“For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Paul went through much of living in a culture that was antagonistic toward Christ. So many problems came and went against him, trouble on every side of him, problems that pressed hard against him, and yet he learned the secret of contentment.
Look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you see? I see in the mirror a man who is aging and breaking down externally. But, again, take a look in the mirror of the Word. What do you see? Do you see the eternal springing up within you, the everlasting joy that comes from looking away from the obvious to the real?
Paul did not faint because he kept his eyes on the eternal and the internal. His daily focus was disciplined upon Christ and His Word. He learned that the outward things were temporal and could be discouraging. The things not seen were eternal and were an eternal weight of glory. What is discouragement? It is a temporary loss of perspective.
Focus on that which is unseen, the truths you know in your heart, for it is that truth that is a reality. We need to focus on the inner man. Life is passing us by. We have the opportunity to focus on the eternal and internal daily for the next 364 days of the year.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but, after their own lists, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3).
In this diet, fitness-crazed world especially found in America, there are many conversations when it comes to good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, fat, fiber, calories and carbohydrates. The wellness teams are coming up with all kinds of programs to help us lead better and healthier lifestyles. They want us to live a long time.
I read about two elderly ladies who died and went to heaven. As they walked the streets of gold, one said to the other, “Just think, if we hadn’t eaten all that bran, we could have been here years ago.” We are in a fitness craze today. We live longer and we enjoy it less.
I only wish that the Christian community was as into a rigorous spiritual exercise as they are with their physical exercise. We are so focused on the temporal more than the eternal. We worship dust when we are more concerned about our temporal bodies than the eternal body.
Firm faith is better than firm bodies. We have promoted buns of steel and brains of silly putty. This is a scandal and a sin. We have dumbed down our minds. Although there are more Christian Bookstores today, only 10-12% of American Christians ever visit them.
The majority of the Christian world would rather be ignorant than learn. People no longer read, or think. And because of that fact we have raised a generation that cannot endure sound doctrine. There are many in our church pews today who desire not to be taught or to teach. And when we watch the news we see the Philistine mindset which promotes untruth.
There needs to be a return to seeking the face of God and the mind of Christ. We must call people to discipline their minds as well as their bodies. God expects us to take care of our physical bodies but not at the expense of not exercising our spiritual minds for the glory of God. There needs to be a real turn to Christ and His Word.
The longing that so many in the early church had for Christ’s return seems to have burned itself out in many churches and breasts of believers today. The “yearning” and the “fainting” for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one in Christians of that day was real and very personal. They could taste it.
We have spoke of the cross so much that I believe we have forgotten the beauty of the One who died upon that instrument of death. The saved person seems to be more about a contractual system than involved in a personal love. The “work” of Christ has been so stressed that we have eclipsed the person of Christ and His beauty.
To stay awake and long to see someone involves love and anticipation, and that seems to be lacking immensely today. There is power and joy when we long and love to see someone coming down that aisle, or arriving at the house. It changes the whole atmosphere and endeavors to bring all the senses of mind, body, and soul together. We have become too comfortable in this world today. The Lord Jesus pulls as a magnet that causes us to jump with joy when we think of Him and our seeing Him.
May we get our eyes off of ourselves, our problems, and begin to worship Him who is coming in grace, glory, and grandeur. What it does today for you and me will eliminate so much that really does not matter. When the heart is right then the eyes will be looking upward.
“And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for it is written by the prophet…” (Matthew 2:4-6).
Religion and flesh silences the voice of God in the soul of man. The chief priests and the scribes knew of the prophecy, birth, and location of where it would all take place, the birth of Christ, but to them God’s Word made little impact, condemning them instead of commemorating them. The signs of the Sent One were all around but not within.
Herod was ANGERED by the possibility of another King intruding into his kingdom (though he imagined it was his). The KingMakers traveled many months and miles, surrendering much money to greet Him, to ADORE Him, and to gift Him.
The religious leaders were APATHETIC. They pointed but did not pursue. They spoke but did not seek. They fantasized but did not find. Speed-reading may be good for other books but not for God’s Word.
Christmas should warn us that hearing and reading Scripture is not good enough! It’s in the doing of what we know which counts. It’s easy to know what is happening, to know what we should be doing, and then to shut down and say, “That’s good enough”. No, the blessing is in doing, not just in knowing.
Families are lost, churches are powerless, and nations are defeated because of apathy. Head belief and heart trust can be lost in the transmission of Christmas like no other season of the year. If we seek Him with our hearts we shall find Him. Religion is bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions
“But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice [peace offering] on the third day shall be burned with fire” (Leviticus 7:17).
God spoke to Moses out of the Tabernacle of the congregation (Leviticus 1:1). The offerings were now of worship and witness of Himself. Five offerings were given to Moses as God called out to him, not from Mount Sinai but from the Tabernacle.
The first three offerings were “Dedicatory Offerings.” It spoke of the value of Christ’s death. They are called the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The offerings prefigured Christ as a “sweet smelling savor” to God, rather than as a sin offering.
The burnt offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of his “devotion.” The meal offering speaks of the value of the death of Christ in terms of its “perfection.” The peace offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of His “communion” (Leviticus 3; 7:11-13; Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20). This was not an offering to make peace, but celebrated and rejoiced in the peace already made.
The power of the third day is that you and I are to experience communion in the Lord Jesus Christ daily, the same day the offering is made. Our communion in Christ ought to take us to tomorrow and then we start over again. To become stale is to lose our freshness and reality in our communion with Christ, and is meant to be cut off from fellowship. This applies not only to our quiet times, but to the holy celebration when we come together for the remembrance of the Lord in His death, until He comes.
“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?” (Luke 23:34).
May God continue to be especially nigh to those who are being persecuted. May He use our prayers and our concerns and our monies to help the persecuted church. We know that the primary mission of the church is not to protect itself from the world, but to protect others from the world to come
In the economy of God’s time today, what do we do for those who are being hurt by others who have no regard for God and the church?
1. We mourn the loss of the victims. The Lord Jesus wept many times in His life on earth. Yet, God is afflicted with our afflictions even now.
2. Pray for the Terrorist’s Salvation. Ours is to persist in loving, even if men persist in enmity. We are to bless when they curse, pray while they persecute. We are to “do good to them, and pray for them.”
3. Keep Calm and Preach On. We are to continue to preach the gospel. It is the Master’s mandate, and it is the Master’s power.
4. Forgive the Evil. The Christian man is not allowed to hate anyone.
5. Live Each Day in Light of Eternity. If God had willed it we might have entered into heaven at the moment of our conversion, but He has not. Why are God’s ships still at sea? One breath of His wind might waft them to the haven of rest. We are not here in vain. We are here to glorify God, and that we may see others come to know his love.
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
A much needed group of people do not attend the prayer meeting because it’s–forgive me for saying it–boring. They pray about the same things the same old way. We believe as Christians that our prayer life ought to be Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, worship-based praying. Yet, why do we not sense and see greater praying and great pray-ers?
The observation of many is that the evangelical church does a great deal of complaining about the decay and demise of our culture, the low level of political discourse, and the advancement of religious darkness. Helpless as we are to stem these ominous tides, yet incredibly as it sounds, we still do not humble ourselves and pray. We lament that we have not seen revival, but we are not yet desperate enough to seek God for such an outpouring of God’s Spirit.
I want to ask you to open your Bible and read its truth. As you study the passage begin to seek God in prayer. Offer to God these Scripture truths back to Him in prayer. Pray the Scripture back to Him. Concentrate in your efforts to use the Scripture as you pray.
Don’t allow the “ministry of the Word” to become shallow to you. And please do not allow prayer to become superficial. The foundation of what we are and what we do is “prayer and ministry of the word,” even as the early church leaders did, according to Acts 6:4. We can change our church and our world! When we learn to pray effectively and fervently.
