Genuine Christianity

II Timothy 1:5 "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also."

As consumers, we like the fact when we are assured that what ever product we are purchasing is a genuine product.  We don't want a cheap reproduction.  We want the real deal - we want something that is stamped as genuine.  As a matter of fact, we will usually be willing to pay top dollar for what is a genuine product.

I love the phrase here in our scripture today,  "unfeigned faith".  That word "unfeigned" means that they were genuine in their faith and practice of Christianity.  Timothy, his grandmother, and mother were all genuine believers.  They were not just Christians in name only, their faith in God and in practice was real. There was no hypocrisy in them at all.

I am challenged today to have a faith and practice in my life that there would leave no doubt that I am indeed a Christian.  I am also challenged that most of all that my conduct would leave no doubt in minds of my children as well.  I do not want to be an insincere or fake believer.  I want to be genuine.

Are you a genuine Christian?

Don't waste your Christian life with Withered Fruit

Joel 1:10-12 "The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up the oil languisheth.  Be ye ashamed, O ye husband; how, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, ad the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, and the apple tree even all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men."

As a prophet called by God, Joel was called to bring message to the people of Israel.  He begins his message to Israel by painting an illustration of where they are at spiritually.  I would like to take this message & illustration from Joel today and apply it to where I believe many Christians are at in their own lives today. 

I want to begin with field first off.  I want you to consider the field to be your entire Christian life.   Secondly, I see the husbandman and the vinedressers as the Christians who are supposed to be tending to the field of the Christian life.  Thirdly, consider the vine, fig tree, palm tree, apple tree, and all the other trees of the field to be the fruit or the blessings of the Christian life.

Is your Christian life being wasted?  Is your field dried up?  Is the fruit you are producing dying on the vine and withering up.  I think the saddest part of this illustration is the fact there is fruit being produced was useless.  No one wanted to do what was necessary to make sure it was going to be used.  What blessings are you missing out on because your field is dried up?

Now I want you to notice who is blamed for the fruit being left on the trees.  Look who must take fault for the dryness of the field.  The husbandmen and the vinedressers.  They were neglecting the field.  Now there are a few possibilities for the neglect.  They were too busy doing other things and neglected the field. Or, they felt they had enough supply already and didn't see the need to gather anymore.  Or, they were just too lazy to get up and go pick some fruit. Or they thought someone else would take care of it.  What ever the reason - Joel said, "Be ye ashamed." 

As Christians, if our field is dried up and the fruit that God has prepared for us is dying on the vine, it is no one else's fault but our own.  We must learn to take personal responsibility for our own actions.  Stop blaming your husband for the dried up fruit in your life. Stop blaming your wife or your family for the lack of fruit in your life.  Stop blamming the church and your neighbors.  It is not their fault.  If you are going to have fresh usable fruit in your life as a Christian you're gonna have to and maintain your own field.  We ought to be ashamed to have field that is drying up all around us.  We give too many excuses today.  "I'm too busy to read my Bible."  "I'm too busy to go to church" "Someone hurt me one time" We ought to be ashamed to give excuses and let our field dry up around us.  It is your field, tend to it.

I want you to noticed the key to having and keeping a fresh usable field in your Christian life.  Joel said it was, "because joy is withered away from the sons of men."  What we need is a renewed joy in our lives.  I'm just going to continue to be blunt today - if you allow the joy of life to dry up, it will get to your fruit eventually.  Bitterness is probably the biggest robber of joy in the life of a Christian.  You need to do everything you can to pull the weeds of bitterness out of your life because for some of you it beginning to dry up your field.  Let forgiveness be your fertilizer today, sprinkle a little bit around you joy so your field will continue to produce the fruit God intended for your field to produce.  In John 15:11 Jesus said, "these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."   Now understand the words of our Lord here, He said, "might remain."  It is possible for the joy of our lives to dry up around us, but only when we lose focus of Him. You must tend to your joy first.  Your joy is the moisture that your field needs.  Turn on the sprinkler of joy today and let it water your field. 

 You don't have to live a wasted Christian life.  Keep you heart and mind stayed upon the Lord today, read your Bible, love your brothers and sisters in Christ, keep your joy full, and you will enjoy a wonderful life filled with delicious fresh fruit.

A Clear Conscience

Acts 23:1 "And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."

Paul was standing before the high priest standing trial for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As he began pleading his case before the religious council, he said, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."  I do not want to focus on Paul's arrest, or his defense of his preaching, but rather I want you to consider the phrase, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."

If you have lived long enough to be able to read this article, then you have lived long enough to have some regrets in life.  We know the life of Paul.  He carried out orders to arrest and detain Christians. He was even present at the stoning and death of the deacon Stephen.  It amazes me how someone who was guilty of such things, was able to say that he had a clear conscience before God.  No doubt he was applying Philippians 3:13-14 where he said, "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"  

I believe Paul was able to achieve a clear conscience before God because of 4 things:

1. He surrendered his wants and desires in life for the cause of Christ - Philippians 3:7-8
2. He understood his position in Christ - Philippians 3:9 
3. He learned Christ and the blessings of suffering for Christ - Philippians 3:10-12
4. He focused on the present and future and didn't let his past defeat him - Philippians 3:13-14

Wouldn't you like to be able to have a clear conscience before God today?  Well, then you must first give up your goals and desires and begin living your life for God alone.  Understand that any righteousness that you have obtained, you obtained it through your faith in Christ and what He did on the Cross for you.  Begin learning more about Christ and understand the blessings that come from suffering for Him.  Please take note, if you only do the first 3, you will never know the victory of a clear conscience before God.  You must forget the past, and focus on what God is doing presently in your life, looking forward to the future of a life lived for God.  When you can do that, you too can say, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day."

Unforgiveness - The Great Advantage of Satan

II Corinthians 2:5-11 "But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

When someone does something wrong to us, why is it that we end up being the one who feels so rotten?  Why doesn't that other person feel like we do?  Why do they seem to go through life happy and carefree all the time?  It just makes us sick doesn't it? 

Paul understood something here in our scripture today.  He was teaching of the power and release of true forgiveness.  It is so easy to hold on to hurts.  It is even easy to pick up someone else's hurt.  Look at verse 5, "But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all."  This church was standing up for Paul against someone who had done him wrong.  It is as if they said, "Paul, if they have done you wr0ng, then they have done us wrong too."  Yet, Paul doesn't say, "thanks for sticking up for me and having my back." Rather, he instructs them to forgive them, comfort them, and love them.  He told them that he too forgave them.

We do have another option besides forgiveness.  You can always continue to harbor those feelings of resentment.  You can continue to reclaim your hurt and disappointment. You don't have to let them off the hook.  Hold onto your anger. You have every right to be mad. Go ahead blame them for all your problems, they are the cause of it anyway.  That's right, forgiveness is for the weak minded person anyway.  They deserve it.  Let them feel the pain of my not forgiving them.

Every reason listed above, is one that I have told myself time and time again.  There is only one problem with those - they are all lies of the devil.  Did you catch the last verse of our scripture?  "Lest Satan should get an advantage of US!"  Forgiveness is more about your own peace of mind than it is about the one you're forgiving.  We are not just releasing the offender from the hurt they may have caused, we are free ourselves from Satan gaining an advantage over US! 

Does Satan have an advantage over you? He doesn't have too.  Take back the advantage that you have given to him.  Forgive!  Set yourself free and forgive.  Release them from your resentment.  Grant them their freedom from your hatred - and set yourself free.  Forgive them.  Give up your claim to feel the way that you're feeling - forgive them. 

Where do you hide?

Psalm 91:1-2 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

When I was a child, I liked to play hide and seek.  It was a lot of fun, and it didn't matter if it was outside or inside.  Some of the best times we had playing hide and seek was right before it was about to be dark.  You know what I'm talking about, when it's just light enough to still see things, yet dark enough to not see them clearly.  The best spot to hide in, was the spot that no one else knew about, and the moment someone would find that spot you just knew it was over because everyone was going to hide there now, and you'd have to find another place to hide. 

The Bible tells us that Satan is like a "roaring lion", "seeking whom he may devour."  The Christian life is unlike the game of hide and seek because it is not a game at all.  However, there are some principles that we may apply from our childhood and from our scripture today.  As Satan is seeking out our lives to devour what he will, the Bible assures us that we have a hiding place and it is a secret place.  I find great comfort as the psalmist said, "the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress."  We have a hiding place that the devil can find nor penetrate.  We have a fortress that he cannot get past the security.  We have a God who cares and protects us. 

I want you to take special note of two phrases that are key in these two verses.  In verse one, "He that dwelleth." That is the first key.  The secret place of God is a place that we are to dwell in.  That means to stay there and not leave.  The second phrase comes at the end of verse 2, "in Him will I trust" When we trust Him, we will stay with Him.  There are times in our lives as Christians that the devil may get ahold of us.  It is at those times that we were not dwelling in the secret place.  Most of the time when we don't dwell there it comes down to trust.  We trust ourselves more than we trust God. 

Proverbs 3 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." We don't have to play hide and seek with devil.  We need to put our full trust in God and God alone and dwell in the secret place with Him and let the devil go seek someone else.