Posted in Bible Journaling, Easter, Eternity, Faith, Life Inspiration

Take Heed!

Matthew 16:6 KJV

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Of this text J.C. Ryle wrote: 

I believe that our Lord delivered this solemn warning for the perpetual benefit of that Church which He came to earth to establish. He spoke with a prophetic knowledge. He knew well the diseases to which human nature is always liable. He foresaw that the two great plagues of His Church on earth would always be the doctrine of the Pharisees and the doctrine of the Sadducees.

He later said in that article that the Pharisees doctrine could be summed up in three words, “formalists, tradition-worshippers and self-righteous.” The doctrine of the Sadducees could be summed up in the three words, “free-thinking, skepticism, and rationalism.”

J.C.Ryle died in 1900. I wonder what his thinking would be in the 21st century. We’ve certainly came along way since his day, and not for the better. 

As a new convert I remember being told the way to remember the two sects of religion was to remember that the Pharisees, were “not fair, you see,” and the Sadducees, were “sad, you see,” because they didn’t believe in the resurrection. Another good summation of two very religious groups.

I try to be anything but religious. I came out of religion. Religion is what was about to send me to Hell as it allowed me to go to church, hear a sermon and remain unmoved or unchanged. I didn’t consider it as such because unlike the Pharisees I wasn’t judgmental, but perhaps I was more the “free-thinking” Sadducee. Seeking a sign, not a Savior. 

Jesus described it best in Matthew 23:15 when he said “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”

I would have considered myself a child of Hell. And if that makes you nauseous, imagine how it makes me feel. To realize because of “religion.” I was two times closer to Hell, than Heaven. So I take Jesus’ warning very serious and desire to tell the world of my relationship with Christ, not my religion.

I’m not seeking a sign, I have a Savior

Matthew 16:1-12 KJVS

[1] The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. [2] He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. [3] And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? [4] A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

I don’t have to seek a sign, they’re everywhere! If the religious leaders of that day had only come with a heart open to hearing the gospel they too could have discerned the signs. But they didn’t. The Pharisees and Sadducees much like the world today were closed minded to anything other than their ways. Religion wants it written in black and white. But Jesus wrote it in red on the cross. That’s not logical. Religion loves to make it about self. But Jesus took self out of the equation and let it be known that there is nothing you can do to be saved. Nothing. He took it all to the cross with His final sacrifice. But religion needs to do “something.” 

I’m not seeking a reason, I was the reason

[5] And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. [6] Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. [7] And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. [8] Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

Even though I know in my heart of hearts why Jesus did what He did, it’s still hard for me to fathom that He would do that for me. I know how unworthy I am. It doesn’t make sense. Until, I think of it it respect to my children. My daughter Whitney is in Texas right now with her husband and children. And though it’s not the same as those who have been separated from family because of death or other harsh reasons, it’s still tough on this momma. I know they’re fine. But I can’t see them and touch them. That must have been how God felt when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. He could no longer be in their presence. I know how it breaks my heart, but that’s got to be a drop in the bucket by comparison to God’s broken heart. Which is why He was willing to got to the cross. And why He hates religion. It’s not about what we do, it’s about what He did. And every time religion makes it about self, it’s as if we’re saying what He did wasn’t good enough. That is beyond heartbreaking. 

I’m not seeking religion, I want the Relationship!

 [9] Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? [10] Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? [11] How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? [12] Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

That is why J.C. Ryle’s words hit me so hard this morning. In this day of disease (COVID19) the greater disease is not that, but rather the disease of Pharisee and Sadducee doctrine. It spreads through this earth like wildfire and is being broadcast on every form of media. It’s all about self reliance, fault finding and skepticism. The world does everything possible to get our minds off of Christ and onto the disease. When, what it should do, is cause us to realize that our only hope lies in Him. He who took death upon Himself on the cross so that we would only die once, and then live an eternal life with Him, never to be separated again. Without Him death is twice, once in this life, the second an eternal death in Hell, forever separate from our Lord and family and friends. 

But the world doesn’t want you to hear that. But it’s the truth. And I’m so grateful,  that while the world seeks the cure for COVID19, I found the cure regardless of the outcome. Jesus. He is my hope. He is why I “can” live in victory. And not in fear.  However… I’m human. This world takes its toll on me. And that is why I heed the warning of the Lord, not to have a Pharisee or Sadducees heart, because I can. I cannot lose my salvation, but I can lose my hope and peace if I listen to religion and not my relationship. 

How’s your relationship this day before our greatest of all Holiday celebrations? When HOPE arose f rom the grave! Glory!

Posted in Christian Service, Church attendance, Evangelism, Leadership, Life Inspiration

Take Heed Church

CHICK WORDS

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. – Acts 20:28

I truthfully don’t believe that those who lay out of church read my blog, and I’m totally not offended. I’m quite certain that they likely don’t spend much time with other Christian writers either, they’re just not into it. So I have to ask myself a few questions this morning:

Why they are not in church?

Why they are not convicted about not being in church?

How do we reach out to them?

Acts 20:28 breaks it down quite nicely for me.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves

If I’m spending my Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night performing a role call in my head, I’ve missed the point of attending church. That’s what I needed to hear! Because I do. I don’t do it in condemnation (okay that might be a lie)… I don’t want to do it in condemnation, I am honestly concerned for their spiritual wellbeing and I miss them. But then the flesh kicks in occasionally and I get all pious and holy and miss the whole point of me being in church which is to improve my relationship with Christ and give me the tools to make it through the week; because it’s work to make it in this world. So my first responsibility is to make sure I’m covered spiritually and if I truly did that there would be no condemnation of those who didn’t make it.  But then I’m to

Take heed to all the flock

Once I’ve gotten what God needed me to get I need to turn my attention to the flock. I do that by listening to the Holy Spirit. I cannot oversee the entire lot of the missing masses of church members; which is my issue. I see the number missing and don’t know where to start! What I need to do is pray and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance on who I can encourage this week. One or two will do! Imagine if each leader in the church took one or two, how much quicker we would cover the entire missing mass and in so doing we would serve the way God intended us to, which is a unified body of believers concerned for the welfare of one another. So simple, yet so seldom done.

Feed the church of God

We’re a malnourished generation. We spend so much time doing and so little time digesting the Word of God and applying it to our lives. If we ate literal food the way we feed on the Word of God we’d have been in the grave long ago. That goes a long way to explain why the church is so dead. So how do we feed those who refuse to come to the table? One spoonful at a time every chance we get.

Social media is an awesome tool to post scripture, but it’s by far not the only way. I cannot count the times I’ve been encouraged by a card, note, phone message or email that had a scripture included. Every time we correspond with friends and family a scripture should be noted. Our words of encouragement are awesome, but God’s are powerful!

Luke’s final thought was God’s final words on the cross. It is finished. His blood bought the church and it is His blood that cleanses each one of us from all unrighteousness. Spread the Word!!!

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Posted in Christian Service, Leadership, Life Inspiration, Political

The Accountability Factor in America

The Heading caught me this morning as I flipped through my Ryrie Study Bible… “He Reforms the Nation.”…

Who reformed the nation? Josiah. I love his story! Crowned king at eight years old, reigning until he was thirty nine in Jerusalem and it says that he “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2

Oh for a Josiah in America…

He made the church fiscally and physically accountable

22:4-5 ~ Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,

I don’t think that it’s rocket science to know that churches (I speak collectively) have stopped holding themselves accountable. It’s been the topic of conversation a couple of times in my teen class lately to beware of high dollar preachers who use God’s money to fund their high dollar living. I’m all about providing for a Pastor, and I think he deserves top quality stuff, after all he’s in charge of our spiritual health and that’s a pretty hard job. But I don’t think any preacher needs a 10 million dollar home and a Mercedes in the garage paid for by the collection of the saints. Now… if he has other moneys coming from other incomes and he chooses to use it for that, that’s his business. However… on that note I think he’s going to have some explaining to do the Lord.

But that lifestyle makes me nauseous when there are so many people struggling in their lives, so many ministries that are could use money for the furtherance of the gospel and the glory of the Kingdom. I heard someone say the other day, and I may have mentioned it previously but it really stuck in my soul that we need to pray for “enough.”  And then I think that anything above “enough” should be prayerfully and purposefully used.

He made the church Spiritually accountable

22:11~ And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

They, like us today, were without excuse. We have the book; now it’s up to us to adhere God’s expectations.

He made them politically accountable

23:1-3 ~And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after theLord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

Conforming started at the top and worked its way down from the King to the people. If there is any hope for us to have the heading in America that “He reforms the nation” it’s going to have to go from top to bottom; but I can assure you it’s going to have to start at the bottom and works its way to the top. America is going to have to hold our government accountable…but first the churches in America are going to have to take a long look at how they’re handling the Word of God that is so readily available but seems seldom read. The church is going to have stop conforming to the world’s standards and expecting the world’s compensation for a service that Christ said was every Christian’s responsibility.