It's Time to Rally Together

   Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

Exodus 32:25-26 NIV

The situation was out of control. There was no time for a committee, the time for instruction was long past. Moses assessed things and saw that it was time to draw a line and call out to see who was for the Lord. 

It's time to assess our lives. It's time to listen to the Spirit's call. The world is out of control, calling evil good and good evil. If you are for the Lord, come to Him. We're not coming to a leader, unless the leader is calling us to follow Christ. Like the Levites we must cross that line and decide to be for the Lord. 

Now, I have no desire to start an in house church witch hunt or stir up dissension by saying that "some Christians" or "some churches" or "some pastors" water down the gospel. The truth is some do. The truth is, sometimes I do. Sometimes my actions speak louder than my words and I and standing on the wrong side of that line.  There are times when we must assess our lives, assess our churches, assess our beliefs and actions. What side of the line are we on? 

This is not a call to point out what everyone else is doing wrong. This is an admonition to check yourself and see if you are loving like Christ loved you. Are we worshipping the god of "I got to have it now" (debt, credit cards), the god of "self" or the god of "desire"? Christ is about giving not spending, serving others not your own needs, and seeking to protect and help someone else not use them for your own pleasure or benefit. And this is not about being alone, it's about rallying together as the time draws closer for our Savior to come again. Together we worship the Lord. Together we serve and reach out into the darkness of this dying world with the light of the truth in Christ. 

Who Makes You Holy

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

Exodus 31:12-13 NIV

Sometimes when we read a verse like this we forget that the point is that God makes us holy. We get caught up in legalism about if wether the lack of attendance is a sin or not. But that's not the real point. The point is that it is the Lord who makes us holy. We don't go to church to try to be holy, we go to church to be reminded that God makes us holy. 

This calls to mind one of my favorite verses: It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV Christ is our holiness and in him we are made holy. Think about communion. We don't take communion to remember what we did, we remember what Christ did, that his body was broken and his blood was shed. In Christ we are made holy.

Quite frankly, I think most of the time when we go to church we are really just going out of habit or to seek a warm fuzzy. We forget that we are there to worship the Lord of all creation, the Lord God Almighty, our Savior and Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who make us holy. 

Let Your Prayers Rise Up

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each on had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people. Revelation 5:8

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand. Revelation 8:3-4

Praise God Because He Stands Beside Us

With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
   in the great throng I will praise him.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
   to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
Psalm 109:30-31

I don't know what you have been going through, but, it has been a stressful little season for me. Sometimes when you go through a trial part of the stress is knowing it's going to last another month or so. But, knowing that God is with you, knowing that he is Sovereign over even your debt, mistakes, and life's little issues that come in and out of our lives on a daily basis, knowing God gives you the strength for each moment. Praise God who saves us from those who would condemn us. 

You're Held Together in Christ

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15-17 NIV

One of the reasons that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians is because the they needed to be reminded of the supremacy of Christ. Isn't that still part of the battle? The enemy and the world we live in is absolutely opposed to Christ, especially as the Son of God, Creator and sustainer of the universe. Paul emphasized to the Colossians that Christ was above all things in importance and relevance. 

Have you ever been told to get it together? Have you ever felt it was hard keeping yourself together? I have. 

Here is the good news: Christ holds all things together. If he can hold the universe together, he can hold us together. We just have to stay in him. This makes me think of a something like the Apollo space rockets and Space Shuttles. I'll bet it was crazy blasting off into space. Everything shaking and the g-forces pressing against you. But, your safe inside. That's kind of like our spiritual lives. Sometimes the take off seems a bit rough and scary, but you can't just jump out, you need to stay in Christ, trusting that he will hold things together. So, maybe you may feel like things are a bit shaky but, remember that Christ holds all things together, even your life. 

Rescued from Darkness

Hope is a Spring

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.

Colossians 1:3-6 NIV

I'm a teacher by profession and last year the powers that be finally (after nearly eight years) worked out a deal for a raise. It still took a few months to actually get into our paychecks, but, at least there was a reasonable hope that I'd finally see a few more bucks in my account to provide for my family. That hope was not blind. 

Our faith and love spring from the truth of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. It is truth, it is not fiction, truth. Knowing that Jesus lived and died, died for our sins and rose from the dead gives us hope. The gospel is not a static concept that has no affect on those who hear it. The gospel is Christ in you the hope of glory (I Thessalonians 1:27). The hope of the gospel produces faith, faith that allows us to love, even the unlovable. Just like Christ loved us. 

So, may the hope you have in Christ Jesus, in his unfailing, Sovereign goodness and love for you, produce faith in you, faith that allows you to love. Love that serves and gives even when none is given back, appreciated, or accepted. Love that sacrifices. Love that endures.