GIG 208 - Jesus' Response To "What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?"

Just as with the "certain lawyer" who approached Jesus (Luke 10:25-37, as we discussed recently), the "rich young ruler" also approached Jesus with the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (see Mark 10:17-27, Luke 18:18-27)

Jesus' response to the man was similar, bringing up five or six of the Ten Commandments. And so, is that true? Do the commandments have anything to do with inheriting eternal life? After all, that was how Jesus responded to this man's question about inheriting eternal life! Mike and Joel talk this through in this week's Growing in Grace podcast.

As we continue looking at how the words of Jesus don't always apply to believers, we realize many questions may arise, including the question, "What about the Bible passage that says, 'ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work?'" We take some time out at the beginning of the podcast to address that.

gigcast.graceroots.org

There are no cookie cutter Christians!

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Cor 12:12-13 NIV

This passage, along with the surrounding words, and Romans 12 as well, has played a huge part in helping me understand my identity in Christ.  These passages are actually about the functions of the members of the body of Christ (what each member "does"), but the functions are based upon our identity in Christ.  "We were all given the one Spirit to drink," for example.  Our common identity revolves around life in the Spirit.

Whatever we do within the body of Christ, it flows from who we are.  And not just who we are individually, but who we are together - as many diverse members making up one body unit (one identity).  My eye is very different from my hand is very different from my liver is very different from my knee... but all the individual parts make up one body.  And each part, though different, is equally important to the body as a whole.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Rom 12:4-5 NKJV

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Rom 12:6 NIV

There are no "cookie cutter Christians."  There are many parts.  Many different parts.  Many unique parts.  Not all function in the same way - not all do the same things - and that's a very good thing!  YOU are a very unique member of the body of Christ, and you are meant to be that way!  God made you the way you are, very purposefully.

Within the body of Christ, we are all meant to be different, unique, and yet making up the same body.  Some people give more, some people work more, some people have more money and earthly possessions, some are quiet, some are loud, some are gifted with words, some are gifted in cooking, some are gifted in hospitality, some are gifted with humor, some are gifted in ways that are very outward and noticeable, some are gifted in ways that will never been noticed by most people.

Some are teachers, some are businessmen, some are journeymen, some are entrepreneurs, some are beneficiaries of large estate.  Some pray more, some get their hands dirty more, some like to sing, some don't care to sing, some enjoy large crowds and parties, some prefer more time alone.  Some are great encouragers, some are natural leaders, some are great at explaining doctrine, some don't enjoy "doctrine talk" at all.

This little list is very insufficient in covering the wide range of diverse parts in the body of Christ, but hopefully it makes the point that we're all different, and it's good... oh so good!  We have different joys, different desires, different paths to take.  And very often our paths meet and we find people with common joys and desires and we join together in great fellowship.  Other times we find ourselves in groups of people with different joys and desires, and we find ourselves working together, using all of our unique gifts and talents for the common good.

And throughout our lives, so much of this can and does change.  And that's a good thing too!  I don't think we're meant to be fixed statically in every last thing about our personalities.  It's good when we change!

Whatever your part in the body of Christ, be content there.  Not sure who you are (identity) or what "part" you are?  Seek the Lord.  Ask Him to show you who you are (your identity) and who you are within the context of the body of Christ. And along with that take a simple, ongoing survey of your life. I don't necessarily mean a deep, introspective look.  Just look at your life and take note of the things you like doing.  What turns you on?  What makes you tick?  What things about your personality and 'ways' are beneficial to others?  How do the things you do benefit the body as a whole (whether other people understand it or not).  Don't worry and fret that you're not something that someone else is.  Don't project who you are onto someone else, as if they should be like you!  And don't let anyone do that to you!

Don't be a helper

Last week I was referred by my doctor to a physical therapist because of pain, soreness and numbness in my left leg and foot. Today on my second visit, I received some encouragement - a great reminder - from the Lord through my interaction with the therapist.

Through maneuvering my body and trying to stretch it in various ways, the therapist has revealed to me that certain sets of muscles, especially in my lower back and left leg, are tight and/or weak. My strength and range of motion isn't what it should be. And so the goal is to loosen certain muscles and strengthen other muscles so that I'm in better shape, which will effectively get rid of the pain, soreness and numbness. It has already helped.

Today, while I was lying flat on my back, the therapist told me to rest my leg on her shoulder. Using her own strength, she was going to push my leg up to stretch certain muscles. Well, at first I lifted up my leg onto her shoulder - but I didn't really rest it there. As she pushed, I lifted my leg using my own strength.

She looked at me and said, "Just rest your leg on my shoulder. Let your whole weight drop down on me." The she added with a sarcastic smile, "You're a helper, aren't you?"

Truth is, she didn't need my help. In fact, my "help" was counterproductive to what she was trying to accomplish. My "work" was to rest, and as I rested, she bore the weight and she did the work.

You know where I'm going with all this. So I'll just leave it at that. :)

GIG 207 - It's All About the Unconditional Love of the Father

Continuing from last week with our look at parables in which we often seem to misidentify the characters, or at least in which we seem to put the spotlight on the wrong characters, this week we take a look at the story that is commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son." Certainly the prodigal son isn't a character who we simply glance over, and most of us can easily identify with him in one way or another, but is he really meant to be the main focus of the parable? We'll share a couple of real-life stories as we discuss how we think the focus was always meant to be on the great love of the father.

gigcast.graceroots.org

It's nice to know that we're not under the law, but...

...it's even better to know that it has been wiped out, having been nailed to the cross and taken out of the way!

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Col 2:13-15

Does the church really "get" this?!

My extra-holy interview with the Most Extra Very Reverend J. Slick Breeze!

As promised earlier today.

Put your grease filter on.

Upcoming Rev. J. Slick Breeze interview!

It's been a while since we've heard from my holier-than-thou twin-brother-from-another-mother in-a-parallel-universe, The Most Extra Very Reverend J. Slick Breeze, and I was finally able to make contact with him! Through the phenomenal wonders of inter-parallel-universe videoconferencing, we were able to record my interview of him. We had quite a strange conversation - nothing new when it comes to ol' Slick - and I debated whether or not I should post it, but I decided to go for it, and it should be available for broadcast later today or tomorrow. If nothing else, it will highlight the sad truth of what legalism can do to a person! I'm sure he feels otherwise.

Some things revealed in the interview:
- That the Rev. J. Slick Breeze wants you to give to his ministry
- That the Rev. J. Slick Breeze will be blessed when you give to his ministry
- That the Rev. J. Slick Breeze likes gold, money, and you sowing your seed into his ministry
- What the "J" stands for

In case you weren't around at the time, here's a previous word from the man.

Be quiet, rest...

(Text first posted 9/18/06)

And what was said to the rose
-
To make it unfold
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Was said to me here in my chest
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So be quiet now
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And rest

David Crowder Band - "Here is Our King"

I love the way the poetry in this song expresses the way the Living Word of God works in and through us. It isn't through hard labor and striving that a bud opens up to reveal what was inside all along.

We often underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit and God's grace working in us and others. We try to coerce ourselves and others into "working for God" to make the church grow and be healthy and thriving.

The book of Hebrews talks about a "rest" for God's people and we're told to be diligent to enter that rest. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, and His words in us, we will bear fruit. A branch doesn't labor or struggle or strive to produce fruit. The power of the Living God which flows from the Vine to the abiding (resting) branch, produces fruit. It's the only fruit that is truly spiritual, that is truly produced by God Himself.

So be quiet now, and rest...

My prayer for you

I haven't had much to say lately, at least not here in the blogosphere. And that's a-ok! Just thought I'd let you know that no matter who or where you are, and no matter how well I do or don't know you, this was Paul's prayer for the Ephesians and it's my prayer for you as well.

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Eph 1:15-23

GIG 206 - Identifying Ourselves Correctly in the Parables

The words of Jesus - surprisingly to many people - are not always what they seem at face value, as we've discussed over the past few weeks here on Growing in Grace. Often we begin with a preconceived premise in our determination of what Jesus is trying to communicate, but if we start with the wrong premise then we're going to end up going down the wrong path, leading to the wrong conclusions. With this in mind, this week we take a look at how various characters in the parables that Jesus told are often misunderstood because we often start with the wrong premise of the meaning of each parable.

Often the parable of the Good Samaritan is read and taught in such a way as to make us (Christians) out to be people who should strive to be the Good Samaritan in the story. The parables of the Pearl of Great Price and of the Treasure Hidden in a Field are presented as stories that show Jesus as a precious pearl and treasure that we are to purchase after we sell all we have. Are these things really what these parables are communicating? We'll take into consideration the people Jesus was talking with in each situation and what questions He was responding to, and also take into account the surrounding context and other New Covenant truth to help us sort out who some of characters in the parables really represent.

Hint: We often try to make ourselves the heroes and/or the centerpieces of the parables. But perhaps these parables really show us how Jesus is the hero and centerpiece!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Licentiousness, Law, or Something Else... (Repost)

(Originally posted 3/4/07)

A life of Licentiousness or a life of Law – which would you choose?

I choose neither! Real Life is found in neither one, but yet we tend to gravitate towards law because we’re not secure in our faith. We gravitate towards rules and regulations – law – because we’re not confident in Christ-in-us.

We know we don’t want to preach licentiousness. We know life in Christ isn’t about “anything goes.” So we try to control others and ourselves through law.

Tony Vincent, in his song “Shake the Money Tree” from his self-titled album (over a decade ago), put it this way:

“Too insecure to live by faith
We’re always looking for some other way.”

The song is actually about trusting in Jesus rather than money. It’s about being content regardless of our financial status. It’s about trusting that God provides.

But that little line speaks much more to me in other ways too. Our Christian walk is “by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). “Walk by the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). Somehow we’ve made “walking by the Spirit” into a Law-walk rather than a faith walk - and I think that's because we're not fully convinced that the good news of the gospel and the power contained in it is really that good and that powerful! We find a sense of security in rules and standards. And we've come to realize that walking by the Spirit is like the wind... you never know where it's coming from and which way it will blow! (John 3:8) But yet the fruit of the Spirit is not the same as the fruit of the Law! Compare Galatians 5:22-23 with Romans 7:5 and Romans 7:9-11.

The fruit of walking by the Spirit (walking by faith, not by sight) is so much different than the fruit of walking by Law. Trusting in the Spirit (as opposed to our own fleshly attempts at righteous living) results in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But trying to live by the Law results in aroused sinful passions, revival of sin, the deceit of sin, and death!

People naturally resist forced behavior change. Even if we want to change, even if we want to do wonderful, loving, kind deeds... if someone tells us “you must do this,” we naturally resist doing even what we want to do! But when we step aside and let the life of the Spirit who is in us take over, and just let Him do what He supernaturally does in us (not forcibly, but gently... and usually not logically!), the fruit will be so much greater than anything we could conjure up on our own.

GIG 205 - Sermon on the Mount - Jesus' Words To You? (Part 2)

We're taking some time to look at some of the 'hard sayings' of Jesus, as recorded in the four books that open the New Testament as we know it, known as "The Gospels." Specifically, this week we're continuing on with our look at "The Sermon on the Mount." What was Jesus really saying? To whom did His words apply? Was this a "Christian" teaching? Was Jesus giving a new list of rules to live by? Why do some of His words seem so harsh and legalistic?

We'll move on next week to various other words that Jesus spoke to others that seem hard, looking at them in the context of the New Covenant in which we now live.

gigcast.graceroots.org

Bittersweet Symphony?

I used to listen to this song and say to myself, "I wish there were no vocals in this song!" I love the music.

But then I actually listened to the lyrics, and I realized that many people probably (unfortunately) relate to the lyrics. "It's a bittersweet symphony - this life. Try to make ends meet, you're a slave to money, then you die..." "I'm a million different people from one day to the next..." (etc, etc).

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony

I guess I sometimes have my moments... but I'm sure glad that this AIN'T life in Christ! Circumstantially, we've got our share of troubles in our day to day lives. I'll never deny that. I'm going through some stuff myself right now. But I also won't deny the God who takes care of Solomon and the lillies, and the birds of the air... and all of us!