Loyalty

Loyalty

 

There are few better words, if any, then to have someone describe you withthe word loyal. When someone uses that word to describe you they are saying that you are reliable, trusted, sincere and that your word is your existence. When you are called loyal, someone is  saying that you two share a special bond.

 

                But I have one question. When can loyalty become a negative in a relationship? I think the answer is simply this, when your loyalty becomes blind. I have seen too many people (including myself) remain loyal to someone who is no longer loyal to them. When that happens, you too must break your bond of loyalty with that person.

 

                When someone who was once loyal to you finds themselves no longer living loyalty out in your bond, you must now discard that person until you see true repentance. Even then, you must make sure it is exactly that, true repentance.  You can never allow your loyalty to become a blind trust.

 

We must be quick to forgive, but also not taken advantage of. Somewhere in there lies a delicate balance.

The Death of a Seed

John 12:23-25

 

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

                Here we see Jesus talking first about his impending encounter with the Cross. In this account He is also explaining to us a very important principle of the faith. It is a principle that many don’t practice as often as they should. The principle is simply allowing yourself to die so that others may live through your sacrifice and more importantly the sacrifice of Christ.

                What Jesus is saying here is that while a seed is still hanging onto the plant, it is alive and comfortable. As soon as the seed falls from the wheat, then and only then, can it multiply itself. Wow! The first question that comes to mind is how can I die?

                However, before we can answer this question, I believe that we must first look at an even more important question, what is death? We all know what death is in a physical sense; it is where life once existed, but no longer exists. So, how does this help us understand what Jesus was saying?

                Jesus was showing us that in the Spirit we must die. When someone comes into relationship with Christ, too often they try to “keep alive” things from their past. What Jesus is saying to us today is that we must snuff out anything that is not of Him, we must let go of the plant.

He says this very clearly in verse 25 “The man who loves his life will lose it…” If you truly have a relationship with Jesus, you will love your life! Just take a moment and think about what your life once was before you gave Him your heart. Back to the first question, how can I die?

The answer is very simple, let go of sin, it needs to be in your past. Which sin specifically you ask? How about selfishness? Don’t act like a fool in front of non-Christians when you profess to be a Christ Follower.

 I understand that we all sin, but let’s not do it in front of the unsaved. Most of the time when someone who has been saved longer than a year or so, sins in front of the heathen, they are doing so  on purpose. They can help it! They are just being a willing stumbling block! Instead being on your knees, you’re on your back taking a nap! Instead of picking up a phone to speak into someone’s life, we choose to remain on tree with an Xbox controller in our hands.

I like to leave you with a challenge when I write, but this time the challenge comes from Jesus. The challenge is this, allow yourself to die so that others may come to life through your sacrifice. The only thing that you take with you when you die is what you leave behind. Will you leave a harvest behind you for future generations or will you just simply stay attached to the plant?

Seek

Seek

 

Have you ever come across a verse in the bible where you are extremely challenged? If you haven’t you will. A good example of this is Jeremiah 29:13. It says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Sure, the first few times you read it, you’re challenged to immediately begin seeking God. You pray, sing, shout, dance whatever it is you do, in your way, to seek Him.

The problem arrives when after years of a divine relationship, your way of seeking can become reduced to a mere formula. You find yourself in a specific position, kneeling or falling prostrate, and then shouting. Or maybe it’s going into a dark and quiet room and simply waiting. You may even catch yourself saying, “Oh I love this song, this is the song where God moves in my heart.

I have a friend who once said, “It is impossible to seek God with all of your heart. You will always have sin in your heart or be distracted in some way. It’s impossible to seek God with all of your heart.” I for one was challenged by this and began thinking, he’s right to an extent, but then I remembered God’s words through Jeremiah and promptly corrected myself.

If it is impossible to seek God with all of your heart, then why would the Lord say to do so? So, we must seek after Him with all of our hearts, but how? To begin to answer this question, we must first address the hindrances and obstacles that blind our hearts. The first and most obvious stumbling block is sin. I don’t want to spend much time on this, but let’s identify the apparent.

We all sin and we will all continue to sin; hopefully it will become less and less. The important thing is that we turn from our sins and make an effort to leave them behind. So, although sin is bad, the good news is that it can be overcome and won’t necessarily keep you from seeking properly. You just need to repent. You will never find the fullness of God as long as you are seeking with an unremorseful heart.

Another issue that blinds our hearts is formula. I addressed this earlier, so we’ll just skip to number three which is a heart that isn’t challenged. This usually happens when one doesn’t read or hear the word or doesn’t have a consistent attendance at a church. If your heart has no nutrition, then it will just become calloused and plagued by the wisdom of the world.

The last point that I want to discuss is not allowing ourselves to expect God to move in a specific way after we’ve found Him. God revealed Himself through fire in front of multitudes for Elijah and then shortly thereafter through a gentle whisper. Expecting God to react the way He did last week is ignorant. He has something better for us than yesterday’s manna.

There are many other reasons as to why it is difficult to find yourself in His presence, but I want to keep this a blog and not a book. It is my desire to give some useful direction to those who are wrestling with this issue in their own devotional life. If you keep these four suggestions, (without allowing a formula to develop.) you will create a setting where your heart is prepared for an encounter with God. He is always ready to meet with you; it’s us who are usually preoccupied.

 

“God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us.” Acts 17:27

   

Apathy

According to the Encarta Dictionary (The dictionary from Microsoft Word) apathy means lack of enthusiasm or energy and also emotional emptiness. Unfortunately, I believe that this can describe the climate for many of America’s youth.

Some of the most popular music that this generation listens to is known as “emo” music. For those of you not familiar with this music, it basically makes kids want to lie around in their room and be depressed. Growing up with bands like Guns & Roses and Pearl Jam I personally think this music is terrible, but that’s neither here nor there.

I get to spend a lot of time with America’s youth on school campuses and churches. During this time I have had two major revelations occur to me. The first one is that many of today’s youth are apathetic and the second is that they want truth in their lives. Of course, when you put the two together, they’re too lazy to go get truth even if it’s found only blocks away.

How then can this situation be resolved? Initially we must realize that there are many legitimate reasons why young people are apathetic. Those reasons vary from loss of a parent(s), drug use, rejection, a lack of personal identity, to various other causes. Many adults, parents specifically, want to know what the cure for this epidemic is.

Well, this is it in a nutshell; we must bring something into their life that is real and true. This generation has played the best video games, heard the best music (In their opinion), and has seen some great inventions. They have seen their parent’s and grandparent’s achievements and failures, and arrogantly believe that this world cannot offer them anything new.

The ironic thing is that they’re right, to a degree. The wisest man, whose name isn’t Jesus, in the bible said this same thing almost 3,000 years ago. He said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”* What people are looking for is satisfaction that will sustain for longer than a few days or even a few years. This is the same reason why the church has had little success impacting this generation.

Too many youth groups have become fixated on lights, games and fluffy feel good sermons. When the fluff becomes the focus, fluff is what you’ll get in return. The funny thing is this, kids don’t want fluff, they want truth! The problem lies in that too many Youth Pastors can’t handle the truth.

I want to challenge those who are in authority over our teenagers. Don’t replace the meat for tofu; challenge them with the Word of God! Kids don’t really want to be apathetic; they just haven’t been given a reason why they shouldn’t.

Finally, a challenge to the youth of this generation, find yourself a good church where you will be challenged and discover the truth about God. He does exist and wants to have a personal relationship with you. He wants to fill you with passion and purpose. Don’t accept fluff!

 

* Ecclesiastes 1:9

How can I just walk away

               Walking away from a Sovereign God, who could do this after experiencing His true love? While pondering this subject, I’m reminded of Michael Jordan’s short lived baseball career. The Bulls had won three championships in a row in the early 90’s and then, out of nowhere, Jordan decides to quit and play baseball (Many of the younger readers may not even be aware of this).

 

                On October 6, 1993, Michael Jordan shocked the sports world when he announced his retirement. How could he have walked away from the game that had given him so much? He must have done this because he felt fulfilled, to a certain degree, with his basketball career. Although I respected his decision to try something that was a childhood passion of his, there was just something askew about watching the greatest basketball player of all time bat .202 with the Birmingham Barons.

                The whole time Jordan was away, people were just longing for him to come back. Being a Sixers fan, I had personally hoped he stay in Minor League Baseball forever, but as a basketball fan, I couldn’t wait for him to come back. I remember watching him swing a baseball bat and thinking, this guy is not doing what he is called to do.

                On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: “I’m back.” The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons).* Although he only scored 19 points (11 points below his career average), it was immediately known that he was back doing what he was meant to do, play basketball!

                As a Youth Pastor I see a story like this play out all the time in the lives of young people, without the Nike and Gatorade contracts. Sadly enough though, just like Michael Jordon couldn’t hear me say “What are you thinking?”, many times neither can the youth that God has placed in my life, even though they’re only 2 feet away.

                I cannot express how much it bothers my heart to see a young girl who my wife and I have poured so much into, begin dating a moron. She is usually a sweet girl who has no idea of the ill intentions that a fox has. Even more importantly than the pain of my heart, are the tears that are running down the cheeks of her Creator’s face.

                Someone raised in Holy Spirit fire, but now seeking after the strange warmth of the world is another infirmity that my stomach cannot handle. I cannot bear to watch an individual who once looked UP to me, now look AWAY from me, someone who at one time spoke in the tongues of angels and at present is only a resounding gong.

                Just like Michael Jordan was not living in his calling, many young people are forsaking their calling and following passions that they were not created for. I could go on and on with this subject, but instead I will look up to where their help comes and seek the stone that these builders have rejected on their behalf. There is no love like the love of the Father. It is a love that handles rejection with grace and open arms.

*Taken from Wikipedia