The Flesh Profits Nothing

"And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. he who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)

"Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die." (John 6:49-50)

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63)

We have many great men in this world. They are well-known and are powerful. The decisions they make affect a great many things, a ripple into the lives of others. At the end of their lives, I believe that their goal is to have affected as many people as possible. To have power and to have weld it, for good or bad, is what makes them important in this world.

For our children today as well, they are taught to "make a difference". By default this means affecting the lives of other people. That in itself is not a bad thing at all. If they can make a positive contribution to society, more power to them.

But as much as we are to go through life "making a difference", the source of our actions makes the real difference. Jesus teaches that He is the source of life - there is no other. Therefore, as Christians, we must source all of our actions in Him alone. The Word is our sole authority and we must read and interpret it with honesty and clarity, not taking little snippets which help support our personal fleshly desires.

For even the most powerful people on the earth, their lives will probably have some good and some bad mixed in. However, without the Lord, what will have been their profit? When standing in front of God steeping the sins we all have, yet not having the blood of Jesus as a propitiating sacrifice, what will they say in their final accounting? They can only say that they lived for their own fleshly desires, and disregarded any of God's leading. No matter what they did in their lives, having never known God, they will not enter the Lord's house.

For myself, this is a call to reorient once again to the Lord. It is so easy, living in the world to get focused on stuff - moving up in the world and obtaining more status symbols. These days, on Friday and Saturday nights, I even see the youths driving souped up used 3 series and Infiniti G coupes. Wow, nice cars for the young guys! We are so rich and brand conscious in the US that even our kids, who probably haven't worked much in their lives desire and are given expensive brand name status symbols to drive.

But no matter what house we live in, or what car we drive, that stuff isn't life. For the most part, within 5 years, all the possessions we have will no longer be hip, cool or fashionable. They are literally fading and rotting before our eyes.

We too have precious little time on the earth. Our lifetimes are fading second by second and minute by minute.

However, the Lord created us with a purpose and a plan. He knew what our lives would mean, and it is when we get close to our Creator that we live the way we were meant to. I need to spend more deliberate time with the Lord. I need to make time to get away and to pray. To ask the Lord about my actions and plans, to get His counsel and to stay on the path that He desires for my life.

Lord Jesus, I know that today's process was roundabout, but I don't want to fall into the cycle of the world and the ways of the flesh. In the end, there will be no profit in that in the final accounting. Instead, I know that there is a specific plan and process that You are leading me through. Help me to come back to the simplicity of a daily walk with You. Let me never be drawn off by the busyness and whims of the world. You will lead me and guide me in all things, and I will rest in You. In the life-giving name of Jesus, Amen.

Remembering He is Holy

5Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

13Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 14And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

(Exodus 3: 5, 13-14)

I don't really know what religion Moses was up to the point when he saw the burning bush. Being nursed by his Hebrew mother, he may have heard of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, being raised in the Egyptian court as an adopted son, he may have forgotten God and been taught of the Egyptian dieties.

In this re-introduction to God, it strikes me that the Lord first and foremost wants to emphasize one thing very clearly - He IS God over all - the great Creator who is and from whom everything comes from. Our life force is drawn from the Great I AM, and we do not exist without Him. When I read these passages, the fear of God absolutely crackles off the page and I know if I were Moses, I would not have been more frightened in my life.

Moreover, the place where God exists is holy. Not just sacred, it requires an absolute cleanliness of intent and being. One of the most contentious and difficult parts for us to understand about Heaven is why it would be so elusive to attain. In our minds, everyone who has lived should go to Heaven, but that ignores what Heaven is -

Heaven isn't the gratification of our wants and desires - unending self-aggrandizing joy and fulfillment. Heaven is the place where God dwells in His fullness. Heaven is holy ground through and through. That is why Jesus came. Alone with our sin stained lives, we would not be able to stand before God because His holiness would crush our unclean lives. The holy God and unholy sin cannot co-exist in the same place. The unholy is burned away - killing the one who is unclean. (In Jewish literature priests entering the Holy of Holies who were unclean were stuck dead by God - referenced in the Mishnah).

By the sacrifice of Jesus, the spotless son of God, He took our sins upon himself, so that we could be wiped clean, ready to have eternal life in Heaven. God became approachable when He chose to become a man and He could then seek out sinners and pull them out of their depths. Then, through the Holy Spirit, God personally dwells in us.

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (I Cor 3:16-17)

As a Christian, it is easy to have a casual relationship with God - it has become popular to refer to Him simply as a friend. I even have a shirt that says, "Jesus is my Homeboy". Yes, the Lord is our friend (and homeboy), but He is God too, and we cannot forget that level of respect that He deserves. In loving us, He sacrificed Himself for us. The God who spoke and Created everything. We must remember that and seek after that kind of holiness in our own lives because we are now a temple of God. God dwells inside of us. We cannot simply disregard the Lord as only a friend when He is deserving of all our worship.

Lord Jesus, I know that I have been guilty of sometimes taking Your love and affection for me for granted. That I often forget You in the ragtag pursuit of everyday life. Please forgive me and help me to worship You in spirit and in truth. Help me to clean out all that is not of You to become ready for more of Your presence. In Jesus' name, AMEN.