OBEDIENT CHILDREN

We have a men’s Bible study group at our church that is working through First Peter. Peter addresses the obedience theme of yesterday’s Freedom Fighter. He tells those to whom he wrote to live as “obedient children.” The contrast he gives them is unmistakable.

His readers receive clear instruction. They are not to conform themselves to the former lusts. Rather, they must choose to be holy (obedient) in all your conduct. The issue is simple. God is holy. You are to be like God. Therefore, be holy! (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Holiness develops in Peter’s thinking by choosing obedience over disobedience. They learn new behaviors as they grow in grace and knowledge. They resist the temptations to revert to old behaviors. All the instruction is prefaced by reminders that Jesus is coming again. (1 Peter 1:2-11) Peter’s audience lived with almost daily persecution. Their commitment to obedience demanded something so worthwhile that it would serve as a constant motivation. Jesus coming again offered them the hope they needed.

It is my opinion that those who live in yoke with Jesus never live in easy times. We may not suffer like brothers in some parts of our world. Our trials may come from a different direction. Living obediently in a corrupt world just isn’t easy. We, like Peter’s readers, need hope. Their hope is our hope!

In that hope rests the very best reason for choosing obedience over disobedience. Consistent obedience over time proves the “genuineness of our faith.” (1:7) When Jesus comes back, all Freedom Fighters want Him to know we’re the real deal. We do love him. We do trust Him. We do want to live as He lives.

I ask you to notice three things from the early words of Peter’s letter. First, he offers them five reminders of Jesus return-that’s encouragement. Then Peter tells them to choose obedience since they know the “end of the story.” That’s instruction. Jesus is coming back; live with that expectation. Finally, Peter wrote to people living in community. That’s accountability. They pursued obedience together. Peter didn’t expect them to pursue holiness alone.

Peter’s words live on in Scripture for us. We need the encouragement. We need the instruction. We need the accountability. Together, they help us choose obedience, and obedience leads us to victory! (Pastor John Strain — First Baptist Toms River)

Something to think about: A renewed mind has an utterly changed conception, not only of reality, but of possibility. A turn away from the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of God provides a whole set of values based not on the human word, but on Christ’s. Impossibilities become possibilities. — Elisabeth Elliot

VICTORY

I sat in a pastor’s meeting recently. We were talking about living a life of victory. One of the pastors commented that he liked to talk more about obedience than victory. He wasn’t discounting the promise of victory; he was making the point that obedience is evidence of victory.

As he went on explaining his thoughts, he said something that I’ve thought of several times in the last month. Some people, he said, will do the right thing because it’s good for them and they don’t want to suffer the shame and embarrassment of someone catching them. Some people will do the right thing because of concern for their family and friends-they don’t want to bring grief or reproach on their loved ones. Ultimately, the pastor said, the people who really live their lives with consistent obedience are those who are concerned for God’s reputation.

I look forward to getting with my pastor friend soon to discuss his thoughts. He’s on to something, I think! If our view of God is as lofty as I think it should be, we’ll make good choices out of concern for His reputation. All of us know that our sin (lack of victory and obedience) affects others. We don’t live in isolation. How many of us consider how our sin, our wrong choices, affects God and His reputation in our world?

During the last month, I’ve faced temptation. I’ve had to make choices between right and wrong. Choosing the right thing because I fear exposure may keep me out of trouble. Choosing to do the right thing out of respect for my wife, kids and church family is admirable. As a man who wants to finish well, those motivations are less than best. I’ve thought often in the last month that my love for God must drive my choices and my desire to honor Him in every area of my life.

It’s really as simple as 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The best possible way to live in freedom is to make the right choices for the right reason-the glory of God! (Pastor John Strain – First Baptist Toms River)

Great quote: “Christian, mark well this double paradox of the spiritual life; in ourselves we are weak even when we are strong; in Christ we are strong even when we are weak. Self-sufficiency is INSUFFICIENCY. Christ-sufficiency is ALL-SUFFICIENCY!” Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter

JUSTIFICATION BY LIFE

“What use it is, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has not works? Can that faith save him?” James 2:14

The Gospel is a message not just for our salvation, but our on-going sanctification. The Gospel that we heard preached to us, is the Gospel that we need to preach to ourselves on a daily basis.

Listen to these words from devotional writer, Glynn Evans:

“I must not entertain a short-sighted view of justification by faith. I must believe in JUSTIFICATION BY LIFE also. Too often I have held the opinion that justification only has to do with my SINS, whereas the Bible clearly says, ‘The just one shall live by his faith’ (Hebrews 10:38).

That means more than just the initial act of faith whereby I come alive in Jesus Christ and my sins are justified in God’s sight. True enough, thank God, but there is more! I am called upon by God to justify more than my sins; I am called upon to justify my way of life before men.

It is relatively easy to justify my sins. One believing look at Calvary’s cross is sufficient for that! But God calls on me to keep believing on Him as I believed at Calvary so that HE can effectively demonstrate in me that HE is capable of handling my life. By continually trusting HIS WORD with wholehearted reliance, I justify God before the eyes of the world.

Too often I have been lulled into the temptation to trust God to pardon my sins, only to refuse to trust Him in the mechanical, everyday matters of life – whom do I marry, where do I work, what should I buy, how shall I serve, what should I do with my leisure, and hundreds of similar details. In short, I have justified my sins but I do not justify my life by faith.

Justification by life works both ways – manward and Godward. Can I justify before God my worry, my anxiety about money (hmmmmmm)matters, my fretting about the future, or my frustration about my children? Or does my simple reliance on Him and His Word make my life ‘justified,’ that is, God saying yes to every attitude and bent of mind?

‘Justified by faith,’ yes, but not once and for all but every day and IN every way. The result of justification by life is ‘The Lord …
delighteth in his way.’ (Psalm 37:23) from DAILY WITH THE KING (Moody
Press)

Good word for today!

Something to think about: “Once you have accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines should be deliberately held before you mind every day. That is why daily praying, and Scripture reading and church going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed…if you examined one hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?” C S Lewis, Mere Christianity

SELF-SINS

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

When we submit ourselves to the Lord and ask Him to do HIS work in us, we better be ready for Him to do exactly what we ask Him to do. If we ask Him, like David did, to search our hearts, He will do it … Today’s devotional is one of those “heart-searchers” that is a stinger – but necessary. Read it and go back to the Cross and allow Him to search your heart anew:

“To be specific, the self-sins are:

* Self-righteousness

* Self-pity

* Self-confidence

* Self-sufficiency

* Self-admiration

* Self-love

And a hosts of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.

The grosser manifestations of these sins – egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion – are strangely tolerated in us, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice …

Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. We must invited the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment.”

A.W. Tozer – Tozer on Christian Leadership (Christian Publications) Will you take some time today and allow Him to search your heart. Are there any SELF-SINS that need to be addressed in your life?

Something to think about: Sin forsaken is the best evidence of sin forgiven. Anonymous

GOD IS FAITHFUL

“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

This devotional reading for today was one I shared with you back in 2004, but I needed to be reminded of this truth today in my own life. I pray that it will encourage you too.

“God never calls us to do anything without faithfully keeping His Word and enabling us to do it. We are not always faithful to do what God tells us, but He remains faithful and stand by His Word to fulfill what HE has promised (Isaiah 46:11).

When the children of Israel reached the Red Sea, they might have concluded that God had abandoned His promise to them. The sea was barring their advance, and the murderous Egyptian army was racing to overtake them! Yet God proved then, as He has ever since, that HE is absolutely faithful to EVERY WORD He speaks to His children.

God may have spoken to you about something in particular – a ministry in your church, the way you raise your children, or what you should do in your job. You have obeyed Him, but now you face a Red Sea experience. It seems that what you THOUGHT God want to accomplish is not happening!
Perhaps your ministry has not been well received, or your children are rebelling, those at your workplace are criticizing your actions (or your unpaid bills are mounting!). TRUST IN THE CHARACTER OF GOD! It is His nature to be faithful.

The testimony of people throughout the ages is expressed by the psalmist, who declared: “I have been young, and now I am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His descendants begging bread.”
(Psalm 37:25)

Regardless of how bleak your PRESENT circumstances are, DO NOT LOSE HOPE! No one has ever experienced unfaithfulness on God’s part! Allow time for God to reveal His faithfulness to you. Some day you will reflect on what God has done and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness to you.” – Dr. Henry Blackaby Experiencing God Day-By-Day (Broadman Holman)

Something to think about: “We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.” Oswald Chambers

WRONG JUDGMENT

“Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.” Galatians 6:7

This reminder from the pen of devotional author, A. W. Tozer, is one that we should burn into our hearts and minds often:

“Sin, I repeat, in addition to anything else it may be, is always and act of wrong judgment. To commit a sin a man must for the moment believe that things are different from what they really are; he mist confound values; he must see the moral universe out of focus; he must accept a lie as truth and see truth as a lie; he must ignore the signs on the highway and drive with his eyes shut; he must act as if he had no soul, and not accountable for his moral choices.

Sin is never a thing to be proud of. No act is wise that ignores remote consequences, and sin always does. Sin only sees today, or at most tomorrow; never the day after tomorrow, next month or next year. Death and judgment are pushed aside as if they did not exist and the sinner becomes for the time a practical atheist who by his act denies not only the existence of God but concept of life after death …

The notion that the careless sinner is the smart fellow and the serious-minded Christian, though well-intentioned, is a stupid dolt altogether out of touch with life will not stand up under scrutiny. Sin is basically an act of moral folly, and the greater the folly, the greater the fool.” — A.W. Tozer on Christian Leadership (Christian Publications)

Something to think about: Watch the morning watch. Do not see the face of man until you have seen the face of God. Before you enter on the day with its temptations, look up into His face and hide His Word in your heart. Frederick Brotherton (F. B.) Meyer

A SOBERING THOUGHT

“Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” Joshua 7:13

This morning in my quiet time I was reminded of the sobering thought that my sin not only impacts me, but everyone and everything around me. In the arena of addiction, we say that for every man’s addiction impacts at least ten other people in his or her life. We teach that addiction is sin – so if you follow this through to its logical conclusion – just think about the impact of YOUR sin on the lives of others.

Listen to these sobering words from the pen of author, Dr. Henry Blackaby: “Just as the obedience of one Christian can bring blessing to others, the sin of one Christian can bring harm to many others. The children of Israel were rapidly advancing into the Promised Land. They had experienced a miraculous victory over the city of Jericho, and they were continuing toward their next conquest. To their surprise they met decisive defeat as they attempted to capture the small town of Ai.

They sought God’s explanation for their failure, and He provided it. He revealed that someone among them had disobeyed His clear command not to keep any possession from Jericho. The disobedience of ONE man and his family had paralyzed an entire nation! Achan thought he could conceal his sin and it would not affect anyone else. God chose to demonstrate the destructive power of one sin to His people. One act of disobedience cost Achan and his family their lives. It caused his countrymen to lose the battle; innocent soldiers were killed. His sin had serious repercussions for others, denying them the blessing, power, and victory of God.

YOUR SIN [AND MINE] will have an impact on others. Choosing to disobey God may cost you your family God’s blessing. The power of God may be absent from your church [or ministry] because you are living in disobedience. Your friends may suffer because you are not living righteously. Diligently seek to obey every word from God, for you do not know how your disobedience could affect those around you. Scripture promises that if you will obey the Lord, your life will be a channel of blessing to others.” (See Psalm 37:25-26)

Sobering words that we need to hear as we begin this new week.

Something to think about: “No one whose senses have been exercised to know good and evil but must grieve over the sight of zealous souls seeking to be filled with the Spirit while they are yet living in a state of moral carelessness or borderline sin. Such a thing is a moral contradiction. Whoever would be filled and indwelt by the Spirit should first judge his life for ANY hidden iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures.” – A. W. Tozer

Join us this Thursday night, November 15th for our Men’s Fellowship Night. Great food and fellowship, worship, a challenge from God’s Word and time to play and enjoy each other afterwards in our Activity Center. I will have the privilege of sharing God’s Word with you. Dinner is at 6:15 PM. Call today for reservations and information: 732-350-1187.

The Sweet Aroma of Sacrifice

I am going to preach on the topic “He Is Worthy of Our Sacrifice” this morning. God’s Word, from beginning to end, reminds us that offering sacrifices to God is a good and right thing to do. Our culture tells us to live for ourselves and take care of ourselves before we think of others . . . if we ever think of them.

The original idea behind Freedom Fighters was to encourage men who struggle with addictions to overcome them and those who don’t struggle to avoid the behaviors that could create problems. All of us who have struggled with any kind of addiction know that selfishness kicks in big time when we want a “fix” for whatever addiction plagues us.

Selfishness is the opposite of sacrifice. It pushes us to put ourselves before everyone and everything else. It makes us the center of our universe and anything that robs us of that centrality is unacceptable. Too many Christians live with that mentality, allowing their own selfish desires for money, power, influence, and satisfaction to govern them.

Consider the woman John tells us about in John 12:1-8. She anointed the feet of Jesus with costly oil and wiped His feet with her hair. Most Bible commentators believe that ointment or oil was the most precious thing she owned. She chose to sacrifice it as a gift of love to Jesus! Those who were His followers questioned her decision. John tells us that Judas objected. Other gospel writers include other disciples in the objection. Some really thought she could have used the oil in better ways. Judas wanted it sold and put in the common purse so he could steal the money. The lady wanted nothing more than to sacrifice to serve Jesus.

And here is the line that captures my attention: And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. One lady gives one costly gift. The aroma of that gift changed the ambience of the room! Everyone knew from the fragrance, that her gift was of great worth.

You and I can make choices every day between sacrifice and selfishness. We can bring the aroma of sacrifice to those around us. Or, we can bring the stench of selfishness. What scent do you and I bring when we enter a room? Whether we sacrifice specifically for Jesus or for those who follow Him or for those who need to know Him, the aroma will fill the room and bring praise to Jesus. (Pastor John Strain — First Baptist of Toms River)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: “You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.” — Oswald Chambers

DON’T GIVE UP

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” (Romans 4:18)

I shared this Freedom Fighter devotional in 2005, but today it seems so appropriate. Right now we are going through so many issues and it seems that it goes from bad to worse … So I needed these words this morning:

“Abraham’s faith seemed to be in complete agreement with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. By looking at the OUTER CIRCUMSTANCES in which he was placed, he had no reason to expect the fulfillment of God’s promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord and looked forward to the time when his descendants would be ‘as numerous as the stars in the sky.’ (Genesis 26:4)

Dear soul, you have not been given only one promise, like Abraham, BUT A THOUSAND PROMISES! And you have been given the example of many faithful believers as a pattern for your life. Therefore it is simply to your advantage to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And although He may delay in sending His help, and the evil you are experiencing may SEEM to get worse and worse, do not be weak. Instead, be strong and rejoice, for God usually steps forward to save us when we least expect it, fulfilling His promises in a MIRACULOUS way!

He generally waits to send His help until the time of our greatest need, so that HIS hand will be plainly seen in our deliverance. He chooses HIS method so we will not trust in anything that we may SEE or FEEL, as we are prone to do, but will place our trust solely on HIS WORD — which we may ALWAYS depend upon, no matter our circumstances.

Remember, the very time for faith to work is when our SIGHT begins to fail. And the greater the difficulties, the easier it is for faith to work, for as long as WE can see certain NATURAL SOLUTIONS to our problems, we will not have faith. — Streams in the Desert (Zondervan)

Thank You, Lord! I needed that today!

Something to think about: Faith never works as easily as when our natural prospects fail.” George Mueller

THE COST OF QUITTING”For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted blood, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:3-4

This thing called the Christian life is not for the faint of heart, my friend. In fact, there are days that we all feel like throwing in the towel and quitting. A. W. Tozer’s devotional reading for today was especially meaningful to me today:

“Is Satan opposes the new convert he opposes more bitterly the Christian who is pressing toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite.

Viewed one way it is a pilgrimage through a robber-infested forest; viewed another, it is a grim warfare with the devil. Always there is struggle, and sometimes there is a pitched battle with our own nature where the lines are so confused that it is all but impossible to locate the enemy or to tell which impulse is of the Spirit and which of the flesh …

My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness.Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing.” A. W. Tozer — ON CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Habits are first cobwebs, then cables. The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson