Living as a Child of God

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him.

Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.

1 John 3:4-6 (NLT)

Being a Christian is hard work. Following Jesus was never meant to be easy though. Jesus warns us repeatedly throughout the Gospels that followers of Him will pay a price. The reward for following Him far outweighs anything this world can dish out although at times it may not seem as such.

But what does a “Christian” look like? We can take a look around our neighborhoods and shopping malls and even various church parking lots and come away with a whole lot of different pictures of what religious looking people look like but are these people truly Christ followers? Do you know any “Christians” in your sphere of influence? Are you one? How would we know?

You see, the visible proof of being a Christ follower is right behavior with the right motives. Many people do good deeds but don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. Other people that we may interact with on a daily basis may claim to have faith but rarely produce any good deeds. While good deeds alone cannot produce salvation they are a necessary proof that true faith is actually present.

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

....faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

James 2:14, 17

Now as children of God we should be becoming more and more like Jesus each day. To grow to resemble Christ means to grow in purity and to keep on a straight and moral path. We must keep free from the corruption of sin. There is a difference between committing a sin and continuing to sin as our opening verses describe. Even the most faithful follower of Jesus will still sin. But as a Christ follower you must not cherish the sin or continually choose to commit it again and again. A true believer that makes a mistake and sins against God can repent of it, confess it, and find forgiveness. As we saw last week a true believer, if they seek to draw close to God, must also be truly sorry for the sin as well.

Those that continue to sin and see no wrong in the sin that he or she is committing are in opposition to God. Those that do not confess do not receive forgiveness and no matter what religious claims they make are not worthy of being called Christians. I know that this statement may offend some of you. I also know that only God knows the condition of a person’s heart and it is not for me to judge.

I hope as always that these words give glory to God and make you think about the condition of your imperfect walk of faith with a perfect God.

Draw Close to God

Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

James 4:8 (NLT)

Today we are going to look at a few verses in the book of James to see what it looks like to draw close to God.

How do you come close to God? How do I come close to God? Does drawing close to God entail the meager hour and half we might give Him on Sunday morning? Does picking up my Bible and reading a verse or two before I fall asleep count as drawing close to God? What about my hurried or harried prayer whenever I need something? Is that what James is talking about in this passage? Now these might be a perfectly reasonable starting point for drawing close to God but James goes into much more detail about how God expects you to draw close to Him.

1) Humble yourself and resist evil.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

This is the first thing you must do if you want to draw close to God. You must yield to His authority and to His will. You must commit your life to Him, trust in Him, and be willing to follow Him. This may be step one but unfortunately most people (including myself) get hung up right here and this is probably where I will lose the most readers. I have spent a lot of time on trusting God and obedience to Him in this blog so I’m not going to go over it again at this time. Suffice it to say that yielding your will for His will and trusting and obeying God is the key to drawing close to Him. For more information look in January 2011 on this blog.

2) Lead a pure life.

Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

James 4:8

This is the step that may mean we have to do something uncomfortable like telling someone that we regularly hang out with that we can’t anymore because they may be a bad influence on us. This may mean we have to change our viewing habits or be more choosy about what we read. This may mean that instead of going to the movies or watching football on a Sunday morning we may have to start going to church to find out what God has in store for my life and how He wants me to live. This may mean putting less faith in secular know-it-alls and talk show hosts and start believing in the Word of God. This definitely means that we must replace our desire to sin with a desire to experience God’s purity.

3) Be truly sorry for your sins.

Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

James 4:9

Never be afraid of expressing your true sorrow to the Lord for what you have done. A cavalier attitude just won’t cut it. I know several people that have said things to me like, “I know I’m going to hell but we are going to have one big party down there!” or “I know I’m going to be judged and I’ll just deal with it when the time comes.” People wake up!! It’s not going to be a party and there is still time to get right with God!!

If you don’t experience true sorrow for your sin you might want to reconsider your standing with God and look deep within yourself to see if you are truly saved. I know that for me personally, when I sin it grieves me. It cuts me to the core when I hurt my Father because of my disobedience and when I put my will before His will I feel sorry and ashamed. For a true picture of sorrow over sin look at Psalm 51 and see how David poured out his heart to God. If you don’t think your sin is a big deal you might want to watch The Passion of the Christ and see visually just what Jesus went through for you and your sins so you could spend eternity with Him. Every lash of that whip, every torn piece of flesh, every nail pounded into His hands and feet, and every agonizing breath on that cross was for you and I. That was the penalty paid for our sins.

These three steps are probably the hardest things to do in the world! These three things are going to take each of us a lifetime to work on and we won’t truly perfect them until we personally come face-to-face with Jesus Himself.

The Good News is that that He is here to help us. His Spirit will guide and lead us if we let Him. His Word will teach us and convict us if we allow it. Hard stuff but so worth the reward.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

James 4:7-10 (NLT)

The Lord's Prayer: A Guide for Daily Change

6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
9 Pray like this:

Matthew 6:6 & 9 (NLT)

We have recently looked at how to develop true change in our lives by setting faith goals and spending quiet time with the Lord. Now I would like to point out one of the most important aspects in your walk of faith and your daily quiet time if you wish for lasting change in your life; prayer.

In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us “The Lord’s Prayer”. This prayer by Jesus is supposed to be used by us as a model when we pray. Jesus saw that we needed a method to our prayer, not a prayer in and of itself. Jesus says “pray LIKE this” not “pray these words over and over again”. It’s important to follow Jesus’ example and use this prayer as a means for us to change each and every day. Let’s look at the different components of prayer according to how Jesus wants us to pray.

1) “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.....”

Matthew 6:9 (NLT)

This is the part of the prayer that connects us to God . He is our Father and we are His children and as our Father, He loves us. Do you know just how much God loves us? He gave His Son up to die for you and me....that should prove His love. As a matter of fact, if God never did another thing for you and me EVER.....that one act validates the amazing love that God has for us.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

2) “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:10 (NLT)

This statement is one of surrender. This is where we are to say that we would offer up our lives to be used for God’s purposes. We are to acknowledge that His plans come first. It’s very important that during your prayer time, as you are communicating with God, that you stop trying to include God in your plans and start asking Him to include you in His plans!!

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

3) “Give us today the food we need,”

Matthew 6:11 (NLT)

This part of our prayer should proclaim our trust in God’s provision. We are telling God that we are expecting Him to meet all of our needs.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

4) “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

Matthew 6:12 (NLT)

With this part of our prayer we should be receiving God’s forgiveness and releasing others – including yourself. It’s important to note that you need both components. If you are good at forgiving others but you are too hard on yourself and your past mistakes you are essentially saying that God’s forgiveness isn’t big enough for you. You must let go of any guilt and resentment that you may have for yourself or else you are going to find it difficult to move forward with any significant change in your life. If you accept God’s forgiveness but you don’t forgive others......well, the Bible has some harsh words for you.

5) “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one”

Matthew 6:13 (NLT)

This is where we ask for God’s mighty protection. The Bible says over and over again that with God nothing is impossible and that we can do all things through Him. He gives us the strength to overcome temptation. When we try to overcome it on our own strength.......well, let me just tell you that I am living proof that is doesn’t work. The key is that when we are being overrun by temptation and the moment is upon us we must reach up to God. If we stop, physically stop, and pray for the strength to persevere then it will be given to us. My issue is that I know how good it might feel to let that temptation subdue me so I ignore the prompting of God to come before Him with my habits and hang-ups.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Did you get that pivotal nugget at the end? He will show you a way out!! He shows me a way out......it might simply be avoiding my gaze or changing the channel but it is still a way out. I think that many times we are searching for a miraculous parting of the Red Sea as a way out of our temptation. We may be unwilling to avert our gaze or make a healthier decision but make no mistake, those may be just as miraculous for some of us.

6) “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

Matthew 6: 13b (NLT)

This, my friends is our prayer of victory!! We can be sure of our ultimate victory because the Bible says it will be ours! We know how all this is going to end (if you don’t read Revelation 22)! We know that Jesus is coming back and that the evil one will be vanquished forever. For those of us that count on the name of Jesus to get us into heaven, our eternal destination has been signed, sealed, and delivered!! Thank God right now for the ultimate victory that He has promised!!

Jesus modeled for us a pattern of prayer that will enact change in our lives. The thing is, we must do the things He has taught us. It is not enough to merely know how to pray. We must take action so we can realize God’s blessing in our lives and truly change in 2011. Some sobering words can be found in the book of James;

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

James 4:17 (NLT)

With this in mind, will you pray as Jesus instructed us to? Will you take action? Set godly faith goals. Spend some quiet time with the Lord each day and pray for true change. It will be yours!!

God bless and have a great week!

Quiet Time with God

Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD.

Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT)

What is the first thing that you do in the morning? Do you wake up and immediately plug into Facebook to see what your friends and family are doing? Do you immediately check your email, the news, or Twitter to check out what is going on in the world and with those who are important to you? Or are you one of those that wake up with exactly 15 minutes to get out the door and get off to work?

We could be starting each day in a better way, one that could effect the remainder of our day and unlock the mystery of change in our lives. We could be starting the day in front of the One that loves us more than anyone else ever could. We could and should be starting our day in the presence of the Lord.

The most important time of the day is the time you spend ALONE with God. If we could effectively spend some quality time alone with God each and every morning it could change every moment that follows it. Lets look at some guidelines for spending quality time with God to start your day.

Start with the Proper Attitudes

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart

1 Samuel 16:7

Why we do things is more important than what we do. We must come before God with the these proper attitudes:

· Expectancy. David brings his prayers before God and he waits expectantly! He expects God to answer his prayers and we should feel the same way. We should come before the Almighty with anticipation and eagerness of having a good time in fellowship knowing that we will be blessed because of our time together.

· Reverence. We should also come before God with respect, admiration, and awe. Coming into the presence of God isn’t like going to a football game. We must not rush into God’s presence but we should take time to prepare ourselves. Be still before Him and allow the concerns of the world to fall away.

· Alertness. Being attentive is a key component especially since we are talking about doing this before you do anything else in your day. Wake up, splash some cold water on your face and get out of bed! Go sit somewhere that you know you won’t be disturbed and get comfortable but make sure you are awake and alert. This might mean going to bed early the night before but what is more important, the latest edition of NCIS or spending some quality time with God before the following day gets underway?

· Willingness to Obey. We have talked about this one before so I won’t take much space here. Just come to meet God having already chosen to obey no matter what.

Select a Specific Time

What time is best for you is equally as important as to how long you spend in communion with God. In the Bible many godly men and women got up extra early to spend time with God.

· Abraham (Genesis 19:27)

· Job (Job 1:5)

· Moses (Exodus 34:4)

· David (Psalms 57:7-8)

· Isaiah (26:9)

Jesus even says seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).......so why not make some time first thing in the morning for the Lord? In the morning your mind is less cluttered, thoughts are fresh, and we are rested. The great missionary Hudson Taylor said, “You don’t tune up the instruments after the concert is over. That’s stupid. It’s logical to tune them up before you start.”

I am a morning person and without a doubt my quiet time with the Lord will be as soon as my alarm goes off. Whatever time you set though make sure you are consistent. Set it up, set an alarm for it, and stick to your time!! Would you cancel an appointment with your best friend or your boss because you were too sleepy? Why do it with God?

Choose a Special Place

Where you choose to meet with God is not a big deal in His eyes but it should be to you. The Bible points out in Genesis 19:27 that Abraham had a place that he liked to stand in the presence of the Lord. Jesus liked to spend His alone time in a special place as well (Luke 22:39). Wherever you choose should be a place where you can go and spend some interrupted time with God. You should be able to pray out loud, cry, yell, or whatever else you need to do without fear of being disturbed. As you meet God there on a consistent basis this place will hold an even more special place in your heart.

Follow a Simple Plan

1) Relax. Wait on God and be still.

· Be still and know that I am God

Psalm 46:10

2) Request. Pray a short opening prayer like Psalm 139:23-24 (which is one of my favorites) to get things started. This isn’t the main prayer.....just something to cleanse your mind and get it focused more intently on God.

3) Read. Read whatever passage of Scripture you choose but read it slowly, aloud but quietly, and repeatedly. It doesn’t matter if you actually pick up a leather-bound Bible or turn on your iPad, iPhone or mp3 player to read or listen to the Word in a different format. It doesn’t matter what translation you choose to read or listen to either. What matters is that you spend time and make a consistent effort in the Word of God.

4) Reflect & Remember. This is where you meditate on God’s Word. Now don’t get freaked out. Meditation is nothing more than thinking intently on something (the verses you just read) and contemplating it over and over in your mind. You don’t have to chant anything or put your body in any particular position. Just think about what you read.

5) Record. Write down what you think God is trying to say to you through the passages you read. If it’s nothing then don’t be afraid to write that down. It’s good to record things though so that you can go back and check on your progress.

6) Request. This is where you pray and speak to God. Notice up until now the majority of our quiet time has been spent LISTENING!! After all James 1:19 says we should be quick to listen and slow to speak.

The biggest thing to remember when sitting down and spending quiet time with the Lord is that you are trying to get to know Him better. You are seeking His will for you as well as using your time with Him as a personal tool toward change in your life. Once you know what He wants you can seek His strength to change.

Next week we will look at how to pray for change in your life by using the example that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6; The Lord’s Prayer.

Until then, have a great week and God bless you.