Category: Spiritual Growth

How Doubting God’s Love Leads to a Crazy Cycle and how to Fix it-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly-Psalm 37:27-28 NLT

God loves me. 

Personally.  

He loves you too—personally—God loves every individual human on earth so personally, deeply and passionately that He has been motivated to do some kind of crazy things. Like taking on human form so He could willingly die as a sacrifice for the sins of people who were and still are mostly ungrateful and disinterested in Him (John 1:4, John 3:16, Hebrews 2:14-17). God loves us so much He didn’t care that we didn’t care.  He still chose to die on a cross so He could pay the penalty for the sins of every human who has ever lived (Romans 3:23). As a result, literally anyone who chooses to put their faith and trust in Him will be forgiven for their sins (no matter what they are) and spend eternity with Him (John 3:36, Romans 6:23)

That’s a lot of love. 

All that is the key reason Christians believe (and teach) that God doesn’t just love people, God IS love at the core of who He is. 

BUT…

What if someone does not believe God loves them? What if that someone is a Christian? 

It happens. 

Lots of Christians struggle to believe God loves them personally, sometimes without realizing it. Typically, at the root of this kind of doubt doubt are bad experiences, unrelenting trials, trauma and/or deep loss. These kinds of experiences can leave believers doubting God’s love for them. This has a massive impact on how we live out our Christian faith.  

Maybe you’re one of those people who doubts God’s love. Maybe you know someone who doubts God’s love for them. 

This matters because we cannot be wrong about ANYTHING—even a dumb thing—without some sort of consequence. If being wrong about a dumb thing (like what the weather is going to do) has consequences, then being wrong about something as serious as God’s love is bound to create some ugly issues. 

Truth-be-told it’s almost impossible to trust someone when we don’t believe they love us or have our best interest at heart. So, when painful life experiences cause us to doubt God’s goodness and love, it can cause us to stop trusting God. When that happens, we start doing things outside of God’s will for our lives to protect ourselves from further pain and loss. Oftentimes, we stop asking God for wisdom and guidance, instead, we make plans and ask God to bless them. 

This is always a bad idea. It causes us to do dumb, harmful things. We get into bad relationships and make poor financial decisions. When we doubt God’s love we end up running around like a chicken with its head cut off looking for something or someone to help us do life instead of simply asking God to help and then trusting Him to provide the help we need. 

This leads to a crazy cycle. 

 When our prayers don’t get answered the way we were hoping we stop praying. It then gets harder to hear God’s voice. Which simply reaffirms our (wrong) belief that God doesn’t care. We end up doing more of our own thing than God’s thing. This leads to more negative consequences which lead to further belief God doesn’t love us. Which leads to more of the same bad stuff. 

I told you it was crazy.  

To break the crazy cycle, we must tell ourselves the truth, so that we can get back to a place where we are trusting God (Proverbs 3:5-6). It’s simply a fact that God does love us (Romans 5:8, Romans 8:37-39, 1st John 3:1, 1st John 4:9). God doesn’t lie about anything, so He wouldn’t lie about loving us (Numbers 23:19). It’s also critical we acknowledge the reality that God does not CAUSE people to do evil and hurtful things (Ephesians 6:12, Psalm 145:9). Humans have freewill and sometimes they use their freewill to hurt others (Genesis 50:20, Psalm 27: 1-14, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, Revelation 21:8). Unfortunately, innocent people get caught in the crossfire of all that freewill. 

God grieves when that happens. 

 It’s also critical we understand that God loves us too much JUST care about our personal happiness. God doesn’t want us to be miserable. He’s not a jerk. However, ultimately, God is much more concerned with the state of our souls than with our momentary happiness. God’s primary desire for all people is that we become conformed to the image of Jesus so that we are ready for all the good things God has prepared for us in eternity (1st Corinthians 2:9). Unfortunately, human beings are a stubborn lot. Sometimes our stubbornness leads to some self-inflicted hurt. 

But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. It just means He will use anything, even self-inflicted pain or our own foolishness to mold us into the image of Jesus.

And finally,

It really helps to cultivate a heart of gratitude when we are doubting. Gratitude is a game changer when doubt creeps into our hearts. Thankfulness opens our eyes to all that God has done and is doing in our lives. A healthy dose of gratitude can literally evaporate spiritual doubt. Gratitude is seeing and acknowledging our blessings. When we do that, we cannot help but know that God is good.

The List-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on- Proverbs 4:14-15 NKJV

One of the longest running and most quarrelsome debates in Christianity centers around what Christians should and shouldn’t do. This debate has literally been raging since the dawn of the Christian age (Acts 15). 

There are those who sincerely believe it’s wrong to attach any behavioral “shoulds” to the Christian faith. Many (not all) of these folks believe any restrictions on Christian behavior is an encroachment on God’s “grace” and “works” theology (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:28).  These folks tend to teach (whether they intend to or not) that grace is a bottomless bucket of forgiveness we can dip into anytime the need arises. This view oftentimes results in folks seeing sin as less than ideal, but not something to get overly wound up about.

On the other side of the debate are the rule-followers. 

Rule followers hate sin and will do everything in their power to avoid it. Rule-followers sincerely believe Christian “rules” are like fences. They are protective in nature.  In their minds rules protect Christians from sin, trouble and moral destruction. Sometimes these folks are termed “legalists” because they want Christians to follow “the law” or “the rules”. The rules don’t necessarily have to be biblical; they are just meant to keep us out of trouble. 

One thing is totally true:

 There is only way to get right with God (and into heaven). We get right with God by choosing to have faith in the substitutionary work Jesus did on the cross and His subsequent resurrection (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16, Romans 1:17, Hebrews 11:6). 

Okay, so. 

Historically, this whole debate tends to get very cantankerous and insanely passionate. Both sides insist they are right, and that the other side is a horde of grubby heathens. With all due respect to the well-intended lovers of Jesus on both sides, I think we should allow the Apostle Peter weigh in on the subject. 

 He walked with Jesus and he knows things.

1st Peter 1:10-13 is unequivocal: salvation is by grace and grace alone. This simply means no one earns their salvation. It’s a gift (Ephesians 4:8). No one works for a gift. If they did it would no longer be a gift, it would be wages earned (Romans 4:4). 

But here’s the thing (and it’s a big thing):

Peter also gives us his readers (you and me) “a list” of behaviors and attitudes he felt all Christians should strive to do (2nd Peter 1:3-11).  The list is quite extensive. Furthermore, Peter is clear, we are to go after these things with “all diligence”. This means no half-hearted efforts, no lame attempts.  We are to be all-in on going after the following:

Living a life of purity and virtue.

Becoming knowledgeable about our faith.

Attaining self-control.

Persevering in our faith despite hardship or difficulty.

Pursuing godliness (holiness)

Treating fellow Christians with kindness.

Learning to love others (especially other Christians). 

Okay so Peter, wasn’t shy about attaching some shoulds to our Christianity. Peter is so absolutely convinced his “list” of “shoulds” are correct, he promises that if we go after the things on “the list” there will be two guaranteed results. First, we will never fail morally (1st Peter 1:10). That’s a great big encouraging promise.  The second promise is even bigger and more encouraging. He says that if we “do” the list we will receive a rich welcome into the Kingdom of God when we die (2nd Peter 1:8, 2nd Peter 1:10-11). He then states that anyone who does not do “the list” is self-blinded and may have even forgotten what it means to be a Christian (2nd Peter 1:9).

Yikes. 

It gets even yikesier. In chapters two and three of 2nd Peter, Peter warns that false teachers would (in his time and in the future) discourage true believers from worrying about their behavior or making too big a deal out of intentional sin. 

They do this by saying things like:

God loves you no matter what you do.

We are saved by grace, not works of righteousness.

God will forgive you no matter the sin. 

All the above statements are one-hundred-percent true. 

However, we are also warned about putting God to a test (Acts 5:9, 1st Corinthians 8:1-11) and we are cautioned about the spiritual dangers of refusing to grow spiritually (one aspect of growth is giving up sin) and intentional sin after salvation (Romans 6:12-14, Hebrews 6:1-8, Colossians 3).

The whole notion of God’s grace is very much emmeshed with forgiveness. We are forgiven when we receive God’s grace at the moment of our salvation. However, when we boil grace down to something as rudimentary as mere forgiveness, we miss the greater and more powerful meaning of the word. It’s like saying marriage is nothing more than a legal contract. It is that. But is so much more. Grace is the same. It is categorically not a list of man-made rules or fences. Titus 2:11 tells us God’s grace acts as a teacher. It teaches us to live godly lives. This means that if we truly understand grace, we will go after Peter’s “list” with all diligence, fully aware of the fact that we cannot do “the list” or any other good thing without God’s assistance and empowerment (Philippians 4:13, 2ndCorinthians 12:9). Prayerfully and diligently doing “the list” does so much more than just avert moral failure and guarantee eternal reward. Going after “the list” causes us (over time) to look and act a lot more like Jesus. Anytime we look and act like Jesus we impact our world powerfully and that is a total game changer for Christians. 

The Spiritual Superpower Every Christian can Have-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ- 1st Peter 1:13 NASB

The New Testament contains many thought-provoking little tidbits that are not really substantial enough to qualify as a complete verse. These are more like little phrases— many of them have a lot of gold to mine. 

Here’s one of them:

But we have the mind of Christ- 1st Corinthians 2:16

 This little phrase begs a whole bunch of critically important questions, including: 

Are all Christians just given “the mind of Christ” at the moment of salvation? 

Did the Corinthian Christians have the “mind of Christ” or was Paul just wishing they did or hoping they would figure it out? 

Does the English phrase “mind of Christ” mean something especially special in Greek? 

If we don’t automatically receive the mind of Christ at salvation, how do we get “the mind of Christ?

So. 

Context is useful in grasping the deeper meaning here. This little snippet is a tiny fragment of a greater conversation Paul was having concerning some super stupid things the Corinthian Christians were doing and thinking. Therefore, it is safe to assume Paul is not commending the Corinthians for having “the mind of Christ”. Nor is the mind of Christ is something all Christians are given as a part of the initial salvation package. Although, the mind of Christ is obviously something every Christian CAN have and should go after. I was a bit surprised to discover the phrase “mind of Christ” means pretty much the same thing in Greek as it does in English. Basically, it means “to think like God”. Consequently, if someone has the “mind of Christ”, they will see events, life and people the same way God does. 

This means the “how” of thinking like God is critical, so critical, it is probably the key to a lot of our spiritual growth and maturity. Without it we will likely flounder spiritually, just as the Corinthians were. Thankfully, there are four easy things every believer can (and should) do daily that will move them closer to the goal of having “the mind of Christ”

Go after discernment (Psalm 119:66, Philippians 1:9)-  

The word discernment and its derivatives are used thirty-two times throughout the Bible. The Greek word for discernment is anakrino. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent examination, to scrutinize.” A discerning individual thinks issues and situations through prayerfully. Discerning people learn to apply biblical principles to all of life. This gives them the wisdom to understand deeper (sometimes hidden) issues in each situation. Furthermore, discerning people understand all of life is connected. Everything we do and think affects everything else, behaviors and attitudes have consequences (Hebrews 12:15).  We acquire discernment through intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom (Colossians 2:2-3).  Consistent Bible reading, prayer and the practice of consciously applying the Bible to life gives discernment ample space to flourish in our lives. 

Limit worldly voices in your life-

Everything we do is a direct result of what we think about (Matthew 6:22, Psalm 26:3, Psalm 110:3). What we choose to read, watch, listen to become powerful influences that consciously and/or subconsciously influence how we think and behave. Consequently, if we want to develop the mind of Christ it is wise to exercise caution and discernment about what influences we allow access to our lives. 

Get the word of God in you so it will come out of you- 

The more exposure we have to worldly entertainment and ideas the more worldly our thinking will become. Conversely, the more exposure we have to the word of God and biblical principles the more we think like God. We become what we marinate in. Getting into the word daily and surrounding ourselves with biblical principles ensures we will acquire the “mind of Christ” as we mature. 

Ruthlessly go after congruency- 

Congruency is one of the five (four?) math terms I actually understand. It means sameness. If a Christian’s life is congruent, they are the same all the time. There is no subterfuge, deception or hypocrisy in their lives.  Jesus hates hypocrisy. Jesus mentioned or taught on hypocrisy twenty-one times in the gospels. Not once did He have anything positive to say about hypocrites or hypocrisy (Luke 12:1, Matthew 6:2-16, Matthew 23, Matthew 15:6-8, Matthew 24:51). It is impossible for a person to think like Jesus while doing something Jesus despised. All humans tend towards hypocrisy. Thus, hypocrisy is something we must mercilessly root out of our lives. The only way to root out hypocrisy is with sincere and sometimes ruthless reflection. We must make a practice of scrutinizing not just our actions but also our attitudes and the motives behind our actions (1st Corinthians 11:27-29, 2nd Corinthians 13:5). 

Okay, so full disclosure:

The mind of Christ is awesome, essentially, it’s like having a spiritual superpower. It enables the average Joe or Jane Christian to think like God. This in turn empowers average people to do things and endure things they could never do in their own power and human wisdom (2nd Corinthians 12:9). However, it’s not always all sunshine and gummy bears. As our thinking becomes more like God’s there will be times when the world (and the people in it) will not always understand what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. We need to do it anyway, because when we do the world sees Jesus in us and we please the Lord. 

How to Grow Through a Hard Season-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

A bent reed He will not break off. And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice- Isaiah 42:3 NASB

Any believer in Jesus who lives long enough will go through what many Christians euphemistically refer to as “a season”.

“A season” is just a brutally long trial, or in some cases a long series of trials. In “a season” nothing goes the way it’s supposed to go, in spite of one’s best efforts and most impassioned prayers (Job 1:1-22). 

 “A season” starts with bad news.  

You discover your spouse cheated or a close friend betrayed you. Perhaps, a child you thought you raised right goes “no contact” or “comes out” as something totally unanticipated—or both. Or, maybe you experienced a job loss or a loved one was diagnosed with an illness. It’s possible the terrible and unforeseen news is something so dreadful I cannot even fathom it. 

Heaven forbid. 

It is not unusual in “a season” for the initial bad news to be followed up by a series of more catastrophes and more bad news. 

Most folks jump to the conclusion during “a season” that God is angry about something they did or failed to do. It is not unusual for Christians to expend a lot of energy trying to figure out where we went wrong or why God is all of a sudden ticked off at them. 

God is not angry and He is not punishing you. 

That’s just not His jam. God does not make bad things happen. We live in a fallen world so when bad things happen God uses those events to change us into something better. Punishment is intended to inflict pain. Discipline (hardship and trials) is intended to teach, train and make us more like Jesus. God takes the hardships of life and uses them to ultimately bring about our good and His glory (1st Corinthians 2:16, Romans 12:1-2, 2nd Corinthians 3;18). The Greek word for discipline in the New Testament is paideuo (Hebrews 12:7). Paideuo and all the words derived from paideuo are linked to educating, teaching, training and humbling (James 4:10, 1st Peter 5:6-10). Trials are the means God uses to align our thinking with His, deal with sinful pride and bring us into a greater state of glory (2nd Corinthians 4:16-18). 

So. 

All that to say: trials are a good thing that feel like a really terrible thing (James 1:2-4). 

Sigh. 

The early Church is a good example of how God uses difficulty for good. The early church thrived for a time (Acts 2:43-47) and then experienced a collective “season”. During their “season” persecution broke out and many believers in Jesus were jailed and even executed (Acts 8:1-3). The trials they experienced were horrific (Hebrews 10:32-35, Hebrews 11:33-38). However, it resulted in Christians being used to spread the gospel around the literal world. As a result, God’s people received eternal blessings for their faithfulness, people came to know Jesus and God was glorified. 

We ensure a trial accomplishes good things in our own lives by doing the following when life gets hard: 

Work on you- 

Commit to working on yourself even if you already feel like you are doing so (and you probably are). Step up your efforts. Get into the word, read some good Christian books and make self-examination a regular part of your spiritual routine (2nd Peter 1:3-11, 2nd Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 12:1). Commit to making any changes that need to be made in your attitude or behavior. Seek to apply the word of God to every aspect of your life. None of these things are guaranteed to change your circumstances. However, they will ensure you come out of “the season” a better person and more effective Christian. And that’s a lot. 

Pray for fresh vision- 

God often uses trials to change our direction. This is what God did with the church in Acts. The believers in Jerusalem were content with the spiritual status quo and for good reason: the Jerusalem church was awesome (Acts 2-4). Nonetheless, God had a vision for His people that was bigger than one body of believers (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). He used trials (persecution) to move the early Christians out of their comfort zone and into a lost and dying world. Trials are the time to seek the wisdom of others and to pray for direction and vision (Proverbs 29:18).   

Worship-

Perhaps the purest act of faith is to worship God in the midst of circumstances where it makes zero sense to do so. Again, this will not magically transform your situation.  However, worship in the midst of a trial pleases God like nothing else can, positions you for future blessing and ensures you work out your salvation in a manner that pleases God and leads to greater faith and growth (Hebrews 11:1-39, Philippians 2:12-13). 

And finally:

Trust the Lord no matter what- 

By far, one of the most awful characteristics of “a season” is that God typically FEELS distant and far removed from the chaos and difficulty that is your life. That doesn’t mean He is. Feelings LIE. All. The. Time.  Truth-be-told, God is in fact right there with you. Jesus is praying for you; the Holy Spirit is guiding you and God the Father is holding you in the palm of His hand. He’s weeping over your pain but rejoicing in your faithfulness and growth (Luke 22:31-32, John 14:26, John 16:13, John 10:28-29). Your job is to trust Him to get you through to the other side (Proverbs 3:4-6).

He will and there will be good things there. 

Does “Judge not” Mean what we all Think it Means?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. – James 4:11 NASB

 Judge not lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1) is without question, the best known, most memorized verse in the history of history. Bible believing Christians as well as those who have never darkened the door of a church know it by heart.  Precious few hesitate to whip it out anytime a discussion veers into any sort of moral judgement call about any activity under the sun. 

But what did Jesus really mean when He said “judge not”? 

Is Matthew 7:1 really a blanket condemnation of condemnation? Is Jesus flatly forbidding the making of moral judgements? 

Nope.

 Jesus made all sorts of hard and fast judgments concerning all sorts of issues. Those issues include (but are not limited to) divorce and remarriage (Matthew 19:1-10), those who refused to care for aging parents (Mark 7:6-9), murder (Matthew 5:21-22), unforgiveness (Matthew 5:23-26) and adultery (Luke 18:19). Moreover, the entire New Testament was in a very real sense written by Jesus (John 1:1-3, 1st Timothy 3:15-16). The New Testament includes all sorts of passages that make judgments concerning a myriad of behaviors and attitudes (1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21, Colossians 3:8-10, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8). Furthermore, Jesus is God, if He was concerned about the Bible coming off as judgmental He could have easily done something about it. 

Seriously. 

 The notion that Jesus somehow forbids moral judgments concerning right and wrong is absurd. Matthew 7:1 is (in my opinion) more about making assumptions (which are really just judgments) concerning how and why people end up in certain situations. Jesus wants us to understand no one can really know anyone else’s backstory. Therefore, it is totally inappropriate for anyone to make judgments about who does and does not deserve to be in a particular situation. 

Individuals have always tended to assume every mess or bad situation is a consequence of sin. Jesus confronted this thinking head-on in John chapter nine. Jesus and His disciples met a man born blind. The disciples just naturally assumed that the man was blind because someone sinned. They weren’t sure if it was the man or his parents but they KNEW someone in this situation must be a terrible sinner. 

 Jesus responded with: 

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”-John 9:2-3. 

 Christians today are every bit as inclined to believe people in difficult situations “did something” to deserve their misery as those in Jesus’ day.  This is because the modern-day church has been intensely impacted by the enlightenment and modern psychology.  

The enlightenment was a period of scientific discovery that impacted every sphere of life. Prior to the enlightenment individuals were utterly clueless as to why stuff happened. Superstition was the norm. This was not good. Prior to the enlightenment many people groups were convinced a baby born with red hair (who didn’t have a parent with red hair) was a bad omen. The vast majority of people believed illness was the result of sin and judgment.

Enlightenment scientists taught that things happen for a reason.

Thanks to the enlightenment now we know recessive genes can be tricky and illness are caused by microorganisms called germs. Modern psychology sought to explain the roots (or reasons) for human behavior. Freud normalized the idea that everything we do is directly related to our childhood experiences. The western world has been deeply impacted by the teachings of Freud, they literally color how we see almost everything (Colossians 2:8). 

It’s not wrong or sinful to believe there are explanations for why things happen. It is wrong and sinful to assume that we know the “reason” why certain things happen, it is (in my opinion) a direct violation of Matthew 7:1. There are scenarios that breed judgement concerning the backstories. Some of those include:

Divorce

Cirrhosis of the liver 

Problems with their adult children 

Getting fired 

In the case of divorce, our assumptions will depend a little bit on our life experiences but typically we tend to assume the woman wasn’t a good wife or the man was abusive. We assume no one ever gets cirrhosis of the liver unless they’re a raging drunk. We assume issues with adult children are always due to bad and/or abusive parenting. Everyone assumes one ever gets fired unless they “deserve” it. 

I have been deeply convicted of my own tendency to make these kinds of assumptions. I do not believe I am alone in this. We all do it. However, truth-be-told, none of the above are universally true. Sometimes bad things happen. Period. Anytime, we make an assumption concerning a backstory we quickly lose our compassion. Or we stop listening to the hurting person and look for opportunities to instruct them on how to fix the problems that we believe got them in the bad situation in the first place. When we do this, we often end up giving advice that’s not related to the person’s problem and it ends up isolating the hurting person (Colossians 3:12, 1st Peter 3:8)

However.

Because we know Jesus we do better. We can learn to withhold judgment, we can take the time to really listen to their stories without assuming anything at all. We can love them like Jesus loves them.   

How We Cultivate a Good Heart-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart– Proverbs 27:19 NIV

The heart. It’s the biggest of deals. 

the Bible teaches that the human “heart” is more than just an organ in our body. It is who we really are. It is the source of all our thoughts, feelings, actions and words (Proverbs 4:27, James 3:14). Because it is the source of so many critical aspects of our character, it is ultimately the determiner of our path in life. If our heart is good and pure, our choices and actions will be (for the most part) honoring to God, good for us and life-giving to those we love. Conversely, those with a sinful, prideful, unbelieving or hard heart are incapable of submitting their lives to God in a meaningful way, no matter how much they SAY they want to do good and honor God (1st Samuel 24:13, Matthew 15:8, Matthew 15:17-19, Proverbs 21:4, Proverbs 19:3). 

The Bible teaches we have a measure of control over the spiritual state of our own heart and the choices we make (Psalm 73:1, Matthew 5:8, 1st Timothy 1:5, 2nd Timothy 2:22, Hebrews 10:22). This is in direct contrast to the worldly belief that our choices (good or bad) are due to how we have been treated or are a result of trauma we have experienced. The Bible holds adults accountable for the choices they make because those choices are a direct result of the state of their heart, not the fault of other people. Wise Christians monitor, protect and deal with the condition of their heart because they understand it is one of the primary tasks of the spiritual growth process (Luke 21:34, Philippians 4:6-8). If one fails at this critical task they will be unable to live the Christian life with any degree of real success.

Sigh. 

No one wants that.

We cultivate a heart that pleases God by making a commitment to the following five action steps.

Taking our spiritual temperature often-  

Our life is full of indicators that reveal the state of our heart. Ww ought to ask ourselves the following questions on a regular basis: What is my go-to for entertainment? Is it full of sex, violence and darkness? Or is it pretty clean? Do I have a problem with lust? What kind of language do I use? Is it encouraging and spiritual or is it full of innuendos and cursing?  Do I routinely pray, read the Bible and attend church?  How and where do I spend my money? If, after asking ourselves these questions we discover our lives are mostly focused on the worldly, carnal and selfish, it is incumbent on us to change direction (Mark 7:21, Luke 6:44-45, Ephesians 5:3-5, 2nd Corinthians 9:6-7). Pronto. 

Choosing to walk in the righteousness of Jesus daily-  

In Ephesians 6:14 the apostle Paul tells his readers to put on the “breastplate of righteousness”. The purpose of a “breastplate” in biblical times was to protect the heart from damage. Paul wants his readers to understand that righteous attitudes and behavior protect our hearts from spiritual damage and moral defilement. There is good and bad news here. The bad news is that none of us (saved or unsaved) have any righteousness of our own. Our greatest acts of righteousness and goodness are like filthy rags compared to the righteousness and goodness of God (Isaiah 64:6). The good news is that Christians do have access to all of Jesus’ righteousness. When we put on righteousness of Jesus we are doing two things, first we are asking Jesus to empower us to walk in HIS righteousness. Second, we are reminding ourselves to act like Jesus instead of our own sinful, rotten, self-involved selves. When we choose to walk in the righteousness of Jesus our hearts are safeguarded from defilement and sin (Psalm 24:4). That’s why it’s called a breastplate of righteousness. 

Maintaining emotional distance from things and people that do not share our beliefs- 

It is perfectly okay to participate in secular activities and have friendly relationships with non-Christians (Matthew 9:9-12). It is impossible to impact the world for Jesus without relationships with non-Christian people. However, it is spiritually unwise to make our greatest emotional investments in people and activities that do not enrich our faith (1st Corinthians 15:33, 1st John 4:5, James 4:4). Anytime we habitually choose the secular over the sacred we run the very real risk of turning our hearts away from the sacred. When that happens loving the world becomes our new normal and our hearts become hard toward the things of God (1st John 2:15-17). 

Feeding our minds and souls good things- 

A healthy soul and a pure heart don’t just happen. We must go after them persistently (Proverbs 2:1-11, Psalm 19:7-14). Intentionality about reading the Bible, spending time with Christian friends, prayer and listening to Christian music goes a long way towards cultivating a healthy soul and a pure heart (James 1:27, Psalm 119:105, Acts 2:42, Matthew 26:41). 

And finally:

Life is full of events, people and situations that can weigh our hearts down with unresolved anger, unforgiveness and just plain old spiritual weariness (2nd Timothy 3:12, 1st Thessalonians 3:3).  If we are not extremely watchful and wise, Satan will use these times to plant seeds of bitterness, resentment and cynicism.  Our responsibility during these painful seasons is to rest in the Lord, trust His plan and be obedient to the things we do understand (Romans 15:13, Ephesians 4:26-27, Matthew 6:15, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:1-2). When we do that we have a good heart and live a life that pleases, honors and glorifies God (Matthew 5:8, Matthew 25:23). 

It doesn’t get any better than that. 

Takeaways from the Book of Job-

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Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God- Job 1:22 NASB

NO ONE actually LOVES the book of Job. 

There are those who wax eloquent about the literary merits of the book. However, when pressed, even those folks admit there is little to love about the actual story. It’s just kind of sad. 

It goes like this: 

There’s this really awesome guy named Job. Job does all the right things. He loves God and his family. Job shuns evil and is honest. Job worries about the spiritual condition of his kids and does his level best to be an all-around stand-up guy in every area of his life (Job 1:1-5, Job 1:8). 

God digs him.

Then one day, out of the blue, Satan rolls up uninvited to what appears to be some sort of an angelic roll call (Job 1:6).  Satan informs God he’s been roaming the earth looking for decent people he can accuse of evil (Revelation 12:10). God proudly points to Job as an outstanding example of humanity. Satan immediately accuses Job of only loving God because God has blessed Job with all sorts of good things (wealth, property, good health, a great family). God tells Satan Job’s love for Him is genuine. 

God and Satan make a deal.

God tells Satan he can take everything from Job except his life (Job 1:12). Satan gets the job done in short order. Job loses his wealth, his health, his home, and even his kids all in the course of a few hours. The only thing Satan doesn’t take is Job’s wife, which is kind of a bummer because she’s not exactly supportive. The most encouraging thing she does in the whole book is to tell Job to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Then Job’s friends, (the worst friends ever) show up to “comfort” Job.  They accuse Job of all sorts of secret sins and give him oodles of misguided advice. Then, just when you begin to think they are never going to stop harassing poor Job, God shows up and sets everyone straight.  (Job 38-41, Job 42:7-9). 

The story does have a happy-ish ending

God restores Job’s fortune; his family shows up to comfort him and in time, Job is blessed with seven sons and three (really pretty) daughters. Job lives a long life and he continues to be an upstanding guy who pleases God (Job 42:10-17).  

It’s good stuff. 

Nonetheless, (in my opinion) the happy ending is obfuscated by the utter gloominess of the account.  All that being said, Job’s story is in the Bible because there is much we can learn from it (2nd Timothy 3:16). The book has value whether we are going through something terrible or helping someone who is. Following are six take-aways from the book of Job:

There’s more to our trials than just pain- 

Job teaches that all trials serve some sort of a purpose. Normally, the purpose goes beyond proving the devil wrong about something. God uses trials to teach us and mold us into the image of Jesus. We get the most out of a trial when we choose to keep our hearts soft towards God and continue to seek Him in the middle of our pain and confusion (Job 1:22, 1st Peter 1:3-7, James 1:2-4). We need to understand, like Job did, that the point of this life is to prepare us to spend eternity with God and sometimes trials bring about that end (Job 19:25-26). 

Not all truth applies to every person or situation-  

Job’s friends were jerks (Job 42:7-9). Nonetheless, they were not wrong about every single thing they said, they were actually right about a lot of things. However, none of what they were right about applied directly to Job (Proverbs 18:13, Proverbs 18:17) They were convinced God must be punishing Job for SOMETHING. Nonetheless, Job was one-hundred-percent blameless. The book of Job teaches the importance of truly understanding all the particulars of a situation before we make judgments about the people involved (Proverbs 18:21).  

Sometimes it’s better to listen rather than speak-

Job’s friends made a mistake most people make at some point: they were quick to share their “wisdom” without hearing what was being said or understanding the particulars of the situation. When someone is hurting sometimes all they need is to feel understood (James 1:19, Proverbs 13:3, Proverbs 20:12). Once a person feels heard and cared for they will be more willing to hear and apply any advice that should be given.

God doesn’t always give answers but He’s still good-  

Job had a lot of (really good) questions for God and God never answered a single one of them.  Zilch. Zero. Nada. This does not mean God didn’t love Job or care about what he was going through. The book clearly teaches that God loved Job and blessed him for his faith and obedience in spite of some pretty gnarly circumstances. He does the same for us. 

Praying for the jerks who hurt us pleases God-

It just does. Job 42:10 proves it. The second Job got done praying for his awful friends God blessed Job with twice what he had before. God hasn’t changed. He still loves it when we pray for awful people who don’t deserve our prayers.  

And finally:

We should assume that our faith-filled response to pain is all God really wants from us when the very foundations of our lives are shaken (Psalm 16:8, Psalm 112:6, Hebrews 12:28). Job teaches that God richly rewards those who praise Him in the midst of the storms of life (Job1:21). God loves faith (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 9:20-22, Luke 17:6) and there is no greater expression of faith than choosing to praise, honor and glorify God when there appears to be zero reason to do so.

The Basics of Good Bible Study-

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 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work- 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 NASB 

According to a 2024 study done by Arizona Christian University only four out every hundred people can think like a Christian. 

Yikes.

This depressing statistic became utterly demoralizing after reading the criteria defining a Christian worldview. It’s good stuff, just depressingly basic. It comes down to:

  • A Biblical understanding of God (Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40: 28-29, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 46:10, Psalm 11:7, Psalm 90:2., Malachi 3:6, 1st Timothy 1:7, 1st John 1:5)

And the belief that:

  • People are sinful by nature (Psalm 36:1-4, Psalm 51:5, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:23, Romans 7:18).
  • Jesus Christ is the only hope of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 10:34-43, Romans 10:11)
  • The entire Bible is true, reliable, and relevant (2nd Timothy 3:15-17, 2nd Peter 1:20-21).
  • Absolute moral truth exists— those truths are unchanging (Psalm 119:160, Romans 1:18, John 17:17).
  • The ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God (1st Samuel 12:24, Colossians 3:23-24, John 12:26).
  • Success on earth is defined as consistent obedience to God (Joshua 22:5, Matthew 6:20-24, Hebrews 6:10).

None of the above is exactly new news, nor is it terribly complicated. Those beliefs have been the foundation of orthodox Christianity for two thousand years. Yet this knowledge has been lost to most Christians.

Sigh. 

No wonder the world is such a dumpster-fire. 

Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of biblical illiteracy. Although, access to the Bible is readily available, few people read the Bible and even fewer know how to apply the Bible to issues of life. No one needs a theology degree to understand the Bible. However, one does need to pay attention to and understand the following five aspects of Bible interpretation:

Proper heart attitude is essential- 

The Bible is not Amazing Comics or a Tom Clancy novel. The Bible is a unique book (Psalm 119, 2nd Timothy 3:16, 2nd Peter 1:20-21) that must be approached with humility and the understanding we ALL need to learn and grow (Proverbs 11:2, James 3:13). Without the proper heart attitude Bible reading is essentially pointless.  

Commands are not suggestions –

The Bible is full of commands. Commands are easy to understand and rarely complicated to follow. If every Christian would simply do what the New Testament commands Christians their obedience would revolutionize the Church and transform society. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Christians feel New Testaments commands such as the ones found in Colossians 3:1-25, 2nd Peter 1:5-11, Romans 12:1-21, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8, Hebrews 12:4-8, Hebrews 13:1-17 are optional or were intended only for the original readers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Commands are for everyone. 

Promises are not universal and are often conditional-

There are three kinds of Bible promises: promises God makes to everyone, promises God made to specific people concerning specific circumstances and the promises God makes about Himself. The promises God makes to everyone are often conditional. All of the New Testament promises concerning salvation fall into this category (Acts 16:31, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:38-39, 1st John 1:9). It is critical we understand all of the promises related to salvation are conditional on one placing their faith in Jesus (2nd Corinthians 1:20). There is no universal salvation apart from faith in Jesus (Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31). There are also promises God made specifically to Israel or others concerning special circumstances they found themselves in (Luke 2:35, 1st Kings 9:5, Joshua 6:1-5). These promises are not meant to be liberally applied to every person and every situation. Insisting God keeps promises made to a specific person or group of people long ago is low-level insane and will only result in spiritual frustration. That said, many of these types of Bible promises contain ageless principles that can be applied to everyone on the condition they choose to obey the Lord (examples include Isaiah 41:9-11, Jeremiah 29:11). Promises God makes about Himself are in some ways the best kinds of promises. They remind us of who God is and what He is all about.  I personally believe God loves it when His children remind Him of what God says about Himself. Therefore, it is perfectly okay to remind God He says nothing is too difficult for Him when we have a big ask in prayer (Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 1:37). Nor is wrong to remind God He promises to be our ever-present help in times of trouble when the going gets tough (Psalm 46:1).

Context matters- 

Context is not just knowing what an entire passage says (rather than a single verse). Context is about understanding the who, what, where and why of the Bible books. Any half-way-decent Bible commentary or study Bible will give the what’s-what on who the book was written too, what the writer was intending to communicate to the original readers, where the book took place (historical context). It is critical we understand these things before we make personal application. If we don’t our personal application will be off in left-field.  

Be humble concerning prophecy-

There are two kinds of prophecy in the Bible: fulfilled prophecy and unfulfilled prophecy. All the unfulfilled prophecy is related in some way to the return of Jesus (Matthew 24, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12, Daniel 6, Revelation). It is essential we know these prophecies but refrain from thinking we understand exactly HOW God will fulfill them. When we make the mistake of thinking we have unfulfilled prophecy all figured out we run the risk of doing what the first century Jews did. They missed the messiah because they were prideful and arrogant regarding things that had not yet happened. 

Understanding and applying the Bible is the key to spiritual success. Without basic Bible knowledge and a willingness to apply what we know to every aspect of life we become sitting ducks for worldly philosophies. Even more distressing we are easily outwitted by even the simplest and most basic of Satan’s schemes (Colossians 2:8, Ephesians 6:11, 1st Peter 5:8). 

 

The Inside Scoop on God’s Discipline-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it- Hebrews 12:11 NIV 

Is there a difference between discipline and punishment?

It matters because there are times when God’s discipline can feel every bit as unpleasant as punishment. However, there is a monumental difference between the two. The purpose of punishment is to inflict pain and sorrow without hope or relief (Matthew 8:12, Matthew 13:36-50, Luke 13:22-27). Conversely, discipline is intended to teach, correct and train. 

The whole point of discipline is to bring about maturity and to transform a person into something infinitely better. God does not punish Christians. Truth-be-told, God does not punish anyone (believer or unbeliever) prior to physical death. Physical death is the final cutoff for God’s mercy and grace.  Hell is real. It is a place reserved for those who refuse God’s kindness (Matthew 10:28, Matthew 18:9) by willfully rejecting Jesus and the salvation He brings. Discipline can be painful and it can feel punitive. However, the purpose of God’s discipline is to keep people from experiencing punishment. At the root of discipline is kindness, love and concern for the long-term wellbeing of the one receiving discipline (Hebrews 12:11)

God disciplines everyone, Christians and non-Christians alike. For non-Christians the point of discipline is to bring the unbeliever into the family of God. God loves human beings so much He will use anything short of sin to bring someone to faith in Jesus (John 3:16). When all else fails God will use pain, discomfort and trouble to bring people to the end of themselves. When someone comes to the end of their own understanding and ability to cope with the challenges of life they begin looking outside of themselves for answers. This unraveling of self-reliance is frequently the beginning of the faith journey. 

For Christians the purpose of discipline is different. 

For Christians, God’s discipline is all about bringing the believer to a place of obedience so that they can be transformed into the image of Jesus (2nd Corinthians 3:18, Romans 12:2, 1st Peter 1:22-2:4, 2nd Peter 1:3-10). A rebellious, disobedient or carnal Christian will never experience authentic spiritual transformation or become everything God wants them to be.  

It just doesn’t happen.  

For the record, not every difficulty Christians experience is the result of disobedience. Some of the trouble we experience in this life is simply the result of living in a fallen world. Death, becoming a victim of human evil and disease are not God’s discipline. Those painful occurrences are the natural consequences of living in a world broken by sin. God doesn’t use those things to discipline people. Those types of situations all fall under the category of a trial. For a Christian, a trial is a test of faith that has nothing to do with disobedience. Trials are an unpleasant part of life that will (if we allow them to) strengthen our faith, make us more compassionate and draw us closer to Jesus (James 1:2-4). Trials are no fun but they are not God’s discipline.

 The whole point of the Christian life is to become like Jesus. Therefore, God will do whatever it takes to bring a wayward Christian back into obedience. Following are three possible signs a Christian is experiencing discipline. 

A loss of personal peace-

Personal peace is the birthright of every born-again believer in Jesus (John 14;27, Luke 1:76-77, Romans 5:1, Romans 14:17, 2nd Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 4:6-7). Jesus came to make peace between God and humanity and to give peace to those who walk in obedience to God’s will (James 1:2-4, 1st Peter 1:6). Therefore, one of the surest signs a Christian is experiencing spiritual discipline is loss of personal peace. Discipline is always a result of disobedience and disobedience is a fast-track to personal turmoil. If you are experiencing a loss of peace, it is critical you seek the Lord and ask Him to show you how you are living outside the will of God. 

Self-inflicted pain- 

Some of the pain we experience in life is one-hundred-percent outside our control. However, a great deal of the pain we encounter in life is the direct result of our own foolish choices, sin and willful short-sightedness. Anytime we experience a great deal of pain, difficulty or trouble we ought to do a deep dive into the cause of that pain. If the trouble is a direct result of our own choices, there is a really good chance God is trying to get our attention.  We would be wise to heed His voice. 

A rocky path- 

One of the most merciful things God does for His children is to make their path difficult when they choose to live in willful disobedience. Again, this is not punishment, its discipline intended to get us to look upward and ask for direction. If things that were once going well (relationships, work, finances, etc.) are now going poorly, it’s time for some serious self-evaluation and ask God for insight on where exactly the problem lies (2nd Corinthians 13:5). 

In our anything goes world; the whole notion of discipline has some seriously negative connotations. Even many Christians believe the most loving thing a person can do is just leave people alone in their sin. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Sin and disobedience always leads to self-destruction of some sort. A good God cares enough to get us back on track and sometimes that means a little pain in exchange for a whole lot of personal gain. 

All the Why’s Behind Philippians 4:8-9

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Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking- 2nd Peter 3:1 NIV

It’s way above my paygrade.

Nevertheless, sometimes I wonder about the “why” of some of God’s commands. Most of the “why’s” are easy. Thou shalt not murder is self-explanatory (Exodus 20). 

But what about our thoughts? 

God takes a clear interest not just in what His people do, but also in what they think about.  The New Testament is jam-packed with instruction regarding our thought life. 1st Corinthians 13 tells us Christian love thinks the best (1st Corinthians 13:4-7). Jesus instructed His followers to be cautious about what thoughts they choose to entertain and regularly called out wrong thinking. (Matthew 5:28, Matthew 6:34, Luke 5:20-22, Luke 9:46-48). Romans 12:2 reveals the key to pleasing God and walking in His will, ultimately lies in what we think about. The apostle Paul straight-up commands followers of Jesus to think about things that are “pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy”. That command is followed by a promise of blessing for obedience (Philippians 4:8-9). Anytime God promises blessing for obedience we ought to pay special attention to that command. It’s critical we figure out why that issue matters so much to God. 

This one can be confusing because the inside of one’s head is a controlled and confined space no one has access to except the one doing the thinking.  No one is obviously harmed by a mean thought, so why do our thoughts matter so much to God? The answer essentially boils down to four issues. God cares about what we think because: 

Our thoughts are like the check engine light on a car-

Our thoughts can serve as a spiritual warning system. Optimistic, benevolent and compassionate thoughts reveal a healthy spirit and hearts that are probably mostly focused on God, God’s Kingdom and the well-being of others. Conversely, paranoid, lustful, suspicious and distrustful thoughts are often an indicator of a much bigger and more worrisome spiritual problem. At best these types of thoughts reveal a lack of connection to the Holy Spirit, at worst they reveal systemic sins that require deep repentance.

Our thoughts ultimately shape us- 

To ancient Jewish people the “heart” was much more than an organ that pumped blood. The heart embodied all that a person was. The heart was a person’s thoughts and the feelings that were produced by what they thought about. The heart was their inner-person (Proverbs 3:5, Proverbs 4:23), it was the part of the person that determined all of their actions. Jesus said that it is out of our heart that we speak and do evil. In other words, our thoughts have a shaping influence not just on our actions but on who and what we become (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45) 

Satan can do a lot with just a little bit of wrong thinking- 

The psalmist begins Psalm 73 by acknowledging that God shows special favor towards those who are “pure in heart” or in the modern vernacular that means: “good on the inside as well as the outside”. His acknowledgment is swiftly followed by an awkward confession: the psalmist divulges he came dangerously close to losing his spiritual direction because he spent too much time thinking on the (seeming) success of the arrogant and wicked.  His observations regarding the apparent affluence of wicked people morphed into wrong thinking about God which nearly caused his “spirit to become embittered” towards God (Psalm 73:21-22). The whole messy spiritual mess started with some thoughts that should have been reined in and prayed over before they had a chance to run wild and give birth to bitterness and hate (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:30-32). 

Assuming the worst about others creates a spiral that ends in serious sin-

Choosing to think the worst about others without rock-solid proof of wrongdoing is not discernment. It is a choice that gives the devil a foothold. A choice that often leads to fear, paranoia and even evil behavior (Ephesians 4:26-28, 1st Peter 5:8). This is because anytime anyone allows fear and/or paranoia run wild they run the very real risk of losing touch with reality. Such was the fate of King Saul. He basically projected all of the evil of his own heart onto David. This caused him to think the worst of David, his wrong thinking initiated a spiritual death spiral that led to a bunch of murder attempts and ultimately Saul’s insanity. Anytime we find ourselves assuming ill-intent of others without rock-solid proof we run the risk of becoming a Saul. No wants to be a Saul. Saul was a hot mess.

The apostle Paul understood it is impossible to have a pure heart while thinking mean, lustful, anxious, paranoid or suspicious thoughts (Psalm 24:3-5, Matthew 5:8, Matthew 6:25-34). Therefore, a critical spiritual discipline is learning how to take our thoughts captive to Christ (2nd Corinthians 10:5). We take thoughts captive through a process of analyzing what comes into our minds and asking ourselves some questions about those thoughts:

Is this thought noble, pure admirable, kind or praiseworthy?

At the end of the day will this thought produce something wholesome and life-giving?

Am I assuming good intent?

Am I the worst motives in this situation? 

If this thought is permitted to run wild will it produce some sort of death in my life? Such as the death of a relationship, my character, my purity, or my reputation? 

If the answer to question 1-3 are “no” or the answers to 3 or 4 are “yes” the thought needs to be taken directly to Jesus. ASAP. We need to ask Him to cleanse us from our unrighteousness (Psalm 51) and ask Him to help see people and situations through His eyes. Learning to pray through what we think about produces a pure heart and ensures God’s favor in our lives (Proverbs 22:11).