Quick to Turn

I often hear people make statements like this:  I just wish we could all go back and be more like the early church.

My response is, “REALLY?  Have you read the Bible?  The early church was nuts!”  Don’t get me wrong, the book of Acts is an awesome account of God moving in a powerful way.  To me, the book of Acts is more like the story of REVIVAL: everyone is excited, everyone is on board, the money situation is good, and people are getting saved.  If you’re reading Acts, you’re thinking the church is in good shape.  You read Romans, and you’re enlivened by the doctrines we hold dear.  Then you get to 1 Corinthians…and you start to see the effects of real life.

God continues His majestic work throughout the rest of the New Testament, but a little bit of management is in order.  In the book of Galatians, we see Paul’s only epistle that doesn’t begin with a word of encouragement.  The Word of God gets right to the point.  

Galatians begins by reminding believers that Jesus Christ paid the price for sins, and follows with a quick rebuke.  Basically:  YOU HAVE BEEN SO QUICK TO TURN AWAY FROM THIS TRUTH.  It was true then, it is true today.  What makes us so easily swayed?  The Galatians in particular, were turning from the amazing beauty of God’s grace to legalism.  Why do we make it harder on ourselves?

It’s such a testimony to the Holy Spirit of God that He has kept the church on track through the centuries.  We must always fall back on Him as our refuge, our strength, and our source of Truth. 

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FRUIT ENVY

from my devotion - February 13, 2012
1 Corinthians 12

Sometimes I struggle with pride.   When I actually pause to trace the root of the struggle back to its beginning, I often find that it comes from FRUIT ENVY.  

FRUIT ENVY = the unhealthy desire of someone else’s God-given gifts, talents, blessings, or success.  Fruit envy can lead to some nasty side effects:
-  Becoming critical toward the person you actually admire
- Becoming critical about yourself
- Over compensating in other areas
- Beginning to serve from a “results-based” mindset rather than allowing Christ’s living water to flow and work through you

Fruit Envy stinks…almost literally.   It’s kind of like a gardner admiring the trees his neighbor has been pruning over time.  Rather than planting and pruning his own tree, the gardener might sneak over and grab a few of the fruits that have fallen off the healthy tree.  Taking some good old-fashioned duct tape, the gardner attaches the ripened fruit to his own plant.  Perfect….right?  Of course not.  In a matter of hours, the duct tape tree is going to be a messy, slimy, counterfeit mess.  If we’re not careful to understand our gifts rather than copying those around us, our churches begin looking a little…unnatural.

The scripture celebrates the diversity of the gifts God has given His church.  In 1 Corinthians 12 we’re reminded that we are never given gifts so that we can impress others.  Rather, they are given for the purpose of serving the church to the glory of God.  The next time you struggle with pride…trace it back.  

[Sometimes pride says, “I’m the best.”  Most of the time pride says, “I’m the worst.]  Christianity says, “Jesus is the best, and I belong to Him.”

1 Corinthians 12:18 - “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” 

How to you fight Gift Envy?
-  Work to implement authentic community in your life.  It’s really hard to be envious of someone that you are praying for and spending time with
- Encourage people’s efforts, but always give the glory of God
- Stay Kingdom Minded  (I want every ministry to grow bigger than mine…as long is mine is growing.  We’re fighting the DEVIL - not each other)
- Don’t live for compliments.  In a subtle way, when someone compliments you, give glory to God.  Allow God to give you your reward…He’s a lot better at it! 

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Let’s Have CHURCH

From My Devotion - 2/8/12a
NEHEMIAH 7:73-9:21 

Nehemiah and the people are of one mind and spirit.  It’s been a long, hard-fought road.  Most of the roads worth traveling are hard-fought.  Finally the people had gathered together, and they were ready to receive the law.  Ezra the priest comes out to a place of promimence, and he begins to read the ancient scrolls.  Here’s where things get good:  the people rejoiced.

According to the scripture, they people started having CHURCH.  They shouted “amen,” they lifted their hands, and they bowed down to God in reverence.  Who said the church in Acts 2 were the first pentecostals!  When we truly see God for who He is and when we receive His word, this seems like a natural response.  It seems like the intention of God as expressed by Christ in John 4.  The people in Jerusalem were worshipping in Spirit and Truth.  I love this biblical model. (verse 8:8)

We also see that the priest taught the people “verse by verse.”  The best preaching is verse by verse!  Again, we see such a beautiful response.  Not only did the people hear the Word, they immediately began to respond in obedience.  They put aside their comfort and convenience and sought desperately after the Lord.  There is freedom in this level of sacrifice.  

The leaders were drawn in to study the word on a deeper level.  “God, may this always be true of my ministry.  I pray that I don’t just focus on gimmicks and incentives.  Lord, let me press in with my leaders to study your scripture more carefully.”

When you reflect on the law, you respond to the victories in the past.  For the children of Israel, a constant reference point is their exodus from Egypt.  In the new covenant, ours is the Cross.

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