And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last. (Luke 13:30 NASB)
The ways of God are deep. They look at the desires of the heart that motivate our actions. Jesus was teaching here about entering the Kingdom of Heaven, and was asked if only a few will be saved. He affirmed that many assume they’re making it in because they had eaten in His presence, and had allowed Him to speak to them at some time in their life. But He makes it clear that they will be locked out, and when they cry out to God, He will respond that He never knew them. Scary, isn’t it?
But the comforting thing is that we all have our chance right now to make sure we safely enter into His Kingdom by making Him Lord and Master over our lives. No one will be locked out who has sincerely surrendered their life to Him, who has died to their sins, and who has chosen a life of daily sacrifice. When we’ve entered into His Kingdom, we have to continue living in obedience to our King so that our perseverance will see us through until the end of our lives. That’s when we’ll leave behind this shadowy world, and when Jesus will welcome us with open arms into heaven to begin real life.
Jesus knows that many who look important, holy, and of high stature in the Christian world, could very easily be among those who are locked out of heaven. This is not the only time Jesus refers to this. He teaches about how many will be confused when they don’t enter heaven, saying, “Lord, Lord! Didn’t we cast out demons in your name?” But they will be sent into everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:31-46)
There are many false teachers of the gospel today, just like in the time of the Early Church. Don’t be fooled by slick marketing and a large following. A true man of God will teach the reality of the Bible without diluting it for the sake of popular demand. He will teach plainly about both the wonderful blessings of following Jesus, as well as the serious consequences of living in the flesh. He will live what he teaches in humility and with the heart of a servant, not a master.
Unfortunately many who we see broadcasting their great works can easily be among those that appear to be first, but in reality are last… or lost. But many who are humble and sincere before God, who may not look like they are the greatest in the eyes of others, could easily be surpassing the rest, to end up first in God’s estimation.
God judges with eternal criteria, not by the superficial things that we see with our human eyes. Others may misjudge us or misinterpret our motives or actions, but God sees everything, and will reward each of us according to who we are and the choices we have made. Don’t be discouraged if you are not recognized now. God sees you, and you can decide to be the first by living in repentance and servanthood today.
O how I love your law! All day long I meditate on it. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for I am always aware of them. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules. I am more discerning than those older than I, for I observe your precepts. (Psalm 119:97-100 NET)
This comes from the longest chapter in the Bible This psalm of 176 verses dwells on the theme of God’s laws, principles and commandments. We don’t like the thought of laws constraining us. We’ve been jaded by man-made rules and regulations oppressing us, especially when it’s all just senseless bureaucracy. But God’s laws are completely different. They bring freedom, wisdom and so much insight that we gain an advantage over our enemies, and an ability to teach even our own teachers. And this wisdom comes from loving God’s laws as intensely as the author of this psalm did.
When Jesus was twelve years old, His mother and father found Him discussing the law of God with the Jewish leaders in the temple, and those wise scholars were in awe of what He said. When He grew into a man and began His ministry, the Bible says that people marveled at His authority because He didn’t speak in the old predictable ways of the Pharisees. He knew God intimately and could prove it with the miracles that He did. Later as all the disciples became baptized in the Holy Spirit, the same awe came over multitudes of people as they heard these simple fishermen and tradesmen preach boldly and perform miracles. It was obvious that they had been with Jesus, and had His Spirit in them.
When you love the things of God, you love obeying His commands and principles. Everything you do is based on what He has taught in His Word, not just in the empty traditions of a church institution or the opinions of others. If you love His Word, you are hungry to read it, hear it, learn from it and meditate on it. The moment you have the chance to practice some aspect of it, you do, because it is the strongest thing that sustains you. This makes you wise and able to outwit the devil and all of his attacks. He is immeasurably crafty and subtle and is a master of disguise. But your love of God’s laws will give you that edge to see through all of Satan’s deceptions.
The spirit of the Pharisees is everywhere today, so don’t be surprised when the wisdom God gives you angers them. God will lead you just as He did His disciples. First get rid of the old ideas that God’s ways slow you down or that they interfere with your success. God’s laws are sweeter than honey, and the more you eat of them, think of them and practice them, the stronger you will become, and the sweeter your life can be.
Just imagine what your life would have been like if you had lived in that kind of communion with God from the time you were a teenager until now. Obeying God’s laws and enjoying His presence would have kept you far from a lot of grief and foolish mistakes. Make a fresh start now, because God’s wisdom can even make up for lost time.
The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! (Lamentations 3:22-23 NET)
The entire book of Lamentations is an intensely painful outcry about the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. You can see examples here of how people attributed all that happened to the hand of God, and not to the devil. Later in the New Testament, Jesus teaches about the devil’s role in our lives, but when this book was written in 586 BC, Israel saw their defeat and humiliation as part of God’s plan to bring His people back to a pure faith. And though the devil was very much a part of it all, it was still under the control of God to be used ultimately for Israel’s good and for His glory.
Yet even though they knew God had allowed all of this to happen, they didn’t become bitter or hardened towards Him. Instead the best thing happened. They repented of their unfaithfulness, their sinfulness and their love of immorality and idolatry. They learned to believe and hold onto God more than ever before. In the middle of their pain, they remembered that God is loyal, kind and compassionate. He makes all things new every morning, and His faithfulness is abundant.
It is so frustrating when someone who has already seen God’s goodness in their lives becomes spiteful and angry when problems appear. Somehow they think they can “get back at God” for not rescuing them, by throwing a fit and threatening to stop believing in Him. They don’t stop to see that the problem is there for a very good reason, that it will not destroy them if they react well, and if so, it will bless them more than anything. The reaction we all should have when facing attacks of the devil, or even the consequences of our own sinful mistakes, is to remember that every morning God’s love and compassion is made new, if we’ll just accept it. Blaming God for our problems is basically biting the hand that feeds us. It’s not smart, it wastes time, and it keeps us stuck in bitterness.
Whenever you have an opportunity to repent of selfish or ungodly thoughts that you’ve harbored or acted on, do it. And after you repent, remember that His love is fresh and new every morning. You don’t need to live in guilt or shame, because He doesn’t hold grudges and He doesn’t give the silent treatment to those who sincerely turn back to Him. And for those who are serving God the best they can, be a reflection of this love and compassion to the people around you. The more you allow His ways to flow through you, the more you will experience His presence inside of you.
Make this your prayer every morning. Thank Him that because of His compassion, you have a new chance to be blessed and overcome every single day.
When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you. (Isaiah 43:2 NET)
If most of us had our way, we’d change this promise to say, “Don’t worry folks, I’ll never make you pass through streams or walk through fire.”
Interesting that God’s promises imply that rushing streams and fiery tests will definitely come, but that they will be no match for the protection of our God. We will never be in danger as long as we live in faith. Though the paths God leads us down might look extremely dangerous, God wants us to have the faith that what they look like is not what they truly are. Reality for us needs to be what God promises. The sensation of fear when we feel threatened is not reality at all.
When Evelyn was 8, her family took a trip to Disneyland in LA. Having lived in the poor developing country of Korea until then, she was enthralled by the huge shiny theme park and its top of the line entertainment. She especially remembers the haunted house, riding along a track in the small “doom-buggies” with her cousins as they passed through room after room of unending scary sights and sounds. She was terrified and screamed more than ever in her life – and loved it too! Ten years later at 18, she visited her relatives again and had the chance to take that same ride. But this time she could see all the wires and projectors and mechanisms and could appreciate the work that it took to create this well designed attraction. She was disappointed that it had become merely amusing instead of scary.
This is how God wants us to view the threats of the devil all around us. They are just Hollywood effects, and cannot harm us, IF we walk by faith, serving God as our only Lord. It doesn’t mean that we won’t feel fear from time to time, it means that we take control of fear and choose to see our situation with the eyes of God. Faith allows us to see the smoke and mirrors, the fake background music and the plastic mannequins. We are to go right through those streams that threaten to overwhelm us, and right through the fake fire that can’t consume us.
The problem that most Christians have is that they are surrounded by people of doubt - both in and out of church. There are few examples of true believers who have walked unscathed through fire and flood before our eyes. But just because faith is weak in others, doesn’t mean that it has to be weak in us. Our trust in God has to be based on His promises, not on the poor examples of others. We will not be overwhelmed or burned, and if we say we believe, we have to put that belief into action. We need to be the examples that lead the way for others.
Don’t try to squirm out of a trial of fire or flood that is ahead of you. Trust Him today, and take that ride, and you’ll come out stronger. It’s not as scary as you think.
Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. (1 Thessalonians 3:16-24 NET)
Your Thanksgiving promise today, is that the Lord Jesus will in fact make you completely holy and entirely blameless until we meet Him face to face. There will be no reason to fear His rejection, we can have a confidence of peace and joy in the knowledge that He is making us holy, even when we are so full of faults and don’t deserve such great love and attention. For those of you who live in the shadow of guilt and blame for things you’ve done wrong, or for those who have never felt completely accepted in this world, God is telling you that He Himself makes you perfect because when He sees you, He sees the perfection of Jesus. (Galatians 3:27)
What a relief to know that we don’t have to pay for all our mistakes. Like a loving father wipes away the tears of his child and hugs him with reassurance, our Father wants us to know that because we are His, everything can be made new and right again. But for us to receive that, we need to treat God as a Father who we respect, and behave as children who follow His every word.
Are you in a certain situation that you wish could be made new and right again? God is trustworthy, so begin to obey these commands that come before the promise: always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. These are not just nice sayings, these are keys to powerful change in your immediate circumstances, and more than that, in creating a close bond with God.
Always rejoice, even when things look terrible? Yes. You manifest raw and undiluted faith when you praise God in the midst of problems, not because you are delusional, but because you know that God’s promises are trustworthy, He is coming through for you and there’s nothing that the devil can do about it. Rejoicing against your flesh is taking a stand against fears, and is a knife in the back of the devil. Do it even when you don’t feel happy. Just rejoice by faith, and the Holy Spirit’s supernatural joy will come over you. It’s an amazing experience.
Constantly pray? People tell me all the time how much they pray. When I ask them how they reacted when a crisis arose, they’ll tell me everything else that they did, except pray. Don’t assume that throwing up a few wishes into the air with God’s name attached is real prayer. Jacob wrestled with God and demanded a blessing. Abraham and Gideon complained with God, and all these men were answered beyond their wildest dreams. Jesus talks about prayers of persistence and faith in what you don’t yet see. Just like rejoicing against your flesh, praying and believing against your flesh is powerful. Do it constantly. On the drive to work, washing dishes, filling your gas tank, on your lunch break, brushing your teeth, and especially in your quiet times set aside just to read His Word and talk to Him.
And in everything give thanks. Thank Him for the fact that the answer to your prayer hasn’t happened yet. Thank Him for the struggle your son or daughter is going through at the moment. Thank Him for the new job that hasn’t materialized yet, or for the difficult coworker that you have to tolerate and love as God wants you to, despite her irritating personality. Just like in rejoicing, thanksgiving to God in EVERYTHING, forces you to rein in your emotions, and take a stand on what you believe: that God is trustworthy and is working all things out for good. Like bug repellant, thankfulness causes the barrage of negative emotions and thoughts to drop like flies. Your faith is purer and God can work faster because the obstacles of doubt and anxiety are removed from your heart.
Do these three simple things beginning on this Thanksgiving Day, and you will be made blameless and holy to God. Be careful not to dismiss what God is telling you here, because one command in this promise is not to treat prophecies with contempt. Make this way of life your new normal. Begin a wonderful life of rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving!
If you love Me, you will keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. (John 14:15-16 HCSB)
I posted a video on Facebook recently about excuses Christians make when it comes to giving into sin or fleshly urges, and got an interesting comment. “It’s not easy being a perfect Christian!” Of course it’s not - but what’s implied by this comment? First, that God is legalistic and only accepts perfection, second living a life that is acceptable to God is too difficult, and thirdly, we should take it easy on ourselves when it comes to sin. We’re only human, after all…
I’ve heard many people tell me that they love God, and say so with great emotion. But what many people love is their own invention of God, not the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible and came to earth to live among us. Loving God with great surges of elation or tears or desires to rescue the poor can all happen when a love for God exists, but none of that factors into Jesus’ description of what loving God really means. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments, He says. If you love me, you’ll obey me. Later on in the chapter, Jesus repeats these words, but in a different order. “The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” You cannot say you love God, and treat His commands as optional or trivial.
Of course we will fail at executing every command perfectly, all the time, every day for the rest of our lives. We will always need His forgiveness, but those who keep His commands, are those who strive to the best of their abilities to obey no matter the personal cost, every day for the rest of their lives. Those are the standards that they hold themselves to.
And because they desire to obey so eagerly and are willing to sacrifice their pride and selfishness and control over their own lives, they place themselves in the unique position of being able to receive the most amazing gift – the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls Him the Counselor. Instead of stumbling through life, trying to avoid sin and obey God by the strength of our weak flesh, God provides His Spirit to enable and empower us to do far more than we ever could on our own. He counsels us when we are all alone and don’t know what to do or who to turn to. He shows us hidden treasures that fleshly eyes would never be able to see. He gives us His authority to confront the devil, and living a life far from sin becomes so much easier and joyful. Instead of a burden, it is a daily refreshment.
This gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not for those who don’t first keep His commands. If anyone tells you otherwise, they’re trying to persuade you to believe in an invention of God. And that is a sad and difficult life of shadowy faith that disappoints. You are promised a Counselor forever, just trust and obey.
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. (Hebrews 1:1-2 HCSB)
God is speaking to us now through the words of the Lord Jesus, His teachings, examples and life. He continues speaking to us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit to everyone who is willing to quiet their fleshly thoughts and hear Him. Everything that the Spirit says is what Jesus says to us, and all that Jesus says is according to the will of the Father. (John 5, 8 and 12 all talk about this.)
People ask why God no longer gives dreams or sends angels to audibly speak to us as He did in the past, and these verses explain that. Now that Jesus has already come to dwell on the earth and returned to heaven, we have His written word, His Holy Spirit and His authority to have understanding, wisdom and power to overcome. Abraham, Moses and Joshua among many others, had no Bible to read for guidance. God had to speak directly to them, or send angels to communicate His will. Often they had to go for years with no word at all from God, just trusting in the few revelations that they heard, and the stories of how God had blessed others before them. We, on the other hand, are far more blessed to have God’s word written in almost every language on the globe, to have Bible apps on our phones and as many copies of as many versions and translations as we can afford on our bookshelves.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, do we value those words as deeply as the men and women of God in the past, who only had rare encounters with God? They didn’t know who Jesus was or about the power He would bring to this world, but whatever God said, they treated as gold.
Psalm 19:10 says that God’s words are more desirable than fine gold. The promise in this passage, is that Jesus is speaking to us right now, Jesus who made the universe together with God the Father and the God the Holy Spirit. The one who laid the foundations of the earth, who commanded the fish of the sea and the birds of the air to come into existence, who knows everything to the tiniest detail of our life on this small planet, is talking to us now in our mundane ordinary lives. He knows, He cares and He has all the power to set us free and lead us on the right path.
If you read the Bible but doubt its words for your own life, or keep trying to find a spiritual guru to foretell your future, you are treating fine gold as trash. The words of God are to be revered and lived by, no matter how difficult it may seem to believe in them. Acting on them with the confidence that they are true, is what faith is and is the only way to please God. Throw away your horoscopes and pop-psychology books and start to value the oldest, wisest and most powerful words that have always been there for you.
