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.

Perils of Isolationism

"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.

A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart." (Prov 18:1-2)

Our heart - we are told by society to "follow our hearts". It is a common theme. Even Christians sometimes rationalize decisions as a "burning of the heart".

The Lord is really illuminating the wisdom of Jer 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?". This verse really struck me because the world and even the church at times asks us to follow our heart and our desires.

The verses in Proverbs however, shows the foolish effects of doing exactly that type of thing. When a man pulls back from the body and isolates themselves they are primarily stewing in their own intellect and their own ideas of the world. God's Word becomes less and less meaningful and is supplanted by that man's sin nature because unless we work to maintain our faith, our faith will atrophy and backslide. Left unchecked, it will lead to apostasy.

Sin is sometimes (but not necessarily) a key part of this trend. One of my favorite Christian singer-songwriters abruptly left the industry several years ago to my great dismay. I loved her voice, her music and her songs. After effectively disappearing, she has recently resurfaced with a brand new non-Christian album. The reason for this is because she has been in a same sex relationship and has been living isolated from the church. Essentially, she didn't want to follow the scriptures against homosexuality and ceased fighting against this sin. She mentioned that life is better now because she no longer considers homosexuality a sin to be struggled against. She no longer sings most of her old songs - songs which were about Jesus and redemption. In her case, the desires of her heart were more important than following scripture and she has isolated herself from the church and from any contrary advice to her personal opinion.

That is precisely why we need to have the body of Christ. The Word of God is not convenient. It isn't something that is easy to follow and that is precisely why Jesus said that "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Mt 7:14) Our sin nature rails against the Word. Speaking personally as a man, left unchecked my own desire to fornicate would run rampant. As men, we are tasked to rein in our physical desires by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not impossible because men do it everyday.

The job of Scripture is to convict us. It is supposed to hurt. Hebrews 4:12 likens Scripture to surgery - it is living and active, sharper than any doubled edged sword it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the attitudes and thoughts of the heart. The Word judges us and helps us to see our areas of improvement. It humbles us, but at the same time it strengthens us to become better, living a life of goodness.

We are not to run away from the conviction of God. Yes, we might feel bad and it might be difficult to overcome the specific sin that we are prone to commit, but if we isolate ourselves we are only headed down the path of ultimate destruction. We may feel good that the weight of the struggle is done, but we are no longer walking with the Lord. We will turn to find that we are only walking with ourselves - the voices of wisdom from the Lord have been shut out.

There is one perspective shift that is necessary to make however, and personally I realize that it is quite useful. Traditionally, it has been the church's position that we need to focus on the fight against sin, but I think that makes it a negative thought process. It makes it seems as if we are missing out on something. Instead - I believe we are called to walk in God's path. We must choose to forego sin and to follow Him. We are no longer losing the chance to sin, but we are replacing those actions with righteous behavior and the goodness of the Lord's ways. We have not lost, but we have replaced.

Lord Jesus, I never really knew how twisted our thinking is in our modern world. We stand in direct opposition to You because we desire the easy route where we no longer fight our sin natures, but instead cave in to our personal desires. Sometimes it is a struggle, but let us not consume ourselves with our sins, but instead choose to walk in obedience to You. Let us fill our minds with thoughts of goodness and righteousness and let our behaviors match that intention. Help me to replace any sinful desires with Your good ways. In Jesus' name, 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.