What Is Heaven Worth?

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt 16:23-26)

Jesus knew his destiny and shared with his disciples that he would be persecuted, killed and risen again in Jerusalem. Having a normal horrified human reaction, Peter responded with a simple, "May it never be!" He was then harshly rebuked by Jesus because He knew that to be sacrificed via crucifixion would be done out of obedience, but it was still tempting to turn away from God's instruction - no one wants to die.

To do the Lord's will is an honor and a privilege, but at the same time it involves tough choices that aren't the most appealing things to do...especially if we are driven by the comforts and approval of the world. For the most part, we are all driven by the need for security, the desire to be comfortable, and acceptance of our peers. As adolescents we bend over backwards to wear the right clothes, have the right style, the right gadgets -- all in an effort to be accepted and hip.

As adults, we are driven by the need to have a decent income, maybe by greed and power, but for the average person - there is desire to be secure and a good provider. Nothing wrong with that.

But, we must remember that the Lordship of God is paramount over all. Over our security, our creature comforts and our desire to obtain. The Lordship of God means that we are ready, willing and able to follow any instruction that we receive for the day - be it big or small. The Lordship of God means that we really have no ownership of anything, as it may be asked to be relinquished by God for His service at any time.

Imagine if we were wealthy - maybe not stinking rich - but perhaps with a million dollar net worth. A large sum, but in this day and age, with a long period of hard hard work - not impossible.

What if the Lord were to put a conviction on our hearts to give it all up and to donate our assets to a new missions project to spread the gospel? Could you do it? Could I do it? The question weighs heavily upon me because I want with all my heart to say "yes" without reservation.

But, I know that it would be something that would be difficult - especially if my asset was a home filled with my family and children.

To what depths will I trust the Lord? Money is nothing but temporary, no matter what the asset, but heaven or hell is eternal. Are we really poor if we exchange our house, cars or paper dollars for an eternity in heaven? How much would such a thing be worth?

Put into perspective -- the eternal perspective -- we see that such a gift is truly priceless. We have been given a priceless gift and opportunity by God. Even our earthly lives are worth giving to Christ.

Lord Jesus, may I hold nothing back for Your kingdom call. I get so wrapped up in the daily grind that I start to believe that the only things that are meaningful are things, people's opinions and bank accounts. In reality, all of those things are rubbish compared to You and Your kingdom. May I conform myself daily to You, and to righteousness and goodness. May I strive to live honorably with true character rather than to live like a prince. Thank You for Your Word today and for rebuking me as you rebuked Satan. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

The Bible Is Our Standard - Our Instruction Manual

"Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"

But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. and if the blind leads the blind both will fall into a ditch." (Matt 15:14)

This one stuck out to me because we say "blind leading the blind" all the time in our daily lives, but lo and behold it came from Jesus as he was referring to the Pharisees.

Despite the fact that the Pharisees had a ton of head knowledge and devotion, they argued over minutiae while trying to twist scripture to fit their own desires to sin.

I have once heard it said very well that to RATIONALIZE = RATIONAL LIES. It has stuck with me over the last decade+ because it made all the sense in the world. If we were to sit and desire to do one sin or another, we can easily convince ourselves that there are enough good reasons to feed our sin. In the case of the Pharisees, Jesus exposed the fact that they would withhold aid to their parents who were in need based on the rationalization that their profession was dedicated to God and therefore any profits should be withheld from being given away to anyone, including their parents.

Of course, the end result of this tradition is that money was never given away to anyone but only fed their own desires and pursuits. Looking at the overall practice of the Pharisees, the rational lies are exposed -- but they were so entrenched in their rationalizations, that they had deluded themselves into thinking they had done righteousness.

Scripture was given to us as God's directions for life. He created us and knit us together in our mother's womb. The life that He breathed into Adam and Eve still flows through us from one generation to the next. Science has been able to move live DNA from one cell into another -- components of original life -- but have never ever been able to breathe life into something that was dead. God is the only one who has that spark of divinity to lend to us.

And so the Creator has given us an instruction manual - one that has many authors who were used to write down the Scriptures, but the messages are consistent from page to page...if we are to read them honestly, desiring to look at the context of the author rather than cherry picking a passage here or there that agrees with our desires to sin, we would have a standard by which to examine ourselves - a standard which could be used to repair ourselves to optimal health and vitality.

I've been a Christian for only 12 years now. Sometimes that seems like a long time, but in reality I feel like I am continually being shown new depths of the Lord in so many different ways. Still, the temptation to fall into the trap of rational lies is so easy in today's culture. It is so hard to get away from all the competing influences that vie to sway us away from the path of the Lord.

In fact, it goes back to the very origins of man, when the Lord gifted us the earth to have dominion over. Because we (man) have dominion over the earth, we have the free will to choose God or to choose Satan. And Satan, being jealous of God's affection for man, continually tries to thwart us and influence our behavior to sin. (It also explains why God will prompt man to pray for God's help rather than intervening continually without an opening from man)

Yet through all of the centuries, God's Word has stood the test of time. It continues to prove itself time and time again as the book which leads us to peace, lawfulness, and order. Jesus still provides many miracles through His Word from the completely supernatural (like stories of reviving the dead via prayer), to the more mundane but still miraculous (healing addictions, mending hurt souls, giving a clear purpose to those who are lost).

But it's only effective if we read it honestly. We can't try to find loose passages here or there in order to justify our sinful behaviors, but instead we need to read it plainly, in the context of the culture (since all writing is ultimately contextual with cultural allusions).

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word. You have completely transformed my life in so many ways that I cannot even count. I pray that I can be true to You and honor Your ways by letting Your Word minister to me and convict me in whatever way I need to be rebuked back to the standard by which You created us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

God Allows Us to Be Partners With Him

"When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary?... So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Mt. 13:54-58)

God can do anything. I know that, but this verse brings to my mind the partnership aspect of spiritual life that we gloss over a lot of times. Jesus, the son of God went to his home and tried to minister to the people there. He tried to do great works and miracles, but because they knew him as a youth, they assumed that he was simply the same person that he had always been...the carpenter's son.

When Jesus tried to teach and minister as a Rabbi, they were offended, and didn't want to believe that he could do miracles -- and consequently, no miracles came.

In Genesis 1:28 man was charged to subdue the earth. In short, God gave man the earth on which to live and manage. This, in essence forms the covenant by which God operates in our lives as well. Because He has given us free will to manage our lives here on earth, He doesn't always step in when it is obvious that He should or would.

He is available to us and He presents His ways and commandments as the instruction manual for us to follow - both to gain entry to His heavenly kingdom and to live optimal lives during our earthly lifetimes. However, it is ultimately up to us to determine how much access we will give to Him.

Will we simply pray from time to time and ask for His help? Or will we live lives of complete trust on Him, sometimes risking everything knowing that He will come through for us with a miracle?

God obviously wants the latter because He continually seeks to get to know us and when we do come to Him, He is a loving parent with such a deep deep well of love and affection for us (parenthood itself is the gift of a glimpse into the type of love that God has for each of us). He knows our characters more intimately than we will ever know them because He created us in a specific and special way. He wants to help us have a life that will bring out the very best in ourselves even if that involves tremendous trial and difficulty.

But, in order to do all of that, we need to willingly let Him into our lives. We need to open our hearts to Him in prayer and accept His free gift of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If we reject Him or limit Him in some way shape or form, than miracles will not occur there. It is not because God is limited in power or scope, but it is because He is honorable to His original covenant to man. He will allow man to sort out and manage the world even though it brings us to the edge of destruction. But, at the same time, He presents Himself ready to assist us if we would simply believe and pray to Him.

Lord Jesus, thank You for this most timely of messages and reminders. I have learned so much about You through Your word, but at the same time, I need constant corrections to get myself back on track. I know that I need You in ways that I haven't been praying for, and I pray that as a family we will seek You daily. Shape our lives Lord, make us into the people that You want us to be. Help us to face our challenges and overcome them. Help us to be people after Your own heart.

In Jesus name, AMEN.