Roots

I was thinking the other day, praying really, about the roots of bitterness. I have always thought that the roots of bitterness were the very beginnings of unforgiveness. But as I was praying the other day, a thought occurred to me. What causes the unforgiveness? Unforgiveness may be weed seed from which the stalk of bitterness grows, but what burrows that weed deep into the soil is pride.

We all have people to forgive at one time or another. That’s no sin. But what allows that unforgiveness to hang around too long and to eventually take root is pride. Pride keeps us from forgiving. Pride is the root of all bitterness. It is the character weakness that precedes the unforgiveness that allows it to linger in our lives like a stinkweed.

Pride is an ugly, haughty, vengeful belief in one’s own superiority that spreads its tentacles and grabs a hold of our hearts and doesn’t let go without a fight. Pride convinces us that that person is not deserving of our forgiveness. That we should hold onto our unforgiveness like some prize after a fight. But what pride forgets is that we don’t deserve forgiveness, either.

But God, (those precious words that interrupt someone’s existence to give them life) showed us true humility when He sent His only Son to be the bridge between us and Him; but Jesus was born a poor child and died a sinner’s death to grant us forgiveness; but the Holy Spirit allows Himself to be contained within us to ever so patiently and gently teach us and shape us, and pull out roots….

“Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord; looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God, or lest any root of bitterness springing up disturb you, and by it many are defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14-15)

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 5

Merciful

Last time we saw that once we have obtained righteousness through Jesus Christ, we then live out that righteousness which inherently means loving God and loving others. That is, we choose to show a sacrificial form of love regardless of feelings or circumstance.

Most would reserve that type of sacrifice for those whom they deem to be deserving. But God, of course, has other ideas.

“Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

Mercy by its very nature is given to those who do not deserve it. And truthfully, none of us deserve it. We are sinners saved only by the grace of God. God loved us while we were still sinners by sending His own Son to die in our place. Jesus was the supreme example of sacrificial love. He was merciful. Now we can take the mercy that has been given to us and let it be poured out to those around us. So, how do we do that?

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And to him who strikes you on the one cheek, also offer the other. And to him who takes away your garment, do not forbid your tunic also. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you desire that men should do to you, you do also to them likewise.

For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also do the same. And if you lend to those of whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you have? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:27-36

Those can be some very hard words to hear and even more difficult to live out. I think many times we read that and think, metaphorically, Christians should do that. Or we may even try to turn the meaning of those words into something a little bit more palatable. But they are what they are. And God means for us to live them out. When was the last time you showed love to someone you considered an enemy? Not our “western” type of “feeling” love, but God’s sacrificial, putting-actions-to-our-beliefs type of love.

When was the last time someone used you and you prayed for them? Or someone took something of yours and you didn’t become indignant and demand it back? Our knee-jerk reaction is usually to plead our rights. Again, I take you back to the cross.

Jesus could have claimed His right to lord over all of us, and indeed He is Lord and had that right. But He chose to waive that right for something He regarded as greater: purchasing our freedom from sin and redeeming our souls back from a path to hell solely for an intimate relationship with each and every one of us. He died so that we could live.

And as the Lord is our example, we, too, are to give up our rights. As Christians who have died to the flesh, there is no seeking a life that seems “fair.” There are no rights for a dead man or woman. If we have hidden our lives in Jesus Christ, then we will do as He did: show mercy. We will love the unloving. We will do good for those who hate us because of Jesus Christ. We will bless those who curse us. We will treat all persons as we, ourselves, would want to be treated - the Golden Rule.

But don’t mistake that for foolishness. As a perfect Father, God would never give something to someone that would harm him. And that can include things that would otherwise be good gifts, if someone is living rebelliously and would use the gift poorly.

Liken that to a parent showing wisdom in not giving a teenage son or daughter a car if the child has shown a careless or irresponsible attitude towards driving. A car in that case could be a fatal gift. In that situation, showing mercy would mean not giving a car until perhaps the teenager has grown up and grown more responsible.

Mercy is shown in many ways and we need to always be in prayer seeking God to give us wisdom about the best way to show mercy in every circumstance.

And God promises that as we show mercy to others, it will be turned around to us, and we will be shown that mercy. I don’t know exactly how that works in God’s economy, but I do know that in order for someone to show God’s mercy, that person has to remain abiding in the Vine. There is no strength, no wisdom, no sacrificial love given to others without the One Who has exampled it and Who imparts it to us so that we can turn around and impart it to others. And when a person spends that much time kneeling before their Savior, there is bound to be a heart full of love and repentance from their own sins. And a heart that is contrite is a heart that will receive the full measure of God’s mercy.

So fall at your Master’s feet and receive mercy once again. Then take that mercy and purpose to pour it out on others for a greater purpose than desiring a life that is "fair" or seeing that we ensure our rights: to show the love of God here on this earth. And that love carries with it blessings that will follow us into eternity, something our "rights" will not do. God's love can win hearts into the kingdom of God; it can show compassion to those who have walked away from their faith and see them come back; it can help others grow in their faith as they see that though they have faults or weaknesses or struggles, God loves them and they can be useful to the Lord as they are strengthened and encouraged in Him.

Experiencing joy now and treasures in heaven are better than rights anyway.

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 4

Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

Last time we were reminded that it is the meek who will inherit the earth. At the moment it looks as though it’s not the humble but the rich and powerful who own the world. Kings rule kingdoms, rich men and women own corporations and the millions and even billions of dollars that flow into them. Celebrities own our attention and garner the praise of millions of people all over the world. People hunger and seek after wealth and fame and a place in the halls of history. But they are not satisfied. There is no quenching their thirst for more. An emptiness continues to gnaw at their souls that nothing, it seems, can fill.

But the meek who have been filled with the Holy Spirit have been given a new appetite.

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

Believers in Christ Jesus have been given an appetite for righteousness. Our spirits have been given life through the Holy Spirit and our new spiritual life hungers and thirsts for the food that will nourish it: righteousness.

Don’t get tripped up by the word righteousness, though. We may tend to think that means living a perfect life, but that’s not it. It is only in Jesus Christ that we are made righteous. The sacrifice made for us on the cross and then received into our hearts and minds has granted to us the righteousness of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit now within us craves to live out that righteous life through us.

What can trip us up, though, is the fact that we now have competing appetites – the one we had before our lives in Christ, the fleshly appetite, and our new spiritual appetite.

We fed our flesh, or our own physical and emotional desires, before Christ, by basically doing what we wanted. We lived lives that were against the will of God. We were selfish. We found pleasure in sinful ways. We lusted after things that were not ours. We walked through each day without consulting God, the Creator of our very own lives.

Even though we now have a new appetite for spiritual things, a desire to live pleasing to the Lord, to walk with Him and to do His will, we still have a choice. We can choose to continue to feed our flesh, or we can hunger and thirst after righteousness. Those who choose to continue to try to fill the void in their souls with the things of the world: money, sex outside of marriage, drugs or alcohol, materialism, or anything else that is not of God, will continue to be empty. Their spirits will starve. But those who choose to live by the Spirit and allow God to feed them will be fulfilled.

Feeding our spirits the food of righteousness entails two things:

1. The first is simply being in a right relationship with the Lord.

Even after we’re saved we will still sin and though that sin can’t steal our salvation, it will begin to cause separation between God and us if we aren’t careful to acknowledge the sin and ask for forgiveness. But we must crave the relationship with God more than we desire the sin. And when we do we will continue to be filled with the power and strength and love that can only come from God.

2. The second is living out that righteousness in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Jesus said, “‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.’” (John 4:34)

So, what is God’s will for us? People ask that question all the time and we have but to open God’s Word to see the answers.

Some examples are:

The first and greatest one: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

The second greatest follows it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39)

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thess. 5:18)

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:22)

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it..” (Eph. 5:25)

Do your own word study in the bible of the will of God and see what you find.

A Christian who feels empty is a Christian who is continuing to feed their flesh with the things of the world. The world never satisfied us before, why would it now?

God saved us for a purpose: to worship Him, to carry out His plan for our lives and to further the kingdom of God. It is only as we nourish our spirits that we will be filled with the righteousness and holiness that make us able to know God, to trust Him, to praise Him, to worship Him, to be led by Him, to serve Him, to be a witness for Him and to love Him with all our hearts.

If we will choose to hunger and thirst after righteousness, God will fill us in a way that no worldly thing can. And when we finally meet our Lord in heaven, we will hear those long-awaited words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:21, 23)

The Lord is my Shepherd.

* * *

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 3

Meek

Last time we saw that those who mourned over their sin would be comforted as they drew near to the Lord. Now we will look at the hearts of those who kneel before God as they mourn.

There are no proud hearts at the foot of the cross.

We crawl there broken and contrite and begging for mercy. When we recognize the depth of our sin there is no room for conceit or ego. We are altogether humbled. Our confessed sin is nailed to the cross. Our hearts have been emptied of ourselves and now we have need for God to fill our hearts with Himself. And though we have nothing to offer and no right to ask anything of God, Jesus invites us to ask. He is now the beggar as He pleads, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!”

And so in our humble state, we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and ask for God’s grace to be poured out on us. And indeed it is.

“Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth.”

(Matt. 5:5)

It is there at the cross that we receive salvation – the greatest gift known to mankind. Our empty heart that has longed to be filled is filled with the Holy Spirit. And our lives are changed forever.

We were once destitute, but now we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. But what do we inherit?

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

(Titus 3:4-7)

We were once dead in our sins, but now we have been given life eternal – forever with God in a home prepared just for us. And one day all as we know it will be rolled up and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. And it will be ours.

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer is. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

(Rev. 21:1-3)

* * *

One of God’s great joys is to bless His children. He has planned blessings for us and He desires to pour out as many of those blessings as He can. And He is the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. There is nothing that exists that He does not own.

But a proud heart is so full of itself that it has no room for God. That is as true after salvation as it is before. Continued and unconfessed sin will keep us in bondage and a certain distance from God. If there is something in your life that you know God has repeatedly told you to get rid of, or something He has told you to do, stop running from Him. Whatever it is is not worth giving up the blessings of God.

If you will humble yourself and crawl again to the cross, not for salvation if you’ve already received it, but for repentance and forgiveness of your sin, God will be as faithful as always to forgive you. He longs and waits to forgive you and to bless you.

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 2

Mourn

As we look through the “blesseds,” we’re going to see a progression. Last time we saw that we first had to acknowledge that in spirit we are paupers before we would ever begin to look to God to pour out His riches of grace and mercy upon us.

When we do recognize our spiritual poverty, we see that we are poor because our sins have separated us from God. We have sinned against our Creator and have caused pain to come to Him and to those whom we love. We see a deep, dark chasm of sin all around us and on the other side is Jesus, nailed to a cross with those very sins. Every stabbing pain he feels is the sting of our own depraved acts. Lies we told, hatred we held toward another, bitterness we’ve harbored in our hearts, and other thoughts and words and deeds that we dare not speak – those are the trespasses which held Him there. And we fall down at His feet in utter grief. Our souls come undone before Him because we know that without Him we are destined to exist in the lost and lonely place across the chasm.

The Lord has mourned our sins since the cross. No, since the thought of the cross, which was forever ago. And He has waited through all time until that longed-for, precious moment when our spiritual eyes begin to come into focus, and we, too, begin to mourn over the sins we have committed and the pain we have caused.

“Blessed are they that mourn! For they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4

This word for comforted in the Greek means, “to call near, that is, invite, invoke, beseech, call for.


When we are in this state of grief, the Lord promises to call out to us. He invites us to come to Him, across the dark chasm to join Him at the foot of the cross where you will grieve together. It is a place of death to be sure, but only in death can new life come.

* * *

Do we still mourn when we have sinned? Even once we have been saved and we know our sins have been forgiven, we can never forget that we are still imperfect creatures who sin, and that sin should still bring us to our knees in grief. And even moreso, knowing full well the high price that was paid for our sins on Calvary. And God still calls out to us to draw near to Him and to confess our sins to Him.

How many times have I fallen right back into that pit of despair, having sinned against my Lord? But time after time He calls out to me and I raise my hand up to Him and let Him draw me back out again.

The mistake that so many Christians make is failing to let God draw them back up and out of their pit of sin. We may weep over our sin, we may grieve over it, but how long do we choose to stay in the pit rather than leave the sin behind? How much time have we wasted in the pit when we could be living our lives in the light, free to run with joy and victory?

When God calls out to us, I hope we answer quickly and decisively. I hope we are anxious to leave the pit behind and walk and talk with Jesus again.

“Jehovah is near to the broken-hearted; and saves those who are of a contrite spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 1

Poor in Spirit

“And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain. And when He had sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying,

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.’”
(Matt. 5:1-3)

Blessed.

Jesus begins his infamous Sermon on the Mount by telling us nine times how we can be blessed. I don’t know about you, but I want to be blessed. I want my life on this earth (and even moreso my life after this life) to be one that is fully enriched with God’s blessings. In the Greek language, this word blessed translates as fortunate or happy.

Happy are the poor in spirit. Literally that means happy are those whose spirit begs.

Begs for what?

Remember the day you gave your life to Jesus? Remember the emptiness you felt the day before you made that decision?

You were as a beggar on the street - blind, dumb, lame, naked and destitute. You had nowhere else to turn. And then a rich Man came and offered you everything - your sight, your speech, strength, royal robes and a place in His kingdom.

Did you tell Him, “No, I’ll keep on begging, thank you very much”? The sad thing is, many do.

But perhaps you were one who saw, maybe for the first time, just how very poor you were without Him. And your spirit begged for a new life. And so you let Him lift you up out of your spiritual poverty and now you have the promise of a life in heaven with the King.

Happy are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Without acknowledging your poverty, you would not have eternal riches.

Happy also are those who continue to acknowledge their spiritual poverty apart from a walking, talking, working, breathing, loving, daily relationship with the King. Without Him, our spirits will return to a state of lacking, though we are King’s kids.

But with Him, we will know joy unceasing; peace in the midst of warring; glory in our suffering; grace and mercy where before there was only bitterness; and love that rises up in victory from the ashes of pain to triumph over all its enemies and live on forever.

Blessed.

(If you are one who has yet to give your life to Jesus Christ, but your spirit begs for that new life in Him where your sins are forgiven and eternity with Him is promised to you, please read Jesus, the Christ in the sidebar. And if you pray that prayer to receive Him as your Lord and Savior, let me know!)

Sink or Swim

So we have this little Evergreen Pear Tree in our front yard, which is neither evergreen nor does it produce pears. We've had it since shortly after we moved into our house nine years ago. Fully mature it will only be about twenty feet tall, so the growth has been excruciatingly slow, but, as you can see, it’s hanging in there.

In my desert town where we rarely see a good rain, we have been surprisingly hit with a couple of wild storms in the last week or so. The strength of the wind was said to be so high that it was considered hurricane strength. The storm the other night blew through so hard that as I peeked out the front window I saw our city garbage can topple over (thank goodness it was empty) and watch the wind and rain carry it down the street.

I also watched as our humble, little tree was stretched beyond what I thought it could bear. Its slender trunk bent against the harsh wind, but in the morning it was still intact, upright and proud.

Later that morning I drove to the grocery store and saw all around the surrounding areas trees that were much larger than ours that had either broken off right at the trunk or had been uprooted altogether. And I wondered at how our little tree had been able to survive. And I think the answers can give us some insight as to how we can weather the storms of life, too, rather than becoming casualties of them.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the trees that had been uprooted had shallow root systems. What we could see above ground was beautiful, but the roots had not grown deep and the storm had been able to fell them easily.

Likewise, to look only at the surface of our lives to determine our spiritual health could be deceiving. The health is in the roots. Are the roots of your relationship with Christ only superficial or do they run deep and strong?

Trees’ roots grow deep when two things have occurred:

1. When there has been sufficient deep watering.

For us that means the watering of our souls through spending meaningful time studying God’s word and in intimate prayer time so that God can purify our hearts with His truth.

“..just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25a-27)

2. When storms have tossed a tree and caused the roots to dig in deeper for survival.

You know what that means. The storms of life have a purpose. And in order for our faith to be strengthened we will have to go through them. Our hope can only be in Christ alone and trials have a way of weeding out any false hope we have erroneously placed in anything or anyone else.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4

When James says that we will be “perfect,” it means mature or complete.

If my little tree had succumbed to the storm, it would not have been able to grow to maturity. But it has experienced smaller storms and so it was prepared with the strength it needed to weather this bigger storm. So we are strengthened by each subsequent trial and the strength of our faith grows and prepares us for the next.

The second thing I noticed that allowed my tree to survive was that the direction of the wind was coming from the opposite side of the house and because the house is bigger than the tree, it was able to buffer the tree against the wind.

I don’t know about you, but I have this terrible tendency when hard times come to want to hide, even from God. But when we take shelter in the Lord when trials and tribulations are raining down on us, He is able to be our Protector, our Shield and our Shelter in the storms. He provides us with comfort, wisdom, love and His peace that surpasses all understanding.

“And he said, ‘Jehovah is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer. The God who is my Rock, in Him will I trust. He is my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower, and my Refuge, my Savior. You save me from violence.’” 2 Samuel 22:2-3

There is no sign that trials will let up anytime in the future. And I suspect that the closer that we get to the Lord’s return, the harder and faster those trials will come. And the enemy of God would love nothing more than to weaken our faith and cause us to become of little or no use to the Lord. So snuggle up to the Lord. Hide beneath the shadow of His wings and He will carry you. Dig into His word so that the roots of your faith will burrow deeply and nothing will be able uproot you.

If we will focus our eyes on Jesus instead of the storms, not only will we not succumb to them, but we will walk on the waves of the storms with Him in victory.