Jesus: The Revolutionary with His Upside-Down Ideas

Have you ever thought about the many ideas that Jesus brought into human history? I was thinking about this, and it is clear that Jesus brought ideas that are upside down from the world’s way of thinking. We could call Jesus a revolutionary!

One of the major ideas Jesus brought into human history is that the one who serves others is the greater versus the greatest is one served by others. And, how about the idea that everyone is equal in the Kingdom of God regardless of race, gender, or social standing. That was a revolutionary idea that many did not like.  In the US today we see this idea played out for the most part, but in some areas of the world you still see women, children, and slaves horrifically abused. There is no equality. We should ask ourselves, how we perceive others. Do we look at people through a lens of inequality in various situations? Do we treat everyone as true equals? Still, another idea Jesus brought to the world is that those who give away, receive more. How many people actually live by that principle? I would guess, few. I looked at my life and asked myself, am I living as though this idea is truth to me? How about you? Do you believe this idea to be true? Are you living it out in your life? Really, all of the Beatitudes are ideas that are contrary to much of the world then, and now.Just take a look at them.

For instance, Jesus said those who are gentle and lowly are blessed and that the whole earth would belong to them. In the world then, and today we see all kinds of striving between people and nations. People fight to gain more power and position. This is seen in the workplace and even in the church.  People strive for control over more people and to gain land. We see governments and men in powerful positions and groups such as the Palestinians who desire to obtain land that belongs to another. Jesus characterized the lowly with humility, self discipline, and submission; whereas, the world’s attitude is one of self-exaltation and lust for control and position. Jesus said those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (satisfied). In the world all around us we see people thirsting for self gratification and yet they are left unsatisfied. We should ask ourselves, what are we looking to for fulfillment. Is it Jesus’ life being lived through ours or are we trying to find satisfaction in people, position, things, honor, etc.?

Jesus said the one who cares for others (charity) will be cared for. Most of the world is concerned to seek justice only for themselves, with no concern about justice for the weak and broken who cannot help themselves. Again, we can ask ourselves if we are more “me” focused or are we “other” focused. If we are not other focused, is it because we don’t believe in Jesus’ idea?

Jesus said that those who are peacemakers will receive the Father’s blessing and will be called a child of God. We see, even inside of the church, many who pursue peacekeeping instead of peacemaking. They do what they need to do in order to avoid rejection and to keep the peace. They fail to be transparent in relationships and sometimes fail to offer forgiveness although on the outside they wear a smile. This is the same idea promoted in the world – keep the peace at any cost. They pretend that there is no break in the relationship when there really is and they move on without the other person, who may even be unaware of what caused the break. This leaves that person in a hurting condition. But the one moves on unconcerned with how their actions affect them. They are just happy to look like they are keeping peace and happy that they themselves are protected from rejection. The peacemaker Jesus spoke of pursues peace at risk of rejection and is open and transparent, desiring a true unity in the spirit. They are quick to forgive others as they see themselves as ministers of reconciliation.

Jesus said that those who are persecuted for His name would receive the Kingdom of Heaven. We see believers in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan persecuted for their faith in Christ. There is a pastor who is imprisoned in Iran right now because he will not deny Christ. The world doesn’t understand why he and others like him would go through such suffering when they could be freed of it by renouncing Christ. These Christians choose to entrust themselves and their life circumstances to God knowing that as they share in Christ’s sufferings, they will also share in His glory. They are committed and faithful to God and empowered by His Spirit to stand. All of us who call ourselves Christian should ask ourselves would we follow the world if we were in this situation or would we stand. The key to standing is developing an attitude of commitment and faithfulness now in the small things concerning the Christian life. This will prepare us to stand committed should this type of persecution be in our future.

Jesus Christ was definitely a revolutionary! Please feel free to comment on the few ideas I have shared that Christ brought to us. Or, share another idea that He brought into human history that is upside down from the world’s way of thinking.

 

Chase that Lion & Grow with God!

I recently read a book called, “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson. In the book, he encourages Christians to trust God and realize that the future God wants for them is hiding in their biggest problem, worst failures and greatest fears! He emphasizes, as does the Bible, that God is glorified as His people step into the seemingly impossible opportunities that stand between them and their dreams because these are the places where God’s involvement can be the only explanation for success.  Even if the outcome is not that which was hoped for according to our definition of success, we are still ahead because we will have the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God, thus, find ourselves changed. Besides, we can trust that God doesn’t waste anything. The efforts made will certainly be used for God’s purposes to bring forth the planned outcome of God.

For instance, a number of years ago, Jon (my husband) and I answered the call to plant a church in Lumberton, NC. With little financial support and little previous  experience; with statistics saying small towns that are no longer growing are not the place to plant a new church especially by an outsider, we left our jobs and we moved to Lumberton. Although there were many struggles, there were many great things that happened through the plant to include salvations, water baptisms, new commitments to the Lord, divine relationships established through the fellowship including two marriages, and our experience of God in at a whole new level that resulted from this walk of faith. All of this was God’s plan and what came out of our obedience to “go” even in the midst of defying odds.

As for the church plant, it fell apart in its sixth year and we have moved on. But you see, nothing was wasted! God was glorified in our obedience in many ways as He worked out His plan for so many people through our obedience; and Jon and I are that much closer to our own destiny of becoming like Christ. Our relationship grew with Christ through the experience of obedience and in the experience of letting go of God’s people for Him to do as He pleased. We are not even close to being the same today as we were when we set out on that journey. You can only WIN in being obedient to God!  As Batterson says, “I wish I could tell you that every lion chase ends with a lion skin hanging on the wall, but it doesn’t…the dot.com dreamer may become successful beyond his wildest dreams, but the guy with political aspirations loses the election he dreamed of winning. However, both of them are LION CHASERS. What sets lion chasers apart ISN’T THE OUTCOME. It’s the courage to chase God-sized dreams. Lion chasers don’t let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do.

So, we are called to run after these opportunities as God puts the desire on our hearts. Or, as Batterson puts it, “chase lions” and lay hold of God’s best by not allowing our past experiences, present circumstances, fears, doubts, bad decisions, or habits keep us from stepping into what God has called us to do. Instead, chase these opportunities and with God’s help defy the odds, face our fears and re-frame our problems, embrace uncertainty, take risks, and seize opportunities – all at the risk of looking FOOLISH. As our trust grows in God’s sovereign timing and positioning us for His purpose in our life’s circumstances, and as we learn to recognize and lay hold of our God-ordained opportunities, we are transformed from glory to glory. And, that is God’s best no matter what the exterior circumstances look like. Next time around, the outcome may be just what one expects! So continue on chasing lions knowing God is with you. It’s all good! It’s all in God’s hands to be used for HIS eternal purposes!

                                       What dream are you allowing fear or doubt to hold you back from pursuing? Go on…chase that lion!

Cover via Amazon

Has Christ Risen in You? – Removing Hidden Idols

Today we celebrated Christ! We celebrated that He led a perfect life, stood in our place paying the penalty for our sin. We celebrated that He gave us His righteousness so we could be reconciled to God as a holy people – holy because He has called us holy. Christ hung on the cross and cried out “It is finished.” There is nothing else for us to do. The penalty was paid. We also celebrated Christ’s  resurrection today because He was proven to be God when He rose from the dead, and, only the life of God carries enough value to save so many lives from their sins for all eternity! Christ’s resurrection was the proof that His sacrifice was accepted and we now have the blessed hope for eternal life.

Christ’s resurrection is a historical fact. It happened, so it is not really the event that is in question for us. What is in question is whether we (you and I) have died and been raised again with Christ to new life. Or, to say it another way, has Christ risen in us? Ephesians 4:21 says: Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy. And Galatians 2:20 says: My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. In other words, if we have truly received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are to surrender our will to God’s and by His grace begin to live the life He has destined us for. Still, we all stumble and fall down. God helps us up and sets us back on the right path. His grace is amazing! Nonetheless, today, I want to share with you the thing I believe most often hinders us in allowing Christ to rise up in us. That thing is our propensity to worship idols. It is not news to you that we are guilty in the 21st century, as are those in the past, of forsaking God as the fountain of living waters  by turning to people and things to fulfill us instead of going to God (Jeremiah 2:13). But oftentimes we don’t stop and consider what idols might be hiding within our own hearts.

Idols are “any thing or any one that takes the place in our lives that belongs only to God.” We must consider who or what has first priority with our time and resources. We should ask ourselves questions such as “Who or what has our love…our attention?” “Who or what do we trust in?” “Where do we spend our money, our time?” “Who or what is influencing us?” For some Christians their spouse or children may have become an idol. Some have even allowed their pastors to take that place. You get the idea. It is difficult for us to admit, but if we have allowed any person to be our “go to,” “our source,” “our first priority,” then we have put them in a place that is God’s and God’s only.

The ministries where we serve, our church, our job, our material belongings all can become more important to us than our relationship with God. When this happens, we find ourselves led to idolatry.  Another huge idol that we often overlook is ourselves. In our narcissistic culture, many times we ourselves are the #1 idol of our hearts. This is probably the most common amongst us here in the United States, if we just get honest about it. We can ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal the hidden idols.

A fall into idolatry can be quite subtle. It begins with failing to spend time alone with God. We crowd Him out with the busyness of life thinking we will soon get back to Him. This is devastating to us as Christians because it is in this alone time that with our Father that our confidence in God is strengthened. When we fail to spend personal time with God where we talk to Him and allow Him to talk to us, we forget how much He loves us and we begin to experience emptiness. This is because God has created us in such a way that we need Him to pour Himself  into us, and we need this experience daily. We need His love, His peace, His comfort, His wisdom, His strength. Nothing else will do. Scripture says God has put eternity in our hearts and without the eternal One satisfying us, we are destined to be dissatisfied. This results in a temptation to find satisfaction from people and things in our lives. Our focus begins to move more and more from God to idols. Of course, they are unable to fill us, but we  easily get caught up on a merry-go-round of dissatisfaction as we experience the thrill and purpose these idols can bring to our lives, although fleeting.  When the fulfillment is lost, we tend to chase after them even more, becoming even more in bondage. We experience feelings of disappointment and discouragement which drain from us energy and life. True fulfillment and peace can only be found by seeking after God (Isaiah 44:20). Our attempt to satisfy ourselves with these idols is as useless as trying to quench the thirst of the desert sand (Isaiah 55:2).

The Psalmist cries out to God in Psalm 90:14: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”  Satisfaction begins and ends with receiving God’s unfailing love as a reality in our life.  Ignoring God, results in losing an awareness of His love. This then results in dissatisfaction and a restless soul which opens the heart to idolatry. May we break free from idolatry by drawing nearer to God. May Christ rise up a little higher in our lives so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10).

The topic of idols of the heart is thoroughly discussed in my book, “Experience Real Satisfaction” released in 2010, available at Amazon.com through this link: http://tinyurl.com/d3p9ek3 .

Remember my friends, God loves you and is with you always! His plans for you are good. You can put your trust in Him!
Humbly,
Sarah

Create a New Story Line for Your Life by Sarah Goebel

Did you know that if you are tired of the story you have been living, you have it within your power to create a new one?  It’s true. You can create a new money story, relationship story, career story, wellness story — one or all of these story lines can continue as before or they can be rewritten differently for your future. The first step in the process of change  is that you must recognize authorship of your story and take ownership of it. Without a recognition that you yourself have responsibility for your life, you will not be able to successfully assess your thoughts, behavior, and the results of your behavior in order to determine what you can change and should change. Go with me, if you will, to take a look at the role our assumptions and motivations play in creating our life stories.

In the Bible, God tells us that we can call things that be not as though they are. What is He talking about here? He is saying if you have things in your life that are not in alignment with God’s will for you and you want to change, then begin to use your imagination and envision that change and speak it into being. Do not get me wrong here. This is not a magical formula, but a process involving godly meditation based on the Bible and speaking a godly desire aloud, that must be persevered until the desired result is being experienced in your life. The thing is, as you envision the change and speak it, you will begin to believe it. You are simply going through the process of changing your thoughts to line up with the life God has said He desires for you. As the thoughts you are now meditating on change, so does your behavior begin to change which results in bringing the new belief to pass. Scripture says that what you believe opens or closes possibilities for your life. Your beliefs and assumptions about yourself, others, life and God have a tremendous impact on your behavior, performance, and how you achieve your life or business goals. Ultimately, they construct your story lines, opening or closing the possibilities which influence your performance.

Another Scripture that comes to mind is Mark 11:24: Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. God is saying whatever you believe you can be, have, or do when you ask Him for it is a possibility for you to experience in your life. Your beliefs and assumptions will manifest themselves in the decisions you make, the things you say and the things you do. On the other hand, whatever you do not believe limits the possibility for that to be a storyline of your life.  In other words, there are empowering beliefs and there are limiting beliefs. Let’s take a look at what an empowering belief might look like.

1.  I will carry through the decisions that I make.
2. I have the ability and the perseverance to achieve my goals.
3. I am a positive person and those around me learn to respond positively to me.

A limiting belief would look like this.

1. No one ever supports me in what I want to do.
2. I am not good enough to earn that amount of money.
3. I am unworthy of good things.

Let’s look at the first example above of a limiting belief. Immediately, we recognize these statements are in contradiction with what scripture says about us or command us to think. Philippians 4:8 is a good example: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. When you believe no one ever supports you, your behavior will become such that it will cause people to be unsupportive towards you. On the other hand, looking at the third example above of an empowering belief, your behavior will line up with the belief and you will have people responding to you in a positive way.

Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to be transformed by renewing our minds. Whatever beliefs you renew your mind to will become the story lines of your future life story.  Your thoughts will transform your behavior and your behavior will transform your life. When you think about it, we are able to know someone’s beliefs and values by looking at their behavior because behavior is a result of what we believe. 

So it is important to acknowledge that you have been constructing and are able to construct what you experience. You are the one responsible for your own choices and those choices have created your storyline. If you continue making the same choices you will continue creating the same story lines. If you begin making different choices, choices that are in alignment with God’s Word, you will begin to write a new life story that glorifies God.

God says in Deuteronomy “I set before you life and death.”  Then He goes on and commands us to “Choose life”. We make the choice as to what we are going to believe, feel and do. When we choose empowering beliefs we are choosing beliefs that lead to successful behavior which will result in a successful life and career.

Begin today by assessing your story lines and determine the underlying assumptions and self concepts they were created from. Learn to take your thoughts captive and analyze them as to whether they are thoughts that are empowering or limiting and then discard those that are not going to further the new story you desire to create. It is also important to examine one’s emotions to determine the assumption or thought it is attached to and whether that assumption is relevant to one’s present life.  If not, the assumption can be changed and the feeling can be converted to an intention.

Regardless of the area of your life you want to change, by the grace of God you can take control of your thoughts and feelings and create a new life experience. Ask God to help you apply these principles to your life and you will begin to write a new story line today.

Examples of Scriptures which speak of our belief system – our faith:

Matthew 9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Matthew 21:21-22 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

2 Corinthians 4:13-14 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Daniel 11:32b – Those who know their God shall be strong and do mighty exploits

For many after they become a Christian, they are interested in searching out answers concerning the circumstances of their lives or to find the healing they need due to wounds received along their life journey. For me, my priority was to know MORE about who this God was that loved me so much. This verse was my life verse for a long time as I wanted to know my God so that I would be able to do mighty exploits. I continue on my journey with this same desire. I want to know more about and experience more of God each and every day. Because I have this desire, He continues to reveal more of Himself to me by the Spirit and His written Word.

We also learn more about God as He walks with us through the events of our lives. For example, He has delivered me out of some really traumatic circumstances and when He did, one of the things that happened is my understanding of who God is deepened. Tonight while reading in the book of Exodus, I realized the same thing was true for the Israelites. Think about it. God delivered Israel not when Egypt was at their weakest, but when they were strong and powerful!

The story of their deliverance goes like this. Even after Aaron’s staff became a snake and ate all of the snakes produced by the Pharaoh’s sorcerers, the Pharaoh’s “heart becomes hard…just as the Lord had said” (Exodus 7:13). It is clear that Pharaoh has not yet learned God’s identity. Now God sends a series of plagues to show the Pharaoh that He the Lord must be obeyed. As we read the story about the plagues it is evident that both Israel and Egypt would “learn to know” a little more about God through each plague.

The gnats were the first plague the magicians were not able to copy. The interesting thing is that all of Egypt was afflicted by this plague of flies. They filled the land, that is, everywhere except where the Israelites lived (8:20-24). What has God revealed to Egypt, the Israelites and to us in this event?

Here we see Yahweh, as our sovereign and all powerful God who is in control of everything that happens in our lives. Here we see that the disasters that had taken place were not just quirks of nature.  Then there were the locusts that ate all that was left after the hail and the darkness that covered the land – again except where the Israelites lived.  However, Pharaoh continues to dismiss Moses and his God. After all, He was Pharaoh.

There would be one more horrible plague that would free Israel. The angel of death would take every firstborn male in Egypt while God protected the Israelites giving them the instructions that would spare their children from death.  Finally, Egypt would not just free the Israelites, but they would demand they leave. God has demonstrated His authority in this one night over Pharaoh and all of Egypt’s gods.

God is revealed in the devastations and challenges of life. Without them, how would we know God? These events are a necessary part of life’s journey in order for us to know our God and do mighty exploits as He empowers to do so. These exploits glorify His name. What is holding you captive today? You can know that God has supreme authority over it. I want to encourage you to quit trying to deliver yourself. Quit trying to do exploits in your own strength and authority. Call out to God! He can intervene in your situation today!

Loving Those Who Hurt Us by Sarah Goebel

I was just thinking about some experiences from my past. You know, as we journey through life it is inevitable that we will be hurt from time to time. When someone hurts us, whether they did so intentionally or not, our first impulse is to lash out at them. We want revenge. But Jesus says in Matthew 5:39, “Do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

Let’s face it, we all know this is not natural and in our own strength, it is impossible. But as children of our Father who is in heaven, we are enabled by His life that lives in and through us to respond to others in this supernatural way.

We find a way to do this in Matthew 5:44. Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. How do we forgive
those who hurt us? How do we love them? We simply pray for them, and as we do, Christ’s love is released through us.

Is there someone in your life today, who has hurt you? Someone who needs to experience the mercy of God through your life?
When you get on your knees for that person, you are releasing the love of God into their life, just as God released His love to you,
even when you were at enmity with Him. Go ahead and do it now. As you pray, you will not only release that person to God’s care,
you will set yourself free from the misery that results from being held captive to unforgiveness.

God is so good to us. He is love and He has poured out His love on us and in us that we can love Him and one another!

For Christ’s Glory,

Sarah Goebel

Unspoken Words

Elijah as a Puppy

Do you have pets? Today, I was thinking about how much joy my dog brings to my life. I love Elijah – my large, lovable, black, soft, and fluffy standard poodle. He is smart, playful, and he makes me laugh with his whimsical mannerisms. Just by living with us, he has learned how to communicate many of his wants and needs, and he has gained a tremendous recognition of many of our commonly used words spoken not only to him, but to one another. The only problem is he doesn’t always understand our words in context. For example, I might ask my husband, “Did you go to the post office today?” Elijah, hearing the word “go,” hops up from his nap, tail wagging, and eagerly runs to Jon in anticipation that they are getting ready to go somewhere. He is confused and disappointed when he discovers they are not. But you have to admit, he is quite intelligent for an animal!

Animals do communicate, and some understand much of our communication, but as amazing as it is, they are still very limited in their ability. Actually, humans are the only creatures God made that have the ability to communicate by complex language, arranging words into sentences and sentences into expressions of abstract ideas. For most of us listening, speaking, writing, and reading are skills we use extensively as we attempt to communicate our thoughts and ideas to one another and to our God.

God was not satisfied to just communicate to us through His creation, although He does do that. He came to us in the flesh as Jesus Christ to communicate to us face to face. He has and continues to speak to us today through His written Word – the Bible which He authored but penned through the personality of several of His followers. He also uses the actions and words of our close, personal friends and faith community members. This happens a lot when we need help to interpret various things He may be trying to get across to us when we are having listening problems. Anybody, besides me, ever experience stopped up ears?  God also speaks to us through those non-personal relationships. For example, although we may not personally know the author, don’t we love to read books that display God’s redeeming love and power through the lives of fictitious characters that we can relate to? Don’t we experience God’s message through such? And, don’t we also love to attend those gatherings where our favorite Bible teacher unfolds the Word of God to us? Although God may use many different ways to communicate to us, He also speaks to us directly, up close and personal. God as Spirit communicates to our spirit impressing His thoughts within us. This level of communication is available to us because we are created in His image and made alive in Christ Jesus. What a marvelous thing it is to be in relationship with our Creator. We can enjoy His fellowship 24/7 – any time, any place.

I believe, too, that humans are the only creatures in God’s creation that have the ability to communicate on a spiritual level to God. We can communicate with Him – spirit to Spirit, without a single audible or visible word. How amazing is that! And, God always knows the intents and thoughts of our hearts. This is important, because sometimes we try to communicate and we say it all wrong. Sometimes we just don’t know how to put our thoughts – whether of extreme joy, or of anguish and desperation – into words, so we say nothing. When communicating with people or pets, this can be a problem – but not with God!  We can rest assured that God never, ever misunderstands us. We can know He always hears our unspoken words; and, He hears even that which is hidden in the deepest depths of our soul. What a great privilege and opportunity we have as children of God to be able to enjoy intimate and perfect communication with our Father.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

INTERACTION:  Just for fun, if you have a pet and a story about communication as I shared about Elijah, please share it with us. Then, every time your pet does that thing again, let it remind you that God always understands you perfectly, even when you say it wrong or are unable to say it at all!

God’s Grace is Greater than Our Failures

I don’t understand how it is that time passes by more rapidly each year, but I bet some of you reading this post will testify along with me that, indeed, it does! 2012 has come and gone. Already, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year.

For me, as 2012 drew to a close, I reminisced of a work I believed God had called me to, that I have yet to fulfill. I thought about all the mistakes I had made over the years since I had received that assignment; and all the wrong turns I have taken. Yes, these regrets turned into a pity party. I believed I had ruined it for myself. I have sometimes acted like someone with asperger syndrome (maybe I actually have that), not picking up on social cues and lacking inborn social skills, such as being able to read body language or speaking tones. Several years ago, in my naiveness concerning the politics found in the Christian life, and not knowing when to be quiet and when to speak up, I felt I had most likely messed up the plan of God for my life. After all, God opens opportunities through people. Then God brought to my mind, as He has done so often when I begin to lack faith, that whatever we have messed up in the past He uses for good in our lives and the lives of others around us (Romans 8:28). And, I thought about the ways I was aware that He had clearly done that. For example, He has made some major changes in the way I think. He has made some character tweaks here and there as well. And, my social skills are improving daily. He reminded me that regardless of our failures, as His children, His gifts and calling are unchanged. He reminded me that every day is filled with grace, power, and new beginnings because that is the kind of God and Father He is!

After I left the pity party, refocusing on God instead of self, I began to set some goals for 2013 while reminding myself that my life belongs to God; therefore, I must hold them loosely in wide-opened hands. Should God want to change any of my plans; should He allow something unexpected to mess up my plan; or, should He allow me to stray away from my plan, I should remember He will use it for good because I am His, He loves me and I love Him (Romans 8:28). I don’t know if any of you have brought your regrets with you into the New Year, but if so, I want to encourage you to do what I did. Give them up! Remember, it isn’t about your mistakes; it is about who God is and that you are His!

Should you fail or fall any time in 2013, remember you don’t have to wait until January 1, 2014 to start over again. Every day is a new day filled with God’s grace for you. Every day you have the opportunity for new life because God is a God of new beginnings. He is a God who redeems the time and restores what is lost. Even when we have sinned or failed God desperately, it is not too late for us. God is always ready to restore us to Himself. His desire, ability, and will to bless us is always present. Every day we have the opportunity to start anew with a totally clean slate.

The Apostle Peter had made some hefty mistakes as had the Apostle Paul. Jesus did not forsake them, but loved them, and moved through them to change the world.  Each day of this year, whether it is a day we have done it all right or done it all wrong, by the grace of God, let’s keep moving forward. Let’s say and do as the Apostle Paul did: Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In 2013, let’s live like God’s grace is stronger than all our faults and failures! Let’s live like His love is deeper than our hearts can fathom! Can we live like that? Yes, I believe we can! And when we do, together we could change the world!

I hope you will have time to listen to and enjoy the song by clicking on the link at the end of this post. This is my prayer for us all for 2013!

Prayers for a grace-filled 2013 – May it be your happiest yet with an ever increasing sense of God’s presence!

Song: http://blogwithsarah.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/08-we-could-change-the-world.mp3

With Sister Love,
Sarah Goebel

Priorities and A Yielded Life

Hello Dear Christian Readers and Friends. It has been only one weekend since Thanksgiving Day and I am hoping you all had a great day celebrating the goodness of God with your family and friends. I sure did. Even on my worst day, I have so much to be thankful for!

I realized at 1:30 this morning, that it was my turn to post on our site. Time sure does fly! Since I have been sharing different things with you that I am doing in school, I thought this week I would share the second of three sermons I had to write and give for my Homiletics class. Because it was written to be heard and not seen, the writing may be a little off. There are places I have used all CAPS for my speaking notes, but I sure do hope you will enjoy it anyway!  First, you need to know that when I refer to the video, it was a demonstration in which a man takes  a large jar, fills it with small beads, rocks, water, and then golf balls only to discover that all the golf balls will not fit. Then the same items are put in the jar in reverse, putting the biggest item in first: the golf balls, the rocks, the beads, and the water, and everything fit perfectly! It is a great demonstration of how you can fit more in by putting the biggest thing in first. With that said, following is my sermon in printed form:

The dictionary defines “priority” as a precedence, established by order of importance or urgency. Priorities are funny things…what’s big to me as a priority may not be what is big to you as a priority. So what I put into my life first, as represented by the jar in the video, could be different than what you fit first into your life. And priorities usually change from one season of life to another.

Priorities are motivated by different things. Sometimes priorities are motivated by our selfishness – it’s all about “mwa.”  Sometimes our priorities are motivated by a desire for material things, successful careers or caring for our families. We can even be motivated by things such as “fear” in establishing our priorities. Many years ago, I was influenced by the fear of not ever being able to do anything really well.

Today with a fulltime class load and homeschooling Alex, it is what seems URGENT at the moment that tends to take priority. I know your life is busy too! We all have many things to try to fit into our days…church, jobs, school, childcare, parent care, housework, yard work, doctor appointments, exercise, vacations, club meetings, kids after school activities, dogs, chickens, FACEBOOK, and the list goes on.

We all have things we must prioritize in our lives as to how we will get them all in and when. We have some things that we can be flexible with and some things that don’t have much room for flexibility. So we order our priorities differently according to our own perspective on life and according to our personal decision as to how important something is to us. But there is one thing –one PRIORITY that should be COMMON to all Christians – one PRIORITY that is VITAL that you and I have as our BIGGEST priority! That is our devotion to GOD.  I want to show you WHY our Devotion to God must be our BIGGEST priority and HOW we live devoted to God.
I want to show you that a YIELDED LIFE is the BEST LIFE and it is a life that PROVES GOD!

 Turn with me, please to Romans 12:1-2. I want to give you some background leading up to our passage. Paul has just finished discussing in the first eleven chapters of this letter a theological discussion informing the saints in the church at Rome of what God has done for them through Jesus Christ and who they are in Him. Paul has said things like “You were once disobedient to God, you were at enmity…at war with God, yet now you have obtained mercy in Christ. You deserved to die, but you have obtained a pardon for your sins.”

Then Paul culminates his theological discussion stressing the ultimate wisdom and knowledge of God which are past understanding. He emphasizes how no one can be God’s counselor or give to God… for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.

Now Romans 12:1, Paul is switching gears from the THEOLOGICAL discussion to one of practical application. He says, THEREFORE I URGE YOU brothers and sisters…

Therefore is a connecting word. It implies Paul is saying that because of all these things that he just presented to them that have been done for them and given to them, and because who they are in Christ…and who God is… in view of these things and in view of God’s wisdom… I urge you.

“Urge” is serious exhortation. Paul is trying to MOVE them to ACTION. And notice he is talking to Christians like you and me. He says, “brothers and sisters.”

Then he goes on, “by the mercies of God”…the J.B. Phillips bible translates this as “in view of God’s mercy”…in view of the mercy God has shown. So again, he is emphasizing the mercy God has already given them.

Notice He wasn’t threatening them with hell and condemnation as some do today in order to manipulate and control people… it is the love of God shown in His mercy that draws us to Him. Romans tells us it is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance.

Then Paul says, “I want you to present your bodies a living sacrifice.”  Okay, everybody was probably doing just fine up to this point but “MY BODY…A LIVING SACRIFICE…DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT. But stay with me here!

…This is where the BEST LIFE begins! Let me tell you why…

In Genesis, Adam and Eve walked in complete harmony with God and experienced peace, love, joy, awesome provision and purpose. Why? They were living yielded to God… They were living according to their design and purpose. This is what they were created for. You see the original nature of man wasn’t like the fallen nature we are familiar with. Originally human nature was yielded to God. They lived dependent on God.
Humans were created to be dependent on God and when we are not…when we are separated from Him…by choosing to be our own gods as Adam and Eve did…we lose our peace…
…there’s pain, thorns and thistles, and… sweat. There’s confusion, and lack of direction and purpose for life; and life can become overwhelming to us at times. We need help in making decisions about our education, kids, parents, finances, and when we are yielded to God, living dependent on–instead of independent of God, He guides our choices and we have everything we need. We live in HARMONY WITH God as we were created to be.

Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s direction instead of God’s that day in the garden.  They decided to be their own God and quit yielding to His direction. They decided their way might be better than His. They did it their way. They separated themselves from God.  How did that work out? Not so well. So Paul is urging these Christians at Rome to make a presentation of their bodies…to TURN OVER their lives to God… God has done His part. He is waiting for you!

As parents, don’t we want our children to be surrendered to us and our will…why? Because we know most times, our WILL is best for them…parents may lack wisdom at times, but God, our heavenly father, never lacks wisdom. Our heavenly Father always knows best!

Paul goes on to say, “This is your reasonable service…some translations say “spiritual” service of worship. This Greek word that is translated “reasonable” refers to a rationale decision. This isn’t about EMOTION. What he is saying is “this is your act of intelligent worship. Come on brothers and sisters – this only makes sense – it is rationale and intelligent to give God our lives and allow Him to be Lord! It is intelligent to live how He says is BEST and not what our flesh tries to tell us is BEST. We can trust God with our lives!

Christ had to sacrifice the desires that came from His FLESH. In the Garden of Gethsemane He sweat drops of blood as He fought the temptation not wanting to go through with the Father’s will, but in the end He said, “Not my will but yours be done!”  Do you see this? Sacrificing our will to God’s may feel a little painful to us for a short time, but it will always lead to the what’s best! His plan is better than ours! A yielded life is the BEST life and it proves God!

Listen. God doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need me. He doesn’t need anyone. He doesn’t need our worship. He is not egocentric. He is holy. He is perfect – always. That means He is perfectly happy and satisfied and is lacking nothing!  But He created us out of His divine counsel for His divine purpose and He created us to be dependent on Him. So, FRANKLY, we don’t do so well when we try to go our own way without Him. God knows a yielded life is the BEST life for us. He also knows it is the life that will PROVE Him. It’s what we were made for…designed for. It is an act of intelligent worship in response to what God has done and Who God is – merciful and wise.

Offering ourselves as living sacrifices isn’t losing something. God isn’t taking something from us. He is giving us something – Himself and His wisdom! He is giving us HIS will which is PERFECT for us. And in regards to being a “living” sacrifice – It means it is something we must do over and over again. We will always be tempted to allow other things to take God’s place – our devotion from Him by requiring our time, our money, our thoughts and emotions. So Paul urges us to make a GENUINE ongoing COMMITMENT that will be ongoing for the rest of our lives. This is not a one- time action. Due to the many distractions – priorities – we have to rearrange them and put these in 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th place and sometimes give them up altogether.

We are simply sacrificing what we want to do that is in OPPOSITION TO GOD and presenting ourselves to God for His PURPOSE WHICH IS WHAT’S BEST FOR US anyway.

So Paul is saying, “In view of this great mercy that you have received from God, in view of HIS WISDOM, it would be an act of intelligent worship to give your lives to God. Yield your will for His when your will is in opposition to God’s.

Paul continues in verse 2… And do not be conformed to this world. You can’t be devoted to God and conformed to the world at the same time! The Greek word for “conformed” is soos-khay-mat-id-zoe. It refers to accommodating oneself to a model or pattern. It is used elsewhere in the N.T. describing those who conform themselves to worldly lusts.

The word “world” refers to a godless system. Any way other than God’s way is godless. That is what Eve and Adam did. Influenced by Satan, Adam and Eve went their own way. Don’t you know they regretted that moment for the rest of their life! We don’t want those kind of regrets, do we? Of course not! Paul is saying to the Christians at Rome and to us “don’t let the world mould you into its pattern…Don’t let it squeeze you into its mould. You are God’s child…a royal priest…you have been freed from the bondage of the world…freed from sin… you are free to choose the best way – God’s way! He is saying, “Don’t yield to the world’s ways and look like someone who doesn’t know Christ!”

Paul goes on to tell us how… HOW we can devote our lives to God? How we can remain yielded to Him with all of the world’s distractions and temptations pulling at us…

He says, don’t be conformed to the world but (He says, instead) be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The Greek word for transformed is “Metamorphoo” and is the same word that we get our word metamorphosis from. It implies a restoration to an original state. God is in the restoration business. He wants us to be restored in our relationship with Him to the state humans originally had with Him when they walked in “oneness” with Him with their intellect and will in alignment with His.

I can be transformed by renewing my mind. This is a choice we make for our lives! We choose to be transformed (changed) by making the decision to do what we have to do to renew our minds. The KEY is our minds. Understand, God changed your spirit and made it alive. We are a new creation in Christ but our mind is still the same ‘ole mind. It is our job to get our minds in alignment with the new heart, the new nature God has given us. The mind constitutes the intellect, understanding, and the mind-set, the feelings and the will. It describes a complete change, like that of a caterpillar into a butterfly. It indicates a literal change in the form or formulas of thought or being. So we are transformed “changed” by the Holy Spirit’s energizing within us as we renew our minds to God’s thoughts, purpose, and will found right here in the bible.

And Paul continues saying do this so “that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” We prove or test God’s will out in our lives as we live it out through our lives. In other words, we take it for a test run. We practice it in everyday living and as we do, His will, will be proved to be good and acceptable and perfect!

Doing these two things, yielding our will and renewing our minds leads us into God’s perfect will for our lives. And, this means He will be glorified through our lives. Others will see His goodness. They see God’s will is proven to be PERFECT AND GOOD. There is no better way to glorify God than this. This is worship, my friends. A yielded life proving God’s good and perfect will, thus, glorifying Him.

Priorities don’t just get out of balance over night. They get out of balance a little here and a little there as we are DECEIVED with worldly ideas and ways, DECEIVED by our flesh (un-renewed minds), and DECEIVED with the urgent. How about you? Have your priorities gotten out of order? Is your devotion to God somewhere down the list or completely off of the list?

Has God become a stranger to you? Are you living without purpose, peace and joy?
Do you need a wise counselor to help you make decisions in life or to find God’s will for your life?

I want to encourage you TO MAKE A DECISION TODAY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE devoted to GOD. Make Him your biggest priority. Remember, you do this starting with your mind, you choose. This is NOT AN EMOTIONAL decision! Love grows as you spend time with God.
Today you just need to use your intelligence, your mind and make this decision.

 WHY? Because of God’s mercy and wisdom, IT IS an act of INTELLIGENT WORSHIP and BECAUSE THE YIELDED LIFE will prove God!

HOW? By yielding and renewing your minds according to His Word. Say “no” to the godless system and fallen nature that is in opposition to God’s will and purpose for you.

Just imagine what your life will be like as you yield to His will which is good and perfect for you!  Just imagine what life would be like if we were ALL living life YIELDED TO GOD. We would all experience God’s wisdom, love, and peace and we share it with one another. Serving one another in love! Just imagine how wonderful all of our relationships would be – Relationships with parents, spouses, children and friends!Imagine what our church would be like, what our community and nation and world would be like if everyone would yield their lives to God!

One day that will happen. But for now, we can be that beacon of light to those living in the godless system that surrounds us. Together, we can be that light that PROVES God and begins to permeate the darkness to change the world around us! Won’t you join me and recommit your life today–Lets devote our lives to God by making our devotion to HIM our BIGGEST priority—

After all, it is a yielded life that is the BEST life and it is the life that proves God!

 In Sisterly Love,

Sarah Goebel

 

A Glimpse into My Christian Journey

When I came to know and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I was elated and overwhelmed with a sense of God’s goodness and mercy. I could hardly wait to get to my Bible each day to learn more about God and His ways. I was also extremely excited to share the good news of Christ with others, whether male or female, and did so tirelessly. It was probably six months after my salvation that I invited my daughter’s friends’ moms to my house for Bible study. Among other experiences I had in sharing Christ was witnessing to a homeless man. I happened to see him leaving our barn one morning. Come to find out, He was living there. One morning after my husband and children were off to work and school, I invited him in for eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. While he ate, I read passages of Scripture to him. For the next two weeks, I continued to fix him breakfast and share the Scriptures until one morning, he received Christ. This kind of thing continued happening to me until I started to go to an organized church.

You see, when I found Christ, I was not in the organized church. I was led to the Lord by a co-worker who, like myself, was a beauty care consultant and sold products from her home. However, she left town soon thereafter without plugging me in somewhere. I continued studying the Bible and doing word studies and such on my own. It was three years later before I went to an organized church, but my passion for Christ and studying the Word had only increased during that time. However, as I got more involved with the church, I discovered they had different lists for how women and men could serve. This was confusing to me in that when I listened to our pastor’s sermons, and when I read the Bible, I understood we were to serve using the gifts God gave us. I didn’t see women presented as lesser spiritual beings than men. Instead, I saw Christ breaking the gender barriers of the culture during His time on earth, and I saw the Apostle Paul empowering and encouraging women as well. Yet, I was told that I could not fulfill the ministry dream that was on fire in my soul. I wanted to be right with God and I thought I must be wrong in what I thought I saw in the Word. After all, I was not as knowledgeable as these men. I tried really hard to convince myself, and I was semi-convinced that women were not supposed to teach, pastor, or lead where men were involved. I accepted the notion that women were more easily deceived than men because Eve was deceived and not Adam and other such teachings. Yet, I still had those memories of my earlier years and passion that had burned in my heart and soul for Christ and teaching others. I still remembered the joy I felt witnessing Christ whether to male or female. Nonetheless, I decided not to put the time and money into getting a formal education as I am doing now, because I could not see the point since women were so marginalized when it came to ministry. Yet, for my whole life, God and the work of the ministry is the only thing I have ever had a burning desire to pursue knowledge for.

As I have watched, studied, prayed about and experienced women who live in an atmosphere of inequality at church and home, and compared them to those who live in an atmosphere of equality and mutuality in church and home, I have discovered a remarkable difference.  I have discovered women deal with discrimination due to gender by fear and anger and bitterness. Some women even take on an authoritarian role and sometimes even become oppressors themselves with other women. Others react with depression and give up on meeting injustices directly. Some attempt to build mini empires by leading a small group in such a way that others become dependent on them rather than pointing them to Christ and teaching them to be dependent on Him. Still others resort to the use of manipulation or other indirect means to control and alter situations, perhaps even unconscious of their dependency on this evil technique.

Then, there are those precious Christian women whom I have counseled who suffer abuse – some verbal and some physical – who believe they must always submit to the male headship no matter what; and those who are afraid of what the church will think if they were to say something about the abuse; or those who think there must be something wrong with them instead of him; after all, isn’t the woman less spiritual than the man. These things have always left a little doubt in my mind as to our interpretation of Scripture in this area of male hierarchy over women in the church and home as I have seen women stripped at various levels of human dignity. God’s way should produce good fruit, and leave no room for bad – it should produce life and leave no room for death to result. Yet, there were those couple of Scriptures that had me tripped up. Although they did not fit with the rest of the Scripture, I did not know why, so I did not know what to do with them.

Then God sent my husband and I to the desert where He has provided rivers of living water, pouring so much of Himself into me. It has been here, that He has begun to unravel the truth to me during my personal study time. He is showing me the error in my own belief system and the belief system of my wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. However, there is so much to learn. There is so much evidence needed to build my confidence in sharing this truth with others, that I decided this topic would be the perfect topic to invest my time, energy and finances into for my Writing and Research class. After all, when it comes right down to it, we are talking about the finished work of Christ at the cross. We are talking about the restoration of the male-female relationship back to God’s original design as seen in the creation account found in Genesis. And when we have this correct, we begin to understand the nature of the body of Christ and a woman’s role alongside men in it. So, by the grace of God, I hope to be sharing more with you as my research progresses over the months ahead.

On another note, I just want to remind everyone that tomorrow is our opportunity to cast a vote for our next President. I want to encourage everyone to pray for God’s mercy on our country and pray for the election. And, please vote if you haven’t done so! It is a privilege we should not take lightly. May God bless America!

Reading the Bible for All Its Worth! by Sarah Goebel

You know if you have read my previous posts that I am back in school so I am mostly writing about my classes! I did consider perhaps it was too late for me to finish my degree at 58 years old; then I met a woman who finished her Master’s degree in her 80’s. I decided, “What to heck! If she can do it, I can do it too! I don’t think God is through with me yet!” So, I am working hard every day reading a lot of textbooks and my Bible. I love it, but I have to admit, I miss reading some good stories – you know the kind – those that keep you glued to the couch until you finish them. Some of those stories are found right here on this site, written by my really neat Christian brothers and sisters who write really awesome Christian fiction! I have found good Christian books balanced with reading the Bible to be the best recipe for my life. I hope you have too. Today, I want to share some things I have learned in one of my classes that help us to read the Bible for all its worth!

I think these interpretation rules can help achieve consistency in anyone’s biblical understanding. I pray you will find this to be true for you:  (1) The first rule addresses our starting point, which is what we call exegesis. Exegesis is what we do in trying to understand what was written to them back then and there. One does not have to be an expert to do the basics of exegesis. We just need to be aware of a few things. For instance, Fee and Stuart, authors of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, recommend that we set limits to what the text can and cannot mean today based on what it could mean when written to the original recipients. In other words, it cannot mean something to us today that the hearers then would not have understood. Remember, those that these words were originally spoken or written to didn’t try to interpret them in their present time according to a future understanding or future culture such as our western lifestyle in the twenty first century. It is we who have that task. We must look back and interpret according to their situation and culture, not according to our own.

This seems like a basic idea; yet, we all can probably think of some times we have seen poor interpretation from ignoring this rule. For example, those who do not believe that spiritual gifts are for today sometimes use 1 Corinthians 13:10: “When the perfect comes the partial will be done away” as their theological basis for refutation of the spiritual gifts. They claim that the perfect has come in the form of the written Word of God, particularly the New Testament. They say, therefore, prophecy and tongues are no longer needed. With good exegesis, however, we know that First Corinthians 13:10 could not possibly mean this to the first century Christians; because, they did not know we would have the Bible in the form we have it today. By asking the question, “Could this have meant that to the first century reader?” when we are considering an interpretation, we can prevent ourselves from building a false theology. I am not trying to tell you what to believe concerning spiritual gifts. But I am saying that if you don’t believe they are for today, hopefully this isn’t the reason; (2) The second rule: When the situation surrounding the first century recipient is comparable to ours, then God’s Word to us is the same as it was to them. That’s easy enough. On the other hand, if it is not comparable, whether it is what we want to believe or not, we must accept that most likely it needs to be interpreted in view of cultural relativity. In other words, it is vital that we correctly reconstruct the circumstance of the hearer then in our exegesis, if we are to apply this rule with biblical accuracy. These things must be done before we can then determine what the Word means to us today in our present situation.

One such place in Scripture that is interpreted differently by different denominations is First Timothy 2:11 concerning the operation of the church and women. As I have studied the passages concerning this issue this past year, I have found that the Church at Ephesus was a church in crisis! This is important to know because a church in crisis may need different instructions than one that is not. One of their challenging issues involved some very specific women who were spreading wrong teachings (1 Timothy 5:11-15; 2 Timothy 3:6-9). When considering what they may have been teaching, consider the culture of Ephesus.

The Legend of Artemis & Amazon Warriors

Fertility Goddess Artemis

The culture was highly influenced by the goddess Artemis which encouraged women to dominate men. Her worship was fanatical and traced back to the Amazon (female warriors), of whom many in Ephesus claimed to be descended from. Having this type of knowledge about what was going on in Ephesus helps us to understand the situation, problems, and crisis Timothy was trying to handle which demanded drastic measures. It helps us to understand why Paul would write, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” in one place and do the opposite in another. Paul was the founder of the church at Ephesus and had left Timothy there to handle the crisis. Paul was laying down some strict measures based on the situation present in Ephesus at this particular time in order to bring it out of a crisis situation. Paul wouldn’t allow a woman to teach or speak for that particular church at that particular time for that particular circumstance, and not for every church for ever.

 

An Amazon Warrior

An Amazon Warrior

After all, Paul writes to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11) to help them sort out the issue of headdressings when women are… what?–when they are prophesying and praying in public worship services!  He didn’t command them to be silent. He gave instructions for them to pray and prophesy. One cannot pray and prophesy and keep silent! In other areas of Scripture we see women were involved in leadership roles in Paul’s ministry as well. Therefore, we must take the this Scripture and the one other used to prevent women from holding leadership roles in some churches today and consider them in light of all the Scriptures and references to women and ministry made by Paul. When we do, I believe the best conclusion is these two situations must be culturally relevant, meant for very specific situations, and not a universal mandate.

Again, I am not trying to change your doctrine about this controversial issue with this short post. However, I do hope I have heightened your sensitivity to specific problems inherent in Scripture, and helped you realize why different options exist. I share Fee and Stuart’s goal that as readers, we learn to discern between good and not-so-good interpretations and perhaps to know what makes them one or the other.

    Until next time…Happy Reading and may you be safe in our Father’s care!

Sarah

1Fee, Gordon D. and Stuart, Douglas. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003.

Recognizing Abuse of Spiritual Authority in the Church

Spiritual abuse in the church?… The answer is…Absolutely! As a certified biblical counselor, I have counseled many who have suffered this phenomenon. And as a Christian sitting under the authority of several different Christian leaders, I have personally witnessed this subtle yet real manipulation of Scripture to control and dominate others for one’s own exaltation and/or revenge.

In the revealing book, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, the authors Johnson & VanVonderen break the silence on an abuse within the church that leaves Christians feeling “used”, manipulated and/or shamed. 

To quote the authors, “Spiritual abuse can occur when a leader uses his or her spiritual position to control or dominate another person. It often involves overriding the feelings and opinions of another, without regard to what will result in the other person’s state of living, emotions or spiritual well-being. In this application, power is used to bolster the position or needs of a leader, over and above the one who comes to them in need.” The end result is the leader sends the message that the other person’s spirituality is “defective”.  Instead of bringing life and restoration, he brings shame and condemnation, destroying spiritual passion and life within the believer who has come to him in need or that he is using whether intentionally or not intentionally for his own need to feel spiritually superior. Sometimes the leader desires to extract his pound of flesh on one whom he has felt threatened by or whom he perceives has disrespected him in some way.

When studying the gospels, it is clear that part of Jesus’ mission was to expose an abusive system. We will look at “Brood of Vipers” (Matthew 12) in the next post. Consider “Brood of Vipers” (Matthew 12) and Matthew 7:15 .  This is eye opening, so please listen closely.  Notice in the gospel accounts these four things about those Jesus had confrontations with concerning spiritual abuse, as pointed out by Johnson & VanVonderen:

1.  His confrontations landed on those who saw themselves as God’s official spokespersons – the most religious, the best performers. They had more Scripture memorized than any one. They set the standard for everyone else.
2. Jesus broke the religious rules by confronting those in authority out loud. How many pastors will not allow for congregants to share their feelings and opinions with them or to confront them about their error today? Hopefully this is not the case in the church you belong.
3. Jesus was treated as the problem because He said there was a problem.
4. Before His (Jesus’) persecution, people rushed to Him because His message offered hope and rest.

Now let’s take a deeper look at Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Notice the term “ravenous wolves” is being used in the same passage in which Jesus speaks about the wide and narrow gates by which people enter in search of inner life. Most Christians hear sermons on this text that define “entering by the wide gate” as following the ways of the “world” – that is, going to worldly movies, bars, etc. Entering by the narrow gate is said to mean reading the Bible, going to church, etc. In other words, the two gates are reduced to lists of what to do or not to do. But if we put aside our previous teaching and we look at the context, it clearly is teaching something different.

Johnson & VanVonderen point the error in interpretation out like this, “Jesus was talking about false prophets—those who looked like they represented God but spoke falsely. Like the true prophets, those prophets stood in front of a wide gate marked “Find Life Here”, but this was the gate of religious performance and self-effort, and there was no life on the other side, just toil and weariness. True prophets stand in front of a narrow gate—the one that says “Come to Me, all who labor…” you can only fit through this gate if you drop all of your works baggage and come through alone. On the other side you find heavenly rest. If you try to go through with your perfect attendance, or any of your own righteousness, you simply won’t fit. Jesus is the NARROW GATE.”

Does the law, performance according to some leader’s standards, doing it right, looking good or trying hard make up the gate where we find life?  The answer is NO! Jesus is warning us in these passages that those who are leading people to this gate ARE THE RAVENOUS WOLVES. They look like sheep and appear to  be the safest, most righteous and even have an exterior appearance of grace, but they are leading people down the wrong path. Listen, Jesus PLUS anything is NOT JESUS!

It’s worse than this, however, In Matthew 10:6, Jesus sends the disciples to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Where are the lost sheep? They are in the house. Then in verse 16 He gives the warning, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Take note: Where are the wolves?  They are in the house.

We also Paul concerned about the wolves in the house.  A concerned Paul while preparing to leave Ephesus, says in Acts 20, I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise.” You see, when the leader, Paul, leaves he is concerned that the one who will rise up in their midst to lead will be a wolf who will destroy the flock. He is concerned of the damage he will do to their spiritual walk. This is what he is talking about. Pastors, leaders who are twisting the Scripture and using the twisted Scripture for their own purposes.

The most chilling part of this scenario is the words “in sheep’s clothing.” Most Christians are taught by the leaders that this is a sheep that comes in and mingles with them who is really a wolf there to eat them and destroy their spiritual walk. This is a convenient teaching as it gives the leader an excuse for when he abuses his position of authority with an individual in the flock. He can say, “I am trying to protect the flock.”  How many of you have heard that type of statement?  Sadly, the answer is too many.

It is true that the destruction Jesus and Paul are talking about is done within the flock, BUT it is done by FALSE SHEPHERDS, not FALSE SHEEP. It is the false shepherds – wolves – that we are to keep watch that they do not devour their flock in order to get their sheep’s clothing. In other words, it is the leader of the church who is leading entire flocks of sheep down the path of destruction. Not a sheep in the flock of the Shepherd Sheep. It is the shepherd himself, the leader who is overseeing the flock whom Jesus is warning us to beware of. He is the one who has the position of influence that if used wrongly can destroy others. Jesus and Paul warn the sheep to beware of these false leaders, the pharisaic leaders, the leaders who are in a position of authority, leading them astray with their false doctrines and/or their abusive use of their position of authority as they use it to to lift and edify themselves by beating up one or more in their flock with Scripture and church discipline.

The sheep need to stand up and hold their leaders (the Shepherds) accountable. To allow them to run wild is not doing them or the church a favor and it does not bring glory to Christ. But sadly, few will do it. Most are afraid to confront them. Many are afraid they will lose favor with them. Some are concerned about their personal interests that may be affected so they allow wrong to be done.  Ignoring the abuse usually results in its increase. Perhaps the next time, it is one of those sheep who ignore the abuse who find themselves being abused.

Read Ezekiel 22:25, 27.  Again, Jesus warned in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets,” – wolves are in the house and some of them are in CHARGE.

Most times symptoms of spiritual abuse or abuse of spiritual authority are able to be seen by others. Feel free to share situations you have experienced, seen, or heard of, or any input you might have on this topic.

Two Things Required to Reign in Life

Tomorrow, I start a new home school year with my fifteen-year old grandson. This will be our second year working together to equip him with the knowledge he needs for life. My teacher’s manuals are stacked on my dining room table and as I look at books on Chemistry, English, Algebra, and History, it crosses my mind that the most important thing he needs to learn for a successful life is found in Romans 5:17 which says, “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (NASB).

Look at this Scripture again. There are two things this verse declares that are needed if one is to reign in life. Those are the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. In other words, all of the knowledge found in these wonderful books my daughter has invested so much money in may prove to have purpose for his life, yet, on its own this knowledge cannot cause him to reign or have a truly successful life.

This Scripture is not just talking about salvation either. In fact, the word ‘receive’ found in Romans 5:17, is translated from a Greek word in the present active tense. This means we are to receive these two things every day. Every day, as Christians, we need to receive the grace God has for us. We need to receive the blessings of Abraham and the blessings promised believers in the book of Ephesians. These blessings are only a part of God’s grace. God’s grace is our strength and wisdom. It empowers us for every challenge in our life. God’s grace enables us to overcome sin. It is God’s provision for us physically, emotionally and spiritual.

God has also given us the gift of righteousness. But so often we forget we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Should we fall short on any day – failing  to control our thoughts or falling to the temptation to sin, whatever that sin may be, from overeating, addictions, idolatry, gossip, or whatever, we think God must be disappointed in us. The truth is, He is never disappointed in us. Our failures don’t take Him by surprise. Christ died on the cross knowing our every weakness and He knew every sin we would ever commit. He gave His life for us anyway. But He didn’t stop there. He also gave us His righteousness. Righteousness is a gift and it cannot be earned by our works. If we are to reign in life, we must understand that we are righteous in Christ, even when we fail. This is the truth that will set us free to reign. Without receiving this truth into our hearts, we lack power for living life successfully.

These two things – the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness – are two things I intend to teach over and over again throughout this year until its truth is grafted into my grandson’s heart. I fully believe that it is only by right believing that one can begin to live rightly. I am not after outward conformance. No, I am after his heart. I desire to see his heart transformed by the powerful truth found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I desire to see that he has the opportunity to reign!

If you feel like you are constantly striving to be better and do better but are making little, if any, progress in your goal. Or, if you are weary in all your well doing, I would encourage you to meditate upon Romans 5:17 and receive the abundance of grace and gift of righteousness available for every believer. Then, you will begin to reign! And, don’t forget. You need to receive it every day. Remind yourself to appropriate these gifts into every area of your life daily. Perhaps put a note on your bathroom mirror or the side of your computer, “I am the righteousness of God right now – I am righteous!”

A great book on the gift of righteousness and God’s grace for the New Testament believer is Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince. He goes to great length and detail to proclaim the ongoing goodness of God towards all who believe in Christ! This book is available at Amazon.com.

For all of you homeschooling moms and grandmas, my prayers are with you as you go about educating your little ones. I would appreciate your prayers as well. And, don’t forget Romans 5:17.

I am Forgiven, Accepted and Loved Right Now! by Sarah Goebel

As I was doing at the time I last posted, I am reading from Gonzalez’s book, The Story of Christianity, and this past week I have been studying about the life of the monks. It is difficult for me to understand how the monks rationalized their views regarding abstaining from the passions of the flesh and the command to fill the earth. If everyone had that view, and was able to adhere to it or kill those passions altogether, well, I guess the earth would most likely be empty today. Wouldn’t you think?

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, because I truly respect the monks and their desire to grow in godliness to the point that they were willing to suffer for Christ, give up comforts and attempt to train their selves in godliness. Most of us Christians today could put less emphasis on material comforts and be less quick to gratify our flesh if we truly desire to be ready to follow Christ wherever He may lead us.

However, I am convinced that the monks’ actions, although perhaps out of a radical love for Jesus, were still misplaced. Their behavior really reminds me of those who do not truly understand the gospel of grace. You know what I am talking about – those who are constantly trying to be better and do more; thinking if they can make themselves better, then they will be more pleasing to God or live closer to Him.  Although I am all about training ourselves in godliness according to the Scripture (1 Timothy 4:7-8), I also realize that we are all His workmanship and He is the only one who can perfect us. Our salvation started by grace and we walk it out in grace. I know that regardless what I do – regardless of my failures or successes, He loves me and accepts me just the same. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me anymore. Why?  Because…when God sees me, He sees that I am covered by the blood of Christ! When I fail, He doesn’t love me any less. He still sees me as a new creation IN CHRIST.  When Christ restored my relationship with God – it was a FINISHED work. So, that means that I am fully accepted RIGHT NOW! Because the old me died with Christ and the new me, well… I now live in Christ! I am no longer my own hope of glory; Christ is my hope of glory!  It seems to me that the monks did not understand all that Christ had accomplished for them! We are in relationship with God and when we spend time with Him on a regular basis, He changes us from the inside out.
The monks were trying to change themselves. How exhausting!

To train ourselves in godliness requires us to believe God concerning what Christ has done for us. Focus on Christ and His glory, spending time with Him, instead of focusing on ourselves and trying so hard to fix our shortcomings. He will fix us. I do not need to flog my flesh and all of that. Praise the Lord!  We need self- control and discipline – yes. But that self-control is a fruit of the spirit that flows from relationship!  Grace – it truly is amazing!

Learning more about God’s love for us through understanding the doctrines of the cross will remove condemnation and strengthen our walk with God. Our acceptance has been sealed by the blood of Christ. Our love for Him grows as we comprehend and receive His love for us, and obedience is simply a by-product of that! At least, that is my understanding of the gospel, and that is how it has worked for me!

Do you struggle with guilt feelings; feelings of rejection, shame or failure? Do you feel like you deserve to be punished? Are you weary trying so hard to live the Christian life?  If you are in Christ, you don’t have to feel this way. Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ.”  Receive His love and finished work at the cross and discover a new life of liberty and peace available only by believing in Christ and His finished work for you!

Until next time, Happy reading!

With Devotion to Christ and You,

Sarah Goebel

History Lovers and Early Church History by Sarah Goebel

From my posts recently, you can probably tell what I have been up to. I am back in school, hoping to get my Master’s in Theological Studies. Therefore, the books I am reading are books required for this goal. Some of my favorite reading has been in my church history class. If you have a love of history, you would probably love reading books on church history just as I do.

Justo Gonzalez, Ph.D. in historical theology, explains in his book The Story of Christianity why women were eventually forbidden to serve in leadership capacities:  “… during the second century, in its efforts to combat heresy, the church centralized its authority, and a by-product of that process was that women were excluded from positions of leadership.”  Yet, in the second century, Governor Pliny informed Emperor Trajan of the Roman Empire that he had ordered two Christian female ministers – ministrae – be tortured.“   Historical records such as these show that there were still some women serving in leadership roles even in the second century, if not beyond.

I am sure only a few women were prepared to exercise their leadership gifts in the first century church. After all, as Jewish women, they had not been allowed in the Synagogue as were the men, so most women needed to sit and learn before stepping into such positions. With the centralization of the church’s authority, and the influence from the popular false female gods that new converts were bringing into the church, it is easy to see how the few who were ready for leadership may have been excluded whether intentionally or not. However, could it be that there were also some prejudices, cultural tradition, and philosophical influence that influenced the church in this direction? From reading with Gonzalez, I am inclined to think so.

Consider how difficult it was for the Hebrew Christians to let go of their Jewish traditions such as circumcision. Would it not make sense that it was also difficult for them to move beyond their prejudices and traditions where women were concerned?

Consider how Greek philosophy had permeated the culture in which Christianity was born. Defenders of the faith often used philosophical traditions for interpreting the faith to outsiders, yet eventually, the philosophical views began to influence the way Christians understood their own faith. For example,
Justin Martyr, Clement, and Tertullian were all students of Greek Philosophers such as Plato. Plato was a student of Socrates. I recently read that

Socrates claimed that women were halfway between a man and an animal. Aristotle was a pupil of Plato and said, “The most virtuous woman is crass in comparison to the basest male.” Tertullian commented about women saying they “are the gateway to the devil.” Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for the work Tertullian did that helped form the church as we know it. This should not overshadow his enormous importance in the development of the major Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Christology (which guide us today) and his contributions to understanding the less authoritatively defined doctrines of human nature (the soul), sin, salvation, sacraments and eschatology. His godly impact on the formation of the early church was great, yet, could it be that this attitude toward women is an example of the attitude of the times that helped form the direction of the church in regards to women in leadership positions?

The new Kingdom paradigm where all believers are one in Christ regardless of race, social class or gender was a revolutionary idea for the early church– “There is no Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female for we are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). But, since it is evident that women worked with Paul and the other apostles serving in these capacities, I think it would behoove us to consider the historical and cultural settings of those Scriptures pertaining to this issue.  I believe there’s a reason those few verses don’t seem to fit. I believe historical records are vital to a full understanding and correct interpretation of many areas of Scripture. Most who have considered this have concluded that some things written and done in the early church were intended to be solutions for specific situations and not for the universal church for all time. Some of these groups include the Assemblies of God Churches, the Foursquare Churches, Regent University, Christians for Biblical Equality, and many, many more. Yet, many more in the church have refused to take the time to dig deeper into this topic, but instead continue to follow the traditions of men.