Category: Bible Study

How do we Survive and even Thrive in the face of Tyranny or Persecution?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong- 2nd Corinthians 12:11 NIV 

Daniel chapter three opens with a exhibition of unbridled narcissism.  After hearing how awesome he was (Daniel 2:37-38). King Nebuchadnezzar decided to declare himself a god and have a massive statue created in his image (Romans 1:25). When his project was complete he threw a dedication party and commanded all the leaders in Babylon attend.  (Daniel 3:1-3).  The attendees were instructed to bow down and worship the statue anytime the music played. 

In classic Nebuchadnezzar fashion he informed the crowd that if anyone, for any reason, failed to worship the monument to his own awesomeness he would have them thrown into a blazing hot furnace (Daniel 3:4-6). Posthaste. Three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stubbornly refused to get on board. It didn’t take long for one of the court sycophants to take notice and rat them out to the king. 

Nebuchadnezzar was not accustomed to being told “no”. Their refusal enraged him. He had the three men be brought before him and gave them one more chance to submit or face the consequences. 

They chose the consequences. 

But not before, making perhaps, the most beautiful statements of faith found anywhere in all the Bible (Daniel 3:16-18). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego flatly refused to submit to an idolatrous act, defend themselves, or beg for mercy. Rather, they calmly informed the king they believed their God did indeed have the power to save them. They also conceded God might choose NOT to save them. Either way there was zero chance they were going to be bowing down to his silly statue. Period.  

God did save them.  

Spectacularly.  

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were bound with ropes and thrown into a furnace so blazing hot it killed the men tasked with executing them. When Nebuchadnezzar looked in on the men, not only were they alive and well, there was also a fourth man walking in the furnace with them. It is commonly believed the fourth man in the fire was the pre-incarnate Jesus. The God of the universe was so pleased with their loyalty and obedience He got into the fire with them. They walked out of hell without so much as the smell of smoke on them. 

Dang. 

In the face of the worst kind of pressure these three young Hebrews retained their composure, fidelity to God and faith in God’s goodness. 

It’s a great story.

However, it’s more than a story. It’s also a bit of a sneak peek into future events. (Revelation 13:1-8, Matthew 24:15).  The Bible predicts that as the end of this age approaches, society and the people in it, will become scarier, less open to truth, more immoral and much more lawless (2nd Timothy 4:3, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-7, Matthew 24:1-25). All that will result in tyranny and intense persecution of anyone who refuses to worship the gods of this world. 

Christians are told to watch for signs of these times (Mark 13:34, 1st Peter 4:7). 

Our world is becoming more lawless and corrupt all the time. Barring a massive revival life will only get tougher for God’s people as the world continues to wind down (Daniel 7:21-22, Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:9-13).  Christians should always be ready for persecution and trouble.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were prepared for spiritually challenging times. Each was able to maintain their loyalty to God in the midst of the worst kind of oppression and cruelty because they did four essential things:

They knew God intimately and were familiar with His word-

The law (Bible) was their true north (Psalm 119). Their understanding of the law gave them knowledge about God that fueled their love for God. Knowing God, His word and how fiercely they were loved by God (Isaiah 49:15-16) kept them spiritually resilient in literally the toughest of situations. 

They were intentional about forming community-

From day one Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel resolutely pursued community and the accountability community provides (Daniel 2:17-18). The strength they derived from their little community empowered them to resist the pressure to adapt to the Babylonian way of life. When the going got tough they had each other and that was often enough to keep them from caving to the enormous pressure to take the easy way out of a hard set of circumstances (Daniel 3). 

They decided ahead of time where the lines would be drawn-

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew the time to prepare for persecution is not when it starts. We prepare for persecution by building our spiritual strength slowly over time. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego committed from day to saying “no” to the worldly temptations that would normalize sin that were so prevalent in Babylon (Daniel 1:6-21, Colossians 2:8, 1st Peter 4:12. 1st John 13:13, Titus 2:11-12). Because they went into their situation expecting persecution they were not spiritually disillusioned or confused about where God was in their situation.

And finally. 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, believed with all their hearts that losing their lives (dying) would gain them something infinitely better. None of them were hung up on hanging onto the things of this world (Matthew 10:39). Their theology of heaven empowered them to walk through hell here on earth. 

We are no different from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

 We have everything we need to survive and thrive even the worst the world throws at us when we choose intimacy with the Father, Christian community, obedience and belief in a better future with Jesus.

The Inevitable Outcome of Self-Aggrandizement and Self-Worship-

Lisa M. Price5 Comments

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him- Matthew 12:33-34 NIV

Daniel chapter two records in the second year of his reign King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that left him so unsettled he could not sleep (Daniel 2:1). 

So.

Nebuchadnezzar called for his crew of magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to unravel the meaning of his dream.

It’s important to note at this point that King Nebuchadnezzar was what we would call a “toxic leader” and a “flaming narcissist” So, in classic toxic narcissistic leader fashion, Nebuchadnezzar decided it was not enough for his crew of magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to simply give him a reasonable interpretation of his dream. Instead the king went a step further and insisted the enchanters and astrologers tell him ALL the details of his dream BEFORE giving the interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar then vowed (in classic toxic leader fashion) that if, for whatever reason, his court magicians could not do what he required he would have them cut into pieces and their houses turned into piles of rubble (Daniel 2:2-6) 

Yikes.

 The court magicians were unable to do what he wanted. Mostly, because what he wanted was crazy. 

However.

 Nebuchadnezzar was a man of his word. So, when his wise men failed at their assigned task he sent his right-hand man Arioch to the nether regions of Babylon to round up all of the wise men throughout the entire kingdom and have them executed (Daniel 2:7-12). 

When Daniel got wind of Nebuchadnezzar’s plans he did what Daniel did anytime life got scary and he was afraid or worried or uncertain. He prayed. Then he enlisted other believers to pray with him (Daniel 2:17-18, Daniel 6:11-13, Daniel 9:1-4, Daniel 9:20) The answers came quickly and miraculously (Daniel 2:19).  There was simply no way anyone could have told another person exactly what they dreamed without the aid of Almighty God. 

Turns out, the dream was strange and would have been unsettling to anyone. 

It centered around a magnificent statue that held the key to understanding the future empires of human history (Daniel 2:31-35). The statue had a head of gold (the Babylonian empire) a chest of silver (the Medo-Persia-Greek empires) legs of iron (the Roman empire) and feet with toes of iron and clay. There’s some disagreement on the meaning of the toes and feet. In my humble opinion the feet and toes represent democratic forms of government that will continue to exist until the return of Jesus. Another key feature of the dream was a rock (Jesus) that grew into a huge mountain (God’s kingdom) that eventually took over all the kingdoms of the earth (the future coming of Jesus).

When Daniel was done explaining the details of the dream he informed the king his Kingdom (Babylon) was the head of gold and therefore the premier kingdom of all the kingdoms. He went on to explain that (Nebuchadnezzar) had been gifted by the one true God with supernatural abilities to lead well. Thanks to God’s generosity and kindness Nebuchadnezzar was in effect the best and most gifted human leader ever (Daniel 2:36-38).

Nebuchadnezzar’s response to this news was disturbing. 

He was not curious about this God. Nor, was he thankful. He did not respond with humility at being chosen for this task and gifted in such a magnificent manner. Instead he started out worshipping the messenger (Daniel 2:46) then gave God some surfacy praise (Daniel 2:47).

Then in Daniel 3:1-6 the real Nebuchadnezzar comes out. 

Apparently he decided that the proper response to God declaring him to be especially special was to demand everyone on earth worship him. He had a statue constructed (apparently in his own image) and insisted everyone in his kingdom worship it (and him) at regular intervals. 

Here’s the thing:

Nebuchadnezzar made the classic Romans one error all humans are still prone to make. The whole messy muddle got a foothold in his life when he willfully refused accept the evidence for God that was literally right in front of him. Refusing to acknowledge God naturally led to refusing to give God glory. Refusing to give God His rightful due led to idolatry. Unfortunately, like a lot of modern humans Nebuchadnezzar’s idol of choice was himself. Self-worship is the act of making your dreams, desires and preferences the focus of your life and demanding everyone else do the same. A person who has become entangled in the sin of self-worship believes they are entitled to what they want, they are always right, the end always justifies the means and that no one, but no one, including God Himself has the right to tell them “no” or that something they want is unacceptable. 

We live in a culture where self-worship is the religion of choice. 

It is considered emotionally unhealthy to put another person’s needs before one’s own (Philippians 2:.3-4). Experts tell us any relationship is disposable if it becomes troublesome in any way (Proverbs 17:17, proverbs 27:10). It is now horrifically common for mothers to admit online they wish their children had never been born (Psalm 127:5). Even biology must bow to human whims. We no longer accept DNA or genitalia as the final answer in the whole gender debate. (Genesis 1:27) It’s all about me. Commitment, friendship, loyalty and even reality be damned. 

It’s all about me, me, me. 

Romans one promises that rejecting God and embracing self-worship turns people made in the image of God into fools (Daniel 4). Sad parodies of who they could have been, people who inevitably hurt others, degrade themselves and ultimately run the risk of sinning themselves into extinction (Romans 1:18-32). 

It’s kind of where we’re living right now as a culture. 

That means it’s critical at this juncture in history individual Christians determine to be like Daniel: God-seeking, God-focused, self-aware and led by truth.  When God’s people do those things we become anchors of truth in an age of uncertainty and insanity. 

How to Avoid Getting “Hooked” in a Culture That’s far from God

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will- Romans 12:2 NIV

Daniel and his friends were likely all in their mid-teens teens when they arrived in Babylon (Daniel 1:1-4). Each captive was immediately confronted with a choice (Daniel 1:5-8) upon arrival.

Like so many choices in this life, the choice was a surfacy, symbolic choice masking the real, much harder choice the captives were faced with. The immediate choice they were confronted with was whether or not to eat the food they were given. There were at least four really good reasons for them to just go ahead and eat the food:

It was tasty.

There weren’t a lot of other options.

It was offensive not to eat it. 

It was weird for them not to eat the food. 

There were also some solid spiritual reasons to refuse the food. The meat and wine while tasty, had all been offered to Babylonian gods.  Eating food offered to an idol was a means of communing with and worshipping that god.  Furthermore, none of the meat met Jewish dietary requirements and was unclean. Eating the food would violate all sorts of Levitical dietary laws. 

However. 

It wouldn’t have been difficult to make a fairly decent argument for compromising on this issue. They were far from home in a foreign land. None of them would be going home in their lifetimes. (Jeremiah 25:1-14). Moreover, it’s not as if they could just run down to the local Kroger and pick up a few things from the Kosher section to tide them over until the training program came to an end. 

However.

The food wasn’t about the food, not really. Whether or not to eat the food was a surfacy, choice masking a much more critical choice. The captives had to decide whether or not they were going to conform to culture of the Babylonians (Romans 12:2, Leviticus 20:23, Deuteronomy 12:30-31).

Daniel wisely understood the real purpose of the food.  The food was a hook the Babylonians used to make the captives comfortable with all things Babylonian.  King Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimate aim was to convert the Jewish captives into loyal Babylonians.  The food was the first step in a process intended to make the Hebrew captives loyal to the Babylonian gods, Babylonian values and the Babylonian way of life.  

Daniel knew if the captives allowed themselves to become comfortable with that one aspect of Babylonian culture it would be a quick hop, skip and jump to becoming full-fledged and entirely loyal citizens of Babylon. 

It was a practice known as “friendly captivity” and it was incredibly successful most of the time.  The king (in this case Nebuchadnezzar) would conquer a country and take the best and brightest of those captives back to the court. Then he would find pleasant ways to make them comfortable with the culture. Once fully integrated to the society the best and brightest would in turn encourage the less prominent captives to accept their fate and integrate into the cultural system of their captivity.  

It was a rather clever way to grow a kingdom.

 Daniel and his friends refused. They weren’t rude, confrontive or disrespectful. Instead they enlisted the help of the overseer and found another way. Three extraordinary things took place ONLY BECAUSE the boys refused to conform to the culture:

The boys thrived physically, psychologically and spiritually in a hostile environment (Daniel 1:14)

God gifted the boys with supernatural levels of knowledge and wisdom (Daniel 1:15-17). 

The captives impacted both the culture and the people of Babylon for their God (Daniel 4:1-37)

Here’s the thing:

Our world belongs to our God (Genesis 1, Psalm 19). Nonetheless, at this point in time, our world and most of the people in it, are currently firmly under the control of Satan (Matthew 4:8, Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 6:12, Romans 16:20, 1st John 5:19). Satan’s aim is to take as many people to hell as possible. However, if someone places their faith in Jesus they totally avoid that fate (Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:16-17, 2nd Corinthians 4:14, Acts 2:21). God is redeeming the world through His son Jesus.

That being said.

Satan can take even redeemed people captive to do his will (Ephesians 4:27, Ephesians 6:11, 1st Timothy 3:7, 1stPeter 5:8). He uses “hooks’ to do it. Just like Nebuchadnezzar did. The hooks make us more comfortable with the worldly ideas, worldly pleasures and worldly pursuits. If a person gets comfortable enough with the world they eventually, over a period of time conform to the culture without even realizing they’ve been taken captive. 

Because we live in a culture that’s under the control of Satan it’s imperative Christians are intentional about avoiding the hooks so prevalent in our culture.   

 Satan wants everyone to live their lives in captivity to sin and spiritual bondage.  Sexual immorality, depravity, lust for power, greed, gluttony, self-reliance, addiction and covetousness are the places he wants to take us (1stPeter 5:8). Bondage, darkness and despair are his endgame and his favorite hook these days is entertainment and media. Media pulls us in and slowly, overtime like the frog in the pot of water on a hot stove makes us more comfortable with the values, ideas and gods of our culture. Before long, the Bible feels unkind, insensitive, and antiquated and it just makes sense to soften the moral commands of Jesus. We eventually lose our saltiness and the distinctions between how we live and how the world lives are trivial (Matthew 5:13-14). 

However. 

When we wisely choose to limit our exposure to the hooks of Satan (like Daniel did) we too, thrive in a hostile culture. God gifts us with supernatural insight and we spread the influence of the gospel in our own dark culture and we get the high and holy honor of being a critical part of God’s redemption process in this world (Matthew 28:19-20). 

What is Spiritual Captivity and How do we go There?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning– Ecclesiastes 4:13 NIV

The book of Daniel begins with what appears to be nothing more than a bit of context: 

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.  And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace- Daniel 1:1-3

However. 

Daniel 1:1-3 is more than simply the prelude to the story. The intro to the book of Daniel is actually the grim fulfillment of a prophecy given to King Hezekiah more than a hundred years before:

The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 2nd Kings 20:17-18 

Hezekiah did not respond to the prophet’s words the way one would expect, i.e. with sorrow, alarm and a panicky appeal to reverse the predicted outcome. Instead, Hezekiah made light of the prophet’s disturbing forecast. Hezekiah’s apparently laisser-faire demeaner strongly indicates he was more than willing to trade the destruction of his nation and the future enslavement of his own flesh and blood for peace and prosperity in his time (2nd Kings 20:19).

Here’s the thing:

Hezekiah was not an awful person nor was he a negligent leader. To the contrary, Hezekiah is described as a uniquely good leader and stand-up guy. He destroyed the places of pagan worship scattered throughout Judah and removed all traces of idolatry from the Temple (2nd Kings 18:1-7). When faced with certain defeat from a bordering nation he prayed and literally begged God to save the nation and against all odds Judah remained at peace during Hezekiah’s reign (2nd Kings 18:9-19:37, Proverbs 3:3-5). Hezekiah was not a bad leader or person. Up until that moment Hezekiah appeared to be a good, God-fearing man driven by love for God and a desire to see his people living righteously and in safety.  

So. 

What happened? How did such a good guy go so terribly wrong? Well. I believe the answer is buried between the lines of a couple verses in 2nd Kings: 

Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them- 2nd Kings 20:13

When asked about the visit he responded with: 

They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”- 2nd Kings 20:14

I do not believe God was angry with Hezekiah for showing the Babylonians the treasures of Judah. It was certainly not the wisest strategic or political move. However, it wasn’t the problem, his focus was.

Hezekiah’s focus went from being entirely on God and the welfare of his people to be entirely Hezekiah-focused. In just a few short sentences the king uses personal pronouns a total of six times. He talks about” his” palace, “his” storehouses, “his” gold, “his” armory and “my treasures. His, his, and mine, mine, not so much as a word was uttered concerning God’s provision or God’s goodness or God’s glory.

It was all Hezekiah all the time. 

Hezekiah experienced a change in attitude that can take place in anyone—even those who sincerely love God and are called to His purposes. The change of heart he experienced was subtle at first. It took place gradually. As a result, Hezekiah did not even see that he was focused on entirely on himself and motivated by his own success and comfort rather than on what was best for his people and glorifying to the God he served. The end result of his self-focus was the eventual destruction of the nation he loved, seventy years of Babylonian captivity and the enslavement of the man who very well could have been his own grandson (Daniel). 

Yikes. 

This passage ought to serve as a cautionary tale to all of us because we just so happen to live in an age of self-focus, self-love, self-worship and self-centeredness and dwell in a society that values self above others. Every. Single. Time. 

Seriously. 

God despises self-focus (Romans 2:8, Philippians2:3).  He knows that even good, godly people who permit themselves to become self-focused stop caring how their present actions will affect future generations. Even the best people start valuing convenience over righteousness anytime self-worship becomes a part of their operating system (2nd Chronicles 28:3, Jeremiah 19:5, Ezekiel 20:31).  Self-focus is spiritually blinding. It causes even believers to reject obvious truth. 

Self-focus that’s left to fester always ends in moral decay and some sort of captivity (2nd Timothy 2:26, Colossians 2:8, Acts 8:23, 1st Timothy 3:1-3). 

Just like it did with Hezekiah.  

Breaking the power of our self-focus is a tough but necessary thing if we want to be like Jesus and bless others (Philippians 2:1-16).  

Here’s the thing though:

It’s almost impossible to see our own self-focus in a culture where self-promotion, self-worship and self-centeredness is all regarded as virtue. Getting free of the curse of self-focus requires a willingness to take a hard look at our lives. It requires a ruthlessness in evaluating our attitudes and mindsets. If we want to free ourselves from the curse of thinking about ourselves we have to be willing to humble ourselves and flat-out ask God to show us the stuff in us we really don’t want to see or deal with.

When we ask God to give us freedom the curse of self-focus God frees us from captivity and releases us to be a blessing.

What Does it Really Mean to be Defrauded of our “Prize” (Colossians 2:18)?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments


You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5:7 NASB  

The Bible is filled with intriguing little passages that act as hooks to pull us in and get us thinking more deeply. I came across one the other day in the book of Colossians: 

Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind- Colossians 2:18 NASB

The words that got my attention were “defrauding” and “prize”. The apostle Paul seems to be presupposing two realities every serious Christian ought to consider.  

First—is the whole notion of “a prize”. The Apostle obviously believed there is a prize Christians can earn. He also believed we should actively and even aggressively go after and protect those prizes (1st Corinthians 9:24, Philippians 3:14). Second—there seems to be a way Christians can be cheated, deceived or swindled (defrauded) out of their prizes. 

So: 

What is the prize? 

What does it mean to be “defrauded” of the prize? 

How exactly does this defrauding take place? 

The prize itself is not much of a mystery. The prize discussed in Colossians 2:18, 1st Corinthians 9:24 and Philippians 3:14 are clearly the eternal reward believers in Jesus receive for a living a faithful life. Jesus and the Apostle Paul both spoke at length about the whole notion of believers obtaining rewards (prizes). According to Jesus Christians will be rewarded for all manner of things. Including, but not limited to: loving their enemies, faith, goodness, kindness, authenticity, personal sacrifice, financial sacrifice and personal faithfulness to and confidence in God. Apparently, these eternal rewards are multiplied any time we continue to keep the faith, behave righteously and point others to Jesus in the face of personal suffering, hardship and persecution (Matthew 6:1-8, Matthew 10:42, Matthew 16:27, Luke 6:22-23, Luke 6:35, 1st Corinthians 3:8-9, Ephesians 6:7-8, Colossians 3:23-25, Hebrews 10:35, 2nd John 1:8).  

Because there is a prize at the end of the Christian life that we can earn or lose out on. It only makes sense for us to figure out what things are most likely to cause us to lose out on the prize. No one in their right mind wants to lose out on a prize. Seriously.

For the record:

God is not a tyrant looking for an excuse to rip blessing and eternal reward out of the hands of those who have worked hard for Him (Hebrews 6:9-11). God is good and He wants to give His children good gifts (Luke 11:13, Ephesians 4:8, Romans 11:29).  

That being said,

 When we allow sin, hardship or disappointment in God to cause us to become disobedient or to send us off on a spiritual tangent we stop earning the reward we had been earning. Furthermore, there are those who become so disillusioned with God for the above-mentioned reasons they literally stop serving Him. When we stop serving God out of anger, hurt or anything else we have automatically been defrauded of our prize. We will go to heaven but that’s it. There won’t be any “well done good and faithful servant” stuff to look forward to when we get there (Matthew 25:14-21, 1st Corinthians 3:14-15).  Knowing this is not a cause for despair or fear but rather a reminder to act wisely in all areas of life and faith.  

The three most common reasons for being defrauded of our prize are:

Hurt and anger-

Getting hurt or becoming angry (even if the anger is directed at God) does not automatically cause us to be defrauded of anything. God does not penalize people for suffering personal hurt or pain. He’s not a jerk. However, hurt and anger that develops into bitterness or unforgiveness can lead us into all sorts of spiritual trouble (Hebrews 12:15, Acts 8:22-23, Matthew 6:14-15). Bitterness is a poison that literally defiles us as people and makes us spiritually unfit for good works (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:13). Once we are unfit for doing good we are spiritually done in (Matthew 5:13, 1st Corinthians 3:14-15).

Bad Theology-

Theology matters, but not because God punishes us for holding the wrong views. It matters because wrong beliefs or wrong thinking about God and life always lead to wrong behavior (Matthew 15:18-20). This is what Paul was warning the Colossians about in Colossians Chapter two. The Colossian Christians were in danger of buying into wrong beliefs that would inevitably lead them into sin and away from God (Colossians 2:4-19, Galatians 5:7).

Disappointment in God- 

In a fallen world it’s easy to become disappointed in God when we feel He hasn’t given us what we wanted most, or He didn’t stop someone from mistreating us in some way (Matthew 13:40-42, John 5:28-29). If those feelings are not worked through the bitterness that develops will rob us of our belief in God’s goodness (Hebrews 11:6). When we lose faith in the goodness of God, we are not far off from being defrauded of the reward we would have had. 

Sometimes Christians feel skeezy for looking forward to eternal reward. 

They shouldn’t. God clearly wants to reward His children for their faithfulness. He promises the rewards we earn will be worth all the effort it takes to keep from being defrauded out of them (Revelation 22:12).  

Why Don’t we Hear From God?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law- Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV 

Okay. I’m going to get really real for just a minute and say the quiet part out loud.

Sometimes God feels distant. Really distant.

Like radio silence distant.

This sensation can get emotionally and spiritually messy really quickly because we derive comfort, peace and security from knowing God sees our needs and hears our cries (Psalm 61:1-3, Psalm 28:2). Whether it’s through answered prayer, a Bible passage that speaks to our situation or a still small voice that guides us through the complexities of life, anyone who really loves God wants to hear from God (Psalm 63:1, John 10:27).

This is even more true when the going gets tough and life gets challenging, uncertain or just plain hard and sucky.  Radio silence in these moments is beyond discouraging. It can challenge our belief God is good. (Psalm 13:1-6, Psalm 42:9, Psalm 43:2, Psalm 22:1).  It just gets worse when we feel like we are doing our level best to keep the lines of communication open and still—nothing, zero, nada. That still small voice that guides and directs our steps is painfully quiet. 

Sigh. 

Nothing is gained and much is lost anytime we give into the very human temptation to give up our faith, get angry or place all of the blame on God in these moments, nor should we turn to sin or worldly ways of coping to fill our empty places, dull our pain or relieve our frustration in these seasons.  The best thing we can do when we feel God is far away is to keep our hearts open and use our situation as the jumping off place for some self-examination and perhaps a change of approach. There are a whole bunch of really good reasons why we don’t feel the presence of God or hear His still small voice, some of those are: 

We don’t want to- 

Sometimes we think we want to hear from God but we don’t. Not really—mostly because deep down in our heart-of-hearts we have a niggling little hunch God might just have something to say to us we have zero interest in hearing.  Most of us have been guilty at some point of desperately wanting to hear from God in one area of our lives while we entertain some ugly sin in another area of our lives. Truth-be-told God usually addresses the sin that’s holding back our spiritual growth before He blesses us with a clear direction or a deep sense of spiritual peace (Hebrews 12:1-2). It’s critical we remember no sin is worth stunting our spiritual growth over or shutting down communication with the God of the universe (Matthew 5:30, 1st Corinthians 15:34). It’s just not.   

We do and we don’t like what he says- 

Alas, we are all human, and sadly, one aspect of being human is an inclination towards moments of stupidity, willful blindness and obstinacy. Sometimes we do hear from God and we don’t like what He has to say so we ignore Him (Hebrews 12:25). Typically, what happens in these situations is God wants us to forgive someone we don’t want to forgive (Matthew 6:15, Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15), or He wants us to repair a relationship that would be personally embarrassing for us to deal with. Other times God wants us to look at our own actions in a situation where we have chosen to lay the blame on the actions or attitude of the other guy. Whatever the case may be, it is always in our best interests to ask God if there is something we’re just not seeing when He feels far off.

We’re just too dang busy-

Okay, so this is a big one, because we have made busyness into badge of honor, an indication of righteousness and a weird little idol in our Christian culture. Busyness in none of those things. The Bible is clear, we are least likely to connect with God when we are spinning around in a flurry of over activity. Conversely, we are most likely to connect with Him when we slow down and seek Him in a spirit of quiet trust (Isaiah 30:15, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 46:10, Hebrews 4:1). Sometimes all we have to do to reconnect with God is take a day off from our striving and make Him our priority (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

We want to be in charge of how he communicates-

Most of the time God speaks through His word (the Bible) or in a still small voice that leaves an impression on our spirit that we should do or not do something (2nd Peter 1:3., 1st Kings 19:12). God rarely communicates verbally and when He speaks through other people it’s usually just them talking in a wise way that hits home with our situation (Matthew 10:20). It’s fairly rare for a person to get a bold prophetic proclamation that clears up all their confusion concerning a matter. As a general rule we should always look to the “normal ways” God communicates rather than expecting Him to be dramatic in His communication.

All that being said: 

 God is always with us even when we don’t feel His presence, hear His voice or understand what exactly is going on (Joshua 1:5, Psalm 91:3-4, Hebrews 13:5).  He never leaves us or forsakes us. God is always moving us towards the end goal of being more like Jesus and sometimes the road to that end is a bumpy one where we feel alone even when we’re not (1st Corinthians 15:49, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:10). In those times must remind ourselves that God’s love never fails and He never walks away. 

Even when He’s quiet. 

What do the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace do for us?

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In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect- 1st Peter 3:15 ESV

Most church people tend to think of mission in terms of traveling to a foreign country for the purpose of doing service projects and/or sharing the gospel.  

There is nothing wrong with thinking about mission in those terms. 

It’s a perfectly reasonable and fine way to define the word. That being said, oddly enough, God’s definition of mission is much more in line with Dictionary.com’s definition of mission.    

Here’s their take on it:

  1. The business with which a group or individual is charged.
  2. Any important task that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.
  3. A  goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation. 

Here’s the thing:

All Christians are supposed to be “on mission” all the time.  The details of our individual mission vary from person to person but our “big-picture” mission as Christians is always the same: to be the hands, feet and mouthpiece of Jesus in our broken and hurting world. 

One of the challenges we always encounter as we seek to accomplish our mission is spiritual warfare. The enemy is categorically not a fan of Christians “being Jesus” or sharing Jesus and he will do anything to distract and divert us from doing the good we are called to do (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 20:24, 2nd Peter 1:3-10, Ephesians 2:10). All Christians ought to make a habit of “praying on” the armor of God daily is because it is a much-needed reminder of our primary mission as Jesus’ people in this world. It says: 

Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace- NKJV

Shod is not a word most of use in conversation. It’s a weird and antiquated word that simply means to “put on”. It tells us God wants you and I to take every aspect of the gospel with us wherever He leads. Every Christian experiences warfare surrounding this directive. The enemy will do anything within his power to stop us from:

Taking the presence of Jesus into our world-

All Christians carry around with them the presence of Jesus (1st Corinthians 3:16, 2nd Corinthians 2:14-15). It’s just what we do. One of our primary tasks as Christians is to live and behave in such a way the “aroma” of Jesus flows out of us all the time because the “smell of Jesus” inspires curiosity about Jesus in unsaved people (metaphorically speaking).  Satan will do anything and everything to keep us from radiating the presence of Jesus in our homes, schools, workplaces and churches. We put on the shoes of the gospel of peace when we choose to be intentional about taking Jesus into every situation life throws at us (Matthew 5:16, Matthew 13:43). 

Sharing the gospel with words-

Saint Francis of Assisi once said: “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” No shade on Saint Francis but this recommendation falls right into line with one of Satan’s most fervent hopes for us. Satan wants more than anything in this world is to keep Christians verbally quiet about their faith. He loves the whole idea of Christians living good lives but keeping quiet about why they live the way they do.  If he can get them feeling self-righteous about their timidity it’s a win win for team Satan. Don’t get me wrong—it is critical we live out what we profess to believe. Hypocrisy in the life of Christian is a deal killer for the spiritually curious. That said, our world needs to hear words spoken about Jesus not just see well behaved Christians (Romans 10:17).  

Living out the virtues of Christianity- 

 Ultimately, the aim of the Christian life is to live like Jesus lived. This requires we take off all the habits, sins and bigotries of our old life (Colossians 3:5-11) and put on new behaviors and attitudes that reflect our status as redeemed (Christian) people (Colossians 3:12-17, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 12:1-21, 2nd Peter 1:3-9). Satan despises virtue with every fiber of his being because virtue gives the words we speak about Jesus power. He will do anything he can to convince us virtue is unnecessary and just too darn hard to pull off.  Part of “putting on the armor” is choosing to do our very best to a life of virtue and righteousness all the time in spite of the difficulties involved in doing so.  

Being a voice of wisdom and reason in a categorically stupid world-

We live in the stupidest of times (Judges 21:25, 1st Timothy 3:1-5). Even educated people believe the most outrageous things imaginable about stuff every one used to agree on. These include: what makes a person male or female, what is and is not acceptable regarding sexuality, the best way to parent children, marriage and pretty much every other moral issue under the sun. Part of our job as Christians is to be a voice of reason and wisdom in an increasingly unwise world. Satan will use our fear of being mocked to keep us quiet (Deuteronomy 31:6). It is essential we defend truth in a spirit of love, grace and humility (Ephesians 4:15). That being said, every single time Christians decline to speak up concerning the moral issues of our time the enemy gains major ground in the spiritual war.

In order take the gospel into all of life we must be intentional about how we speak, live and treat others. Putting on the shoes of the gospel of peace is about living the gospel and being the church. When we do that Satan is defeated, God is lifted and the body of Christ is filled with power. 

How do we Gird up our Spiritual”Loins”?

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Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free- John 8:32 NIV

I am not a Bible translator. 

However. 

I do know enough about the Bible and Bible translation to know there are words and phrases frequently misunderstood by readers due to an awkward translation from the original language (Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic) into English. It’s also true that Bible translators occasionally take liberties when translating Bible words in an effort to make difficult concepts clearer or less weird to the average reader.  Sometimes translation issues arise because there is not a truly suitable English word to use in place of the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. Other times the translator really is simply attempting to make a difficult concept easier to understand. 

Ephesians 6:15 is (in my opinion) an example of this.  

In Ephesians 6:14 Christians are told to “put on the full armor of God”. The purpose of doing so is to prepare ourselves spiritually to stand our ground against the devil and the various schemes he plots against us. In verse fifteen most contemporary translations tell us the very first step in the “putting on” process is to have: 

 “the belt of truth buckled around your waist”.

Here’s the thing

I do not like to Monday morning quarterback in a field I am not an expert in.  Mostly because it me makes look like a prideful, dumb jerk. Nonetheless. In my opinion using the word “waist” here lacks accuracy and has led to some confusion as to what the passage is actually saying.  

 In the original Greek, the NASB and a few older translations, it simply says:

“Gird up your loins with truth”. 

There are some really good reasons translators would choose waist over loins. Loins is a weird word. It just is. It makes people uncomfortable and it begs all sorts of questions, such as: 

Does the word loins mean what I think it means? 

How does truth protect my “southern regions”?? 

What does that have to do with any of this? 

For reals. 

The Greek word used in this passage is osphus and it means exactly what you think it means. It means loins, as in loins. As in our inner thighs or to put it more bluntly (and accurately) the part of our bodies that we use to make babies.  

So. 

Here’s some facts we know about our physical loins:

Our loins are the most personal, private place on our physical bodies.  No one (except a few weirdos) shows their loins to complete strangers. Having our loin area exposed is humiliating, so we keep them hidden.  Nor, do folks discuss their loins. It’s just too weird and personal.  If our loin area gets punched or kicked, it hurts. Really bad. It does not matter if the person is male or female— a blow to the loin area devastates a person’s ability to function, sometimes for a good while. 

Here’s the thing. 

We all have emotional and psychological places that are every bit as vulnerable and sensitive as our physical loins. We all have areas of shame and regret. We have all had experiences we don’t like to talk about—or even think about. When one of those places is exposed or hit in some way (triggered), it hurts like the dickens and we feel broken and shattered. 

These are the places Satan likes to hit the hardest (1st Peter 5:8). 

Satan kicks at our metaphorical loins by reminding us of all the stupid sinful things we have done or have had done to us. He tells us the trauma we have experienced left us damaged beyond repair.  He tells us our past or present sin has disqualified us from ever being used by God in a significant way. Satan tells we are defined by what do and if we don’t do enough or do things the “right” way we are failures. He tells us we are worthless and completely lacking in value. 

All Lies. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Straight from the literal pit of hell. 

The first verse in this formative passage on spiritual warfare tells us that the very first thing we must do to defend ourselves against the enemy is to protect our most sensitive emotional places WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD (John 8:32). Satan attacks us with lies about ourselves, about God and about other people and what those people think about us (John 8:44)

If we do not know the truth about who we are in Christ, where our true value comes from and what God really thinks of us those lies will shake our confidence in the goodness and forgiveness of God, and make us want to quit Christianity altogether. It will leave us unable to function spiritually. When that happens, we’re done for emotionally and rendered useless for the good works we were created for (Ephesians 4:10) 

The secret to protecting our spiritual loins is to know who God is and who we are in Christ. We have to know deep down in our knower that God is good and kind (Psalm 84:11, Isaiah 63:7, Acts 14:16-17) We have to realize that when we put our faith in Jesus and His resurrection we were at that moment made clean by Him (Hebrews 9:14, Acts 13:38, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 1:4). We have to believe that when Jesus forgives us it’s a done deal. God does not go back and relitigate our sin every time we mess up or make a mistake. We have to accept that God’s love for us is real,  unchanging and endless (James 4:7)

We have to believe God is who He says He is. 

The Seven Churches Series- Laodicea the Church that Gives us Hope (Seriously)

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Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord- Acts 3:19 NIV

If one had to live in the ancient world Laodicea was the place to be. 

Those lucky enough to live in Laodicea were affluent, healthy and proud for all sorts of really good reasons. 

Laodicea had it all.

It was a major financial center and home to a medical school that trained some of finest medical professionals in the ancient world. The region was famous for its exports, which included an expensive fabric made from a rare and much sought-after black wool and an eye powder renowned for its healing properties. The city was so affluent that when it was leveled by a major earthquake in A.D. 60 the city leaders refused to take any financial assistance at all from Rome. They didn’t need to.

The Laodiceans were a pull themselves up from their own bootstraps’ kind of a people.

The church in Laodicea had taken on the characteristics of the city of Laodicea. The people in the church were wealthy, sophisticated and self-sufficient. They were also far from God and uninterested in an authentic relationship with Him. The first century church in Laodicea did their level best to avoid hard teaching and controversy and as a result they suffered zero oppression or persecution.  They managed this feat despite living in a city that had all the factors that typically created a lot of problems for Christians (a large and powerful Jewish population, active trade unions and an abundance of pagan temples).

 Jesus begins by comparing the churches spirituality to the water supply in Laodicea.

This was by no means a complimentary comparison. 

For all its resources and natural beauty, the one thing Laodicea lacked was a tasty water supply. There was more than enough water available. However, it all came from a hot-spring located several miles up a hill outside the city. The water had to be piped in and as a result, it had an incredibly unpleasant taste and smell (think sulfur or rotten eggs) as well a warmish temperature, no matter the time of year. Jesus starts out by letting the Christians in Laodicea know that their deeds and lack of zeal is so gross to Him that He wants to spit the whole lot of them out of His mouth. 

Yikes. 

Jesus was fully aware of what was going on in their hearts and none of it was good or life-giving. The Christians in Laodicea were conceited and ungrateful for their many gifts. On top of that they lacked any kind of self-awareness at all. The Christians in Laodicea were snooty and smug regarding their earthly riches, physical well-being and abundance of resources. Jesus was categorically unimpressed with their worldly success.

 The text is clear.

 Jesus loved the Christians in Laodicea but was disgusted with their complete absence of good deeds and lack of humility. The church felt good about themselves, their resources and what they had accomplished in life but in all the ways that really mattered, they were shameful, visionless and adrift.   Jesus urges the Christians in Laodicea to repent in the some of the strongest and scariest language in all of the Bible (Revelation 3:18-19) 

Here’s the thing though:  

Laodicea is a spiritual success story.

Apparently, the church took Jesus’ words to heart. The best evidence strongly suggests the Christians in Laodicea heeded the words of Jesus, got their spiritual act together, repented their faces off and went on to make a spiritual difference in their world. 

 In April of 2021 My husband and I visited Laodicea. Our tour guide pointed out there is ample evidence indicating the church went completely underground by early in the second century (hidden churches, secret symbols, etc.).  The church would have had little reason to hide unless they had started to take their faith seriously and, in the process, became offensive to the pagan culture.  Moreover, one of the earliest church councils took place in Laodicea. It is highly unlikely Laodicea would have been chosen as a location for an early church council if the church in Laodicea still had a reputation for being spiritually weak, lukewarm and proud of their sin. 

The Christians in Laodicea took Jesus up on His offer to enter into intimate fellowship with Him (Revelation 3:20).

This makes the final letter to the Seven Churches the most hopeful and encouraging of all the letters to all the churches. The outcome of the most messed up of all the churches tells us that no one is ever too lost to be found and even the most worldly of Christians can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, respond to God’s prompting and become something beautiful and life-giving.  It’s critical we understand not all churches fared as well as Laodicea. Some ended in a sad fizzle.   

This letter teaches us that our deeds and attitudes matter every bit as much as our beliefs (James 2:14-20, Ephesians 2:1-3).

  Jesus cares about what we believe. Doctrine matters (1st Timothy 4:16, Titus 2:1) Every Christian should strive to understand the Bible and every church should teach it with clarity.  That being said, ultimately, Christians prove their faith by what they do and how they live. If we say we believe in God and live like unsaved people do we probably don’t believe at all.  The key to a thriving faith is to listen to the Holy Spirit and then DO what God tells us to do. 

It’s what keeps us spiritually alive and relevant to the world we live in.

The Seven Churches Series- Philadelphia-the Best of the Seven

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him- 2nd Chronicles 16:9 NKJV

The city of Philadelphia was a scary place to live.  

The city was built on a fault line and prone to frequent and fierce earthquakes. The entire city was completely leveled by a massive earthquake in A.D. 117. The residents of Philadelphia lived much of their lives either in fear of the next big natural disaster or figuring out how to recover from the last big natural disaster.  

Philadelphia was an even scarier place to be a Christian.

Christians struggled with all of the same difficulties everyone else did. They also had the misfortune of living in a city that was extraordinarily devoted to Rome. 

After Philadelphia was destroyed in A.D. 117, Rome cancelled tax payments for the city. This gift provided the capital necessary to entirely rebuild the city. The residents of Philadelphia were naturally super grateful. They chose to express their appreciation by turning their city into a hotbed of Emperor worship (for details on Emperor worship and how it worked read the blogs in this series on Smyrna and Pergamum).  

Emperor worship was the most common form of religious expression in the city but it was far from being the only one. Philadelphia was so jam-packed with idols and pagan temples it was called “little Athens” after the city in Greece celebrated for being the most “religious” (idolatrous) city on earth (Acts 17:17-34). Between the idolatry and the Caesar worship Christians lived under the constant threat of death or of becoming unemployable due to their refusal to join trade unions that demanded idol worship as a condition of employment (for more on trade unions read the blog in this series on Pergamum). 

Additionally.

  The Jews in Philadelphia could have made life easier for Christians by allowing Christianity to be recognized as an offshoot of Judaism. Instead, they did their level best to just generally make life as difficult as possible for them (Revelation 3:9).  They were so horrible to the church Jesus calls the Jews in Philadelphia a “synagogue of Satan” and promises to “force them to bow down” to the Christians there. This is a promise to personally repay their enemies for all the trouble and pain they were caused.  

Yikes. 

In spite of all the stress they lived under, the Christians in Philadelphia remained unwaveringly faithful to Jesus. They refused to cave to the almost unbearable pressure coming at them from all sides.  

It is just one of two letters that contains no criticism whatsoever.

 Jesus praises the Christians in Philadelphia for their deeds (Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10-11, James 2:14, James 3:13) and for going through a “door” He had opened for them (Revelation 3:8). The history of the city helps us understand what Jesus meant and why He was pleased with the Christians there. The city of Philadelphia was intended from its inception to be a gateway or a door between the cultures in the region. Philadelphia butted up against three city/states (Mysia, Lydia, Phrygia) and led to what was a “great unknown” at the time. The goal of the city planners was to make Philadelphia a launching pad to spread Hellenism around the world. 

Jesus had other plans for Philadelphia. Jesus used men who had no idea what they were doing to create an open door for His message to go out to all the world. Before any of the Christians in Philadelphia were even born God set the city up as one of the major missionary hubs of the first century. 

And.

In spite of all of the persecution and trouble the Christians in Philadelphia experienced, they were off-the-charts successful at doing what Jesus called them to do. At great cost to themselves they went through the door Jesus opened for them. They remained faithful to biblical truth and the missionary call even though it had cost some of them their lives (Revelation, 3:8, Revelation 3:10). 

Jesus’ words give us an intriguing glimpse into the power and sovereignty of our God. Nothing in this life is an accident. Every opportunity we have, every connection we make, every good thing we are blessed with is given to us by God for a purpose. He has a plan and is constantly working to bring that plan to fulfillment. There are times when God is doing more in our lives than we are even capable of understanding (Ephesians 3:20), and sometimes the situations that appear on the surface to be least ideal and most painful are sometimes the ones that will bear the most fruit for eternity. 

We cannot know the future. Sometimes we struggle to even understand the present. It is not our job to understand. It is our job to obediently go through the doors God opens on our behalf. 

Jesus wants His people to be future focused, especially when the present feels dark and uncertain.

He ends His letter to the faithful in Philadelphia with some promises any Christian walking through dark times can hang onto.  He promises a “crown” to the few who remain faithful to Him. This crown will be a public acknowledgement of their fidelity that will be obvious to everyone for all of eternity. Then He says they will become pillars in His Holy temple.  This is a guarantee they will live in His presence for all of eternity.  Those who go through the doors God opens and remain faithful to Him will have the peace, safety and blessing in heaven they lacked on earth.