Spiritual Scurvy

11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

One of the silent killers of US and Filipino POWs in WWII was scurvy. Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C. Without it, you are unable to produce collagen and other so your body starts to self destruct. Progressive signs are tooth loss, rashes, cankerous sores in your mouth and eventually death. The POWs' diets were limited to small amounts of white rice often laced with worms. The rice is just a starch so the worms, though gross, at least provided some protein. As these men started to realize that scurvy was setting in across the camp, the prisoners realized that volunteering for the farming detail would allow them access to naturally growing citrus trees on the edges of the field. The harsh treatment by the Japanese, drove tens of thousands to death. It is ironic that a small amount of fruit saved the lives of many more.

When you get to the heart of Philippians 1:11 above, Paul is saying eat from the tree of life by communing with Jesus and His Glory. It reinforces Jesus charge to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Jesus wants us to consume Him, and in turn be consumed by Him.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is as true spiritually as it is physically. Just as a physical diet deprived of vitamin C leads to death so does a Spiritual life devoid of communion with God through Christ. A spirit separated from its maker will shrivel and die, just like many of the POWs in Cabanatuan, one of the infamous Japanese POW camps. Time spent worshipping personally, with a small group and corporately is the spiritual cure for spiritually scurvy, a.k.a. sin and depravity of man.

Our culture, even inside the Church, seems more obsessed with learning about God and the things of God, than just simply worshipping Him. All of the best books and sermons miss their mark in your life if they don't send you searching the depth of your soul to Exhalt Christ. If the learning about Holy precepts and models for Church life are devoid of the Spirit, then what is the point? That looks like the POWs having a guaranteed escape route, yet the scurvy has them to weak to walk down it.

One of the great truths of the bible is this: Worship God, the one true God through Christ or die. It is that simple. That comes only from God by grace, but it is our privileged responsibility to be filled with life by eating the "fruit of righteousness" as Paul says.

The harsh truth is this: We are all built to consume, desire and worship something so that is occurring in all of our lives. When that is directed to something other than exhalting Christ, it is called idolatry. Idolatry covered by a religious veneer like going to church for an hour a week while our daily thoughts, concerns and desires are consumed by something else is the darkest trap around. It is a large one that has snared many throughout the years and is living large today in the good ol' USA.

Are you being filled with Fruit of righteousness? If not, then these words will lead you to start justifying the very idol(s) that you are being consumed with and by.

P.O.W.

2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

The history of mankind is quite interesting and is a fruitful ground for learning. WWII for some reason, has always intigued me. Part of that reason is because my grandfather participated in the Normandy invasion on day three, so I have personal attachment. The other part is that there are so many kingdom precepts that we can learn from studying actions taken during the war.

One of those precepts is the processing of P.O.W.s. I want to be careful to not imply that all scenarios were handled equally as they were not. Places and events like Auswitch, the Bataan death March and Dachau are some of the most grusome acts of Evil this side of the cross, and I in no way want to belittle the grief of those who suffered there. What I would like to reflect on is what usually happened when a particular force was in the process of being captured. As looming defeat became clear, those losing the battle had two options. Option one is that they could choose to fight against the greater force until they died. Option two is that they could choose to surrender, and put their lives in the hands of the captors.

When you think about an armed forces surrender many things are clear. They are forced to approach the conquerors humbly with hands up in the air as a symbol of submission. Secondly, they are stripped of the weapons that could be used to do the conquering force harm. Those who surrender are fragile, powerless and must choose to live under total control of another, giving up all freedoms. I believe that this picture of being a P.O.W. was how Paul saw himself. I believe it is the only offer Jesus gives us as well. Go back and read the verses above and pray through what Jesus is really after in us and what drove Paul.

The obvious difference between surrendering to Christ and an opposing armed forces, comes after the surrender. If, like Paul, we become His prisoner as we surrender our flesh to Christ, we live vibrantly from the spirit outward. If we refuse to become His prisoner and continue to fight Him, we die from the flesh inward.

It really is that simple. God through Christ is waging war against sin and we can fight that or become a P.O.W. of Christ. It seems that message has been diluted in past years and we think that we can have both the life extending value found in surrender, yet keep our own agendas, dwell in sin and submit to no one. This is not only non-scriptural it does not make sense.

To each His Own

Acts 1:25 "...this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

We all have many choices in life. A choice is defined as determining the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them. One of my favorite country songs that expresses the regret of Bad choices despite warnings form others is "Choices" by George Jones.

I've had choices
Since the day that I was born
There were voices
That told me right from wrong
If I had listened
No I wouldn't be here today
Living and dying
With the choices I made

I was tempted
By an early age I found
I liked drinkin'
Oh, and I never turned it down
There were loved ones
But I turned them all away
Now I'm living and dying
With the choices I made

I guess I'm payin'
For the things that I have done
If I could go back
Oh, Lord knows I'd run
But I'm still losin'
This game of life I play
Living and dying
With the choices I made

Old George brings up some bad choices, regrets and consequences of his life. I know I have made some that I would like to have back as well. One thing that comes to light when you look at the offer of Christ, is that you get what you want. If you want life, you choose Christ and get it. If you don't, then you reject it and get death. Look at the sad words describing Judas in Acts one above "which Judas turned aside to go to His own place". Judas did not want to follow and instead he wanted to do things his way. The disturbing reality is that he got exactly that, his own place, the place he deserved which is eternal torment. Jesus allowed Judas to choose what he wanted and then gave it to him.

I think that this needs to be carefully applied to our lives. Whose way are you following, yours or Jesus'? That is one huge question when we consider that following our own way places us squarely in the camp with Judas. No matter what religious activities we engage in, each of us must truly assess if we are living for Him or for ourselves. If we live for our selves, we will die apart form Him. If we live sold out for Christ we will live with Him. Where are you in this picture?

Direction

Acts 11:9 But the voice answered a second time from Heaven, "What God has made clean, do not call common"

Acts 11:12 And the spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction.

When I felt led to start my own business about 13 years ago, my initial start was with great resolve. I was tired of working for others who didn't exactly want to serve customers in the way I felt was needed to be exceptional, and that fueled my launch. As time marched on we had our ups and downs, and as a result of one of those down times I begin to have my doubts. One night I went home and began to express these doubts to Evie my wife. I will never gorget her reply," I have no doubt that you will be succesful, you can do anything you set your mind to". The resolve and confidence that sprung from that statement was enormous. Her encouragement that night was greatly needed as she pointed me back to my original purpose. There were many days were those words kept my feet shuffling in search of work.

I think one of the great mysteries, and unfortunately greatest debates in Christendom, is the role of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. I tend to over simplyfiy things, but this one seems rather clear to me. He is God in us. The precepts found in the Word of God, he echoes. The work of God, he leads us to and empowers. The words of God, he creates in our souls to express to the world. The sin that tries to invade, He convicts and attacks like a father defending His house form a midnight robber. He leads, guides, clarifies, empowers, convicts as He burns with Holy embers of God's glory in our souls.

When you look at the verses above, you will see Peter rely on the Holy Spirit with great confidence. God has shown Him a vision three times to preach to the gentiles. God sets the stage as gentiles show up as the trance of visions comes to end. Peter has been given clear direction to go with them and preach Christ. But then notice verse 12, " And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinctions". Peter knows the Spirit's voice intently and has great confdence and trust of it. He not only has God's revelation and direction from outside His body, but from inside the depths of His soul. That is the only way He had the resolve to do something as bold as break all of the Jewish laws about association with Gentiles (Acts 10:28). Peter knows what to do, has it confirmed from the inside of His soul and is empowered by that Holy Spirit to make it happen. Therefore the work he set out to do was clearly revolutionary and miraculous, because it was not his, it was God's.

I know there are times when I struggle for clarity with the Holy Spirit. The times when I hear his voice clearly, as it magnifies the work of Christ, are the most content and sweetest days I know of. The work that He has done through me in those times are truly way above my pay grade, and have Holy finger prints all over them. This clear conversation between me and a Holy God is the number one thing I want and seek in this life, as it was the very thing I was designed to be.

So where do you stand in this picture of dialogue with the Spirit. I hope deep and clear. If all of this sounds strange and mystic to you, I would encourage you to pray for the Grace to sit at the feet of Jesus until you learn to know His voice. Jesus himself said, "My sheep know my voice". We initially hear it from outside our bodies but the Spirit shouts Christ from deep within. It is a gift beyond expression to be able to walk through life with God's intimate direction blazing the trail in front of you. Is that going on in your life?

Parris Island discipleship

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus

Acts 5:32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

The US marine core...the few the proud, the Marines. All who know of them acknowledge them as elite warriors prepared to do battle. How does that occur? What makes them so special? Preparation and purpose. Parris Island is the place where that purpose and preparation is pressed into the recruits permanently, like a coffee stains on a white table cloth. To become a Marine you must pass a 13 week crash course which seeks to strip you of your individualism, weaknesses and self serving agendas and then rebuilds a new identity for you as a US Marine, with a single purpose to fight until death for the core. You go into Parris Island as an individual, you leave as a Marine, if you don't reject the process and quit.

I believe that it is no coincidence that the final test to pass to become a marine is a 54 hour war simulation called "the Crucible". A crucible is a container that is used in metalworking that is able to withstand higher temperatures than all of the other contents that will be put inside it. The crucible is used to contain and hold together all of the items put inside it as they are reconstituted and altered.This is exactly what happens to Marines as they are pushed past their natural physical and emotional limits. The crucible demands that the recruits rely on their leaders and others for survival and in the process they learn that they are not capable of success in their own strength. The result of those who successfully pass the crucible is someone who has bought into the purpose of the Marine core and is honored to be apart of something much greater than himself.

When you look through the history of the Church, broadcast loudly in acts and compare it to Marine training, you can see many parallels in the processes. The obvious major difference is that the Christian discipleship process is spiritual, initiated and activated by the Holy spirit that spills over into the emotional, mental and physical spheres of life where the Marine process is not based on a spiritual foundation alone, even though I am sure many Marines might argue that point.

When you look at the verses above in acts you see a focus on self denial, burying yourself in baptism and submitting to obedience of God as markers of the Holy Spirit. It is amazing when you read through Saul's conversion to Paul you can see the total 180 degree change in the man, purpose, desire and in turn life's actions. Once Saul became Paul, he rushed to obedience in baptism when just days earlier he was wreaking havoc against those who were submitting to God in that same action. It is truly amazing when you think it through. If we are followers of Christ, we should be able to see our own true repentance, our own submission and our joyful willingness to live for God's purposes as we drop our self serving identities. We should be able to tangibly see the functioning of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we recognize our need for God's help to make it through this crucible of life and death. It is only when we have been stripped of ourselves and have been built up in the spirit that we will live for Christ and not ourselves. It is exactly what John the Baptist expresses in John 3:30, "he must increase , but I must decrease". It seems that for me, my "Parris Island" experience as a Christ follower never ends as I am constantly met with reminders of my inabilities and his supremacy in all. I praise God that He did not let me go through this crucible alone because I would have ended up like many who just couldn't take the pressures at Parris Island and just decide that their old life, though lacking, will just have to do.

Public Spectacles

11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him

A crystal football is raised, thousands of pounds of confetti is dropped as 50,000 fans cheer as the band plays. Auburn had just won its first title in 53 years and the awards ceremony was a rather large public spectacle. Next week there is another celebration at the stadium, and just like last year when Auburn's rival Alabama won, the trophy will be on tour so that you can go and get your picture taking with it. The trophy which is a crystal football is physical proof that there is only one champion and so it alone draws people to it as everyone wants to be identified with a winner.

Read what Paul says in the verses above. God planned the Cross to make a once and for all victorious public spectacle over sin and death by nailing it to the Cross. The Cross is unlike any other spectacle since as it has eternal staying power and requires no previous affiliation, but only eternal allegiance to Christ. The joy we feel for a football championship should be infinitely multiplied as we look at the Cross and Christ.

Why can we get so fired up about games and trophies yet at times remain so blase about Christ and His cross? Unlike football teams, in which we have to worry about next season, the cross is the only spectacle that has eternal and lasting meaning. It is an eternal public spectacle over all creation that even angels admire. Christ on the Cross was a planned victory by the Father. Jesus has been raised on high and is now at the right hand of the Father in His Glory. he desires that we all follow Him to the father, but the biggest challenge to that is our idols here on Earth that satisfy us instead of His love. We all need to be careful over which public spectacles hold our admiration, thoughts and affections.

Rich Towards God

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

As you read this, what is your focus of the day? Is your focus on acquiring more stuff through hard work? Have you been tempted out of contentment by the allure of the things of this world, and not dialed into God?

Those are hard questions to answer if we are honest. The fool that spent his life building bigger barns, only to see it scattered to others as he met death would probably give us council not to do the same thing. But yet we can find ourselves on the same path at times, at least mentally.

How do we overcome this? Learning how to be rich toward God. What does that mean? I believe it means joyfully having our thoughts, actions, words, money and time captivated by the Cross. I believe that it means finding intense satisfaction in God alone so that the value of bigger and better worldly things diminish in value. We must shift our focus away from the things of this world and towards God. Even if self denial of the things of this world is the focus, it will control us without the grace of God captivating our hearts.

Let me give you an example. If your true focus is on trying not to eat that brownie that you want, it will dominate your thoughts and eventually overcome you. You may avoid it for some time, but since it owns your thoughts you will eventually give in. If your true focus is on the health that you desire as a result of not eating the brownie, then you are able to overcome the desire to eat that brownie as your desire is on health, not brownies. The change in desires drives a different lifestyle.

It is the same with our spiritual health. We need to ask God to direct our lives, souls and actions to being rich towards God. We need to be captivated by Him and His grace. Yes we need to sprint away from the allure of this world, but the only staying power available in that process is that our heart's desire finds it ultimate satisfaction in Christ alone. All other efforts may yield temporary victories, but will ultimately revert back to serve our desires.

So where are your desires held at this moment? Your life will be driven by them so be careful.

Pop tarts and Self Justification

Luke 16:14 The pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of these things and they ridiculed him (Jesus). 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted in the sight of men is an abomination in the sight of God.

"Dad I want a bag of goldfish. I ate half of the pop tart." The words of Eli my four year old as he tries to justify his actions and desires. He knows that he can not have a snack until he eats his breakfast and so he does his best to work the system.
Self Justification is something we are born with and it can lead us astray. We all want to feel as though as long as we are better than the next guy, then we are doing great. The problem with the process of self justification is that it points to our own acts, but only a select set of actions. We want people to know the good stuff that we do so that the bad stuff kind of gets forgotten about.

I know that I have tried to justify many of my thoughts, words, purchases and decisions. It ain't a good thing. Look at what Jesus says about men that love money and justify themselves. He says that they exalt their own actions in an attempt to justify themselves and that is an abomination to God. We are to exalt God so that He may justify our actions, not exalt our actions so that we can hopefully be justified before God.

That stings a little if we are honest. As Jesus said, God knows our hearts and He knows why we do what we do. Examine your heart and ask, "What am I doing that I think justifies me?". " What is it that I think makes me more worthy to God than other people?" Then quickly realize that any action aside form worship of Christ is stealing the Glory from the only one who can Justify, Jesus Christ.

Understanding the Options, but refusing Faith

Jude 1:5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

When I think about these strong words of Christ's half brother Jude, it really impresses upon me a huge thought. I see it all through scripture and in the world I live in day to day. That large thought is that God has expressed Himself very clearly, yet many are quite content to ignore His Will and Desire.

Think about the Jews being freed out of Egypt. Everyone of them had seen the 10 plagues highlighted with a passover celebration/slaughter. They had been led through the red sea as it parted. They were eye witnesses to the greatest military power known to the World at that time be conquered by God Himself in a way that no person could claim credit for and He plundered the Egyptian captors to bless the Jews to boot. They were led by God as a pillar of fire at night, and as a cloud of smoke during the day. They were fed and watered by Christ Himself as manna and living water. If there ever was a group that had encountered the physical presence of Yahweh, these folks were it. Before you skim on through this, stop and really think through all of what they had seen, and the Good and Blessings that God wanted to impart to His people. Understand that He had shown Himself strong and also made Himself clear about His power and their need of faith in Him. No one in their right mind with all of that understanding would choose to go back and make bricks in the desert. No one would think, "I don't want the promise land". Yet that is exactly what they did (except 2, Joshua and Caleb). To improve upon our own understanding, we must ask why?

The answer was fear. The reason for the fear is that they were still trusting in themselves, and not God even after His exhaustive efforts (even though nothing exhausts God) to show His great worthiness. They saw with man made vision a race of Giants and rightly deduced their inability to conquer the land. Caleb and Joshua were the only two who used a faith fueled -kingdom vision to see the promises of God waiting for them.

Faith involves risk. Faith involves letting go of every crazy idea of self control. Faith is slitting the throat of pride in you, as you come to the end of your self. Faith involves celebrating the greatness of God and son ship with Him. Faith is initiated by grace and allows us to process our opportunities with a kingdom vision.

Make no mistake about it though, faith is imparted as we walk through walls of fear for His glory. That may look different for all of us, but there is no story of faith in the Bible in which God does not squeeze out faith in self by putting Giants, Armies, Floods, Firestorms, the opportunity to carry God's baby in a womb, Sacrifices, Journeys into unknown lands, impregnable fortresses, swords, murderers, thieves and other hurdles directly in the path of those who He wants to draw to Himself.

Faith conquers fear. It is an active link to the overflow of God. It is not an idea or concept, but a power that is only available after you submit to Christ as king.

Ask yourself this, "Is my Faith simply an understanding of the availability of God's power, or is it an active agent in your life that is being increased as you serve the Living God?" Remember that the Egyptians had a much clearer physial understanding of God's power, will and desire, yet mistakenly would not give themselves to be God's servants. They were to busy looking at themselves and not God. Are you?

Rejection of Purpose

Luke 7:30 but the pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves

Pupose is defined as being the reason that something exists, or is done, made or used.

One of the saddest commentaries available for any human is Luke's commentary of the lawyers and pharisees. John the baptist was preparing the way for Christ by preaching repentance and submission through baptism and they saw themselves righteouss in their own eyes. They thought their purpose was to earn God's favor by being strictly religious and to manage other peoples sin as well. They were unable to see their own sins as self pride and self righteousness had blinded them from the truth. When John came calling saying "get ready, the King and the Kingdom are coming, repent and prepare yoruselves to receive Him", they didn't see any need for him or his charge, as they viewed themselves as righteous already.

Whether we say it out loud or not, this same battle of self justification is the war that must be fought in the soul of every human being. That includes me and you. Quite clearly Jesus rejects those who see themselves as worthy to commune with him, and He heals, restores and communes those that do not see themselves as worthy to look at His face or be in His presence. We all need to look deep into the window of our soul and ask, "whose righteousness are we counting on, Jesus or mine?" And I am not talking about our rehearsed lines in Church. I am talking about what is going on in our soul, heart, brain and life 24/7/365. This is critical as it forms the foundation of our faith, purpose, life and actions.

It is only when we are 100% reliant on Christ, that our lives radiate the glory of God to the world. This is what we were created for, and this is His purpose for us all. Be careful to not reject the purposes of God for your life and soul.

It is only through Christ that we can fulfill our purpose of existing, to give glory to God. Is this what drives you and is it your purpose?

A Hatred of Sin

Jude 1:23 save others by a snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

My two year old Luke, loves chocolate, spaghetti, ketchup, syrup and just about anything else that can make a nasty stain on his clothes. There are times when I would swear that he is more intent on messing up his clothes than actually feeding himself, but his big tummy lets me know he is doing both quite well. One of Evie's least favorite things to do is laundry as it never seems to end with four kids. She does it everyday though. The reason why she launders away is because she cares enough for her children to know that they shouldn't be walking around with stains all over them. She respects them enough to keep them cleaned up and presentable.

Why is Jude so concerned with stains in the verse above? I believe that hating the garment stained by the flesh refers to a hatred of sin, its power and its effects or stains that it leaves on people, who God crested to bear His image. Believers are to absolutely have a severe passionate hatred of sin. God does. He should. Our sin taints his recreated glory in his kids and he doesn't like it one bit. Our goal as we extend mercy is to fearfully tell of the Works of Christ that delivered us from sin. We haven't earned it or deserved it, He just mercifully chose us. It seems like we have missed that a bit in our church culture. We should all ask the question do I love the Holiness of Christ to the extent that I hate sin as He does? If we are not careful we can invent a supposed middle ground, where we offer a synthetic Gospel that does not tear down idols or free people from sin, but instead offers a routine of modeling nice and pleasant behaviors. That type of Gospel is really no Gospel at all, but a man made attempt to justify one's self.

So where do you stand? Do you see the need for Christ's holiness to remove them for m you? Do you hate sin? Do you believe Jesus came to free people from sin, or enable them in it? Do you hate your own sin or do you just suppress it some and keep it close enough to pull out when no one is looking or you need immediate satisfaction?

Some of the hardest love to give is when we care enough about people to help them see the Light of Christ and their own sin and idols, and ask them to truly make a decision on which they will worship. It is exactly what Jesus did and what Jude is charging the first century believers to do. I pray that we will all be able to see God's holy hatred of sin and his Holy desire to free us from it by the blood of Christ.

Who made you the Boss?

Luke 20: 1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

It is amazing to watch my kids assume authority. This morning it was Eli trying to direct us in what he was going to eat for breakfast. Apparently he not only thought he knew what was best for him to eat, but he also thought had the power and authority to eat what he wanted. He is 0 for 2. I've got a feeling that this day will not pass without some hard-love from dad as the rebel in him is quite strong today.

We are all born with a rebellious heart and a desire to be our own authority. The Pharisees looked at Jesus, and all of His love and miracles dead in the face and and asked Him "Who made you the Authority?". Jesus is long and love, and patience, in His response to the power hungry rebels. He in turn says " From where was the power of the baptism of John?" Jesus knew that John's ministry was revealed through the Prophets long ago and it pointed to Christ's coming. The pharisees find them selves trapped because the people knew that John was a prophet so they could not say from man, but if they said from God then Jesus would say, 'Why didn't you believe him -and in turn God and in turn -ME! they would of had to answer their own question His way! So here we find the pharisees trapped in their own power grab. They decide the best route is to back out and turn away from Christ and His authority over them, their lives and death.

We sometimes can't sense it, but this encounter really defines us individually, and collectively as a Church, and in turn our society. The question is what do we do with Jesus and His authority over our lives? Do we ignore His hard words like "deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me", "If you love me you will obey my commandments" (John 14), "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28), and "these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me (Luke 19:27 -a parable about His reign). Do we ignore His authority over our lives and question the Bible as His word and just replace it with a bunch of well schooled fine sounding arguments? The bible warns against all of these activities. It also warns that wolves in sheep clothing will introduce all of these lies in to the Church, so beware.

We must all be aware that our nature is to reject authority over us just as Eve did in Genesis 3. If we believe that we have the right to question God, as He has chosen to reveal Himself in Christ and His word let's all be aware that we are simply in the same trap as the pharisees. Ignorant of the God in front of us, slithering away from Love so that we can remain "in charge".

So where do you find yourself? Aware of Christ's desires for yoru life or aware of your own?