faith.  Compromise will creep in and drain the life out of you to the point that you have no more joy in  your Christian walk and the truth becomes more relative to your circumstances that the truth being the answer to your circumstances.  Point in case....EASTER.  

What have we Christians done to Easter?  We have cheapened the most precious act of love ever in the history of man and made it into a promotional campaign for rabbits.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  I have hidden "and found" the yearly Easter egg as a child and as an adult like most others.  But really, is all of this really the "best" way to celebrate Easter?  If children of today were to think about the true meaning of Easter, they might wonder if any Easter eggs were hidden in and around the tomb of Jesus.  Do you see what I am saying?  The two just don't go together.  Why? Because the world hates believers.  That is just the way it is and always shall be.  In John 15:19 Jesus said, "If you were of the world, the world would love it's own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."  With the worlds hatred for us, we also see that world is full of deceptive practices and that world will try to minimize anything that has to do with lifting up Jesus above all other things, also known as glorifying God.  My marshmallow bunny is really starting to look suspect in all of this.  Plus it is full of the white stuff.. you know...sugar.  In 1 John 2:15-17 John writes 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."  

So, what is a person to do?  Reject egg hunts?  Every church I have attended has had an annual egg hunt on Easter.  My family does annual eggs hunts for our kids and now grandkids.  I let the grass grow a little longer to make it possible to hide the eggs as good as I can.  C'mon,  are we actually gonna be "party poopers" and possibly go too far in this whole "living for Jesus" thing?  Probably not, but just in case you do.  Here is what John wrote about it.  ! John 2:6  6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. And also Jesus said this about being "different" than the norm in Luke 9:23  "and He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."  

Let's be sure and anchor our kids in the truth and minimize, or do away with, the false narrative about Easter that has crept in from the world about the meaning of the event we know as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Our Savior.  Eat those hard boiled eggs and save on the money you spend on dye kits and open up the Bible and read the truth about Easter.  The moment you take that stand the "world" will try to chew you up and spit you out, and it will probably come from those very close to you.  But don't give in.  The moment they try to chew you up they will notice a wonderful flavor from your life that is best described as "real Christianity."  Then you will be the "what" in the world.  And your what is best described as a "true believer."

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

The Walking Dead

John 11:38-44 - 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.”Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [a]there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the [b]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
A man dead for four days and Jesus comes up to the burial tomb and brings him back to life and tells him to come out. Only Jesus can perform such a great miracle. This scripture reaffirms the power Jesus has over death and that includes spiritual death. Are you living the abundant life or are you the walking dead? There is a TV show that deals with The Walking Dead, otherwise known as Zombies. Zombies can walk and move around, but in a trance, because they are dead. Are you that kind of a Christian. You have accepted Jesus, but because of a lack of pursuing a closer relationship with Jesus you are moving around, sitting in church, singing praise songs, and even doing churchy things, but you are dead inside. This should not be. The church of today is struggling to even get Christians to participate and serve as commanded by the Lord. Members are leaving the church in record numbers and it shows that we do have many who are the "walking dead." The Apostle Paul dealt with this issue when writing to the church at Thessalonica and in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 he writes 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
In speaking about the coming of the Lord and the events leading up to it Paul refers to a time when people will believe all sorts of falsehoods about the faith and many will not actually be saved. The truth is veiled and a deluding influence will cloud their minds and they will believe what is false. Here is a question to ponder. Is your hope in what people say, or is your hope in the Lord? This is a very important question to answer because it makes everything very black and white. Truth or falsehood. Oh, you might say, "of course I choose truth." But if you live in a falsehood, how can you say that? Some of the false teachings are: "Truth is relative to my circumstances" "The Bible is a book of stories and they don't apply to modern day problems." "Tolerance is the new norm in Christianity." "Church life is no longer applicable to my life." "I can hedge on commitments made to God because of His grace." It goes on and on, and the continued "watering down" of the Word of God is birthing more and more "walking dead." Disobedient people have always tried to fit God into their little box to make living for him "user friendly." We need to change our attitude about that and become "God friendly."
The dangerous part about being the walking dead is they seek out others and try to inoculate them and feed off their weakening faith. This is all from our enemy, Satan. So, how do you deal with the walking dead? Do not get near them or they will turn you into them. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 Paul wrote "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Avoid those kind of people and strengthen your resolve as you grow in your faith. I am constantly aware that new Christians can be discipled in the opposite way they should be by people who are the walking dead. They teach them a marginalized faith that will fail at best. Instead of growing them up in the Word of God. They are inoculated with the faith that causes delusional thinking and there is no growth, but just them becoming the walking dead as well.
Here is what to do: Get involved with people who love God's Word, love God, and are growing in their faith and you will grow also. Then start taking back territory we have long ago lost to this weak condition that causes the walking dead. Paul didn't just identify the disease, he knows the cure. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul says, "Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." The eternal life to which we were called is the source of our hope and joy and that brings about a new life that can only be explained as the Holy Spirit living in us. Back to the story of Lazarus. Dead and buried for four days, to those who were there he seemed like a lost cause. But he wasn't. Why? JESUS! Jesus always makes the difference and he called Lazarus out of that grave and into the breathing air. He was alive!!!
Jesus is the only hope for the condition of the walking dead, and He is the best hope for fighting this dreaded condition that so many believers have today. It is my prayer and the pray of many I know that Jesus call forth those who have been dead way to long, and revive their spirits and cure them of their walking dead condition. Won't you join with me in praying to God to bring the dead back to life by curing the walking dead condition that is plaguing the spread of the Gospel. Here is how we stand and pray per the word of the Lord through Ezekiel in chapter 37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
It is time for the army of God to fight the good fight and quit fighting among ourselves and focus our eyes on the Lord. It is time to allow the Holy Spirit of God to revive our spirits and for His gospel to be proclaimed as never before. No more walking dead. Just those who were dead, now alive forevermore. I pray for the breath of God to revive our hearts and for a sweeping revival to take place in the church and out of the church. I can hear the rattling of the bones. Can you? I believe Jesus is calling each of us by saying "Church come forth!" It is time. Are you ready? Of course you are, if you know Jesus!!


The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

Your Filter is Plugged Up!!

We turned on our air conditioner to combat this seemingly uncharacteristically warm weather and to my surprise our air wasn't cold coming out our vents.  Oh boy.  Probably needs some freon or something else like that to make it work properly.  So, the air heating/air guy comes out and takes apart the unit and checks everything and....looks good!  So he came in the house thinking I might need a new thermostat.  That is when he says those fateful words..."come here, I found your problem."  I go to the hallway and he opens up the area where the filter sits and pulls out the dirtiest air filter I have seen in a long time. There was not a way for any air to go through that filter because of the dirt.  My face turned a little red and I started thinking, "When did I replace that filter?" I thought I replaced it three weeks ago, but it was apparently more like three months!!!  He and my wife had a good laugh at my expense and I went and bought a case of filters and put a new one in there and guess what?  It cools great now.  He suggested changing it every time I get my monthly statement for utilities as a reminder to replace it once a month.  That is a great plan and that is what I will do.

This little experience is chocked full of great illustrations for the Christian life.  

The first one is this: We don't realize how far we have drifted until something in our heart shuts down and just doesn't work anymore.  Hebrews 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to [a]what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.  It is too easy to drift away from our faith and in that drifting float into unfamiliar, dangerous waters.  If you read further in that chapter you will see the need to keep our life under the direction of Jesus Christ, from whence comes our salvation.  In a world brimming over with information, the only information that builds our faith is what we get from God's Word.  So, read the Bible every day and pray to God to apply it to your life and keep the dirt of the world out of your system.  If you continue to let too many questionable lifestyle choices creep into your life, you will not notice that you are drifting from the truth and that the dirt of sin is piling up in  your spiritual filter.

The second lesson is this.  Go to the one who is an expert at fixing your life.  Ask God if there be any wicked way in  your heart and let Him guide you through the steps to get back on track.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  This psalm finds the writer really trying to clean up there life and they go to the heavenly Father, who is the one with all the answers about how we are and who we are.

The third lesson is this.  God is perfectly willing to show us how to live our lives if we will just come to Him for direction.  Another writing by the Psalmist says in Psalm 25:4-5  Show me Your ways, O Lord;  Teach me Your paths.  Lead me in Your truth and teach me,  For You are the God of my salvation,  On You I wait all the day.  

The fourth lesson is this.  I need to realize the importance of every moment of every day to serve Christ.  Ephesians 5:16 says to be redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  If we don't watch our time, we may wake up one day and find out we don't have any.....TIME.

The days can turn into months, and months into years, and we look back and regret not using our time more wisely.  But then it is too late.  The best way to fix that is to start right now....don't wait!!  If the world has some strongholds in your life pray that God will break them down and put Him back on the throne of your life.

The fifth lesson is easy.  Confess your sins as God reveals them to you and keep your spiritual health as a priority.  The best way to realize your sin is to read God's Word and pray to God asking Him to show you as well.  1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.  Of course we know that our sins are forgiven at our conversion and we are as white as snow before the Lord, but letting sin have more and more space in our walk sends us down a path that is further and further away from God.  He wants us to move closer and closer to him, so "get the dirt out and get a good filter."  You can see how easy it is to drift away from God.  Getting back into a right relationship just takes you checking all the areas of your life on a regular basis and God will show you how and when to clean your filter so it doesn't clog up your relationship with Him.

You may be saying right now you just don't have the drive and passion in your life you used to have to serve God and you just don't know what is going on.  Maybe my little problem with my air conditioner filter will bring the truth into focus for you.  Maybe, Your filter is plugged up!!!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

5 

Rescue Me

Galatians 1:3-5  3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Paul, an apostle, writes to the church at Galatia and reminds them of the great sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to rescue them from eternal life in hell.  Not only eternal life in hell, but from this present age or "the now."  Why do we need to be rescued from "the now?"  Man's great plans and solutions are only temporal at best and the ways of the world fade away quickly leaving us wanting.  Our life focus must be on the ways of God found in His Holy Word, the Bible.  But, not all people, even Christians, deny that God's ways are the best and continue to live in accordance with the world's way of thinking and living.  The church at Galatia had many problems that had become known to Paul and he jumped right in the middle of their worldly reasoning with a "truth bomb."  He shared with them, and us, the reality of what Jesus did on the cross and how it affects our lives now and forevermore.  Jesus giving Himself on the cross for our sins gives us the opportunity to receive eternal life in heaven, but also to "live" a life that is much different from the world.  The explosion of that truth bomb should affect all who come in contact with it.  Here are some things to think about in accordance to the truth.

The Big Ten

1.  We are separated from God because of our sin.  Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

2.  God intervened in that condition and exhibited His love by sending Jesus to die for our sins.  Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

3.  We realize that our only hope for forgiveness is found in Christ alone.  Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4.  God shows us there must be life change and repentance to receive it.  Romans 10:9-10 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

5.  God offers this salvation right now to all who come for it.  Romans 10:13  Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved.

6.  There is no other option.  Acts 4:12  12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

7.  He gives us power to live a life that is above the world's understanding. John 10:10b - I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.  (present tense)

8.  Our minds have changed.  1 Corinthians 2:16 - For who has known the mind of the Lord, that He will instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ.

9.   We have the Holy Spirit to show us how to keep living and growing in Christ.  John 14:26  But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

10  Now live it and let God be God in your life.  Ephesians 2:20 - Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner stone.

You may feel like you are on an island and that no one is listening.  God is listening and He wants to give you peace, security, and direction.  The peace passes all understanding.  The security is the promise from God that He will never leave you or forsake you.  The direction is God's perfect will for your life.  All of this is found in the Word of God, so read it, and be rescued from the lies this world is trying to get you to follow for your life direction.  God's way is the only way to life and that life is good.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren