Sheep Food

  I know.  I'm sure you have always been told that you could 'never be holy enough for God'. But... If we could never be ‘holy enough’ for God…then why you suppose God told us to “be holy as I am holy’? (Lev. 11:45). Peter doubles down on this, not only repeating that verse in his first letter, but reminding us we are to be ‘holy in ALL our conduct’ (1 Pet. 1:15-16) If we could never be ‘holy enough’ for God…then why are we told that He is coming back for a church that is holy and spotless and without stain or wrinkle, and blameless? (Eph. 5:27) If we could never be ‘holy enough’ for God…then why are we told that ‘without holiness, no one will see the Lord’? (Heb. 12:14) And if we could never be ‘holy enough’ for God…then why would Paul discourage and frustrate us by telling us to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting… holiness …in the fear of God’? (2 Cor. 7:1) I’ll give you a moment to reflect on those questions. I’m guessing many of y...

  If the ‘version of holiness’ that you’ve been advocating for and attempting to live it out for yourself…makes you uptight and grumpy because no one else seems to be meeting those same standards, then your version of holiness is probably not the same one as God’s, who tells us: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15-16) I say that because the ‘holiness’ we believers are to be actively pursuing leads us to having a heart like God’s. And if you want to know what God’s ‘heart’ looks like, then just look at Jesus because He was the manifestation of the ‘invisible God’ (Col. 1:15) who came to demonstrate God’s perfect love for us. (Rom. 5:8; John 3:16) So when Jesus ‘commanded’ us to ‘love others as He loved us’ (Wednesday’s message-John 13:34-35), bearing the fruit that would show who His true followers were, He was in essence saying we were to be ‘like God’, who is ‘holy’. Now if that makes you recoil a bit, hold on for a second and take a deep breath; as it is clear you too may have...

  “Don’t prophesy to us what is right and true...tell us smooth and pleasant things; prophesy to us deceits and illusions.” (Isa. 30:10) This is what God communicated through Isaiah, His prophet, what the people were saying in regard to His counsel. God accused them of being ‘rebellious children’ who ‘take counsel and devise plans’ ...but not from Him.(30:1) One translation spelled it out this way: “Don't tell us what God has shown you and don't preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it's false.” (CEV) They actually told the prophet to ‘get off this path in telling us what the Holy One of Israel wants!’ (11) I know...more of that ‘old testament stuff’. We certainly would not be guilty of falling into such a place today now, would we? And yet...Paul exhorts Timothy in his second letter to him: “Preach the word!...convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to...

  “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too ...are to love one another. – Jesus (John 13:34) Let the record show...the word used here (commandment) was not ‘suggestion, recommendation’, nor was it tossed out as some idealistic but unattainable goal to shoot for. The word Jesus used was ‘commandment’, even qualifying it as a ‘new’ one at that. We are to love one another...”as He has loved us”. I’m hoping no one reading here today needs a refresher course over the fact that ‘while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom. 5:8)...as in - He ‘laid down His life’ for us...willingly in obedience to the Father whom He loved (John 14:31). Did Jesus not raise the bar rather high here? It sure seems like it, and He did not mince words either. To use the word ‘commandment’ was not an accident. I know that word has a tendency to make a lot of people uncomfortable because it implies we need to ‘do something’...which can mess wit...

  So can a person truly be ‘saved’...and ‘inherit eternal life’... without ‘taking up one’s cross and forsaking all’...as Jesus seemed to suggest was necessary in order to be His disciple? (Luke 9:34-34; 14:33). Or were you taught that ‘getting saved’ was a ‘one and done’ deal accomplished by repeating some prayer, and this talk of becoming a ‘disciple’ was some holy option’ that was encouraged if you wanted to be a ‘super-saint’ and enjoy the abundant life Jesus came to offer us ( John 10:10)? Many teach and believe that this process of ‘following Jesus’ for ‘sanctification’...the ‘setting apart and purifying our hearts that leads to holiness’ (clearing and possessing the land)... is completely separate from ‘salvation’, or being ‘saved’. But as I said on Monday...this talk about whether one is ‘saved’ or not is the wrong question to focus on. The real question we need to ask is: Are you abiding in Jesus?...because this is the ONLY way that true sanctification can take place, not ...

  Do you know why that first generation of Israelites were not allowed to go into the Promised land, and in turn... spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness until they died out? It was because of their unbelief and unwillingness to go in and possess the land, which included confronting and overcoming all their ‘enemies’ by the help and power of God. (Num. 13-14; Heb. 3) In fact, you might go read Heb. 3:16-19 right now…and then read 4:1 and ponder what the writer might be implying there. So now lets’ return to the book of Judges where we left off the other day and please read the first three verses in chapter 3. If you recall, we were dealing with another generation who had ‘fallen away’ and forgot the Lord, ended up doing evil in His sight, which then led to them being ‘delivered’ or ‘handed over’ to their ‘enemies’. The point here we seem to miss out on, repeatedly…is if we fail to overcome our enemies, then they will end up overcoming us. What do you think Jesus was talking...

  Have you ever wondered to yourself, maybe even have asked God, repeatedly...why there are ‘certain areas’ in your life that you continue to struggle with and have failed to overcome once and for all? Yeah...I think most of us have; and I would like to share some insight from the Old Testament (once again) that might offer us some encouraging answers. It helps to keep in mind that when we go back to the OT for study, it’s like reviewing or looking over a set of ‘blue prints’. In ‘seminary speak’, some would refer to this as ‘types and foreshadows’. I personally find it helpful to think in terms of a transparency layer that we would use in school when the teacher pulled out the overhead projector. It’s not that we want to dismiss or ‘replace’ what we read in the OT, but simply be aware that there are ‘spiritual layers’ that can be applied...IF/WHEN...the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. In other words, you don’t have to ‘make it happen’ or ‘work hard to find them’. IF there is ...