“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 13. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
When Paul wrote that he had not “apprehended,” he did not mean that he was not already saved. His conversion obviously took place on the Damascus Road, and other statements in his writings let us know that he did not doubt his salvation. What he meant was that he had more growing to do in Christ, and that he was not already what he would be. Neither Paul, nor anyone else, can claim to be at a point where more growth is not needed. Paul shared here what could help us grow in Christ. He wrote that he would forget “those things which are behind.” If we are going to go forward in our growth, forgetting the past will be absolutely necessary. Satan is adept at reminding us of all of the times that we have not lived up to our Christian calling. This is how he keeps us down in the dumps. We need to forget those things which we regret. I’m certain that most of us have some regrets. We have probably spoken words that we wish we had not spoken. Unfortunately, we cannot reel words back into our mouths. When words are uttered they are out to stay. But we can be forgiven for this and it does not mean that we have to let regretted words stunt our growth in Christ. We have all probably done some things that we wish we had not done. Like words, once a deed is done we cannot recall it, but we can be forgiven for it. We cannot let those deeds stunt our growth in Christ. We cannot undo the past, but we can learn from it. If the Lord makes us recall our past failures, it is to teach us to do better, to learn from them and go forward. Haven’t you had things that you have done or said that made you vow that you would never do or say them again? This is where Jesus would have us be, while Satan will rub our noses in these past failures. We need to let the Lord teach us to do better. I recall that in Matthew 26:75, after Peter denied Jesus that he “remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me thrice (three times). And he went out and wept bitterly.” This was a bitter pill for Peter to swallow, but Peter did not let his denial keep him from serving Jesus. Somewhere along the line, he repented, got right with the Lord, and preached that great sermon on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were saved. It might do us good to “weep bitterly” over our sins and failures, repent and go forward from there. We can’t undo anything from the past, but we can certainly do better in the future. Further, Paul wrote that he would not only forget what was behind, but that he would reach “forth unto those things which are before.” In other words, Paul would not give up because of the things that were behind. We have a tendency to feel defeated by our sins and failures. To do this is to fall into the hands of the devil. He wants us defeated and deflated so that he can have his way with us. Like Paul, we need to reach “forth unto those things which are before.” We do that by living each day, each present moment, being careful to trust the Lord. Let’s take Paul’s words to heart and “forget those things which are behind,” and reach “forth to those things which are before.” We can do it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s do it!!! Bro. Joe
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“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
We need to be careful not to take a text out of its historical context, for it might distort the meaning of the text. The text that I have printed above has a historical context, for it is a call for Israel to turn to the Lord before it is too late. But at the same time, the text has eternal significance because it can be followed successfully by anyone at any time. It is what I have called “The Way to the Lord.” Seek We are called upon to seek the Lord. We seek a lot of things in the course of our lives. Some of the things we seek are unworthy of our time and effort and some can be rewarding. In all things, however, we are to seek the Lord. At the time this text was written, Judah was going over to idol worship and doing about everything that God told them not to do. It is a call for them to stop seeking idols and seek the Lord. We do not worship idols today, per se, but we do have things that we seek instead of the Lord, and this is just as bad as what Israel was doing. We need to ask ourselves just what it is we are seeking in this life. Sometimes we can even seek things that could be worthy goals, but if they lead us away from our commitment to the Lord, they can serve as stumbling blocks in our lives. For example, we can make an idol out of education. Getting an education is an important thing and is a worthy goal for anyone, but it cannot take the place of the Lord and His will in our lives. Perhaps you need to ask yourself what it is that you are seeking in your life today. Does what you are seeking have anything to do with the Lord. He is near you wanting to lead and guide you in all of your life’s endeavors, but sometimes what we seek can lead us away from Him. This is why Isaiah admonished the Jews to “call ye upon Him while He is near.” Forsake If we discover that we are seeking the wrong things, we should forsake that way and turn to the Lord. I think that most people realize when they are getting away from the Lord, and that they know that the way they are taking is the wrong way. I can look back on my life and see where I have done that, and my life did not get straightened out until I forsook the wrong way and went the right way. It is possible that you are going through a difficult time in your life now because you are going in the wrong direction and seeking the wrong things. It is possible that there are some things that you need to forsake in order to get your life in line with the Lord. We are told to forsake two things: “his way” and “his thoughts.” We need to let the Lord have control of our thoughts, because our thoughts are the fathers of our deeds. What we think about will control what we do. Maybe there are some thoughts and ways that you need to forsake. Do it today. Return It is not enough to just forsake the wrong way; we must choose the right way. Isaiah’s admonition here is to “return unto the Lord.” This means to put our thoughts on the Lord so that He can control our ways. We will not seek what is right until we return to what is right, and it is always right to seek God’s guidance through scripture and prayer. It might even mean a return to your church, or to change your attitude about your church. Whatever it means for you, it is important that you seek the Lord, forsake the wrong way and return to the right way. God is more than willing and able to give you His great mercy and to give you His "abundant pardon." It sure beats running from God's mercy and pardon. Think about it! Bro. Joe “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted we endure it; 13. When we are slandered we answer kindly….” NIV
Corinthian Christians had become proud and vain, and considered themselves to be superior because of their faith in Christ. Paul is reminding them here what it means to really live the Christian life. He explained to them how he and the other apostles were living. They were not vain and proud, but lived Christ like lives. The three things mentioned in our text can give us some guidance in how we are to live. It will not be easy, but what is written here was what Christ demanded of His followers. If we want to live like apostles of Christ, we will heed these things, no matter how difficult they are. “When we are cursed, we bless.” In Matthew 5:44 Jesus said: “Bless those who curse you…” Paul and the apostles were living up to what Jesus commanded of His followers. Paul did not say this was easy, and he made no promise that it would be easy for us. We encounter people in our lives who strike us the wrong way, or vice-versa, and “bless” is not what we think when they “curse” us. It is a natural human tendency to retaliate. But as Christians, we are told to bless those who curse us, and to “turn the other cheek.” I can’t say that after all of these years of living for Jesus that I have fully mastered this, but I remember that this is what I am supposed to do. Frankly, some people make it difficult to “bless” them. This is one of the real tests of our faith. Jesus did not promise us that living the Christian life would be easy. We need to remember that not retaliating is part of our witness, and people really pay attention when we fail to live up to our profession of faith. Let this become a part of your mindset and your conscience and when you are cursed, bless. “When we are persecuted we endure.” In Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. 12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for they so persecuted prophets which were before you.” When we are “persecuted for righteousness sake” we join an illustrious company of God's servants. The prophets were persecuted and the apostles were persecuted, but they endured. To endure means to maintain Christian integrity through all of the trials that life brings our way. We do not yet know persecution as the prophets and apostles did, but we need to endure, keep on keeping on, when the world goes against us today – and they are and it will increase. When people dislike you because of your faith in Jesus, endure it and rejoice that your faith is so obvious that it makes unbelievers uncomfortable. Endurance in persecution is part of our witness to the world. “When we are slandered we answer kindly.” The spirit of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is to not retaliate, as mentioned above, but to be kind, even to those who would call themselves our “enemies.” When we are slandered it means that someone has told something negative about us that is not true. Paul certainly knew something about this, for he was gossiped about unmercifully. When people gossip about us we are not to go and give them a “piece of our minds,” but we are to “answer kindly.” This too is part of our witness. It is very difficult to do this, for gossip, or slander, can cause a lot of difficulty in our lives. It just comes down to whether or not we want to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Living like an apostle is not easy, but it is rewarding. We need to at least take these three admonitions seriously and take them to heart and really endeavor to be the effective witnesses for Christ that we can be. Bro. Joe “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (compassion), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you so also do ye. 14. And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.”
Clothing styles come and go. Every season brings its changes, but sometimes what went out of style thirty years ago comes back in style. There is one wardrobe that never changes and that is our spiritual wardrobe. Let me explain: Paul wrote “put on,” which refers to putting on the spiritual wardrobe like we put on our clothes. The only difference is that these spiritual wardrobe items become a part of our lives as we practice them unlike our clothes which we take off. As God’s elect, holy and beloved people, there are some expectations of what we should “put on,” or wear, in our lives. Paul mentioned “bowels of mercies.” This is the King James Version’s way of saying that we should put on compassion. Compassion was illustrated in the Bible by Jesus as He dealt with people on a daily basis. Jesus gave us a parable about a Samaritan who helped a man who had been beaten and left half-dead on the side of the road. You will remember that a priest and Levite passed the man by. Jesus said that the “Good Samaritan” had compassion for the man. That was the difference between the priest, Levite and the Samaritan. It should be the difference in our lives as well. Paul mentioned “kindness.” Kindness is compassion in action. We are not to just feel sorry for people, but we are to actually help them. If we are truly compassionate, we will be kind as well. We can again refer to the priest, Levite and Samaritan. Which one was kind? Of course it was the Samaritan. Let us ask ourselves if we are kind to people that we encounter each day? Are we kind to people with whom we attend church? Do we speak kindly to people we encounter? These are good questions and we should be able to answer them in the affirmative. Paul mentioned “humbleness of mind” and “meekness.” This means that we are not to build ourselves up in our minds over other people. If you will think about it, to be humble of mind and meek demands that we have a clear sense of self and who we are in Jesus. It means that we are so secure in him that we do not have to have the upper hand over people in our lives. In other words, it means that we do not have to compete with others because we already feel like winners because of our relationship with Jesus. Our security in Jesus gives us security within ourselves. Do you have this security? Also, we need to remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” We can take Him at this word on that. Paul mentioned “ longsuffering, forbearance and forgiveness”, and, “above all, love.” This means that we do not just “put up” with people, but that we are willing to be patient and forbearing with them. Not only that, but we are to forgive them if they have offended us in any way. You will agree that this isn’t always easy, given personality differences and bad attitudes that we encounter. How can we do this? Well, “above all” if we love people, we will find it easier to be patient and forbearing with them, and that forgiveness will not be as difficult. Believe me, it will not always be easy, but think of how much better our lives and relationships would be if we were more patient, forbearing, forgiving, and loving with people. Well, there is your “spiritual wardrobe.” I think you will agree that we if we dress ourselves up in this wardrobe we will be better people and certainly better servants of God. Try it! Bro. Joe “And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
If one is to be transformed, it will have to be by the renewing of his or her mind. Everything that we do begins in our minds. When Jesus was confronted about not washing his hands before He ate, He responded by telling His detractors that we are not condemned by what we put into ourselves but by what comes out of ourselves. This, obviously, is about being careful what we think because what we think will become our actions. If we think evil thoughts, the result will be evil actions. This is not to say that every thought becomes an action, but it is to say that whatever action we take comes from our minds. What is a renewed mind? A renewed mind is a mind that seeks that which is good. This means that we will need to be careful about what we watch and read. Paul wrote about this in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” You will have to admit that if we put our minds on Paul’s list of things in this verse, we must have a renewed mind. But this mind does not come from “turning over a new leaf.” All that you get when you turn over a leaf is the other side of the leaf, which is remarkably like the side that was flipped. One can change his or her mind and start thinking good things, but the transformation that is mentioned in our text will not take place by merely deciding to live a better life. A renewed mind is a mind that seeks to discover the will of God. The bottom line is that a Christian should be aware of the decisions that he or she makes. “What does God want me to do” is the mantra of the renewed mind. It is not always easy to know what God’s will is. For example, we can think that because something really works to our advantage, it must be the will of God. Well, a person with a renewed will read the Bible and he or she will know that God’s will did not always work to the advantage of His people. For example, if the Jews had been able to vote on the direction of their trek from Egypt to Canaan, they would probably have tried to avoid the Red Sea. A renewed mind will accept that one of the purposes of God’s will in our lives is to grow our faith. Our faith does not grow when everything always goes good for us. Follow God’s will whether what He wants will be for your worldly advantage or advancement. I sincerely hope that I have made plain to you what a renewed mind is, and that I did not muddy the waters for you. Put your faith and trust in Jesus, and allow Him to give you a renewed mind. Bro. Joe (I reprinted this from 2014. It contains a message that we all need to share.)
And the Spirit and the bride say Come. Let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” The Bible tells us about the God who invites us to come to Him. Our text is one of the most beautiful of invitations to come to the Lord. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said “Come unto me…” Throughout the Bible we are made aware that God invites us to Himself. The message of the Bible is “come in” instead of “keep out.” The Christian faith is about welcoming rather than keeping out. This is true of Jesus, it should be true of our churches, and it should be true of us. Does your church communicate to people “come in” or “keep out”? I read the following in the July 7, 2013 devotional from Daily Bread: “A beautifying project on the main road of my town prompted the demolition of a church built in the 1930s. Although the windows of the empty church had been removed, the doors remained in place for several days, even as bulldozers began knocking down walls. Each set of the doors around the church building held a message written in giant, fluorescent orange block letters: "KEEP OUT.” Some churches wonder why they do not grow, even though they are in heavily populated areas. They need to look at their fellowship and ascertain whether or not their fellowship says to visitors “come in” or “keep out.” Churches are built on fellowship, not friendship. This does not mean that we do not have friends at church. A church that is built on friendship alone, however, says to visitors, we have enough of us here and we don’t need you. Fellowship has open arms that invites people in regardless of how they look, act or smell. You know, kind of like Jesus acted with the “tax collectors and sinners.” Several years ago, my late wife, Mary, and I visited a church where I was to speak on behalf of our denomination. When we arrived at the church no one was there to greet us. After Sunday School no one spoke to us. The pastor did get my name because he had to introduce me. After the service was over, the people were fairly friendly, but not until then. As we left the church, I said to Mary, “Do you realize that if I hadn’t been the speaker it is possible that no one would have spoken to us?” If we had been visitors looking for a church, this would probably have not been the church we would have chosen. Their demeanor said “keep out.” Do you communicate that you want people to “come in” or “keep out?” The question is do you have a welcoming demeanor in your activities with people. Sometimes our attitudes communicate to people that we do not want to be bothered with them. I know that there are people who are “people” people and people who are not. (Try to say that three times fast.) But as Christians we have to find a way to be “people” people. Jesus was certainly a person that welcomed people into His space. The best example of this is that children obviously loved Jesus. Children have a way of knowing whether people are loving or not. People felt free to come up to Jesus and talk to Him. Even though Jesus grew tired from time to time and He and his disciples went off to themselves to rest, that was not the way He lived. People sensed that Jesus loved them. Do people sense that you are interested in them, and that you love them? That is an important question for a Christian. We are witnesses for Jesus Christ and we do not need to put a “keep out” sign on that witness. Proverbs 18:24a reminds us: “A (person) that has friends must show himself friendly.” This does not tell us that we should wear a “keep out” sign on ourselves. I know that all of us have good days and bad days, and that includes our relationships with people, but all-in-all we need to make sure that by the way we treat people we say to them “come in” ...not “keep out.” Just ask yourself which of these you are saying to people now, and work on being a "come in person." Bro. Joe “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid it in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
-“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha you are careful and trouble about many things: 42. But one thing is needful; and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
We are going to revisit Mary and Martha and see what they can teach us. You will probably remember that Jesus was visiting in the home of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha was concerned about the meal, and whatever else, and Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha was upset with Mary and wanted her to come help her in the kitchen. Luke 10:41-42 is the answer that Jesus gave to Martha. The problem was that Martha was distracted. To be distracted is to have one’s attention diverted from one thing to another. In this case, Martha was distracted from the presence of Jesus and Mary was taking advantage of having Him present. What distracted Martha was not a bad thing. In fact, if it had been anyone but Jesus, she would have had a case against Mary. I think that the lesson here for us is that we shouldn’t let things distract us from our closeness to Jesus. What are some things that can distract us if we aren’t careful? World events can distract us. As I write this, the world is concerned that Russia has invaded Ukraine. It is something to be concerned about, but it should not distract us to the point that we worry about it. We can’t do anything about it anyway. What we need to do in a case like this is to go to the feet of Jesus, as Mary did, and give all of the worry about that to Him. He told us in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. We should take Him up on that. Jesus knows what is going on in the world, and he does not want us to worry about those things. Personal problems can distract us. I am not being judgmental here, because I know something about the distraction of personal problems. Whatever the problems are, family, school, work, church, health, etc., they should not distract us from going to Jesus with them. Jesus knows what is going on in our lives, and He knows what is going on in the lives of other people, who might be of concern in our distractions, and He wants to minister to us, and He wants us to know that He is with us through whatever the problems are. Some people take this to extremes and blame God when bad things happen in their lives. Whatever is troubling you, hurry, hurry to the feet of Jesus with whatever it is that is troubling you. He knows, and His presence will comfort you. I have dealt with only two things that can distract us from fellowship with Jesus, but I think they illustrate what we need to do when we get distracted by the world. Satan is in the business of distracting us, and he does a very good (evil) job of it. Remember that when our attention is distracted away from Jesus, it is Satan at work trying to discourage us and bring us down. Don’t let him do that to you. Bro. Joe “Wherewithal (how) shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed therein according to your word. 10. With my whole heart have I sought you: O let me not wander from your commandments. 11. Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you."
Living a clean life does not seem to be the goal of many people today, but it is certainly still possible to live that kind of life. Living a clean life makes sense spiritually, of course, but it also makes sense physically. Many ailments today stem from people living unwholesome lives. I don’t have to go into detail here, you know what I mean. These three verses from Psalm 119 tell us how we can live a clean life.. First, we can heed the word of God. To the psalmist the word of God was the Ten Commandments and other laws that were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and written down for the enlightenment of the people of God. To us the word of God is both the Old and New Testaments, and also Jesus, who fulfilled the Old Testament and made possible the New Testament. John refers to Jesus as “the word,” and Hebrews 1:1-2 declare Jesus to be the ultimate word of God. In order for us to live clean lives, we need to heed what is in the Bible, for therein is moral law, and we need to heed our relationship with Jesus, for therein is our moral compass. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in the study of the Bible and in the way we live our lives. Second, we can obey the word of God. The psalmist declared that he sought the Lord with his whole heart. I think that a lot of our spiritual problems arise because of a half-hearted seeking of God in daily life. How do we seek God? One of the main ways we seek Him is by the reading and studying of God’s word. It is impossible to stay close to God and ignore His word. Furthermore, the psalmist pleaded: “O let me not wander from your commandments.” We are not saved by keeping commandments, but we are saved in order to be able to keep commandments. We can’t take straying from the word of God lightly. Third, we can internalize the word of God. The bottom line was that the psalmist did not just read and study God’s word; he digested it and made it an integral part of his life. This means that we need to read and study the word of God until it becomes part of us. We can memorize scripture, but I prefer to read it until it is stuck in my mind and heart. I do not call this memorizing; I call it internalizing. He hid God’s word in his heart so that he “might not sin against God.” In the scene of Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4, Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture to him. Jesus wasn’t just quoting words he memorized, but words that were part of His life. Read these three verses again and ask God to help you to use them to live a clean life. Bro. Joe “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
This verse comes almost to the close of 2 Corinthians. Paul had written a, sometimes, scathing letter. He closed the letter with a positive reminder of how they should behave. It is also a good message for us. First, he wrote that they should “be perfect.” That scares us because we think that it means we must be sinless. You and I both know of the impossibility of that request. The Greek word can be translated as “mature.” In other words, stop acting like children. This is a call for us to mature in our faith in order to show Christ to the world. Second, he wrote that he wished for them to “be of good comfort.” This could be translated to “be encouraged’. This is a message that we should take to heart. The Christian life is a great way to live, but we can become discouraged in our penchant to sin. Christ invites us to come unto Him when life gets hard, and living the mature Christian life seems impossible. We do not need to be comfortable in our sins, but we should be comforted and encouraged in our walk with Christ. Just the fact of being saved should give us encouragement. Lift up your eyes and rejoice in Christ’s love for you. Third, he wrote for them to “be of one mind” and to “live in peace.” I think that you will agree that to live in peace, we will have to be of one mind. This is a theme that is used throughout the Bible for the people of God. We should be at peace with each other. The opposite of living in peace is to be at war. Probably our greatest need is to be at peace within ourselves. When we are at peace within our minds and hearts, we are more apt to be at peace with others. There are some people who make living at peace a real challenge. However we need to meet the challenge. When we let negative people get to us and make us negative, we are the losers for it. Fourth, he reminded them that “the God of love and peace shall be with you.” This peace with God happens when we are maturing in our faith, when we are encouraged and when we are of one mind and living in peace. The promise is that God will be with us. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and He should be the catalyst for us to be mature, be encouraged and be of one mind. Let the Holy Spirit do this in your life. Bro. Joe |
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