HOPE, OR WISHFUL THINKING?

If we were to ask the average Christian what is the most important thing there is about being a Christian, almost everybody would say "having faith." Of course, faith is important, but it is not the only thing that is important for Christians. Hope is also important in Christians’ lives. The Bible says that faith is being sure of what we hope for. It also says now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

Sometimes, we might get the impression that hope is not really as important as faith, in spite of what the Bible says. Perhaps one of the challenges we have is that there may be something of a difference between what the Bible means by hope and what some people generally mean by it. The dictionary defines hope as "a feeling that what is wanted will happen; a desire accompanied by expectation."

Meaning no one any disrespect, "a feeling that what is wanted will happen; a desire accompanied by expectation" sounds an awful lot like wishful thinking. "Why do you hope that something will happen?" "Because I want it to." We might hope to become taller than we are, or to switch career paths into some area that is up and coming or pays better than our present job; but if all we do is hope that will happen, we are merely engaging in wishful thinking.

When the Bible speaks of hope, it refers to something other than wishful thinking. The hope the Bible speaks of is something that has reasons to support it. Biblical hope is primarily based upon one or two reasons, God’s character or God’s promises, and often, both. Stated simply, we hope for something because of who God is, or because of what He has said, or both who He is and what He has said.

Faith and hope go hand in hand, but there are some distinctions between them. For one thing, faith gets us through the present or day to day activities of our lives. While faith rests on who God is and what He has promised, it rests primarily on what God has said and done in the past. For example, the Bible says we can have faith in Jesus because He was raised from the dead. It also says we can have faith in God, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus. In other words, since God did something, we can count on Him doing something else.

Hope, on the other hand, is more forward looking. The Bible says that hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? Hope looks to the future expectantly, based on solid reasons. Our hope is based on who God is, that is to say, His character. He is loving, wise and capable. Those character traits give us reason to look forward to our futures optimistically. God has made many promises to His people in the Bible, which give us solid reasons to anticipate our futures with confidence.

That Biblical hope is based upon reasoning rather than being merely wishful thinking is illustrated for us in the Book of Romans. The Bible tells us that Abraham was a man of great faith, but he was also a man of great hope. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.

Actually Abraham was functioning with two sets of facts, each of which gave him solid reasons to believe something. His problem was that the two sets of facts gave him reasons to believe in opposite things. One set of facts was that Abraham and his wife were too old to have children. The other set of facts was that God had made a promise, and God’s character is such that His promises can be relied upon.

The choice of which set of facts to focus on was fairly clear cut for Abraham, and he made the right one. Against all hope, that is to say the fact that he and his wife were beyond child bearing years, Abraham in hope believed, based on the fact that God had made a promise. Sometimes we also have reasons to believe things, even if they are not as dramatically clear cut for us as they were for Abraham.

In the Bible, there is a story about a man who acted upon his hope that Jesus would heal him. We often think of "Blind Bartimaeus" as being a man of great faith, and that he was. But he was also a hopeful man. Bartimaeus’ faith no doubt sustained him while he sat by the roadside each day, without sight. It was Bartimaeus’ hope, however, that sprang into action when Jesus crossed his path one day.

As Jesus and His disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

The Bible says that faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Perhaps Bartimaeus was familiar with God’s assertion about Himself in the Book of Exodus that "I am the LORD, who heals you." He probably heard that Jesus was healing people wherever He went. Bartimaeus had a lot of faith, which was formed by what he knew and heard about God. Bartimaeus also had a lot of hope, that maybe Jesus would travel close by him someday, which then happened. It was Bartimaeus’ hope that propelled him past the objections of the many (who) rebuked him and told him to be quiet.

Job was a man of faith and also a man of hope. Job’s faith enabled him to say, "If He slays me, still I will praise Him." It was Job’s hope that enabled him to believe that in spite of his dire and declining circumstances, his future was better than his past. That was saying something, because Job had enjoyed great prosperity before his trials. In the end, Job’s future did turn out to be better than his past. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.

Our hope should be in God rather than what we think He might do or not do. In the Bible, God makes some promises which are general in nature, while others are made to specific individuals. We are setting ourselves up for possible failure if we try to claim as our own a promise that God made to an individual. However, we can bank on God’s general promises, as though they were made to us personally.

Some of the general promises of God that give us hope are that God loves us unswervingly; since He never changes He won’t stop loving us. Romans chapter 8 promises us God uses all the challenges of our lives for a redemptive purpose, to help us become the types of people we should be. As well, the Bible promises us that our challenges will not exceed our ability to endure them.

Christians can and should be hopeful people, because Jesus lives forever, (and) He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Jesus provides us with solid reasons to hope.

Like faith, Biblical hope is our inheritance if we have entrusted ourselves to Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Instead of being "a feeling that what is wanted will happen; a desire accompanied by expectation," Biblical hope is an expectation that what God wants or desires will happen, and looking forward to that with confidence. As we wait hopefully for God’s will to unfold in our lives, He encourages us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

THE PERILS OF PRIDE

The Bible says that pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. There are dozens of passages in the Bible that warn us about the perils of pride. Jesus Himself said that pride is among the evils that God considers to be sin. Jesus said that pride is not an exterior evil. He said, "All these evil things come from within and defile a person."

Each of us, in varying degrees, are filled with pride. Pastor Jack Hayford’s commentary on Mark chapter seven says the following about pride: Pride is the twelfth on the list of thirteen inner vices (that Jesus listed), the word means haughtiness, arrogance, ostentatious pride bordering on insolence, and a disdainful attitude towards others. It is a pharisaical sin characterized by superiority of attitude. It is a state of pride that is the very opposite of Jesus’ claim for Himself, which was meek and lowly.

When we think of pride, we might often associate it with people who are particularly wealthy, or beautiful, or who we think are especially vulnerable to pride; but certainly not ordinary people like us. However, pride abounds in all sorts of people. Even Jesus’ closest friends demonstrated pride on occasion. One Biblical account in particular illustrates this clearly for us.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. "Teacher," they said, "we want You to do for us whatever we ask." "What do you want Me to do for you?" He asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory."

"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

Although with the hindsight afforded to us by 2000 years of history we might hold the disciples of Jesus in high esteem, the fact of the matter is they were pretty ordinary people. Jesus did not summon the religious elite to be His disciples; most of the people He picked came from the working class. For example, James and John were fishermen before they met Jesus.

Of all the people one might consider for the honor of sitting at Jesus’ side in His glory, how many of us would immediately include a couple of fishermen? We could choose from Moses, Elijah, Abraham, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel or a host of prophets and other Old Testament heroes, not to mention the giants of the faith who would follow. Why would James and John put themselves at the top of such a list? Pride is the first and best answer. Not only that, but they also assumed they could do whatever Jesus did.

James and John were not the only of Jesus’ followers to be driven by pride. We can be too. How many times have we thought that we should "help God?" We are thinking we can "help God" when we try to make our prayer requests come true. We are being proud when we get in front of what we think God may be doing and try to anticipate and facilitate the next move. Instead, we should be responding to what God does. The Bible says that they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…not the people who are trying to push God along.

Pride not only distorts our sense of who we are in comparison to other people, it distorts our perception of how we relate to God. In the Old Testament, Job (pronounced "Jobe") was not only a bit impatient, he also had more than a touch of pride in him. Job did not hesitate to insist that he should be able to challenge God about what God was allowing to happen in Job’s life. Admittedly, Job was getting reamed left and right. Job demanded an audience with the Almighty.

He got that, but probably not much more of what he expected. Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell Me, if you understand.

The Lord went on to ask Job a series of questions which highlighted that Job was not exactly in a position to put himself on equal footing with God. There are plenty of people who make similar mistakes today, thinking that they deserve certain treatment from God. For instance, people who think that on the Day of Judgement they’re going to be able to demonstrate that they deserve to live eternally in heaven because the good things they’ve done outweigh the bad, are going to be severely disappointed.

Another peril of pride is that even people who should by definition be humble are sometimes not. The Book of Hebrews says that every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.

Would that it was so that every cleryperson and church leader was as humble as the Book of Hebrews says we should be. The Church would certainly be better off, and no doubt the world would be also. Such is not the case, sadly. Some clergy and church leaders are actually pretty full of themselves. Their pride not only interferes with their relationship with God, it may be detrimental to the people around them.

If anybody in all of history ever had reason to be proud, certainly that would be Jesus. Yet Jesus was far from proud. The Bible says Christ also did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to Him, "You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. " And He says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

If we are going to overcome and avoid the perils of pride, we need to be determined to do so. It won’t happen on its own. The Bible says therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. The fear and trembling the Bible refers to here is a fear and trembling about ourselves – in other words, not being proud of who we are or any of the good things we do.

The antidote to our pride is not low self esteem. Rather, the antidote to our pride is to keep a mental picture of Jesus first and center in our minds. The Bible also says "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.

There is no greater source of wisdom, regardless of the topic, than Jesus Christ Himself. If we want to avoid and overtake the perils of pride, we should keep His words close by. Jesus said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

HONESTY WITH GOD IS THE PATH TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Sometimes, when people think of spirituality, we might tend to think in terms of "other worldliness." That is to say, we think that we or somebody else is being spiritual by seeming to be disconnected from this world. That disconnected-ness can even extend to interpersonal relationships, with some seemingly spiritual people keeping an emotional and relational distance from the people around them.

Is that what being spiritual looks like to God? Almost assuredly not! We can say that, because we can observe the behavior of Jesus and the interpersonal relationships that Jesus enjoyed with people. He was the farthest thing from being distant with people. Even a cursory observation of Jesus’ interactions with people demonstrates that He thoroughly enjoyed being involved in people’s lives.

The New Testament gospels provide story after story of Jesus’ warm interactions with people. Among them is the account of Jesus’ conversation with a person who, on the surface at least, appears to have been more than a little self-righteous. If there were ever a time when Jesus might have been tempted to be haughty, this encounter would likely have been one of them.

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said, "You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me."

Two things jump out of this story about Jesus’ encounter that day. The first is the phrase, Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… . Jesus was not being distant, distracted or any of the other things that some seemingly spiritual people do. His interactions were always close and personal. As well, Jesus might have sensed a certain disconnected-ness in this man’s heart when it came to spirituality.

We cannot know what the man in this story thought about spirituality, but the phrase "other worldliness" comes to mind. He thought of himself as a good person, and perhaps he was. Jesus did not dispute the man’s claim of being well behaved, but He did look into his heart and perceived that this man wanted to "have his cake and eat it too," as many people do. He wanted to be spiritual, but not in a way that his spirituality would have a meaningful impact on his day to day life.

When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Jesus seemed to be implying that being spiritual is not a matter of "other worldliness." If we are really going to be spiritual people, we cannot put God in a box, so to speak, and only let Him out when it is convenient for us to do so. That is not spirituality; most people would call it hypocrisy. Hypocrites say one thing, but actually believe or do something else.

The dictionary defines hypocrisy as "pretending to be what one is not, especially a pretence of virtue, piety, etc." In other words, we are being hypocritical when we say we believe in God and His goodness, but then try to exclude Him from our day to day lives. We should keep in mind that nobody is perfect, nor are we even good all the time; but are we being genuine or pretentious in our relationship with God?

The man who asked Jesus, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" did not want to interact honestly with God. We know that, because when he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. While we might feel superior to this man, we should keep in mind that we don’t have to be wealthy to be tempted to engage in hypocrisy when it comes to God. Any time that we box God out of our lives, we are essentially being hypocritical.

It sounds almost foolish to say that hypocrisy is not the path to spiritual growth. Since hypocrisy isn’t, what is? Obviously, honesty with God is the path to spiritual growth. No matter where we are on our own personal journeys with God, the way for us to grow closer to Him and become more spiritual ourselves is to interact honestly with God, no matter what.

People sometimes mistakenly refer to "the patience of Job" (pronounced "Jobe") as though Job was an exceptionally patient person. Actually, the opposite is probably more true. However, whatever Job lacked for in patience, he more than made up for in honesty, especially honesty with God. At some point in Job’s life, God allowed him to be severely tested, much to Job’s dislike and consternation.

Then Job answered: "Today also my complaint is bitter; His hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His dwelling! I would lay my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.

"Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power? No; but He would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with Him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. If I go forward, He is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive Him; on the left He hides, and I cannot behold Him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see Him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; if only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!"

When Job’s back was up against the wall, he did not pretend that he was okay or that all was right in his part of the world. Job was radically honest with God. If what happened to Job happened to us, we would probably feel like Job felt, but would we be honest enough with God to say so? Sometimes, Christians aren’t. They pretend that they’re fine and their world is good, when the exact opposite is true.

There are at least a couple of problems with not being honest with God. One of them is that we might make our problems bigger than they actually are, by exaggerating them as we preclude ourselves from honestly reviewing them with God. Job said, "I would learn what He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me." Are we willing to let God show us our problems from His point of view?

Along those lines, every experience in life, whether it is to our liking or not, is an opportunity to share our moments with God. For most of us, our joys are more joyful if we can share them with people who care about us and celebrate them with us. Our friends’ love and support carry us through dark days. Sharing our lives honestly with God invites Him to celebrate our joys with us and to comfort us in our sorrow.

We learn over time who we can trust. It may be that we do not feel comfortable sharing our inner most thoughts in a radically honest manner with some people, for fear of rejection. That is probably reasonable, but it is not applicable when it comes to being honest with God. God knows it all already; He will not be shocked. More than that, we will find that He is compassionate towards us.

The Book of Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before Him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. We should note that the Gospel of John calls Jesus the Word of God; this passage more likely refers to Jesus, rather than an inanimate object.

God’s compassion compels us to be honest with Him. Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

TREATING OUR SINS LIKE WE SHOULD

There are a few things that are fairly common among most people when it comes to sin: everybody does it, but nobody likes to talk about it. To be exact, most people are all too happy to talk or even gossip about somebody else’s sin, but when it comes to our own sin, it’s like the old adage: "see no evil, hear no evil, speak (of) no evil." In reality, though, that is not treating our sins like we should.

Jesus was unapologetic about insisting that we will never be the people God made us to be, that we most likely want to be ourselves, unless we are sincere about treating our sins like we should. When it came to the subject of treating our sins like we should, Jesus was not at all politically correct. He advocated a "no holds barred" approach that might have seemed offensive to some people.

Jesus said, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

"And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Most people would immediately recognize that Jesus was not advocating self mutilation. He never intended that people would literally chop off a body part or pluck out an eye. Jesus was no doubt employing a form of speaking that we refer to as hyperbole, which is using an extreme statement to make a point. We do that all the time ourselves. When we say something like "I’m so hungry I could eat a horse," we don’t mean that literally, we are using a figure of speech to make a point.

The point that Jesus was making about sin is that it is really awful and should not be treated lightly. That is the opposite of how many people treat sin, especially their own sins. Sometimes some people appear to be tolerant of other people’s sins, but as often as not they may be condoning sins they’ve either committed or at least would like to commit.

Jesus said we have to be ruthless if we are going to be treating our sins like we should. We should be willing to give up comforts and pleasures to do that, if it is necessary; "it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell." How many times have we thought that there are some things we either should be doing or not be doing as the case may be, but we go right ahead and sin anyway, because sinning is more comfortable or easy at the time, rather than exercising restraint?

We should realize that it is not just our creature comforts that we should consider when we contemplate sinning. Deliberate sins are a one way exit ramp out of God’s presence and away from His blessings. "It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell." One of the great tragedies we will have to face in heaven is the realization of how many times we precluded God from blessing us, because we insisted on sinning when He was wanting to bless us.

Even though our sins are usually temporary, that is to say we sin for a little while and then go back to behaving ourselves, our sins often if not always have longer term consequences for us. It’s like what they say about eating sweets, "a moment on the lips, forever on the hips." Jesus posed this awesome question for us: "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?" Indeed, how?

How do God’s people lose their way and indulge themselves continually in sinful behavior? It is not usually ignorance. Our problem with sin is not that we don't know it is sin. "You mean to say that when I take something that doesn’t belong to me that the Lord calls that stealing?" No, for the most part, we know all too well how to distinguish between sinful and righteous behavior.

Among the various reasons that Christians engage in persistent sin is that we are influenced by other people, particularly by those who don’t know the Lord. Even though we are supposed to be a positive influence on people, we nonetheless allow others to influence us instead. The people of Israel were blessed by God with food that He divinely provided without any effort on their part, which for a while was appreciated, until the non-Israelites provoked them to sin by complaining against God.

In the Book of Numbers we read about how the people of God fell under the influence of others. The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

One of the great ironies of this account is that the collective memory of the rabble and the Israelites was completely faulty. First of all, they did not have all that glorious food in Egypt, and secondly, it cost them dearly. They were slaves in Egypt! Even if their lives in the desert were not that great, it had to be better than when they were back in Egypt, under the harsh and oppressive rule of Pharaoh’s taskmasters.

There are a number of reasons why we should be treating our sins like we should. We have already considered what Jesus said, and that ought to be enough. But if what Jesus said is not enough to motivate us to be treating our sins like we should, yet another reason is that if we don’t, we will compromise our effectiveness as Christians. We won’t be the blessing we otherwise could be, to our families and friends.

The Bible makes it clear that God takes our behavior into account when it comes to hearing and responding to our prayers. We may not like that, but that is the way it is. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, the Lord says, "if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Being heard by God when we pray depends on us treating our sins like we should.

In the New Testament, the Book of James also stresses the importance of treating our sins like we should, so that our prayers will be powerful. Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Treating our sins like we should can also release God’s healing power. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James used an Old Testament example to illustrate that treating our sins like we should has always mattered to God. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

God knows that we are not perfect, and never will be in this life. He does not ask us to be more than we can be, but He does want us to be treating our sins like we should. He offers a wonderful promise to any of us who do: If one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE DIFFERENT

The last full weekend of September marks not only the end of Summer and the first day of Fall; it also marks the beginning of the Feast of Ramadan for Muslims and Rosh Hashanah for the Jewish people. By participating in their respective religious celebrations, Muslims and Jews distinguish themselves from the general populations where they live, if they reside outside their homelands.

In many cases, it is not that difficult to recognize Muslims or Jews who are orthodox in their faiths, because some Muslims and Jews attire themselves in distinctive clothing that serves to identify them as observant participants in their faith. By way of contrast, Christians for the most part tend to blend into whatever population we live among.

There is something commendable about people who are authentic about who and what they are. This is especially true if the people happen to be part of a minority group, when it might be easier to try to fit in with the culture around them instead. It always requires a measure of courage to stand apart from "the crowd."

Christians should also be different. We ought to be different, not in our appearance, but rather in the way in which we live our lives. We should distinguish ourselves by following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and becoming more and more like Him with the passage of time. Simply stated, we should be different from what we otherwise would be, apart from our relationship with Jesus.

It is vitally important that we be clear, and that we fully comprehend ourselves, that in being different we in no way consider ourselves to be superior to other people. We are not. The Bible says there are none righteous, no, not one. The Apostle Paul, who was second only to Jesus Himself in spreading the Gospel, had no illusions that he was better than anybody else.

In writing to his friend Timothy, the Apostle Paul proclaimed, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What hinders Christians from being different? To the extent that we are not different from what we otherwise would be apart from Christ, it is not God’s fault. One thing that certainly holds us back from being different is our determined insistence on staying the same. There is an old saying that "if Jesus Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all."

Oftentimes, we want it both ways. We want the blessings of the Lord, but we do not want to pay the cost of receiving those benefits. While salvation is a gift from God, it is sort of like inheriting property. The inheritance is passed to us freely, but if we fail to maintain the property, it won’t take long before it is in shambles. The same is true about our Christian lives.

We were all born into this world, which sounds like a redundant statement; except that we all have the ways of the world ingrained in us. God’s goal for Christians is that over time we are less oriented towards the world, and more oriented towards His kingdom. Throughout the Scripture, the Holy Spirit implores God’s people to be different from the world and from ourselves.

Psalm One states clearly that there is a difference between the world’s ways and God ways, and that God’s blessings flow to people who appreciate those distinctions and demonstrate that by living accordingly. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the ungodly! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the ungodly will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish.

Today’s generation of Christians are hardly the first Christians to struggle with wanting to have it both ways – to enjoy the benefits of being different without actually being different. Christians in the early Church were admonished by the Holy Spirit, speaking through James, to be different from themselves and from the world around them.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Even Jesus’ own closest friends seemed to have a hard time "getting it," and were slow to realize that He was challenging them to be different. Jesus often pointed out the differences between the way this world works and the way things work in the kingdom of heaven. For example, Jesus gained His victory for us when He appeared to be defeated in the eyes of the world.

Jesus’ disciples were slow to grasp kingdom truths. They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because He was teaching His disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise." But they did not understand what He meant and were afraid to ask Him about it.

Perhaps one of the reasons Jesus’ disciples were slow to grasp kingdom truths is similar to why we are today, because we often have our own agendas occupying our attention. They came to Capernaum. When He was in the house, He asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

There are many reasons why Christians should be different, and why we should want to be different. One of the more compelling reasons Christians should want to be different is that living with our feet firmly planted in this world while trying to live kingdom lives does not work.

Speaking through James, the Holy Spirit puts it directly to us, while graciously offering the best of invitations. Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. In other words, dear Christian, be different.

WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART?

If we have watched more than an hour of television within the past year or so, each of us must have seen the corny commercials put out by Capital One Credit Cards, where extreme characters ask the same punch line question: "What’s in your wallet?" The idea behind the commercials is that it is bad if we have anything but a Capital One credit card in our pockets.

Taking a cue from the Capital One commercials, a better and more significant question might be put to each of us: "What’s in your heart?" Each of us would like to think of ourselves as good people, and for the most part, most of us probably are. At the same time, we’ve also probably had times in our lives when we’ve said or done things that were just plain wrong.

Some people think that there is some sort of a universal conscience out there somewhere that governs our overall behavior. After all, there are some behaviors which are universally applauded and others which are universally condemned. For example, even though most of our politicians seem to lack the moral stamina to say so, torturing people has been universally condemned in civilized society for thousands of years; the Romans did it and we are appalled by what they did.

The universal conscience "somewhere out there" has a name: God. It is God who has established that some things are right and other things are wrong. That is but one of the several ways in which God reveals Himself in a general way, which is to say that we can detect His existence. We know that God exists, in part because He has instilled within us a sense of right and wrong. Another way we know God exists is by observing nature. In Psalm 19 we see these revelations combined.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Simply stated, God reveals His glory to us in and through His glorious creation.

God also reveals Himself to us through His laws. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

There are a couple of observations we might make about God’s laws. God’s laws are intended to be a blessing to us, not a means of stopping us from having fun. For example, haven’t each of us had times when things have not turned out as we had hoped, and yet strangely enough, we have had the satisfaction of knowing we had done the right thing in the meantime? That happens, because the precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.

Another observation that we might make about God’s laws is that we lack the capacity to abide by them on our own. While many other religions seem to indicate that people’s behavior might need a little modification, God says we need a change of heart. When God asks the question, "what’s in your heart?" the answer is that evil lurks within each of us.

The Book of James lays it all out, very straightforwardly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect person, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by people, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. This should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Although we might not like being confronted quite so boldly by the Bible, we must also admit that it is not wrong in describing us. While we do right things, maybe even most of the time, we do stumble on occasion. We have all done and said things that surprised even us. At such times, we don’t need an extreme character to ask us, "what’s in your heart?" We already know.

The standard religious answer to our maladies is that we need a little tinkering here or there, to do a religiously approved activity to make things right. Jesus would say, "Wrong!" Typical religion addresses sin from the outside, with rules and regulations, which have little or any impact upon the heart. Jesus says, "Let Me give you a new heart altogether."

Jesus’ closest followers would have been content with typical religion, but Jesus thought that was not good enough for His followers, then or today. Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?"

It is important that we not forget that the rules do in fact matter, but of even greater importance is what is in our hearts. If we observe God’s laws hoping to get Him to accept us, that won’t work; and besides, we don’t need to: He has already offered to accept us through Jesus Christ. If we observe God’s laws as a substitute for having a real and vital personal relation with Him, that won’t work either. It will only frustrate us, and probably God as well.

On the other hand, if our hearts are right before God because we are opening them increasingly to Him, then we may honestly join with the Psalmist as he concluded Psalm 19: By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART?

If we have watched more than an hour of television within the past year or so, each of us must have seen the corny commercials put out by Capital One Credit Cards, where extreme characters ask the same punch line question: "What’s in your wallet?" The idea behind the commercials is that it is bad if we have anything but a Capital One credit card in our pockets.

Taking a cue from the Capital One commercials, a better and more significant question might be put to each of us: "What’s in your heart?" Each of us would like to think of ourselves as good people, and for the most part, most of us probably are. At the same time, we’ve also probably had times in our lives when we’ve said or done things that were just plain wrong.

Some people think that there is some sort of a universal conscience out there somewhere that governs our overall behavior. After all, there are some behaviors which are universally applauded and others which are universally condemned. For example, even though most of our politicians seem to lack the moral stamina to say so, torturing people has been universally condemned in civilized society for thousands of years; the Romans did it and we are appalled by what they did.

The universal conscience "somewhere out there" has a name: God. It is God who has established that some things are right and other things are wrong. That is but one of the several ways in which God reveals Himself in a general way, which is to say that we can detect His existence. We know that God exists, in part because He has instilled within us a sense of right and wrong. Another way we know God exists is by observing nature. In Psalm 19 we see these revelations combined.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Simply stated, God reveals His glory to us in and through His glorious creation.

God also reveals Himself to us through His laws. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

There are a couple of observations we might make about God’s laws. God’s laws are intended to be a blessing to us, not a means of stopping us from having fun. For example, haven’t each of us had times when things have not turned out as we had hoped, and yet strangely enough, we have had the satisfaction of knowing we had done the right thing in the meantime? That happens, because the precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.

Another observation that we might make about God’s laws is that we lack the capacity to abide by them on our own. While many other religions seem to indicate that people’s behavior might need a little modification, God says we need a change of heart. When God asks the question, "what’s in your heart?" the answer is that evil lurks within each of us.

The Book of James lays it all out, very straightforwardly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect person, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by people, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. This should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Although we might not like being confronted quite so boldly by the Bible, we must also admit that it is not wrong in describing us. While we do right things, maybe even most of the time, we do stumble on occasion. We have all done and said things that surprised even us. At such times, we don’t need an extreme character to ask us, "what’s in your heart?" We already know.

The standard religious answer to our maladies is that we need a little tinkering here or there, to do a religiously approved activity to make things right. Jesus would say, "Wrong!" Typical religion addresses sin from the outside, with rules and regulations, which have little or any impact upon the heart. Jesus says, "Let Me give you a new heart altogether."

Jesus’ closest followers would have been content with typical religion, but Jesus thought that was not good enough for His followers, then or today. Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?"

It is important that we not forget that the rules do in fact matter, but of even greater importance is what is in our hearts. If we observe God’s laws hoping to get Him to accept us, that won’t work; and besides, we don’t need to: He has already offered to accept us through Jesus Christ. If we observe God’s laws as a substitute for having a real and vital personal relation with Him, that won’t work either. It will only frustrate us, and probably God as well.

On the other hand, if our hearts are right before God because we are opening them increasingly to Him, then we may honestly join with the Psalmist as he concluded Psalm 19: By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

EXERCISING FAITH DOES NOT ALWAYS FEEL COMFORTABLE

The story is told of the young boy who was nervous about going to an overnight camp for the first time. It turned out he wasn’t worried about missing his family or home; he was afraid the other children would find out he is a Christian and they would make fun of him. His parents shared his concerns, and when he returned home at the end of the week, they anxiously asked him how he had been treated for being a Christian. "It went great!" he exclaimed, "nobody found out the whole time!"

The boy in this story is not the only person who is hesitant to acknowledge his or her faith. It is not at all surprising these days for people to indicate that their faith in God "is a private matter". They rarely if ever speak about their faith in God. They may be good people, but don’t want to connect their good behavior or good deeds to having faith in God. They might suggest it is unseemly "to wear your religion on your shirtsleeve."

There are at least a couple of reasons that holding to "a private faith" might not be a great idea. First of all, people tend to be vocal about things they have a passion for, particularly if they feel that they are in a safe place to express themselves. For instance, people seem to want to express their political opinions if they have any, especially if they are among like minded people.

More importantly than that, the Bible suggests that we should be expressing our faith, with both words and deeds. The Bible says that faith, by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. We might want to think about this in human terms for a moment. Imagine a husband who never expressed or demonstrated any affection for his wife. It might be difficult, to say the least, for anybody, including the wife, to believe that the husband has any affection whatsoever for her in the first place!

Generally speaking, marriage should be a haven in which the expression of affection feels safe. A wife or husband should not feel constrained by anybody, inside or outside of the marriage, to acknowledge their affection for one another. Indeed, some of us are aware of marriages where that doesn’t happen, and that seems wrong to us. So why should it not seem just as wrong for people of faith to not acknowledge it?

Jesus warned His followers, and us by extension, of the perils of not exercising our faith openly. He said "whoever denies Me before people, him also will I deny before the Father." It is unlikely that Jesus was saying He would withdraw His offer of salvation to those who accept Him, because the Bible says that our salvation is a free gift from God. The Bible says that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. Is it possible that Jesus was saying that if we deny Him before people, He would not be making intercession for us at the right hand of the Father ?

Sometimes Christians want it both ways. We want to avoid the possibility of being embarrassed for or about our faith, but we also want the benefits of our faith. It generally does not work that way. The Bible tells the story of Jesus visiting one town where not much faith was being exercised, and it says He could not do many miracles there, because of their lack of faith.

The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God… that those who come to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. At the risk of reading too much into one word, it is worth noting the word earnestly. While one does not have to be exceptionally verbose or demonstrative to do something earnestly, it is likely that one would not normally or regularly be secretive or especially private about an earnest endeavor.

Having said that, perhaps some people are naturally shy or reticent. Through Isaiah the prophet God speaks reassuringly; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you." Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. The lame will leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In other words, "Step forward and be blessed!"

There is a story in the Bible about a man who appears to have been hesitant, perhaps because he was shy, or maybe embarrassed, or possibly ignorant, to be blessed by God. Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Him to place His hand on the man. After He took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers into the man's ears. Then He spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Be opened!" At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Some people might object and say that Jesus blessed this man, even though it appears that he did not earnestly seek God. That would be true, but that’s not the whole story. Some people brought to Him a man…even though the individual might have been hesitant, others were not, and they exercised faith on behalf of the deaf and mute man. It may even be that this poor soul did not even understand what Jesus could do for him, due to his disability. But his hearing friends knew enough to bring him to Jesus.

Whether the disabled man was deliberately hesitant, or was ignorant about what God could do for him, it may be that it was uncomfortable for his friends to bring him to Jesus. Exercising faith does not always feel comfortable. Sometimes, exercising faith means going out on a limb. Things might not turn out as we expect them to. Our friends or family members might think we are foolish.

We never have to worry about God making us look or feel foolish. He says that if we lack wisdom but are willing to do His will, He will never chide us. In this account of Jesus with the deaf and mute man, we see Jesus demonstrating great sensitivity, when He took him aside, away from the crowd. Sometimes people with disabilities feel awkward, so Jesus did not make this man a subject of a show. God would not want to embarrass anybody who earnestly seeks Him.

Jesus once told a story about a woman who pestered an unjust judge, even in the middle of the night, demanding that her rights be upheld. The Bible’s own commentary about that story is that Jesus told His disciples this parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. While exercising faith does not always feel comfortable around some people, it should always feel comfortable around God.

The Bible recounts the story of a woman who, by all social accounts, should have felt uncomfortable exercising faith by approaching Jesus. In some ways, she was the mirror opposite of the deaf and mute man, who for his own reasons, did not go to Jesus on his own. This particular woman felt no such hesitation, seeking Jesus out and marching right up to Him. It would have been an awkward moment, except for the graciousness of Jesus.

The woman was bold. Jesus entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about Him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

The woman was not about to take "no" for an answer. "First let the children eat all they want," He told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then He told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

There is a certain irony in this story that may be worth mentioning. The woman who apparently felt no discomfort barging into where Jesus was visiting was not only a woman, and therefore her status in that society was not as high as a man’s; but she was also a foreigner to Jesus, coming from outside ethnic Israel. Yet she did not hesitate to exercise faith in Jesus, and was richly rewarded for having done so.

On the other hand, the disabled man not only lived in ethnic Israel, he was from the region that Jesus had grown up in. That might not mean much to us, but the fact of the matter is that the region around the Sea of Galilee was what we might call "the wrong side of town" or "the wrong side of the tracks." Between the two people, the disabled man had much more of an obvious or natural "in" with Jesus than the woman, and yet he lacked the same determination to call upon Jesus for help.

How about us? Would we let the fact that exercising faith does not always feel comfortable keep us from earnestly seeking God? It may be that some of us are by nature bolder than others in exercising our faith, but that should not deter any of us from exercising faith; because the Bible says that faith without works is dead. When we think about it, how attractive is the alternative?

WHO NEEDS GOD'S LAWS, ANYHOW?

Has it ever happened to you? You’re driving down a long road, and when you glance into the rearview mirror, you see a police car is behind you. What is your first reaction? To look at your speedometer, isn’t it? But suppose you don’t know the speed limit of the road you’re on?

The next thing you do is look for a speed limit sign, but they’re not always there when you want them. If you’ve been on that road before, you might try to remember what the speed limit is. But what if you can’t? You might resort to trying to figure out what the speed limit should be, but that can be tricky. And all the while, that cruiser is keeping pace with you.

In many of life’s circumstances, it is essential that we know the law. We’ve learned most of the important laws that impact our day to day lives without even knowing how, in most instances. In many cases, our parents taught us basic rules of living, like not taking things that don’t belong to us, which is the law of the land. We may have learned other laws along the way unconsciously.

Imagine what life would be like if there were no laws. The roadways would be nothing less than a huge car crash. So would life in general. Sometimes people don’t realize that when their friends are bragging about flaunting the rules of life, they’re exaggerating or perhaps just lying outright; and then they follow in their friends’ tales of fancy and get themselves into big trouble.

When considering the spiritual laws of life, some people contend that "being a good person" is or should be good enough. Generally speaking, the people who matter to us are happy with that. Shouldn’t God be content with that? Who needs God’s laws, anyhow?

Apparently, God thinks we need His laws. If He did not think so, why would He have given them to us? As the people of Israel were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land after living as slaves for over 400 years and wandering through the desert for another 40 years, God decided it would be a good thing to take a little extra time to deliver His laws to Moses.

Moses said to the people, "Hear now the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’"

Some people might wonder why God decided to give us His laws. The Bible suggests that God gave us His laws for two basic reasons. One reason was so that sinners could know that they were not living according to God’s ways. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God gave us His laws so that people could see that clearly.

The second reason that God gives us His laws is so that His followers could know the difference between right and wrong on an ongoing basis. Each of us is endowed with a conscious that informs us that we are not perfect, but we can easily distort how we are sinning, either by overstating our sins or by understating them. People have a tendency to do both.

Some people overstate the problem of sin by saying that people are no good at all. The reality is that most people are somewhat good. It is rare to find somebody who is absolutely evil. People are not sinners because we always sin, but rather because we sometimes sin. On the other side of the equation, we all have a tendency to understate our sin by saying, "everybody else does it."

Believe it or not, God gave us His laws as a gift, so that we could live blessed lives. The Bible says every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the person who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Who needs God’s laws, anyhow? We all do, because we are all prone to sin, at least from time to time. Ever since our earliest ancestors rebelled against God, we have a tendency towards sinning. Some people may doubt this, but human experience confirms it. What parent ever had to teach his or her child to sin? They seemed to pick that up naturally. A parent’s task is to counteract that.

God gave us His laws because He fully understands where sin comes from. It does not come from "out there" somewhere. We all have a sinful nature. In a sense it’s like when a computer gets one of those viruses with the awful pop up ads. The computer doesn’t even have to be turned on to the internet for those ads to appear, because they become imbedded in the computer itself.

Jesus said, "Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a person ‘unclean.’"

It is as though Jesus is offering to us the speed limit signs we need to navigate the roads of life. We live in a world that sometimes trivializes sin, saying that what happens between consenting adults is fine and is their own business. Not so, according to Jesus! As well, some people may not realize that what we call character flaws like greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly are sin in God’s eyes.

Sometimes we might think that God gave us His laws just to crimp our style or to be a killjoy. Nothing could be farther from the truth! The Bible says that God’s laws are a great blessing. Moses declared, "What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?"

Who needs God’s laws, anyhow? Anybody who wants to do God’s will and to be blessed by God. It is not a matter of figuring it out on our own or having an innate sense of these things that come naturally to us. The only way to know how God wants us to live is to let Him tell us, which he gladly does, through His laws.

"I WILL GIVE YOU A REAL CHOICE"

As yet another election cycle draws upon us, voters will once again see the phenomenon of political morphing. That’s when the otherwise distinct differences between candidates becomes so blurred that a reasonable person cannot distinguish between them.

In Connecticut, we see Senator Joseph Lieberman, who lost his primary to an ardent anti war candidate, morphing himself into a Ned Lamant. Congressman Christopher Shays, who until just recently has been ardently pro war, is now morphing himself in a Dianne Farrell, going so far as to call for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, in opposition to his party’s position.

Whether or not all of this morphing will actually enable the incumbent politicians to hang onto their jobs for another term is yet to be seen. What is very clear is that they have no intention of offering voters a real choice when they go to the voting booths in November.

Even though politicians seem to think it is in their best interests to blur the distinctions between themselves and their political opponents, God does not do that. God wants us to perceive that there is a clear distinction to be made between Himself and alternate choices. Time and again throughout the Scriptures, God says "I will give you a real choice."

The Bible indicates that it all boils down to a choice between gods. We can choose to align ourselves with the Lord, or the one whom the Bible calls the god of this world or the god of this age. Some people think the choice is between God and nothing. The Bible says that is not so.

It is easy to forget that even as we live in a three dimensional world in a continuum of time, we also live in a spiritual environment. We may think our challenges are either between ourselves or nature, but there is more to it. Some people call it "fate." The Bible says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the spiritual realms.

We live in a post Christian, or post religious, world. It was not always so. Our earliest ancestors were not ignorant fools attributing confusing or mysterious phenomenon to non-existent deities. Until relatively recently, people perceived the world as being under the jurisdiction of God. It made a lot of sense to people for thousands of years that God put things together and sustains them, rather than to view a highly complicated world as self derived.

When God says "I will give you a real choice;" He asks us to choose between Himself and other gods. As the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land after their forty year sojourn in the desert, their leader Joshua laid out their choices simply and directly, on behalf of God.

"Now fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your fore-fathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

The Bible uses various pictures to describe our lives in this world. One of those pictures is that of a cosmic battle between God and Satan. The battlefield is our hearts and minds; our lives are like a battlefield between God, the force for good, and Satan, the force for evil. Unlike battlefields like Gettysburg, we not only have a stake, we have a say, in the outcome.

The battle is lopsided, in our favor. By aligning ourselves with Jesus Christ, we can experience real and lasting victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. Even though Martin Luther aptly wrote "and though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us;" he went on to say "we will not fear, for God hath willed, His truth to triumph through us."

The Bible affirms that the battle is lopsided in our favor, in the account of when Jesus’ disciples returned from a preaching tour. The seventy two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name." We can, as Joshua admonished the people of Israel, serve the LORD, because Jesus has deputized His followers with real spiritual authority.

Even though we have embraced Jesus Christ as our Lord, we are still vulnerable to temptation. Here again, God has given us the means of victory. For though we live in this world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have the power to demolish strongholds.

Jesus warned us that our hearts can be a seedbed for all sorts of evil. Left to their own devices, little sinful thoughts can easily mature into wicked "thoughts of the heart," or mindsets. It is best to catch such thoughts early. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Let’s face it, temptations can be luring. They could not tempt us otherwise. That is why it is so important that we comprehend who is behind the temptations. The Bible assures us that God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. Satan tempts us by appealing to our lusts and other unholy desires. We must keep in mind that Satan’s goal is to kill us, not to bless us.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever.

The Bible offers us a list of things the devil would like to tempt us with, but which we should avoid. That list includes the acts of the sinful nature (which) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, rebellion, heresies and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Perhaps it might help us to picture Satan as a pedophile, luring the child with candy or toys. It is not a friendly gesture. It is the exact opposite; it is monstrous. It is the same old story since the earliest days of humanity. God warned Cain, "if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

God’s plan for us is that we draw near to God and He will draw near to you; resist the devil and he will flee from you. Part of resisting the devil includes fleeing youthful lusts ourselves. We must constantly reclaim our hearts and minds for God and ourselves, as we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The Bible says I urge you, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s is; His good, pleasing and perfect will.

God says, "I will give you a real choice." As we make the choice for God instead of the devil, over time we will see a change unfolding in ourselves. It won’t happen immediately or overnight, but it will happen. We will notice that we see things differently; that we are being transformed by the renewing of our mind; and that God is winning the battle for our hearts and minds.

God says, "I will give you a real choice." And so, each of has a real choice to make. The good choice is available to anybody who is willing to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in obedience to the Holy Spirit. God’s grace will see us through, if we are willing to choose Him. The choice is real, the stakes are high, let us choose wisely.

"I WILL GIVE YOU WISDOM"

For many Christians, perceiving God’s will is the equivalent of "throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks" and "running it up the flagpole and see who salutes." In other words, perceiving God’s will is a matter of a mixture of trial and error, or just plain guessing.

The Bible indicates that we can do better than that. The Bible suggests that God would say to us, "I will give you wisdom." Wisdom is more than knowledge. From a secular perspective, there are some people who have a lot of knowledge about a subject, but lack the wisdom to use it.

Wisdom might be characterized as the ability to make good choices. It is more than knowing the difference between right and wrong, but knowing what is the right thing to do in a given circumstance. The highest form of wisdom would be to perceive God’s will accurately.

The Holy Spirit encourages us to pursue wisdom. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That may actually mean being afraid of God. Jesus said we ought not to fear people, but rather to "fear Him who has the power to destroy your body and soul." Being fearful may also mean more than being afraid; although it may mean that, it might also mean being "very respectful."

God is not the only source of wisdom. The Bible warns us about wisdom that is not from God when it says who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

The wisdom of the world does not always bear good fruit or result in good behavior. Although we must be careful not to judge other people, the Bible says we should judge, or monitor, ourselves. We can determine if we are employing God’s wisdom by what kind of fruit flows from our behavior. Jesus said that "wisdom is proved right by her actions."

If we are drawing our wisdom from God, the result should be that we and those we affect tend to look more like Jesus, not in our outward appearance, but in our character. That is probably one of the things that most distinguishes godly wisdom from worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom often looks for results at all costs; think Machiavelli; while godly wisdom forms character.

The kind of character traits that flow out of the exercise of godly wisdom would include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we are out to accomplish a goal these traits might not seem important, but at the end of a person’s life what really counts is what kind of person he or she was, not how much money they accumulated or how many accomplishments may be attributed to them.

Before we can tap into God’s wisdom, we must determine ahead of time that we are going to do His will. The Bible says if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded person, unstable in all he does.

Perhaps one of the reasons the Lord insists on us determining ahead of time that we will employ His wisdom is that we probably would not otherwise. Employing God’s wisdom as often as not will be at least as challenging, if not more challenging, that any other alternative. The results are much better, but it is rarely easier to employ God’s wisdom than not.

That being said, one might reasonably wonder if it is such a good thing to employ God’s wisdom in the first place. Might we not be better off just using worldly wisdom instead? As an example, over the very short term, drinking to excess may seem like a lot of fun. Uptight people often loosen up, and gregarious people laugh louder and longer.

But ultimately, there is a price to be paid. Drinking to excess destroys the human body in many ways. It often destroys relationships. Our inhibitions protect us from behavior that we will later be embarrassed by and quite often hurt by. Drinking to excess is not a wise choice for anybody.

Another very good reason to choose godly wisdom over the wisdom of the world is that doing so pleases God and blesses us and the people around us. A basic principle throughout the Bible is that if we can be trusted with a little, God will give us more. That principle stands with wisdom.

The Bible illustrates this point in the story of when Solomon succeeded his father David as king and prayed that God would give him wisdom. The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.

As the Bible says, God will give us His wisdom if we really want it and ask for it; and He will often give us more. "I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings."

The premier cardiologist Dr. Jarvik says that the average heart beats two billion times during the course of a person’s life. There are 1,440 minutes in every day, and 168 hours in each week, and 365 days in a year. We might get more or fewer heartbeats, but we are each allotted the same amount of time for each day, week or year that we live.

Each of us is also given the choice of how we will live each day, week and year that our hearts are beating on this earth. Will we choose the wisdom of this world, which so often is really foolishness, or will we determine to live by God’s wisdom? God says to us, "I will give you wisdom." How will we answer Him? The psalmist suggests that we our prayer should be, teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.