How do we walk carefully with God today?

I’ve taught Bible for a LOT of years, and I continue to be amazed at the newness of the ancient words. The Bible is a book like no other because its Author is the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator God. There is a reason the Bible is a best-seller every year.

The Bible tells us everything we need to know God and truly understand ourselves. Scripture teaches us how to become children of God and live with his Presence now and one day, eternally in his Presence in heaven. 

One Sunday, I followed along in my Bible as our pastor led us through a passage. We read a verse that I have read and taught many times. My eyes were drawn to the verb, and my thoughts were brand new. Then, as I was preparing to teach, that same verb presented itself again. The idea for this blog post soon followed.

As I sit here, you probably know something I cannot know today. When you read these words, you will likely know who won the election and who will be president of the United States for the next four years.

Many news programs will discuss the “differences” between our nation’s people. The Bible teaches us that every person born in this world has one need in common: We all need to know God and draw close to his Presence. The best way to do that is to understand why Peter and others chose to use the verb “abstain.”  

We all have an important choice to make today

Sunday morning, the sermon addressed the various divisions politics can cause in our culture today. Those divisions exist in people’s homes, jobs, friendships, and social settings. It’s the day after the election. How are you feeling about the results? As you walk past people today, what might you say if people feel differently about it than you do?

As the congregation read through 1 Peter 2, we discussed that our highest calling as Christians is not politics. Instead, our highest calling is to lead people to a knowledge of God and his power to save their souls. Peter told his fellow Christians and us today, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:11–12 NIV).

According to Peter, we have a high calling for this day after the election. Your candidate may have won or lost, yet our high calling as Christians remains the same. The most important message you will speak today is the sermon your choices will preach. As people study your life today, will they see a Democrat or Republican or good deeds done by someone whose life glorifies God? Whoever won the election, we are still going to be “aliens and strangers” in this world.

Our highest calling today is to “abstain from sinful desires” because they are at war with our souls.

Today, Christians from all around this country are wanting to gloat, complain, celebrate, or be depressed. God’s children can be Democrats or Republicans. Regardless of which candidate won, a lot of people are happy, and a lot are upset. Maybe we need to “abstain” from our personal feelings today and remember we have a higher calling from God. The way we converse and react with those around us will either display our lives as “pagan” like the world or as children of God who are “aliens and strangers” on this planet.

Why did Peter use the word abstain?

A good article I read said that biblically, the word abstain “comes from the Greek word apecho, which means to deliberately withdraw from, stay away from, or put distance between oneself and something else.” To abstain from something means to make a deliberate choice for a higher purpose.

I’d often heard the word used as part of fasting. A person “abstains” from food to hunger for God. People “abstain” from alcohol to always keep their minds clear, listen for God’s voice, and be ready to serve him at their best. 

So, when Peter said, “abstain” from sinful desires, he was saying to avoid those desires, put them entirely out of mind, and put distance between us and those things that might be sinful. What is the end result of this abstinence? Our souls aren’t at war with what we might desire and what God desires for us.

What did Paul teach?

Paul had to defend the faith in many of the churches he started. As soon as Paul left and moved on, others, like the Judaizers, began to attack the original gospel message that Paul taught using their own thoughts, ideas, and values. Paul’s letters were often written to keep the new Christians, often from Gentile backgrounds, from being misled. 

Paul wrote his letter to the mostly Gentile church in Thessaloniki, saying, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–4). 

Paul often taught these new Christians how to live in a Gentile culture with Christian values. He, too, used the verb “abstain” so that they would understand God’s will for their sanctification. We are made holy, “sanctified,” when we abstain from the sins of this world, especially the sins the world understands, accepts, or even rewards.

What will you need to abstain from today?

Are there conversations you will need to avoid or walk away from? Are there conversations you can redirect to a higher message? Are there people who don’t understand your vote who will be surprised to learn you want to understand theirs?

Today can take many different directions. Why not abstain from some of those directions so that we can point people in the direction of God’s higher goals for this country and for our lives?

Matthew Henry was a well-known theologian who lived from 1662 to 1714. He once said, “Men’s neglect of God’s commands in smaller matters often leads to their disobedience in greater matters.” Let’s remember not to think of the jokes, complaints, and conversations we are around today as “smaller matters.” I hope it is a good day today because it is a day we have decided to live carefully and obediently with God and allowed his highest calling in our lives to matter most. 

You probably know who won the election and who lost. More importantly, you know the One that needs to win every moment of this day and each day to come. 

St. Peter’s scale

Wasn’t it nice to wake up this morning to ads about insurance and toothpaste instead of ads about political candidates? 

I voted early this time and then kept the remote nearby so I could reach the mute button. As I write these words, I don’t know how the midterms will turn out. Hopefully, there won’t be any runoff elections in Texas. I think the mute button on my remote is wearing out! 

As you read these words, you have probably heard reports of the election results. I don’t need to hear the statistics to write this blog post. I already know that half the country is happy and the other half is disappointed. Those feelings will be reflected in the faces we see today in our neighborhoods, places of business, and anywhere else we go. Hopefully, your home is of the same opinion, but even that isn’t guaranteed for everyone. 

One thing is certain: it would be good to remember that the volume of our witness today will be set on high. Whether your candidates won or lost, people will be gauging your response. 

Wise counsel from Hebrews

This is a good day to walk in the counsel of Hebrews 12:14 which says, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” 

Politics matter. Elections matter. But neither matters as much as helping people know the Lord. 

The words of our witness today will be wiser if we allow Hebrews 12:14 to frame them. Picture a big box with a locked lid sitting next to a door. Imagine gathering your prideful thoughts, sinful thoughts, disappointments, and slander and then choosing to lock up every word produced from your natural self in that box before you step into your day. 

How will your day turn out differently if you strive for peace with everyone? How many arguments or angry discussions can you avoid if you strive to be holy? Who will be impressed with your “peace” even if they disagree with your politics? 

One thing I am certain of, even though I am not yet certain about the elections, is this: when we woke up this morning, God was still on his throne and his plans and promises are still in place.  

Our faith is supposed to be an effort

Sometimes I wish it were easier to be a Christian in our culture. Then I remember what first-century Christians endured.

I remember what many Christians who first came to this country endured before and after their arrival. And, if you simply google “Christian persecution in the world” today, you will find the numbers shocking. 

It is easy to be a Christian in our culture today compared to so many others. It just isn’t as easy as it was a few years ago. Interestingly, our Christian witness is getting a LOT more attention from the culture. That can be good and bad.  

Peter wrote counsel to the early church that was very similar to the author of Hebrews. The Apostle wrote, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5–8). 

There is a key phrase in that important passage that describes a Christian’s highest effort. If this became our great effort, we would live with a powerful witness to our culture. That phrase is how we can measure our day today and our lives. The phrase is: “If these qualities are yours and are increasing.”  

Our great effort for today is to continually grow into the holiness Peter described. We need to do better this month than we did last month. We need to have a stronger witness for Christ this year than we did last year.  

How do you typically measure your spiritual growth?  

If we could step onto Saint Peter’s scale

Some people step on their bathroom scale every day to see what they weigh. Some people step on their scales less often. Some people aren’t sure if they still own a bathroom scale. Our weight usually fluctuates, especially in these next two months! 

We don’t really need the scale to tell us what our waistbands are already shouting. Most of us will step on a scale, at least once in a while, hoping that maybe there is another explanation for the tighter fit. Maybe the dryer was too hot or maybe the fabric continues to shrink? Maybe the scale needs new batteries or maybe the settings are no longer working. (I’ve got a million of these ideas!) 

But my real point is this: If St. Peter could have created a scale to measure spiritual growth, would we buy one, use it, and believe it? 

If St. Peter’s scale registered “faith and virtue,” would we be overweight or underweight? If St. Peter’s scale measured “self-control and steadfastness,” would we be ejected from it? If St. Peter’s scale weighed our “godliness, holiness and love,” how far would the needle swing? 

The real point of St. Peter’s scale is whether or not we are gaining. 

Let’s make every effort to live like St. Peter taught

You will likely have an opportunity today to “increase” the standards of your faith and express the virtues Peter listed. Every day is an opportunity to “strive for” the peace and holiness that will help others know the Lord. 

If Bed Bath & Beyond sold St. Peter’s scale, I would buy it. I would keep it someplace where I would see it often. Yet I can’t help but wonder if I would treat it like my bathroom scale and try to explain away the numbers. 

That picture might be just what we need to live this day with the wise counsel from Hebrews 12:14. The good news about St. Peter’s scale is that “increasing” measurements are a good thing! 

So, let’s get out there and live like Christians . . . and hopefully our witness will weigh more tomorrow than it does today. 

It’s time to trust God more than before

I know some people have an easier time trusting than others. I tend to be a skeptic, and it takes me a while to trust a person completely. I like almost everyone, but trust is something I tend to give carefully. 

As I watch the evening news and read articles on trends, choices, and all things “popular,” I have needed to double down on my choice to trust God for the future. 

I really don’t trust those who are in control right now so I have to remind myself of what I know is true. 

Ultimately, God controls all the final outcomes.

A WORD FOR THE FRONTLINE FAITHFUL 

The well-known “armor of God” passage is from the sixth chapter of Ephesians. Paul taught God’s people that living a faithful life would require them to be tough, wearing God’s armor for the battle. Paul’s churches were established during a period of history that was openly hostile toward the gospel. The Jewish people thought of Christianity as blasphemy. The Roman government thought of the church as another danger to their culture. 

Sound familiar? 

I’m in my early sixties, and I don’t remember a time in my life when God’s armor was more important. It is increasingly difficult to openly believe the Bible in our current culture and express Christian beliefs about values, marriage, the sanctity of life, and many other important standards. 

Those of us in ministry are stepping into deeper waters right now. It didn’t use to be difficult to live as a Christian and be popular, or at least feel respected. It helps to remember that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). 

I consider most of my readers to be “frontline Christians.” You are interested in God’s word, applied to our culture today—or you would read something else. I’m not called to teach “Christian-lite” or soften God’s truth. 

I am called to stay behind God’s Spirit and never forget that it isn’t people I need to fight; it is the same “spiritual forces of evil” that Paul had to fight too. So, to all those on the frontlines of faith, I encourage you to work hard at discerning our real enemy. If we recognize the battle is spiritual, we will fight with the spiritual weapons Paul called our armor (Ephesians 6:10–20). 

WHY IS IT EASIER TO TRUST THE CHARIOTS AND HORSES? 

King David had a lot in common with the Apostle Paul. David lived during a volatile time for God’s people as well. He wrote Psalm 20 as a message from God, to be sung before a battle. The King wanted God’s people to remember that their victory depended on God’s blessings, not on their strength. 

I wish God’s people would sing Psalm 20 for our battles today. I wish we would trust our battles to God as we move forward to fight. It doesn’t matter if we think we are winning. It matters that God is able to win through our efforts. Psalm 20 is a good reminder of that. 

My favorite verse in the Psalm says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). I’ve thought a lot about that verse in recent days. 

A good friend made the point that America was going to have four years of Republican, then four years of Democrat. The wisdom at the end of those eight years should be that Christians have no business trusting either political party to make things right spiritually. 

We have had a chariot and a horse. (I’ll allow your politics to decide who is which.) As God’s children, we aren’t allowed to trust in either. But it sure is easier to focus on the powers we can see rather than what is unseen. 

We can never forget who is named in Scripture as the ruler of this world. Satan is celebrating some cultural victories these days. That should have always been expected. Our goal is to make certain he has no victories in our personal lives. In my opinion, Satan is having a heyday in the lives of God’s people right now. 

My words and attitudes haven’t always honored God. I’ve allowed fear and anger to control my choices and opinions at times instead of God’s word. I’ve momentarily trusted in a few chariots and horses for my future happiness. Meanwhile . . . I knew what God wanted. 

MAY THE HEARERS BECOME DOERS 

I wonder what King David would write to us as preparation for the days ahead? 

I wonder what advice the Apostle Paul would teach the church today? 

I wonder what wisdom Jesus would give today’s disciples for future needs? 

I wonder, but I don’t. 

We already have everything we need to know in the perfection of God’s holy Bible. The problem isn’t knowing God’s wisdom; it’s doing it. 

I love the book of James and have taught it many times. James, like Jude, was a half-brother of Jesus. James told his church and all of us today, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:19–22). 

If the only spiritual lesson you consume, trust, and live by is the truth James wrote above, you would live a strong, valuable, effective witness for God in this world. We should read and memorize those words before we open our mouths, make decisions, and step out of our doors. 

Living by those words would change everything. 

THE DISCIPLES THOUGHT THEY HAD LOST 

When Jesus was arrested, tried, and hung on the cross, the disciples were terrified of the days ahead. I’m sure many, if not most, thought they had aligned their lives with Someone who had let them down. They just didn’t know what God was about to do. 

Neither do we. 

We aren’t to trust what we can see. We are to trust the One we know, just not yet face-to-face. We don’t know what chariots and horses will look like in the days ahead. But we do know this: The final Easter is coming. We don’t know how many Easters will pass before that one, but what if April 4, 2021, is the last one? 

I don’t think we have lost. I know we have won. I just know there are still battles ahead. And, I know there are joys, victories, hardships, and everything else that life this side of heaven brings. 

But, my last Easter here will mean the next resurrection day is the only one left. Jesus rose again, and so will everyone who has trusted in his name. So, let’s trust God with more of our lives than ever before. 

Most of the world trusts the chariots and horses. Let’s face it: we would like to trust some of them too. But, King David would remind us that God’s people are to trust in the name of the Lord our God. 

Paul wrote in Romans 10, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v. 13). 

Does anything else seem more important to you today? 

If so, pray . . . until it isn’t.

Whom should we impeach?

I remember seeing the video of President Nixon entering the helicopter and waving at the cameras with his famous two-handed peace sign. It was 1974 and I was a sophomore in high school.

I remember when the impeachment proceedings were initiated against President Clinton. It was 1998 and I was trying to steer my two sons away from the ugly descriptions in the television news. My boys were both in elementary school. 

Last week, I couldn’t help but wonder what my grandkids were hearing. I wondered if my oldest were asking, “Dad, what is impeach?” 

How would you answer that question? 

The definition 

Impeach is a verb and means “call into question the integrity or validity of (a practice).” 

The word is used most often in America to “charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct.” 

From my limited knowledge of politics, I would ask this question: Who in Washington D.C. isn’t impeachable?

In my memory, integrity has not really been a standard we use to measure our leaders. If that were the case, we wouldn’t have slanderous campaign ads that flood the airwaves and that continue once they are in office—and especially once they campaign for office again.

Would we have the problems in Washington today if we had voted for leaders who believed that integrity was a high standard for their campaigns? Can a person of high integrity ever win? Is winning more important than maintaining personal integrity? 

It doesn’t matter which teams you root for in this world. Integrity should be a standard we value more than winning. 

How much does integrity matter? 

We look for integrity in our preachers, teachers, and medical professionals. We would appreciate integrity in our lawyers, but we demand integrity from the lawyers on the other side of the table. We want integrity in our bankers, but do we require it of our tax accountants? We want the service industries to help us with integrity, but what about the realtor negotiating the sale of our home? 

We are angry with the baseball teams that cheat their way to the top. How would we feel if it were our team that had won the trophy?

Deflategate and Watergate 

I remember when Tom Brady was suspended for several games after “deflategate.”

He won the Super Bowl that year and another two years later. It’s possible, even probable, that deflategate cost his team a title the year Brady was suspended for four games. But, did Brady’s suspension change his sport or just the way footballs are checked on snowy days? 

I loved a letter to the Astros franchise that a friend posted on Facebook. He is an avid fan who is greatly disappointed in his team. But, he will still be a fan—if they clean up their standards for winning and return to a place of integrity in their sport.

His Facebook post prompted this blog post. Washington DC didn’t change because of Watergate and Brady’s suspension didn’t cause everyone in sports to stop cheating. 

Is there a Romans 8:28 in our news? 

If winning matters most, then people will continue to compromise their integrity to win. 

If God matters most, then people will continue to aim at integrity.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Lost people will always act lost. The real point of this blog post is to ask us: Will Christians act saved? 

We need to choose to love God most and be called to his purpose, especially this week. 

You are the light of the world 

Like it or not, Christians are the light in this culture. We tend to get angry at lost people who act lost more than saved people who act lost. We have grace for the saved because, after all, that’s our team. 

Americans are all part of the fallen human race and therefore we are all flawed. But there are a lot of us who are also part of God’s eternal family. 

When King Solomon was commissioning God’s children, he spoke for God, saying, “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 will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

King Solomon was a faithful, strong, and flawed leader. Maybe that’s why God chose him to deliver some of the most important words in Scripture. The key to 2 Chronicles 7:14 is found in the first three words of the verse: “If my people . . . .”

The integrity of our culture is not the fault of, nor the responsibility of, the lost. God’s people are supposed to be “the light of the world.” We are supposed to humble ourselves, turn from our mistakes, and pray and seek God’s face. 

God’s promise of blessing was not contingent upon the lost people doing the right things; it was contingent upon God’s people doing the right things. 

Our role in the impeachment proceedings

Whatever “team” you are on in politics, remember that you are there to love God and serve his purpose. 

Romans 8:28 is the responsibility of every Christian so that God can redeem all things to his great and perfect purpose. 

Will we humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face? We are God’s people, and 2 Chronicles 7:14 explains that his blessings are a direct response to our obedience.

Christians are the light of the world because the light of the world indwells us. Don’t let the world shove your light under a basket. This is an important time to shine. Humble yourself, seek God’s face, and turn from the wrong words and ways that will be easy to slip into this week. Please God if you want to win. 

God can and will redeem anything for his good, if his people are called to his ways.

Can God count on you this week, and each week, to be called to his good purpose?

That is our role in the impeachment proceeding

Who is Kermit Gosnell?

A note from Janet: This isn’t a typical blog post this week—it will be difficult to read. But I felt a strong conviction to write this. I hope you will read this prayerfully, with understanding.

Who is Kermit Gosnell, and why doesn’t everyone know that answer? There is a movie out that I would encourage all of you to see. Sometimes we don’t go to a movie to be entertained but because we need to be reminded or informed. Gosnell: The Movie is that. We recognize Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy as serial killers, but I had never heard of Kermit Gosnell. Why?

In 2013, Gosnell was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and felony late-term abortions. Today, he is in prison serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Gosnell ran a filthy, inner-city abortion clinic. When the FBI raided the clinic for prescription drug crimes, they found a horrific situation that led to Gosnell’s trial. The movie is based on eyewitness courtroom testimonies and FBI reports. The atrocities portrayed in the movie happened. But, most of us barely heard about this news. Why?

Dr. Gosnell was an African American inner-city doctor. He performed affordable abortions for women whom the culture had decided should be viewed with sympathy more than integrity. Government health agencies had ignored repeated complaints about the clinic for sixteen years because it was easier to avoid what was happening than fight those who would have called their actions racist, religious, or politically motivated. The result: Dr. Gosnell performed tens of thousands of these abortions over a period of thirty years.

His employees estimated that more than forty percent of those abortions were over the legal 24.5-week gestational period. Many of the babies were alive at birth, and Gosnell murdered them after delivery. He went to jail, not because he performed abortions, but because it was proven he had taken the lives of babies born alive and had been responsible for the death of a woman who had come to his clinic.

When abortion became a political issue, many people stopped thinking about it as a moral issue. There is no way to see the factual events portrayed in this movie and leave unmoved. Could that be why so few people have ever heard of Dr. Kermit Gosnell? He was a serial killer whose story went largely unreported because of his race and because those he murdered were supposed to have been aborted.

Why does Dr. Gosnell’s story matter today? First, abortion is not a political issue; it is a moral issue. Why were those babies’ deaths considered murder simply because they were born alive? Now, legally, those babies die every day without criminal prosecution simply because the babies are killed in utero. God, forgive us, for growing silent or political about this issue.

I don’t know what else to say, and I’ve got so many tears running down my face I can’t see my computer screen anymore. I don’t know how to stop the genocide that has become a political hot button instead of a moral and spiritual crisis. The world can call it a fetus, an unwanted baby, or a pre-term pregnancy. God calls that baby his child.

This is the abortion statistic website I would encourage each of you all to look at. I could quote numbers, but this website is profound. The next link I will give you comes with a word of caution. Some of you may not want to see this, and it wasn’t shown in the movie, but I thought it was important to include in this post.

One of the moments in the movie that affected me the most was a portrayal of the turning point in Gosnell’s trial. One of his nurses had used her cell phone to take a picture of a baby boy that had been born alive, and that Gosnell had joked about before snipping its spinal cord. The jury was shown this picture, and it resulted in one of his murder convictions. Be prayerful if you view it. Thankfully, this baby has joined millions of others in heaven, where he is loved by his Creator.

But, that baby should have been loved here on earth as well. That is why I chose to write this blog post. Pray. We have to keep speaking, fighting, caring, and witnessing to those who think abortion is an acceptable form of birth control. It is not!

See this movie—not because it is entertaining, but because it is important. And join me in asking God what more we can do to serve him and serve these babies and their moms, remembering Mary’s words: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 ESV).

God help us. Amen.