Evidence of Repentance
Jul0
In 2 Corinthians 7:11, Paul tells the church of Corinth what repentance looks like. True repentance is evidenced by:
- earnestness (diligence)
- vindication (some versions say, ‘clearing of ourselves’)
- indignation (we begin to hate the sin; it becomes disgusting to us)
- fear of the Lord (reverence to the point of trembling before Him)
- longing (intense desire)
- zeal (we pursue, embrace, and defend Him with enthusiasm)
- avenging of wrong (we move from tolerating our own sin to punishing it; we force sin to depart from us by submitting to God)
When we begin demonstrating these attitudes, we show ourselves to be innocent in the matter–true repentance (repentance means ‘a change of mind’) has taken place.
Remember when God the Father instructs Moses about how the Jewish people should sacrifice to the Lord? Exodus 29:10-30, amongst other places, shows that there was to be a “sin offering”, “burnt offering”, “wave offering”, and “heave offering” (other passages even include “guilt offering”).
Let’s not cut repentance short by stopping after ’sin offering’; let’s continue to offer a fragrant aroma of prayer to the Lord and to continue fighting against our flesh until everything in competition with the Lord is purged from us.
It’s not enough for us to JUST confess our sins and receive forgiveness–this is a good start, but Christianity is more about seeing and knowing Jesus than simply being forgiven. That is, a Christian can be forgiven and ’saved’, and yet not be walking in the freedom Christ intended. The freedom occurs when we let godly sorrow move us to full submission and a renewed mind. As we experience this full repentence, we also begin to experience the Lord Himself because the cloudiness of sin clears itself from us enough that we can begin to see our Lord.
Stop indulging the flesh
Jun0
One of the best ways to grow spiritually is to stop indulging the flesh.
Paul writes:
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men…for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)
It sounds like the church in Corinth struggled primarily with envy, offense, and division (putting more emphasis on earthly leaders than Jesus Himself). But whatever our personal battles, when we get rid of the things of the flesh, we have more room in us for things of the Spirit. We also clear ourselves of the ’static’ of the world, so that we can better focus on God and His voice.
So how do we get rid of the stubborn parts of our flesh?
- We continually make an active choice in our hearts to submit to God and war against our flesh (through prayer, deliberate choice, and maybe even the intervention of other Christians)—the point isn’t whether we are initially successful, but that we earnestly and diligently desire righteousness
- We stop feeding our lusts by choosing not to do, watch, read or listen to the “permissible” things that are preventing us from fully focusing on the Lord
- We welcome the conviction of the Holy Spirit and desire to work out our salvation with fear and trembling through repentance
- In fact, we ask the Lord to search our hearts, that we may be purified–as we repent–of hidden fleshly desires
- We abide in His Word and immerse ourselves in His truth so that we continue to grow in righteous qualities (2 Peter 1:5-8)
In my own life, I’ve found that the more I pursue the Lord and consider Him in my everyday choices, the freer I become and the easier it is to walk more in His Spirit and less in my flesh. Jesus’ grace gives us the power to choose righteousness, so let’s discipline our bodies and lay aside every encumbrance that we may effectively run the race set before us (1 Cor 9:24-27, Heb 12:1-2).
Creative ways to read the Bible without a devotional book
Jun2
Who wants to spend $15 on a devotional book when you can read the Bible in a fulfilling way for free! 
Here’s a list of some of my favorite ways to get more out of the Word of God. And remember, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to guide you into all truth (John 14:26 & John 16:13), so remember to pray for His help before you read!
The prayer I typically pray is: “Holy Spirit, help me to understand everything I read today and write the words of scripture on my heart. Give me wisdom, and help me to gain a better understanding of Jesus so I can be a faithful witness to Him.”
If you’re a young Christian:
Start reading the Bible at the beginning of the New Testament; this is where Jesus’ life and teachings are described, so it’s the most relevant for Christians. Jesus’ time on earth is described in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (which are called the Gospels). John has a bit more theology and is harder to understand, so I recommend starting with one of the other three. The first time I read the Bible with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I started in Luke, then went back to Matthew and read the whole New Testament in order.
For the more mature Christian:
Make it a treasure hunt. Remember how Proverbs says to search for wisdom like precious gold and silver? I’ve found it really satisfying to search the Bible for the answer to a particular question. For instance: “What has Jesus commanded Christians to do?”, “What does the Bible promise?”, “How did David worship the Lord?” And then prayerfully search the scriptures for as much wisdom as you can glean. -Or- ask the Lord to give you the question AND the answer! (Those seeking wisdom really excite the Lord!)
Focus on one book. Many Bible studies do this, but it’s even better to do it on your own. I recommend reading the book over and over and over again, paying attention to the big picture first (who is writing the book to whom and why? Can anything be gleaned about the historical context?), then the smaller details (what is the Holy Spirit speaking to you personally?). Since the books were written as individual units, it is essential we also read them that way.
Focus on one author or audience. Read and compare Paul’s letters, or all of John’s writings. Or focus on one church (say Ephesus), or one people group (say the Philistines) and follow that audience through the scriptures.
Make a comparison. Try comparing one book to another (say, Genesis to Revelation, or 1 Cor to 2 Cor). It can be especially interesting to see how the Old Testament mirrors the New. Or watch to see how different apostles reveal unique aspects of the same mysteries.
Ask for divine guidance. One of the easiest ways to practice hearing and identifying the voice of the Holy Spirit is to ask Him where in the Bible to read and then pause and listen for what He says. He will absolutely tell you something! Dig deep in prayer and wait for His voice! Often He’ll take you to surprisingly relevant and personal truths!
Look for Jesus. Every story in the Bible points to Jesus, and reveals something unique about the nature of God. Pick a chunk of scripture or a book and start praying that the Holy Spirit would allow you to know Jesus in a deeper way. You could even ask specifically, “Holy Spirit, show me how this passage reveals Jesus’ first (or second) coming,” or, “Holy Spirit, reveal a facet of the Father’s nature that I’ve never seen before.”
Take it slow. Read a very small portion (especially of something already somewhat familiar so you don’t accidentally take it out of context) and meditate on it throughout the day, or during a “quiet time” with the Lord.
Pray the scriptures. It can be really powerful to connect to God by agreeing and proclaiming what He’s already spoken in His word. You could do this by praying a Psalm, or one of the prayers of the saints already recorded in the Bible. Or you could turn something else into a prayer. For instance, take the words Jesus spoke and start dialoging with Him about them, and proclaiming and pledging your allegiance to Him and His wisdom.
Pick a historic time period. For example, strive to learn us much as you can about the church right after Jesus ascended into heaven, or the building of the first temple, or the time of the first Diaspora, and then search the scriptures for everything pertaining to that specific time (including those looking back, or prophesying forward, to the time period of interest). If you were looking to understand the time of the building of the second temple, for instance, you could read Ezra, Nehemiah and even parts of Daniel and Isaiah.
Other Ideas:
- I like to write, underline and highlight in my Bible so that I know what I was thinking at various times I was reading. Sometimes I’ll put question marks in the columns or write out what I don’t understand–the next time I read the passage I am often pleasantly surprised that the Lord has addressed my concern or question.
- Keep a journal to record what the Lord is showing and teaching you.
- Use a website like blueletterbible.org or biblegateway.com to analyze the Biblical language on a word level or to check out other translations of the Bible.
An explanation of the “body of Christ”
Jun0
Christians are often talking about “the body of Christ” and how ‘the church’ is to be and act as His body. I can’t recall that I’ve ever heard anyone ‘define’ this in a helpful way, which makes sense since different circles of ‘the church’ have an unspoken connotation of this lingo within their communities.
So, I’m going to do my best to articulate what “the body of Christ” means. I think this is actually very profound.
Jesus came to earth as a man. He was fully God, but fully man. And, being fully man, He had a “man” body rather than a “God” body (in fact, He still has a “man” body of sorts–though now a resurrected body).
Jesus was also fully walking in the Holy Spirit (read the gospels carefully to see this), which is how He could not and did not sin (1 John 3:6, 9). And Jesus had all the spiritual gifts, and all power, and all authority, and all wisdom through the Spirit… Most Christians, I think, know this about Jesus, but haven’t put much thought into it. The point, essentially, is that He is the fullness of “man”–the only one found worthy (Rev 5).
Okay, so anyone who calls themself a Christian is (or at least has the invitation to be) a member of ‘the church’, which is also called ‘the body of Christ’.
What this means is that, as a collective unit, we will embody Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul uses the metaphor of how each Christian represents a part (or member) of “Christ’s body”‘–this is a more literal description than I’d realized.
See, Jesus had all the spiritual gifts for Himself. We each have one, or a few, or a bunch–whatever the Lord has blessed us with (and given us responsibility over). Together, we will have all of the gifts to the full extent that Jesus Himself had them! That’s what it means that we are His body!
Jesus had all power and all authority, and He passed that mantle down to us (commanding us to walk as He walked!). But only together will we have the strength and power worthy to be the “bride” of the King!
Jesus had the ability to stay in the Spirit, whereas we have “on” and “off” moments as we fight out the spiritual battle before us. He never sinned because He walked in the Spirit, while we would be lying if we said we had that same fullness in the Spirit (1 John 1:8). But as “the body of Christ” we will learn to walk in righteousness, and the members of the body left when our Lord comes will have made themselves holy and unblemished as the collective bride (Rev 19:7).
We can’t accomplish the fullness of Christ individually. But if we AREN’T individually pursuing and cultivating a love for the Lord, godly character, wisdom, and the stirring of our spirits to walk worthy of our personal callings through our spiritual gifts, then the body of Christ will arise as His bride without us! We’ll find we aren’t one of the members of His body.
Let’s spend the time to learn from Him on our own, so we can fulfill our unified calling as “the body”!
Moving from belief to faith
Jun0
In my time with the Lord yesterday it hit me that all three of these verses reveal a common pattern of spiritual growth:
- “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
- “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev 1:3).
We can’t expect to grow in intimacy with the Lord if we don’t actively spend the time to cultivate that growth. As these verses show, we grow in our faith by reading the Bible, which moves into us being able to hear the Lord’s voice, then solidifies as an active faith (i.e. we go from simply ‘believing’ He’s real to being able to keep/heed the prophecy as faithful witnesses).
This blog addresses the 'sticky' topics of Western Christianity in an attempt to shake, refocus, and unite the body of Christ, and to reveal the true gospel message to unbelievers.
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