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DO YOU KNOW IT BY HEART? 011315

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“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  .  .” Deut. 6:6

“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psa 119:11

“For the word of God is living and powerful, .  .  .  and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

When I was a little kid, when my Momma wanted me to memorize something, she’d say, “Can you say it by heart?”  Like my ABC’s, or the Pledge of Allegiance, or the Lord’s Prayer,  or the 23rd Psalm. “Do you know it by heart?”  And the funny thing is, I’m 66 now, and I still have those things memorized.  I still know them, and can say them, By Heart!  Makes me grin.

And the Lord has been telling me for a long time now that we as disciples of Jesus should memorize God’s Holy Word.  It has all kinds of benefits.  After Deuteronomy 6:6, the passage goes on to say, “You shall teach them [His Words] diligently to your children; and talk about them when you sit at home, and when you walk down the road; when you lie down and when you rise up.  .  .”  You should memorize God’s Words so they will be available, on the tip of your tongue, when you talk to others about Jesus; you will have HIS words to say, because it’s not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit.

You should know God’s Word by heart, so you won’t sin against God, just like David said.  Knowing God’s Word by heart forms a barrier, a wall, against all the tricks of the devil, when he says, like he did to Eve, “You don’t really believe God really meant what He said, do you?”  And if you’ve spent enough time thinking about Bible verses to memorize them, then you KNOW that you really DO believe what God says.

And that last verse quoted above, about the Word of God being “alive and powerful, and piercing  .  .  and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.”  I’m convinced that if you memorize God’s Word; if you hide it in your heart; if you obey God as He commands that “These words shall be in your heart”; then you will be able to discern what is going on in peoples’ hearts; both in other peoples’ hearts and in your own; so you’ll know better how to pray for them and for yourself.

I have a list of about 250 separate scriptures that I’ve been memorizing over the last several years.  I take one new one a day and work on it that day.  About the third time I come to it on the list, I have it memorized.  If you’d like I can send you a copy.

GOD HAS A PLAN. 011215

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In Philippians 4:6-8: Paul writes:  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Tex’s version of this passage goes like this: “Don’t worry about anything, but thanking God for what you have, pray and ask for what you need; and the peace of God, that passes all understanding, will protect your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters,  whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything worthy of praise, meditate on these things.”

This morning I had a flash of light about this very passage.  This is the ‘good-bye portion’ of Paul’s letter to the Saints at Philippi.  This is what I’d call his ‘closing instructions’.

He says, “Don’t worry, be happy, be thankful, when you need something, ask for it.  Turn all your troubles over to God.  When you do this, the peace of God, peace that passes understanding, will keep your hearts and minds from fear, and worry, and depression.”  So my flash of light was this. “What happens when you do what this passage says, and you’re still afraid, still worried, still depressed?”

Then you do what the very next verse says, “Quit thinking about that stupid stuff you’re worried about.  (God is taking care of it.  He can and will take care of it a lot better than you or I can anyway.) What’s more, as an act of your will, you just need to focus your mind and your heart on something good.  Find something good to think about.  Like sunshine; or rain on your flowers and your crops; or how great it is when you kid comes up, out of the blue, and says she loves you; or about the good book you just read, or the song you heard on the radio; or how thankful you are that you made it home without running out of gas when you were almost out; or how you finally shook that bad headache you’d had for three days.”  Focus on these things; fill your heart and mind with these and other good things.

My Momma used to say you just have to make up your mind to think about something good.  And when the devil comes up and says “You don’t really believe that stuff, do you?”

You say, “Yep, I’m trusting God and I know He’s taking care of me, so I’ve just made up my mind to think about something good!”

So God really does provide for all of our needs by His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Even when the primary plan falls short, God has a backup plan.  Between being thankful for our blessings and thinking about something good, we really can enjoy the pleasure of the Presence of God, right here, right now.

ONE IN US—011115

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In John 17: 20-23, Jesus says, “I do not pray for these alone [the twelve], but 1also for all those who will believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word; 21 that 2they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that 3they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that 4they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that 5they may become one and perfectly united, and 6that the world may know that 6aYou have sent Me, and 6b[You]have loved them as You have loved Me.”  I have a few things to say about this passage:

1] Jesus said He’s not praying for the [12] disciples alone, but also all those who would believe in Him because of their [the disciples’] words (and their teaching). I’m pretty sure that includes US, you and me.

2] That they would all be one.  That means that all who believe in, trust in and rely on Jesus, will be one with each other. Unity of all of us who believe in Jesus              

3] They also may be one in Us.  That means we (all of us together) will be one in God and Jesus.  How much closer to God can we get?

4] They may be one just as We are one. That means that we (the believers) may all be one in the same way that God and Jesus are one.

5] They may become one and perfectly united [us united with each other]. 

6] That the world may know that 6aYou have sent Me, and 6b[You]have loved them as You have loved Me.  So the world may know that God sent Jesus, AND that God loves us (you and me and all of us), the same way and the same amount He loves Jesus.

Welp, I don’t know about y’all, but for me, if Jesus prayed it, you can write down in your book, because it’s going to happen.  Some people might say it is going to happen when we all get to heaven, BUT some might say it is going to happen while we are still down here on the earth.  All I know is I’m going to be grinning real big when these words comes to pass.  And I’m looking forward to experiencing what it feels like to be united with God and each other the way God and Jesus are united.  Hallelu-Jah!  What if, here and now, we totally surrender our selves (our self-ish, sinful nature) and let Jesus fill us with His own Spirit.  Do you think that might be the time when this One-ness starts to happen?

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE? 011015

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Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” NKJV

How are you doing on ‘laying up the treasure’?  Do you have plenty of cattle in the bank and money out West?  How’s the house and the cars, the  neighborhood and the school district; the investment portfolio and the country club; the weekends skiing and the vacations in Europe?  I don’t know about you, but while I don’t have all those things, I certainly take spells of aspiring to them.

Sometimes I focus an inordinate amount of attention on taking care of my stuff, our stuff, our activities, and our image in the community.  Problem is, sometimes we focus so much attention of that stuff that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, [distract us from God] and make us unfruitful.” Matt 13:22

Sometimes I focus attention on those other treasures, the ones Jesus calls ‘treasures in heaven’.  Spending time alone with God.  Talking to people about what God is doing in my life, sharing what He can do for me (and them) if we’ll just get out of the way and let him.  Spending an evening with my wife and kids, doing nothing in particular.  Taking care of the widow women and the orphans and the people under the bridges.  When I’m focused in the right direction, those are the true ‘affairs of my heart’.  Sometimes the Spirit is moving so much it feels like my heart is fixin’ to burst out of my chest.  You’ve probably had that feeling a time or two yourself.

Therein lies the distinction between ‘treasures on earth’ and ‘treasures in heaven’.  When we spend time each day with God, thinking and reading about Him, talking to Him, listening to Him, trusting Him and obeying Him, our lives are changed from ‘glory unto glory’.  We don’t always realize what’s happening in the beginning, but if we continue to do it day by day, we notice that little things begin to change, both in us and around us, and we begin to see what the real treasures are and what those treasures really mean in our lives.  We start to notice that our behavior is changing; our words are changing; we notice that it is becoming easier and easier to be “kind, tenderhearted and forgiving, like God is to us.”  Then it begins to snowball, and we start to notice we are becoming more and more like Jesus, every day.

Happy are the Persecuted? 010915

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Matt 5:10-11: 10 “Blessed (happy) are you who are persecuted for righteousness sake.”  First, what does that mean?  Condemned for being good?  Condemned for being Godly?  I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like God is saying, “You are approved by me if you allow yourself to be talked bad about, without saying anything back; without cursing the people who persecute you; being willing to turn the other cheek, to walk the mile (and the extra mile); to give up your coat and your cape.”   It definitely says something about your attitude if you put up with being persecuted for doing and being good; and that attitude is all about humble, loving and forgiving.

11 “Blessed (happy) are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake, . . . .”  I don’t know why, but every time I read this verse I think about the martyrs, who were burned at the stake, or stoned to death, or thrown to the lions, or tortured in the Inquisitions.  In Hebrews 11:37-38, it even talks about people who: “They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them.”  And I always think of that story about the stoning of Stephen, where he is in the middle of being stoned to death, and he says, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” How’s that for an attitude?  It’s nothing if it’s not humble and forgiving.  Whew!  Just a regular man, like me and you, and he thought so little of himself that he could pray for his attackers, at a time like that.  What a witness and a glory to God!

Regular old normal worldly men and women just can’t do what Stephen did.  They just don’t have it in them.  But when you’ve surrendered your whole self to God like Stephen, then God fills you up with Himself, with the Spirit of the Living God.  THEN you can be blessed (happy) when you’re persecuted for doing and being good.  You can be so ‘one with Jesus’ that you are able to be the kind of witness that Stephen was, no matter what is going on around you.

The Pure in Heart and the Peacemakers: 010815

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Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [and daughters] of God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Is there anybody out there who is really pure in heart?  I don’t know.  But I do know I have met very few.  And the few I’ve met have been little old people who have long ago given up thinking they’re somebody; given up any illusions of how great they are; surrendered their whole hearts to God; and God has poured a full dose of His purity into them.  Pure, unadulterated, whole, entire, love.  All about God, none about them.  That’s humble.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  Why them?  Why does God bless them?  Maybe it’s because in order to be a peacemaker, you have to know how to be humble.  You have to attribute the best motives to both sides, in order to find the middle ground of peace.  Maybe it’s because you can’t be the “ruler” and expect either side to genuinely agree to peace.  Maybe peace only comes from God (really), and if you’re going to “make peace”, you’re going to have to get your self and all of the self-ish stuff out of the way, because that’s the only way God can or will use you to “make peace”.  Did you ever think about the word “selfish”?  We always think it means an attitude of possession, usually of property, stuff, things.  But “self-ish” really is a lot more about me having my way.  Not just about stuff, but more about control.  My ball, my game, my goal posts, my way.  If you don’t do things my way, then I’m not going to play with you anymore.  I’m just going to pack my stuff and go home.  Not much humility in that, is there?

Like it has been said before, if you want to be like Jesus, you have to be humble.  Jesus was the same Person about Whom Paul said, in Philippians 2:5-8:  “Let this mind, [this attitude] be in you that was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who, being found as a man,  .  .  humbled himself and became a servant [a slave]  .  .  and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  So if you want to be pure in heart, so pure that you see God; if you want to be a peacemaker, so that you’re called a son [or daughter] of God; then you have to Be Like Jesus; and part of what that means is to be humble.

The Be-Attitudes of Jesus, 010715

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Jesus said, “Blessed are those they mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  And “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5: 4, 6, & 7,

Just about my whole life, I’ve been trying to figure out what the point of this ‘Sermon’, this teaching, really is.  What can it possibly mean that you are ‘blessed’ (sometimes translated as ‘happy’) if you are so sad you are mourning?  How is it that you are, or can be ‘happy’, when you are so bad that you’re desperate to be righteous (good).  OK, I get the one about mercy, if you’re merciful to others, they’ll be merciful to you. Not all the time, but at least some of the time.  (But even then, in the world, most of the time people, are only nice to others when they’re forced or shamed or guilted into it.  Not out of the goodness of their hearts. Even me and you.)

So what are we supposed to do with this passage?  How are we supposed to apply it to our lives, so that we are changed from being like us to being like Jesus? Sometimes I have pretty good questions, but very few real answers.  But here goes.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Blessed are you if you are in mourning for the way you are.  If you are so sad about the way you are, both inside and out, you may be ready, prepared, to let God comfort you.”  There’s that attitude, that humble attitude.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  Blessed are you if you’ve realized that you have no righteousness, no goodness, in and of yourself, because then you are ready, like an empty vessel, devoid of righteousness, to be filled with God and His righteousness.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”  Like we said earlier, give forgiveness, get forgiveness; give mercy, get mercy.  Give a little, get a little.  Give a lot, get a lot.

(Oh, if you don’t really know the meaning of mercy, it’s this: Grace is unmerited favor.  That is, God being nice to you when you didn’t do anything to deserve it.  Mercy is more.  It’s God being nice to you when you deserved to be punished.  Sounds like the condition I’m in most of the time.)

Remember this: With mercy, if you regularly excuse the faults of others, and even make excuses for them, God will do the same for you.  If you don’t; then God won’t do it for you. Just like with forgiveness. (See Matt. 6:14-15)

In the end, all three of these verses, in fact the whole of the Sermon on the Mount, is about our attitude.  Like it says in Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind (this attitude) be in you that also was in Christ Jesus, .  .  .  who humbled Himself, .  .  .  became a servant, and .  .  .  was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”  The only way we can do that is if we do what it says in Luke 9:23, where Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must deny your self, take up your cross (sometimes translated as ‘die to your self) daily, (over and over); and follow Me.”  It’s not so much about doing as it is about being.  I’ve got to quit being like me, and start being like Jesus.  It’s a slow daily process, but it’s worth the trouble.  It will totally change your life!

Blessed are the poor in spirit, 010615

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  Blessed (happy; well spoken of) are people who realize they’re not much good; they don’t amount to much; they don’t perform very well.  Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Did you hear that?  They have heaven.  Not later.  Now.

Makes me think of another passage, one in 1 Corinthians 1: 26:  “For you see from your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”   The point is that if you realize you’re not very wise, not very mighty, not very noble (of high birth), then you are already a lot closer to God and to the attitude He wants us to have.

Oh, and what about Matthew 11:25-26, where Jesus said in a prayer, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  .  .”  He has hidden things from the ‘wise and prudent’: the well-educated and disciplined, the intelligent and self-controlled, the properly trained, socially acceptable, law-abiding.  Just the kind of people the world wants to know.  Jesus says, “Thank you Father, that You wanted to hide the truth about You from those people.  I’m glad; I agree with you!”  I suppose some might disagree, but to me that is exactly what He’s saying.

And that’s just the beginning.  Not only ‘hidden’ from the ‘wise and prudent’, but ‘revealed them to babes.’  Just the absolute opposite.  ‘Babes’ yet.  How unwise and un-prudent can you get?  Babes not only haven’t learned.  They’re totally untrained, totally helpless, totally undisciplined, totally uncontrolled, totally undeserving, totally unable to figure out what’s going on.  And God, the Father, with Jesus, the Son applauding, revealed these things to people who don’t know how to row; they can’t even find the boat.  ‘Babes’.  (and babes may be the same people who Jesus referred to as “poor in spirit” and/or that Paul referred to as not wise, not mighty, not noble)

And to me the best part is ‘revealed’.  God didn’t make ’em go to college; He didn’t make them take a pilgrimage, or fast or pray, or beg for mercy.  He just revealed it to them.  He picked the ones who couldn’t possibly do anything to pay Him back, and shined His Light into their hearts.  Because He wanted to.  Because He knew they’d be genuinely glad to receive the truth and the light and the miracles of Jesus.  Because He knew they would respond by trusting Him to take care of them.  Because He knew they were the ‘fertile ground’ that was waiting to receive the seed of His truth.  Hallelu Jah!

Finally, in Luke 18:17, it says “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”  Wait!  What did it say back up there in Matthew 5:3? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  I think the ‘kingdom of God’ and the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is the same place.  So the ‘poor in spirit’ may be the same people as the ‘little children’, and from these passages we can draw the same conclusion: that God wants to reveal His truth, and His gifts of the Spirit, and HIS LIFE, to those of us who are poor in spirit enough to humble ourselves and come as little children, trusting that He is going to take care of us, like He says He will.

What does the LORD require of you? 010515

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 Well, what does the LORD require of you?  He requires us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God”  Micah 6:8

This verse makes me think of what someone said about getting down to the essence of things. In this case, how do you have a real, long-lasting (i.e., eternal) relationship with God?

First, do right (justly). Trust and obey. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.  Don’t worry about anything.  Surrender your whole self to Jesus (inside and out).

Second, “love mercy”.  In other words, love to receive mercy from God, and love to pass it along to others. Love not judging others, but leaving judgment to somebody else, and focus your whole attention on giving everyone as much mercy as you can. With forgiveness, we’re supposed to forgive others in the same measure that we have been forgiven—likewise, mercy is both sides of the same coin. Give mercy abundantly, overflowing, not holding back, with all your heart and soul and strength. Love cutting everyone some slack, a ‘lotta’ slack, all the time. If they need judging, the world and ultimately God will see to it—not me; not you.

Third, “walk humbly with your God.” What does that mean? The simple, clear part is that it means you are supposed to maintain an attitude of humility in relation to God, one that says, “Without God I’m a worthless piece of manure; so I better continually keep in mind Who God is, and what a great privilege it is for me to get to know Him, and have a relationship with Him.” The harder part is what “walk humbly” means in relation to other people. What would it mean if we said, “Walk humbly with your God, [and with others]”. Then it would mean something different, perhaps something like, “Realizing that we are with God all the time, and He is with us all the time (whether we’re paying attention or not), we should “walk humbly” with everyone around us.

How’s that? Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to think (Romans 12:3).  Don’t take the best table at the banquet (Luke 14:8). Like it says in 1 Corinthians 13, “Don’t demand your own way. Don’t be jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Be patient [put up with them] and kind.” Funny, that passage is supposed to be talking about love, but notice how it is all intermeshed with what it really means to be humble? What a blessing we’d all be to those around us if we just acted out that passage in our everyday, normal, ordinary lives. Surely that is what Micah is talking about when he says, “Walk humbly with your God.”

Edmund Burke, St. James and Our Lord Jesus.010415

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Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, politician and philosopher, born in Dublin, but lived his adult life in London. He was a Member of Parliament, and was active in politics his whole life.  He supported the Colonial Americans in their fight for proper treatment by the English overlords.  He is probably best known for his quotation, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  He also said, “Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

Those quotations remind me of what James said in his letter “to the twelve tribes scattered abroad.”  In Chapter 1:22-24, he says, “  .  . be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”  And in Chapter 2, verse 17, James continued, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  As if to say, “If you trust, but you don’t obey, there is no way you will satisfy the call of discipleship.”

But the best comment on this subject comes from our Lord Jesus Himself.  He said, in Matthew 7:24-27: (my paraphrase) “If you hear My words and you do them, I’ll think you are like a wise man who built his house on a rock, and the rain and the flood came, and the wind blew, and beat on that house, and the house stood, because it was founded on a rock.  But if you hear My words and you don’t do them, I will think you are like a foolish man  .  .  .”  Did you hear that?  If you hear the truth and you don’t follow it, you are a fool!

So what shall we say about these things?  Because I’m primarily concerned with making disciples, and teaching them to observe the things that Jesus has taught us, I would agree with Edmund, James and Jesus. We need to keep our eyes, and our hearts, on doing what Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “If you want to be My disciple; deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.”  That means we need to surrender daily, and let Jesus live His eternal life in us.  “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

By the way, it’s not about doing a list of activities, or following a set of rules, it’s about having a personal relationship with Jesus so that He, by His Spirit, lives His Life in you and me.  By doing that, we will satisfy the requirements of Edmund, James and Jesus, all three.