Tag: Bible

The Key’s to Spiritual “Greatness”-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us- Hebrews 12:1 ESV 

 I wrestle with a lot of questions. 

Most are one-hundred-percent irrelevant in the grand scheme of life and eternity.  Nonetheless, a few of them do have some validity. One of those is:  

What makes a person “great” from God’s perspective? 

What made men and women like Abraham, Deborah, Moses, David, Paul and Peter great people? 

Why is Abraham called a “friend of God” over and over again in Scripture (2nd Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23)? What was it about Moses that moved God to speak to him face-to-face “like a friend” (Exodus 33:11)? Why would Deborah be chosen as a Mother over Israel (Judges 4:4-5, Judges 5:7-8)? What made David a man after God’s own heart (1st Samuel 13:14)? What was it about Paul and Peter that qualified them to lead the most critical movement of all time (Romans 11:13, Acts 2:1-47)?

 These are the questions. 

I have spent countless hours pondering what exactly makes someone the kind of person God points at and says: “that’s my guy” or “that’s my girl”. I don’t have all the answers to this or any question (obviously) but I do have some ideas. Here are four of them:

They always got back on the horse (metaphorically speaking) immediately following a spiritual failure-

Not everyone on the above list has a spiritual failure recorded in Scripture. However, the ones who do, failed spectacularly.  Seriously. Abraham lied. A lot. Moses was a murderer with a foul temper. David was an adulterer, a liar AND a murderer. Paul was a blasphemer and a murderer. Peter denied the Lord after being on Jesus’ inside circle for three years. Nonetheless, not one of these folks let their massive failure define them or their relationship with God. Each one took their mess to God, asked for forgiveness, repented and got back to worshipping, working and praying ASAP. These folks didn’t hide from God. They didn’t fib about their failure or attempt to cover it up. They didn’t wallow. They didn’t allow sorrow over their failure to turn them into alcoholics or drug addicts. They didn’t quit church or synagogue because they screwed up. The spiritual greats all trusted God’s promises to forgive sins (Psalm 65:2-3, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 103:12, John 3:16-17, 1st John 1:9, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:13-14) as fact and moved on. In the process each one learned from their failure and went on to live lives that brought God glory.  

They believed God- 

The spiritual greats all believed God, even when it made no sense. Most of the time it didn’t. They all believed anyway (Genesis 15:4-6, Romans 14:9, Hebrews 11:13-15). Their belief was more than simple head knowledge. Their trust in God and His plans always led to radical obedience and a steel-in-the-spine commitment to glorifying God, no matter the circumstances. God says the world is not worthy of such people (Hebrews 11:37-38).  

They were all willing to be second or third or fifth or whatever- 

There’s an intriguing little verse no one pays much attention to tucked into 3rd John. It says: I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority- 3rd John 1:10. Okay, so, this is a thought-provoking little verse for numerous reasons. First, what kind of prideful numbskull would refuse to acknowledge the spiritual authority of John the Apostle? Seriously. Who thinks like that? Diotrephes apparently. Second, it’s the apostle John calling someone out. John wasn’t known for that sort of thing. Paul called people out all the time (Acts 15:37-39, Galatians 2:11-14, Philemon, 2nd Timothy 4:10, 2nd Timothy 4:14). Peter could be counted on to throw some shade around from time-to-time (Acts 2:23, Acts 3:13-15, 2nd Peter 3:15-16). John doesn’t do that, he’s the nice one. Church history records him as the “apostle of love”. Nonetheless, Diotrephes desire to be “first” was so appalling to John and antithetical to the gospel that Mr.  Nice-guy felt compelled to call Diotrephes out publicly. John had some good reasons for doing so. Someone who loves to be first (in this context) wants to be the most important person in the room. These Christians want to be THE go-to person for spiritual teaching, moral advice and wisdom. People who love to be first have a stunning lack of humility that causes them to do anything including lying and slandering good people just to keep their position or standing in the church.  To the contrary, all the folks God calls great saw themselves as deeply loved by God but not as any more-or-less important than any other person. They were all willing to share the stage and give God ALL the glory. 

They took hardship on the chin (metaphorically speaking)- 

It’s simply a fact: hardship and difficulty affects people in one of two ways, it either makes them bitter or better (Hebrews 12:15). For God’s best and brightest it always makes them more like Jesus. God’s greats refuse to wallow in self-pity. Instead they choose to view suffering as an opportunity to grow and glorify God.  

God is merciful, kind and good. Seriously. God never places spiritual greatness out of the reach of anyone. All it takes is faith, a willingness to do life God’s way and a little humility.

God does the rest. 

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. 

Hey Church- the Election Results Probably Don’t Mean What we Hope they Mean.

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land- 2nd Chronicles 7:14 NASB

I have a hunch many regular readers of this blog did a literal happy dance when they learned the outcome of the 2024 election. 

You know who you are. 🙂

The results were what most (not all) American Christians were hoping for. There are many Christians (like myself) who have some reservations concerning Trump as a person. However, it’s simply a fact that there has been more poverty, more abortion, more crime, more war, more violence and less overall goodness in the past four years compared to the previous four years (Proverbs 29:2).  Past results are generally the best predictor of future results.  Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude that Trump (in spite of his shortcomings) is the leader who will do the most good and the least harm for the greatest number of people in the coming years (Jeremiah 29:7). And that is all we can really dare to hope for in these crazy-town times. 

I also suspect more than a few Christians reading this post also think (at least subconsciously) that this election outcome means God is happy with how everything is going in America and He’s just looking for an opportunity to bless our socks off.  

I don’t think this means that. 

Seriously. I don’t. 

Rather, I believe the God of the universe is giving us a reprieve, a break in the madness. He’s not giving us a break so we can rest on our laurels and reacquaint ourselves the delights of lower interest rates, cheap eggs and overall better economic conditions. God is giving us a loll in the craziness for one reason and one reason only: God loves people and wants them come to know Him as their Lord and Savior because revival is the ONLY route to a more moral, healthy and life-giving culture (John 3:16, 2nd Peter 3:9). 

It just is. This win is not about blessing. It’s about God giving the church a clear opening to be the church. Therefore, I want to encourage everyone reading this to take a deep breath, celebrate the win for just a little longer and then do the following:

Pray twice as hard over the course of the next four years as you did over the course of the past four-

I suspect that most Christians have prayed more in the last four years than they have in the previous twelve. Prayer is always a good thing. I would never argue against prayer. However, the motive for our prayers has been less than noble. Most of us have prayed out of fear. We were scared senseless over what we were seeing in the culture. The crime, the crushing of dissident voices, the economic chaos and the spiritual state of the younger generation left Christians in shock. It was scary as hell. Literally. Smart people became fearful and did what smart people do when they become fearful: they prayed their faces off. Churches that have never once hosted a prayer meeting were hosting regular prayer meetings. People who have never attended a prayer meeting attended numerous prayer meetings. It was a beautiful thing. More people have gotten saved in the last four years than I have seen in my lifetime. This happened because people prayed. The spiritual war is far from over, it’s probably just heating up (Romans 6:12-13). Many of us started praying in fear now God is calling us to pray in faith and see what He does (1st Thessalonians 5:17, Mark 14:38, Ephesians 6:19). 

Tell your friends and neighbors about Jesus- 

Truth-be-told, most people who voted red this time around did not do so because they care about freedom of religion or the unborn or the supreme court or the spiritual condition of the next generation. Most who voted red this time around did so because they were thinking about their own financial situation. Period. It is not immoral or wrong to think about one’s own financial situation. We live in a world where finances are a reality and its perfectly okay to care about them. However, why we choose something or someone says a lot about where our hearts are at and most of our friends and neighbors have hearts that are far from God. They need us to use this opportunity we have been given to tell them about Jesus. He is the only one who can bring real security and authentic peace in even the toughest of times (Romans 5:1, 2nd Thessalonians 3:1, John 16:33). 

And finally:

Work for the good of all people –

In Jeremiah 29:4-7 the prophet gives the Jewish people (who had been captured by the Babylonians) some advice that applies any Christians living in a culture hostile to their faith. Jeremiah commanded the captives to be good people, raise good families, to be kind and honest and to work for the good of everyone, even the Babylonians. It was solid advice we can easily apply to our current situation.  This is the time to double-down our efforts to get to know our neighbors and love them well. It’s the time to work our tails off to be a God-fearing, wise and helpful presence in our communities. In doing we will be the salt and the light our world so desperately needs (Matthew 5:12-13) and position ourselves and our world for spiritual revival that will bring future blessing.

Three Crazy-Town Beliefs that are Taking Root in the Church-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long- Psalm 25:5

Our world is awash with crazy-town beliefs and deceptive philosophies. I could give a million examples (okay, well maybe not a million, but a lot). 

Here’s one example: 

A majority of folks today (especially those under forty) literally think there is no such thing as absolute, fixed, immutable truth. These folks (most of them very nice people) are persuaded that every individual on earth has their own unique little “truth”. No one can dispute their truth even if their “truth” flies in the face of all sorts of hard evidence to the contrary or contradicts someone else’s “truth”. Thanks to this crazy-town worldview we are now at a place where a significant minority now “identifies” as something they clearly are not (an animal, a different gender, a different race, etc.). These folks are convinced their “truth” is the TRUTH. So much so, they demand the rest of the world enter into their delusion and celebrate their “truth”.  Normal folks can even get “cancelled” if they refuse to enter into these delusions. 

Sigh.

It’s easy to get really judgy regarding this stuff.   

However, it is critical we remember, that at this writing planet earth is very much under the control of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-2, Job 1:7, 2nd Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 2:13). This generation is also (in my opinion) living in an age of powerful deception (Matthew 24:3-4, 2nd Thessalonians 2:11, Psalm 4:2).  Therefore, Christians are not exempt from getting caught up in deceptive philosophies or wrong thinking (Colossians 2:8). Some of those philosophies and deceptions are the same the ones our non-Christian friends and neighbors have fallen prey to, others are unique to Christianity.  There are at least three worldly and wildly dangerous beliefs that have infiltrated Christian thinking. These beliefs are taking the church captive and hamstringing the churches effectiveness. They are:

Your authentic self is your best self-

We live in a time and place where individualism is valued above all else. Everyone is encouraged to discover and celebrate their “authentic self”. This sounds great on the surface. It even sounds kind of Christian, after all, God made us all unique individuals, right? Well… sort of. It is true we are all unique creations made in God’s image (Psalm 139:14). It’s also true that it is a beautiful act of worship to discover our giftedness and use it for God’s glory and the good of the church (1st Corinthians 7:7, Hebrews 2:4, Ephesians 4:8-16). However, all humans are—at the core of who we are— fallen, sinful and super messy. This means that when we celebrate someone’s “authentic self” what we are really celebrating is their sin nature run amok.  Oftentimes, we are applauding the very things (chaos and sin) that keep people from finding genuine peace, spiritual transformation and moral virtue (2nd Corinthians 5:17, 2nd Corinthians 3:18). Our aim as believers should not be to become our “authentic” or “true” self or to applaud anyone else’s “authentic self”. Instead, our aim ought to be to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification (becoming like Jesus) and to help others to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20).  Romans 12, Colossians 3, 2nd Peter 1:3-11 give us the blueprint for the sanctification process. If we follow the instruction in those passages we will be successful Christians and our best self. 

Results matter more than character-

Unfortunately, it has become disturbingly common for churches and Christians to disregard the bad behavior of Christian leaders because “good things are happening in the organization/church” or “people are getting saved” (1st Timothy 5:24-25). This whole notion disregards Scripture that tells us that God is deeply concerned with more than results (Proverbs 16:2, James 4:2-4). Anything (even a good thing) done with a wrong heart or bad motives will have little to no eternal value (1st Corinthians 3:10-15, Hebrews 4:12-14). Furthermore, it’s simply a fact that when people “get saved” under a bad leader quite often they end up falling away from the faith when the leader’s behavior is revealed. All this to say, character matters. When character is sacrificed on an altar of “results” the results we get will ultimately be less than what could have been and displeasing to the Lord. Yikes. 

Prayer is irrelevant- 

God commands Christians to pray (Matthew 5:44 James 5:16, Philippians 4:6, 1st Thessalonians 5:17). However, there are a lot of Christians who believe God has already decided and/or already knows how everything is going to work out so there is no reason to pray. These folks literally believe God has commanded them to do something totally pointless that makes no sense. I believe prayer is critical because God speaks to people through situations and in a still small voice every time we ask Him to. Seriously. He does. Every. Single. Time. The more we ask the more He prompts people. Humans have freewill so sometimes they ignore God’s promptings. That’s on them. It’s on us to keep asking for the Fathers will (Matthew 18:1-6). 

What we believe matters. 

A lot. 

Wrong thinking always leads to wrong actions. Wrong actions inevitably yield terrible outcomes. Conversely, right thinking provides spiritual protection and ensures a better outcome. In our age of deception, it is imperative we hold every idea and belief up to the light of Scripture, even the ideas we hear in church or from Christian influencers. If the idea or belief lines up with Scripture we ought to live by it, if it doesn’t it needs to go. 

Seriously. 

The Number one “Rule” of Modern Christianity-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace- Jeremiah 6:13b-14 NIV

Life is full of unwritten rules. 

An unwritten rule is an expectation no one really needs to be told about. For example, we all understand it’s not okay to roam through a public space like a subway or a movie theater with music blaring out of a speaker. There are (to my knowledge) no signs telling people they can’t play their music in these spaces. We all just know better. Because we all know better than to break unspoken rules, when someone does, people judge. 

It’s just how it is. 

Christianity has its own fair share of unwritten rules. There are things we simply do not do in Church world. No one treats communion like a buffet, grabbing enough juice to quench their thirst or enough bread to tide them over until lunch.  Some of the unwritten rules in church world are biblical, others, not so much. One really prominent unwritten rule in church world is: 

No negativity allowed! 

The love of the positive (and aversion to the negative) is reflected in the following “rules” Christians are told to follow:

Christians should only preach and speak about what they’re FOR not what they’re against-

Churches should stick to preaching the gospel only because social issues are not relevant to the gospel-

A good Christian is always kind and never hurts anyone’s feelings-

It’s a terrible sin to speak against “the Lords anointed”-

All of the above rules are well-intended, a few even have Bible verses to back them up. Each one is meant to encourage kindness, cooperation, unity and inoffensiveness. 

All good things. 

But are these “rules” biblical? 

Nope, nope and more nope.

No one should seek to be unnecessarily offensive, nor should Christians preach about social issues to the exclusion of the gospel. It is not okay for believers to hurt people on purpose, slander Christian leaders or criticize good programs designed to help people (2nd Timothy 4:2, Ephesians 4:32, Hebrews 13:17, Isaiah 5:20). Those things are all wrong. Period.

However. 

 It is also true that Jesus routinely addressed the hot-button issues of His day. In the process, He made a lot of folks really angry (Matthew 19:1-10, Luke 20:20-25, Mark 7:10-13, Matthew 20:16). Jesus also openly criticized people, including religious leaders (Matthew 23:1-33, Luke 11:37-53). I suspect Jesus hurt a lot of feelings and yet, God the Father had nothing but good things to say about Jesus (Matthew 3:17, Mark 9:7)

Furthermore. 

There are many instances in the Old Testament where God had nothing good to say about some dearly loved prophets. These “prophets” angered God because they insisted on preaching messages of blessings and positivity when God had declared there would be nothing but a giant load of judgment and trouble for His people (Jeremiah 6:13-14, Jeremiah 14:14, Ezekiel 13:9, Lamentations 2:14, Isaiah 44:24-25). 

The problems with choosing to dwell entirely on the positive are countless. For one thing, it puts a lot of limits on what Christians can and can’t talk about. Any subject that makes people uncomfortable or angry is out. This eliminates much of the Bible and all discussion of sin. It also means Christians can never speak up about social issues, even really evil social issues. If seventeenth century Christians had chosen to only speak a positive, happy message, slavery might still be legal. Our aversion to speaking the negative is one of the key reasons there are so many bad leaders in positions of power in our churches. If one believes its poor form or sinful to discuss problems with a leader’s bad behavior, the silence that ensues gives that pastor plenty of space to keep doing what they’ve been doing. In every church or Christian organization where there has been moral failure there has also been an unspoken (sometimes spoken) rule against saying anything unflattering about the leader.  Never discussing the negative also limits the spiritual and personal growth of individuals. In some churches, spouses (especially women) are discouraged from any negative talk about their spouse’s behavior— even if the behavior is clearly wrong or even abusive. Instead spouses are encouraged to pray that God would speak to their husband or wife. This presupposes the person in question, who is walking in sin is going to listen the Lord when He speaks.  Those folks are denied growth opportunities because their closest neighbor (their spouse) is prohibited from confronting their sin. 

Sigh.

 Instead of insisting on positive vibes only, Christians ought to make a commitment to actively seek God’s best for all people in every situation. Seeking the best means we cover every difficult or potentially thorny conversation in prayer. Seeking the best demands we become biblically literate so we know an answer to prayer when it comes. It means there will times when we keep our pie holes shut because the issue at hand is not really critical or worth offending someone over. Other times seeking the best means saying what needs to be said as kindly as possible, even if offense is taken (Ephesians 4:15, Philippians 1:9-11). Seeking the best for others means we do the hard work of learning to discern right from wrong. It means we remember unsaved people naturally find the gospel and biblical truth offensive (1st Corinthians 1:18, 1st Corinthians 2:14). Loving people and seeking their good means we break the rules by preaching the gospel and speaking against social evil. It means we tell the truth because if we really love people we don’t want them to spend eternity in hell because they lacked pertinent information concerning right and wrong. 

That would be the most unloving thing ever.

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.   

The Real Reason Holiness Matters-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God- 2nd Corinthians 7:1 NIV

Holiness. 

It’s a weirdly contentious subject these days (more on that later).

The Bible defines holiness as being separate from sin and/or being set apart and dedicated to the service of God (Genesis 2:3, Exodus 40:9-10). Holiness falls into two categories. The first is: 

Behavioral holiness- 

Behavioral holiness is what we see (for the most part) in the Old Testament. In some ways this type of holiness is less about inside-out-righteousness that comes from the heart and more about conforming human behavior to the will of God.  

Here’s the thing:

People are by their very nature fallen, sinful and powerless to do good from the heart. (Genesis 3:1-24, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 7:25, 1st John 1:8). No one but God can be righteous without a great deal of help from God. That being said, even sinful people are capable of managing their behavior, so that’s what people did pre-Jesus if they wanted to please God. Humans in the Old Testament followed rules, modified their behavior and avoided things on the naughty list in order to be good enough to be in a relationship of sorts with a completely HOLY God (Exodus 3:5, Exodus 22:31, Leviticus 6:17). Most of the Old Testament law is basically just a big rulebook telling people how to be “good enough” in their actions. It was a system filled with all sorts of issues. However, the system was essential until Jesus showed-up and changed the whole structure of how people relate to God (more on that later).

The other category of holiness is:

Positional holiness- 

When humans put their faith and trust in Jesus they become positionally holy. When Jesus died on the cross, He became a substitute for us (2nd Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:11-14, 1st Peter 2:24, Romans 3:23-25). This was necessary because God is totally holy and totally just. Because God is just He can’t just ignore the most serious thing ever: sin (Romans 5:12, 1st Corinthians 15:56). Because we all sin, we all deserve to die and be punished eternally for our sin. However, because God is totally loving, Jesus took the bullet (metaphorically speaking) we all deserve (Romans 4:25, Hebrews 2:14). All we have to do to avoid the penalty of death is to put our faith and trust in Jesus and the work He did on the cross.  The fancy pants theological term for this exchange is propitiation.  When we choose faith in Jesus, Jesus takes our sin and unrighteousness, in exchange we are given the righteousness of Jesus and the Holy Spirit has a guide and helper.  When God sees us, He doesn’t see our sin, instead He sees the righteousness of Christ. The fancy-pants theological term for this exchange is justification (Romans 4:25).  Because this kind of holiness is accompanied by the Holy Spirit it has the power to actually change our hearts, something behavioral holiness alone could never do. 

There are Christians who believe there is no need for Christians to modify or change their behavior in any way. These folks believe that because God has forgiven all our sin, we can keep on sinning without problems or penalty.  Some even believe it’s legalistic to insist on behavioral holiness. This is remarkably horrendous theology because it ignores two critical issues: the point of salvation and the nature of God 

The point of salvation is not simply to rescue our sorry tail ends from hell, although that is one of many benefits’ salvation offers. Salvation is mainly about restoring humanity to a pre-fallen state and a pre-fallen relationship with God (Genesis 1-2, Revelation 21:3-5).  Once we are justified (made positionally holy) our primary task is to get to know God on a personal level and (with the help of the Holy Spirit) let go of all the behaviors and attitudes that marked our pre-Jesus life (Colossians 3, Romans 12, 2nd Peter 1:5-11). The fancy-pants theological term for this process is sanctification. The more sanctified we are the more like Jesus we become. 

It’s a beautiful thing.

However, these are not the only reason behavioral holiness matters. The other reason has to do with the nature of God and the reality of salvation. God is totally holy. There is zero sin in Him (Leviticus 19:2). Once a person becomes a Christian, the God of the universe literally lives inside them (I know, it’s crazy). This means that everything we do God becomes a part of. Paul touched on this idea in his letter to the Corinthian Christians:

 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 1stCorinthians 6:15-17

Paul insisted Christians avoid sexual immorality, not because it was icky. But, because every time anyone has sexual relations outside of the marriage covenant they force the Holy Spirit (God) to become an unwilling accomplice to their immorality. Anytime we sin in any way, we force a holy, righteous God into our sin. When we gossip, lust, commit sexual immorality, think unkind thoughts about others, practice injustice, lie or steal God is right there. We are forcing a holy God into unholy situations.

Yikes. 

This is how a Christian grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).  It is critical we understand God does not abandon us when we sin post-salvation (John 10:27-29, Romans 8:38-39). God is not mean. He is patient and kind. He is also quick to forgive ANY repentant sinner. That being said, progressive sanctification (the process of becoming holy in our attitudes and behavior as well as our position) is fundamental to spiritual maturity and growth because virtue, holiness and righteousness make us like Jesus (Romans 6:13-16). When we become like Jesus it pleases the Father. 

Every child of God wants that.

The Three Letter Word that Changes Everything-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

My soul waits in hope for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning- Psalm 130:6 NASB

Malaise. 

It’s real.

The dictionary defines malaise as:

An uncomfortable feeling that something is wrong, especially with society, and that you cannot change the siltation. 

In recent weeks, I have been afflicted with a persistent sense of malaise. It has manifested itself in an uncomfortable, uneasy sense that there are a lot of things wrong with a lot of things. 

The feeling intensified following a quick visit to the West side of the state (the progressive side). It was supposed to be a fun trip, instead I was left feeling glum, despondent and depressed. It was more than the woke monkey business that passes for morality and the sin that’s celebrated with wild abandon on that side of the state that left me feeling forlorn.

It was literally everything. 

It was coming across the statistic that a mere nine-percent of Gen-Z (12-27-year-olds) identify as Christians. This means the American college town I visited last week is in desperate need of a Christian missionary presence, probably more so than most remote African villages. It also means the enormous stacks of cash collectively spent on Church youth and children’s programs over the last three decades did not get the job done. The money, time and energy expended on those programs might have been better spent elsewhere. 

Sigh.

But there’s more. 

The political realm is legitimately really terrible and the terribleness is not unique to my city, state or country. The terribleness is global. I used to love the intrigue of politics, I actually thought politics were fun, those days are in the rear view now. The political realm is just too dark, icky and hopeless these days. Political leaders worldwide are all about an agenda that has nothing to do with promoting what’s best for the average person (Isaiah 10:1-3, Psalm 64:2, Proverbs 16:27). 

Moreover. 

I totally get that there have always been bad people in this world. However, the process of normalizing sin has been going on for decades, and now a large portion of our population appears to be going feral right before our very eyes (Isaiah 5:20-21). At the same time good Christian people are struggling to have their voices heard over the din of culture (2nd Timothy 3:12-14).  

And last but not least,

The organization tasked by God with fostering healthy behavior in every society on earth—the church—is struggling to get her bearings and find her voice in the midst of all this social upheaval and moral mayhem (Ephesians 3:9-10.

It was a lot.  

I might have wallowed around in my discomfort indefinitely. However, I just happened to come across an unlikely Bible passage that snapped me out of my malaise and left me with a fresh sense of hope for the future.  

Here it is:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God- 1stCorinthians 6:9-11 NASB

Okay, so, I will be the first to admit that the first couple of sentences of this passage are not particularly encouraging or hopeful. Truth-be-told, they are the worst kind of a bummer. We, like the first readers who read these words have all fallen somewhere on the spectrum of unrighteousness described in this passage at some point in our life. That wasn’t the good part.  It was the little three letter word “but” that changed everything and brought hope:

BUT you were washed-

BUT you were sanctified-

BUT you were justified-   

The word but is not just good news for those of us who have been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus. Those of us who know Jesus can and should rejoice in the hope this passage offers to those of us who have been redeemed. 

 There’s also a whole lot of good news in here for our sin-sick world. The first people who read Paul’s words (the Corinthian Christians) lived in a world that was at least as messy the one we live in. There was more moral filth, more political intrigue, more sin and less righteousness in the ancient world than we see in our world today and that world changed.

 It got better. 

Christians kept the faith, spread the word and lived out the gospel. As a result, all sorts of unlikely people came to know Jesus and the ancient world slowly but surely became a better place. Over time governments became more just and human rights became a thing. If it happened it can happen now. 

So.

Don’t lose hope (Romans 5:5, Romans 12:12). Don’t let malaise wear you down and steal your joy (Hebrews 6:10-12). Instead remember that one sweet, hope-filled little word: but. I’m convinced it’s the best word ever. It stands as a reminder that God is on His throne, life is fluid and hope is real (2nd Corinthians 1:10, Galatians 5:5). The things that look bleakest today might just be a source of rejoicing tomorrow.  

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. 

How to Pull out a “Root of Bitterness”-

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery- Galatians 5:1 NIV

Bitterness is literally the worst.

Literally.

Bitterness is when chronic cynicism, resentment and hostility become a constant in a person’s life.  Other indicators bitterness is a problem are a tendency to isolate, a lack of compassion, relentless faultfinding and the inability or unwillingness to see the good in people and situations.  Bitterness hits its peak of awfulness when a person gets to the place where they want to see others suffer the way they feel they have suffered.   

Bitterness is one of those issues we rarely see in ourselves until after it has become an entrenched issue. This is because the emotions that lead to bitterness feel personal and private and more often than not: justified. When we perceive that we have been hurt or wronged it FEELS defensible and reasonable to allow our most negative, ugly emotions to run wild. However, when we let hurt or pain run the show we give the devil an opportunity (foothold) to sow chaos in our lives. One of Satan’s favorite things is a Christian who has been corrupted and hardened by a bitter spirit (Ephesians 4:26-27).   

The writer of Hebrews compares bitterness to a “root”. Feelings like anger, hurt, disappointment, jealousy or resentment create fertile soil for bitter roots to sprout. If left unattended bitter roots grow, spread and eventually choke out everything good, healthy and live-giving in a person’s life. Even more alarming, bitterness not only impacts the bitter person it also defiles (corrupts) the people closest to them (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:31, James 3:14). 

Yikes. 

It is on us to pray often that God will make us aware of any bitter roots that have sprouted up.  (Matthew 5:30).  Once bitterness has taken hold, the only way to get rid of it is to pull it out (metaphorically speaking). The keys to dealing with bitterness is as follows:

We must fully understand the implications of not dealing with a bitter root- 

Bitterness is no inconsequential thing. Making space for a bitter spirit is the fast track to spiritual uselessness, broken relationships and unanswered prayer (Leviticus 19:18, 1st Peter 3:12, Hebrews 5:7). Refusing to deal with the sin of bitterness is basically just acquiescing to the fact that you will be less spiritually productive than you could be. It also means accepting that your feelings of resentment will ultimately impact your kids, grandkids, church family and friends adversely. None of those realities should ever be acceptable to a follower of Jesus. Furthermore, Christians are commanded by Jesus to bear an abundance of good fruit and be a peaceful presence in the lives of others (Matthew 7:17-19, Luke 13:6-8, John 15:1-8, Colossians 1:10, Ephesians 6:15, John 14:27, Galatians 5:22-23). There is simply no way to fulfill that calling with a bitter heart. 

Stop nursing the dang thing- 

The most efficient way to kill a plant is to simply stop watering it. The same is true with bitterness. If we want to stop feelings of bitterness we must stop nurturing and indulging the feelings that lead to the bitterness in the first place. This means we must stop thinking about or talking about the situation or people who caused the bitter root to spring up. Instead, we must practice self-discipline in our thought life and conversations (Hebrews 12:11, 2ndTimothy 1:7). The easiest and most productive way to make that happen is to simply commit to only discussing the issue with mature fellow believers who are actively helping you to find freedom from the problem 

Bathe it in prayer- 

The most efficient way to kill a bitter root is to cover the situation and people involved in prayer. Prayer is the spiritual equivalent of a powerful weed killer (Philippians 4:6, James 5:16). Prayer is essential to pulling out a bitter spirit because it keeps us from ruminating on the situation or gossiping about the people involved. Gossip and ruminating on our pain are like pouring fertilizer on the bitter root (Matthew 26:41, Ephesians 6:18, 1st Thessalonians 5:17).

Let God be God in your situation- 

Most of the time, people do not become bitter without some sort of reason. There are situations where a very sensitive, immature or prideful person will become angry and bitter about something that wasn’t a big deal (like being called out on their sin or being slighted in some way). However, most of the time bitterness is the result of genuine hurt, loss or disappointment. In one sense bitterness is really just a desire for revenge that’s running amok in a person’s heart. The Bible is clear: revenge is best left to God (Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30). This is because He is far better at it than we are and the desire for revenge twists us up and turns us into a sad parody of what we could have been. Nobody wants that.

And finally,

The only way to totally break free of bitterness is to make the hard, sometimes painful choice to fully forgive those who have sinned against us (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:21-35).  Forgiveness is rarely easy, nor, is it typically a one and done. It’s a process that takes time. It often requires help from a mature friend, Christian counselor or pastor. Forgiveness is difficult but it’s also worth whatever effort it takes because it frees us from the ugly consequences of a bitter spirit and sets us free to be the people Jesus calls us to be (1st Peter 2:9).