Tag: Christianity

Four Causes of Spiritual Dullness and how to Fix it-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord- 1st Peter 2:2-3 NASB

I love the book of Hebrews.  

It’s a beautifully written book that has never failed to challenge me.  A recent reread has got me pondering all sorts of issues but mostly the whole notion of spiritual dullness. 

Many scholars believe the book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish priests who became obedient to the teachings of Jesus not long after he ascended into heaven (Acts 6:7).  Whoever they were, the original readers started their spiritual journey with an enthusiastic passion for Jesus (Hebrews 10:32-35). However, at the time of the letter’s writing their spiritual enthusiasm had cooled to the point the writer felt compelled to say this about them:

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil- Hebrews 5:11-14 NASB

Yikes. 

It’s a brutally harsh assessment of their spiritual state, and it was all true. The Hebrew Christians who had begun their faith journey with so much promise and potential had somehow become spiritually feeble and dull. The writer of Hebrews desperately wanted them to understand they were in a spiritually precarious position. The whole letter is a long exhortation begging them to get back on track spiritually before they lose their desire to do so altogether. 

So, what exactly causes spiritual dullness to set in? 

Like most spiritual problems dullness is much easier to prevent than to fix. The letter to the Hebrews would never have made it into the New Testament if the warnings in it were not intended for all followers of Jesus in all times (John 17:17, Acts 17:11, 2nd Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12-13).  The writer of Hebrews is clear, spiritual maturity is the antidote to spiritual dullness. However, maturity is not a given, it is something we must go after (Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:12-13, Hebrews 5:11-14, Hebrews 6:9-12). Spiritual dullness does not happen in a vacuum; there are predictable events that lead us to a state of dullness. Some of those are:

Too much exposure to worldliness- 

Worldliness is best defined as being more devoted to the things of this world and its pleasures than to the things of God. God has nothing positive to say about worldliness (2nd Timothy 4:10, 1st John 2:15) and it’s not because He’s a spoilsport who hates fun. God is opposed to worldliness because He knows that the desires we feed grow. If we feed ourselves worldly pleasures they will grow into (best case scenario) spiritual dullness and (worst case scenario) a voracious craving for sin. However, if we limit our exposure to worldly entertainment and pastimes our desire for God and personal holiness will grow (Philippians 4:8-9, 1st Corinthians 9:24-27, 2nd Timothy 2:16). 

Sin- 

This is kind of a no brainer, nonetheless it’s a no brainer that bears repeating. Nothing dulls a Christian more spiritually than sin and disobedience (Isaiah 59:2). Anytime we choose to indulge ourselves in something God has deemed wrong it becomes a little more difficult to hear the voice of God.  Therefore, it is imperative we examine our lives often to make sure we are as free from both intentional and unintentional sin as humanly possible (Hebrews 12:1-12, 2nd Corinthians 13:5, 1st Peter 2:24, Hebrews 12:14).

Unresolved spiritual confusion-  

The recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were intimately familiar with trials, trouble and oppression (Hebrews 10:32-34). The Hebrew Christians experienced suffering from every side. The Jews (their own people) despised them for embracing Jesus, the Roman government persecuted them for the same reason. As a result, they found themselves in constant danger and subject to endless abuse. As a result of their trials, they experienced a kind of spiritual confusion that often accompanies painful spiritual experiences we do not find a way to process. The only way to process these kinds of experiences is through prayer with the knowledge that: A) this world is not our home; we do not fit in here and we never will (Hebrews 11:13-15). B) We are living in Satan’s territory, and He loves nothing more than to discourage us and kick us when we are down (Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 6:10-18, 2ndTimothy 3:12, Revelation 2:9-11). And C) God sees EVERYTHING and He has something uniquely beautiful planned in eternity for those who suffer here on earth because they were faithful to Jesus (1st Peter 3;12, Revelation 3:8-13, Isaiah 43:2-4).  If we do not keep these truths firmly in mind the enemy will use our suffering and confusion to make us bitter and useless to God (Hebrews 12:15). 

And finally, spiritual maturity versus dullness all comes down to: 

The level of attention we pay to our spiritual life–

 Spiritual practices such as church attendance, prayer and Bible reading help us keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 2:1, 1st Timothy 4:16, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18). Anytime we take our eyes off Jesus and the prize of eternity we risk becoming spiritually dull. Making the choice to fix our focus on Jesus daily is a spiritual gamechanger (Hebrews 12:1-3). Focusing our attention on Jesus and the sacrifice He made on our behalf vanquishes spiritual dullness and gives us the spiritual power we need to stand firm no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Some Encouragement from the most Unlikeliest of Bible Stories-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up- Galatians 6:9 ESV

Like a lot of Christians, I have spoken with lately I have found myself in a long season of deep discouragement. “Discouragement” is actually a bit of an understatement. A lot of days what I’m experiencing feels an awful lot like defeat. 

Sigh. 

My overall aim in sharing this rather dreary truth bomb is not to depress anyone, or even to troll for sympathy (although I will gladly take prayer). My aim in sharing this is to share some encouragement I received from the Lord.  Hopefully, this will help someone (or a lot of someone’s) find some encouragement too. Per usual, the source of my hope was a sermon based a Bible story. This Bible story is not your typical Sunday school Bible story. Frankly, it’s a sad story that gets sadder and then even more sad and finally gets hopeful at the very end. 

All that to say: don’t give up till the end.

The story begins in Judges 19. Like many of the stories in Judges it’s super dark and depressing (Judges 21:25). Some worthless men from the tribe of Benjamin sexually assaulted a Levite woman. The woman died as a result their abuse. When the other Israelite tribes found out, they were rightfully appalled. The Hebrew people were called to be a holy nation (Deuteronomy 23:14), and this whole messy muddle was anything but holy. The other tribes confronted the leaders of the tribe of Benjamin.  The leaders turned a blind eye to the evil. The worthless scumbags got off scot-free. 

Not cool.

After getting the go-ahead from God, the other tribes went to war against the tribe of Benjamin to avenge the woman’s death and remove the moral rot from within their own ranks. 

Here’s the thing:

God was consulted before the decision was made. The cause they were fighting for was inarguably righteous. The tribe of Benjamin was badly outnumbered. The obvious good guys in this situation had every reason to believe they would be successful in their plan.  

Instead. They lost. BIG TIME.

So, they went back to the Lord, prayed their faces off and asked for some fresh direction. God told them to go and fight, so they went, and they lost. Again. Big time. 

At this point the Israelites do what the good guys do in these types of situations, they double downed on seeking God. They got spiritually serious. The people prayed, fasted and offered burnt offerings all night. They begged God for guidance. Even after all that praying, fasting and offering burnt offerings their confusion drips off the page:

“Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?”

God promises He will give their enemies “into their hand”. So, they shake off their puzzlement and go. This time the good guys prevailed. Big time. It was a decisive victory. I’m pretty sure this is where the saying “third times a charm” comes from. The victory came after a whole lot of ugly defeat, but it was a victory, nonetheless.  

So.

I will be the first to admit this story begs some obvious questions. The most obvious being “What the heck God?” Why would the GOOD GUYS lose an honorable fight TWICE? AFTER being given the go-ahead to fight in the first place? 

It literally makes no sense. 

For the record, I don’t have the answers to those questions (I wish). However, after a very long season of weird little defeats I do have some thoughts. First, in a world as fallen as this one, evil has a lot of power. It did then and it does now (Ephesians 6:12). God’s people are currently dwelling smack dab in Satan’s territory (Ephesians 2:1-3). This dreary fact means the good guys (then and now) don’t always win on first go-around or even the second. 

That being said. 

Big-picture wise we must remember it will not always be like this.  There is coming a day when God will deliver His people a decisive win, just like He did for those confused Israelites. We are promised there will come a day when God will wipe away evil once-and-for-all in the most decisive victory in the history of history.  When He’s done with that He will stoop down and wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief, or tears, or loss or pain (Revelation 21:4). The future world will be nothing like this present one. In that day total victory will come out of a long season of what will look and feel like total defeat. 

I can almost hear the peanut gallery saying: okay, that’s great but what about now? Is everything just going to suck forever until “that day” which is perhaps WAY off in the future?

No. 

 We may have a season of pain, difficulty and loss. It might even be a long season. Things will not always be bad or hard or painful. Joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). We must remember that the Israelites won their victory after a long night of seeking God on level they had never sought Him before. God’s people prayed and wept and prayed some more. When they got done with the weeping and praying, they prayed harder. This accomplished two things: The immediate victory was won. Decisively.  Justice prevailed. Good came out of sorrow and evil (Romans 8:28). But more importantly, when the dust settled the Israelites knew God better than they did before. They were filled with a spiritual understanding that made the victory even sweeter. 

Sometimes God lets His people experience a defeat to draw them closer. 

What is a Spiritual “Loin” and how do we Gird Them?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

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

I am not a Bible translator. 

However.

I do know enough about the Bible and Bible translation to know there are words and phrases frequently misunderstood by readers due to an awkward translation from the original language (Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic) into English.  Occasionally a translation issue arises because there is not a truly suitable English word to use in place of the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. Most of the time translation problems occur because the translator really is simply attempting to make a difficult concept easier to understand or less weird for the modern-day reader.

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

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

 “the belt of truth buckled around your waist”.

Here’s the thing:

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

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

“Gird up your loins with truth”. 

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

Does the word loins mean what I think it means? 

How does truth protect my “southern regions”?? 

What does that have to do with any of this? 

For reals. 

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

So. 

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

Our loins are the most personal, private place on our physical bodies.  No one (except a few weirdos) shows their loins to complete strangers. Having our loin area exposed is humiliating, so we keep them covered up. Normal people do not make a practice of discussing their loins with anyone. It’s just too weird and personal.  If our loin area gets punched or kicked, it hurts. Really bad. It does not matter if the person is male or female— a blow to the loin area devastates a person’s ability to function, sometimes for a good while. 

Here’s the thing. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How we Position Ourselves to Receive God’s Blessing-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you- Hosea 10:12

The dictionary defines blessing as:

The act of blessing someone or something or a thing that is conducive to happiness or personal welfare. 

Most Christians (as well as many non-Christians and nominal Christians) would define blessing as a God-centered blend of both definitions. A blessing (in the Christian sense of the word) is when God moves on our behalf in a manner that brings greater personal happiness or benefit to our lives.

Okay, so I feel the need to give a little disclaimer before digging into today’s topic, so here goes:

We live in a fallen world. Nowhere in the Bible are blessings guaranteed to anyone (Hebrews 11:1-39).  It’s simply a fact that many (most) of God’s best and brightest walked through some incredibly difficult and trying situations, some received tangible blessings in this life others in heaven (Naomi, David, Daniel, Esther, Peter, Paul, Jesus). There is no guaranteed blueprint for obtaining God’s blessing and favor Nonetheless, we can live life in such a way that we position ourselves to walk in the blessings of God.

With that out of the way, I will return to our topic J

 Basically, there are two types of blessing in the Bible: conditional and unconditional. An unconditional blessing is a blessing everyone gets just for showing up. Life is a blessing; air is a blessing, sunshine and rain fall on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). Therefore, sunshine and rain are unconditional blessings. 

 Most blessings fall into the conditional category.

Eternal life is a relevant example. Literally, anyone can receive the blessing of eternal life (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Acts 2:21). However, to receive the blessing of eternal life one must accept God’s terms and conditions (faith in Jesus, repentance). Those are conditions (Acts 3:19, Acts 20:21, Romans 2:6-10, 1st John 5:11-12). The same is true for nearly every blessing found in the Bible. The following choices do not guarantee our life will always be easy and stress free (this is not heaven). These choices do position us to receive blessing and favor. 

It all starts with:

Believing in God- 

Positioning ourselves for blessing always begins with believing that God is (Hebrews 11:6, getting to know God and choosing to walk with Him in our day-to-day lives (Genesis 5:21, Genesis 6:9, Micah 6:8). A big part of walking with God is obeying Him. The Greek word for believe in the New Testament can also be a synonym for obey. If we really believe in God, we will make a real and resolute effort to obey Him. 

Living a life of honesty- 

God thoughtfully gave us a short list of the things He hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).  Lying makes the list twice. The only exception to the “no lies rule” is lying to save a life (Exodus 1:15-20, Joshua 2:1-14). Other than that one notable exception, God demands honesty from His people.  Lying, shading the truth and play-acting at being something or someone you are not (a hypocrite) is the fast-track to a life devoid of God’s blessing and favor (Proverbs 19:5, Psalm 26:4, Matthew 23:1-23). Conversely, a life of honesty and transparency positions us to receive God’s blessing and favor (Proverbs 11:3, Proverbs 12:22, Psalm 15:1-5, 1st Peter 3:10). 

Choosing humility- 

Jealousy, selfish ambition and vain conceit are all either a form of pride or a natural consequence of pride.  God hates pride. (Proverbs 6:16, Proverbs 16:18, 1st John 2:16).  Prideful people will not take advice, as a result they don’t grow or learn (Proverbs 1:1-33, Proverbs 11:4, Proverbs 12:1, Galatians 6:3). Furthermore, prideful people put themselves and their desires above the needs of others (Philippians 2:3-4). This creates all sorts of chaos and pain for everyone (Proverbs 13:10). Humility on the other hand is thinking about ourselves less and others more. Humble people know they don’t know everything, so they are curious about how others think and do life, this naturally leads to wisdom and care for others. God loves to bless the humble (James 4:10, 1st Peter 3:8-9, 1st Peter 5:5-6)

Doing good- 

God loves those who choose to do good to the best of their ability (Proverbs 2:7-8). Doing good does not guarantee blessing but it certainly sets us up for it. 

Living a life of wisdom- 

The Bible instructs people to live wisely, according to God’s precepts (Psalm 51:6, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 2:1-6, Proverbs 6:6, Proverbs 10:8). When we don’t live wisely, life gets messy, and blessings become scarce (Psalm 10:4, Proverbs 12:4, Romans 1:21-23). Too often people make unwise choices and then become bitter when they fail to receive God’s blessing. Here’s an example, let’s say Joe or Jane Christian is praying for a godly spouse, but Joe or Jane spends the bulk of their time with non-Christians doing all sorts of non-Christiany things. Joe and Jane go to bars and pot shops trolling for dates. They rarely attend church. Eventually they meet a special someone who claims to be a Christian. This special someone rarely attends church.  During their premarital counseling they were told by the Pastor to wait to get married. They disregarded his counsel. They get married and it’s a disaster. PLEASE, for the love of all that’s good and decent, don’t misunderstand this point: I feel deep compassion for anyone trapped in a bad marriage or any other ugly and unfortunate situation. I have certainly made my fair share of stupid choices and have no room to judge. The point here is not to shame anyone but to encourage wisdom in the way we live, because wisdom invites blessing. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting God’s blessing and favor as long as we want God at least as much as we want what He can bless us with. 

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 Scriptures Christians Ignored to get to 2nd Timothy 3:1-5-

Lisa M. Price4 Comments

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray- Proverbs 10:17 ESV

A couple of months back, I did a deep dive into 2nd Timothy 3:1-5. I carefully studied the original definition of all the Greek words used. I did so because 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 is a prophetic passage of Scripture. Paying careful attention to prophecy (2nd Peter 1:19, Hebrews 2:1) prevents spiritual drift and keeps us focused on the things that matter most (Matthew 22:37-40). 

Truth-be-told. 

The whole experience was a bit startling and deeply disturbing. Startling because the words we read in our English Bibles fail to do justice to the colorful and extremely expressive language found in the original writings. It was disturbing because I gathered pretty quickly we have arrived at and are living in a 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 world.   

Not good.

 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 describes a world where the vast majority of people, including many who identify as Christians will be hopelessly self-focused and evil in a very understated kind of a way. An inordinate number of people will lack natural affection for their parents and other family members. They will purposefully slander others to gain an advantage and have zero desire to forgive anyone for even the tiniest of offenses. People will be monumentally ungrateful and unkind. They will also love money and celebrity and the pleasures that can be bought with both. A lot. 

Yikes.  

However, these same folks will have a pretense of goodness that will fool many into believing they are as Christian as they pretend to be. The term “having a form of godliness but denying its power” means people will behave properly (at least outwardly) and will be very focused on having “Christian values”. However, they will lack holy fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 16:6, Psalm 128:1). This produces people who are selfish, conniving, deceitful and incredibly dangerous in every sense (2nd Timothy 3:5). 

I spent a great deal of time wondering how we got from a world filled with normal sinners to the kinds of deceitful, underhanded, super-sinners Paul depicts in such detail 2nd Timothy (Jeremiah 17:5). It occurred to me that prophecy is never accomplished in a vacuum. There is always a pattern of disobedience that opens the door for the prophecy to be fulfilled. In this particular case I believe the church has followed the world’s lead when it comes to character development, self-image and moral training. Even Christians have focused on fostering and building “self-esteem” in themselves and others rather than obedience to God, Christ-like humility and godly confidence. I concluded that in order to get to where we are now we have had to ignore the following biblical directives: 

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought- Romans 12:3 

For a generation we have been told we should feel good about ourselves simply because we exist. Our mere presence in this world makes us worthy of praise and special treatment. The Bible teaches we should only feel good about ourselves when our motives are pure and our actions are good.  God knows the inner working of every human heart (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, He cautions us to think about ourselves with “sober judgment” and to apply a great deal of self-examination to our motives (Proverbs 3:5-6, 1st Peter 5:8). God wants us to seek to understand the reason why we are doing whatever it is we’re doing. Good “self-esteem” without healthy dose of self-knowledge paves the way for all kinds of wrong thinking about ourselves and others. It also makes it easy to justify almost anything that ultimately works in our favor. 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit- Philippians 2:3 

Nothing in this world is more harmful or likely to end in an ugly moral failure than ambition motivated by a craving for money, attention or followers (Daniel 4:1-33). The anecdote to that kind of trouble is passion for giving God the glory only He is due (Daniel 4:36-37, 1st Peter 2:12, Psalm 63:3).

Never stop adding to what God began in you- 2nd Peter 1:5-11

For decades now, many Christian teachers have taught that salvation is the end-goal of the Christian life.  Once we are saved there is nothing left to do but wait for Jesus to come get us. The Bible teaches that salvation is a beginning. It’s the starting point of a whole new life that will completely reorder our entire existence (2ndCorinthians 5:17).  In order to get all the new life has to offer, we must be willing to walk with our Savior and Lord through the long, grueling process of sanctification (Revelation 3:20, Colossians 3:1-17, Romans 12:1-21,1stThessalonians 4:3-8). Sanctification is not “works theology” rather it is the essence of James 2:14-26. Sanctification is the practical process of working out our salvation with “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12-13). When we choose to get to know God through Bible study and prayer, He empowers us to shed all the sinful attitudes and behaviors of our old life. In time, we are transformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 12:2) The lack of emphasis on sanctification has made space for “Christians” who have a form of godliness but no real understanding of what it means to be a Christian.  

And finally, the Bible teaches all people (even Christians) have narcissistic tendencies that can take over our personalities. In order to avoid being overcome by those tendencies we must make a regular practice of examining ourselves to see if we are really walking in the truth of the gospel (2nd Corinthians 13:5, 1st John 1:6, 3rd John 1:3).  Doing so ensures we are part of the solution to our world’s problems rather than the problem. 

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). 

How Should Christians React to Blasphemy?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

You must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives- Jude 22-23 NLT

The Christian response to the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games exposed a deep and growing rift in Christianity.  When you get down to heart of the matter, the rift centers around how Christians ought to interact with a post-Christian culture.

 Some were angry, and not just at the weird display of crudeness and blasphemy. This group has had enough of Christianity being the one religion it’s okay to use as a punching bag. They point out (correctly) that there are no activists mocking or vilifying anyone else’s deeply held beliefs. Public scorn is reserved only for Christians. These folks believe it’s high-time Christians start standing up for themselves and fight back.

On the other side of the divide, are those who think Christians should ignore any blasphemy directed (deliberately or inadvertently) at the Christian faith.  These folks feel pretty strongly that any criticism, of any kind, directed at unbelievers sends the message that God (and His people) do not love them or want them anywhere near the Church. 

This group points out (correctly) that Jesus often associated with sinners and nearly all of His disapproval was aimed at self-righteous religious people who judged sinners mercilessly (Matthew 9:9-13).  They also note (correctly) that Christians are commanded to love everyone, including blasphemers (1st Corinthians 13:1-13, Matthew 5:43-44, Luke 6:32-35, Luke 7:36-47). Therefore, any and all disapproval of a non-Christians behavior should be hidden from view in the name of “kindness” and “love”. This group sincerely believes showing disapproval of sin will cause sinners to reject Jesus.

Yikes. No one wants that. 

So, is Christian disapproval of bad/blasphemous behavior really the fast-track to total rejection of all things Christian?

Well. 

I have some personal experience I feel is relevant to this discussion. 

I grew up in a messy non-Christian home, by the time I hit my teen years I was a jumble of chaos and sin. I knew nothing about God or the Bible. I never even thought about God or the Bible, I was a post-Christian girl long before post-Christian was even a thing. 

I was also a bit of a wiseacre.

I worked at a fast-food restaurant, mainly on the front register.  I almost never wore a nametag, mostly, because I didn’t want customers to know my name if I made a mistake or offended them in some way. One day, one of the managers happened to notice I wasn’t wearing a nametag. I was told to put one on, pronto. 

So, I did.  

However, I did not put my name on the nametag. To my (now) eternal shame I put “GOD” on my nametag in all caps (and YES, I am now VERY aware of how blasphemous that was). Some of the customers and all my co-workers thought it was hilarious, so I left it on. My idiocy started a bit of trend. Almost all my co-workers began putting crazy, absurd names on their nametags, stuff like “Big Bird” and “Abraham Lincoln”. The managers were oblivious, all they saw is that we were wearing nametags. No one bothered to look at what they said. 

It was all great fun.

Until one day, a lady came through my line, saw my nametag and went deathly pale. She looked me in the eye and said in the kindest, gentlest, most alarmed voice you can imagine: “sweetie, you need to take that nametag off. There is a real God who is very powerful and He is very offended that you put His name on your nametag”. I don’t remember what I said to her, I do remember feeling shocked she would care about something I saw as just silly fun. 

I did not become a Christian that day.

 However, her gentle demeaner and concern for my soul had a huge impact on me. For the first time in my life I thought about God, and what He was all about, and what else I might have done to offend Him.  All of a sudden, out of nowhere I felt super ashamed about the nametag (although at the time I had no idea why). I took the nametag off after my shift and never put it back on (1st Timothy 1:13). 

All that to say.

I do not think it’s a good idea to let people blaspheme God without some kind of a reaction. Silence indicates an absence of disapproval. Most people (not all) who blaspheme God have no idea what they’re doing (Luke 23:34). Some really do hate God and are doing their level best to be offensive (Acts 7:51, Hebrews 10:29), most aren’t. The vast majority are just attempting to be witty, or trendy, or outrageous. Very few actually understand how dangerous their behavior is from a spiritual perspective (Leviticus 24:16).  They are fools (Psalm 14:1). It is our job to gently guide them to the truth about God (Jude 22-23). 

However. 

When we talk to people we can’t be rude or hateful. We must communicate with our words and tone that we care about the souls of the people we are talking to. 

Nor can we make it about us. 

Our disapproval cannot be about our feelings, our firmly held beliefs or our rights. It has to be entirely focused on our God (1st Samuel 2:2). We have to tell people there is a holy, kind, patient God who loves them beyond all reason (John 3:16-18, Psalm 68:4-6, John 5:24). We also have to tell people that His patience is not without limits. People need to know there will come a day when all people will be called into account for their words and deeds (Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Romans 2:15-16).  However, all this must be done in a spirit of gentleness and humility (Philippians 4:5, 1st Peter 3:15).

Takeaways from the Book of Job-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

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.