Basics in accounting — and in believing . . .

This morning, Hubby told me about a roommate who came home one day excited because he bought a new stereo. It didn’t bother him that he had no money left for his share of the rent, utilities and groceries. This conversation was prompted by raises in insurance costs and how so many people have no idea how to budget and live within their means.

You cannot spend more money than you make — at least not for long without the debt catching up to you no matter how you do the math. Some maxims are debatable. Some are not.

This also applies to Christianity. The Bible defends the faith and makes clear that certain tenets of our faith cannot be twisted, denied or left out. Those who do so are denying any claim to be Christian that they might make. This includes people in mainline denominations, splinter groups, isms, and cults, even any who attend evangelical churches but deny the basics.

John writes his first letter to address the religious system of that time known as Gnosticism. They believed that a person must set himself free from the material world and be occupied alone with the spirit. For them, this was their way of ‘superior knowledge’ and their salvation.

These Gnostics believed that matter was evil, thus the human body was evil. Therefore God could not be manifest in the flesh which would defile Him. In their error, Christ’s humanity was not real. It only seemed so and the disciples where seeing a phantom. If He was truly man, the Christ-spirit did not actually unite with Him, except maybe for the brief time between the baptism and the crucifixion. This was, therefore, a denial of His deity. To this denial, John warns his readers how to identify those who make this error:

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (1 John 2:18–20)

These words tell me two things. One, those who do not believe Jesus is God in human flesh will not stick around true Christians for long. They do not adhere to what we teach and preach so they leave.

Also, the reason we know Jesus is God is not about any ‘superior knowledge’ but comes from a revelation by the Holy Spirit. He has anointed us by His power so that we know the identity of Jesus Christ. We cannot explain it to anyone that does not have the Spirit nor can we prove it. We just know it.

John goes on to say that anyone who denies Jesus is the Christ is the antichrist. In his second letter he says:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 7–9)

This is black and white teaching, not debatable. John even adds this instruction: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” (2 John 10–11)

We live in a gated community so have not had cult members at our door for a few years. However, I’ve a relative in one of those groups and he flatly denies that Jesus is God in human flesh. His group of people work hard to appear Christian and draw others to their membership. At the same time, if anyone leaves this group they are shunned and mistreated.

Yet they do leave. The grace of God reveals to them that they have been duped and held by fear. This too is sad and another evidence that their failure to believe in the deity of Christ has taken them down a path of deception that leads to destruction. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will change their thinking and open their eyes to this very basic truth taught in Scripture and believed by millions whose lives have been changed because of it.

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Lord Jesus, my heart aches more about lies and denial of truth than all other sorrows in this world. We can suffer many things, but with You as our Lord and Savior nothing is without purpose in our lives. This is because You reign over this world in love and truth. With You all things are possible. It makes my heart sad to hear people curse Your name, or even worse deny that You are who You are. My most heartfelt prayer is that You will open the eyes of the blind and lead those in darkness into the light of who You are and what You have done for us.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God’s Word that lets me know what God thinks.

- Jesus is meekness and majesty, manhood and deity — all in one Person.

- Passed my annual physical today, at least until the blood tests are done.

- having a doctor that makes me laugh and feel good.

- big fat bagels plastered with sesame seeds.

- spring-like weather in November.

Big picture = strong foundation

Professors in the seminary where I took a master’s degree were a huge help to me in a way that they may not have realized. I am a ‘detail’ person but every one of my profs was a ‘big picture’ person. From them, overview, outlines, and seeing the general message of the Bible became easier and more important. I’m noticing this today as my devotions in 2 Peter come to a close.

Peter’s first main point is that since the Word of God was given by the Holy Spirit, I need to pay attention to it:

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19–21)

This week, a friend told me she was getting direction for her spiritual life from a book written by a member of a fraternal organization that is not Christian and does not follow the Word of God. Since the source of this book is not God, its message lacks the authority of the Bible. I’d not read the book she considered “inspiring” so could not convincingly comment on it. Instead, I used a few verses point to the power and love of Jesus Christ.

Peter’s second point is the fate of false teachers, those who “deny the Lord” and are headed toward judgment. He says of them that their “the latter end is worse with them than the beginning” (2:20) and those who follow them can expect nothing better. God’s judgment upon sinners throughout the Bible is a warning to all. I am praying for my friend that God will enlighten and save her so she does not listen to false teachers.

Peter’s third point is about the Second Coming of Christ. This will be God’s vindication of His name and purpose. It will also be the day of judgment for the scoffers and those who deny the reality that Jesus will return. They forget (and I sometimes do too) that this event is delayed because God is longsuffering, “not willing that any should perish” (3:9). For that delay, I am thankful. Who knows, not only might my friend turn to Christ but so also might some of those false teachers.

Peter again leaves me with this challenge:

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:14–18)

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Jesus today is another day to remember the important basics of following You. I am to keep short accounts, trusting You with peace in my heart and choosing patience and relying on the Holy Spirit as I study Your Word. You warn me to avoid those who teach error and remain stable, growing in the grace and knowledge of You, not for my benefit alone but that You will be glorified. You also remind me of the psalmist’s instructions to take refuge in You because “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)

Today’s thankful list . . .

- for the solid foundation given by God to His people.

- for the power of Jesus Christ over evil, sickness and death.

- for loving brothers and sisters in Christ.

- for answered prayer, especially for a friend’s who was in a spiritual battle and is now rejoicing.

- for a lazy afternoon, a good nap, and my hubby who spoils me every Sunday night buying supper.

- ice cream sandwiches.

The bottom line

I didn’t get far in my devotional book again today. The first sentences I read say, “The worshiper is never to be a passive auditor of the words and the ritual of worship. Neither is worship to be a dry routine nor a formless ecstasy. It is designed for the consecration of all our faculties to God.”

“A passive auditor” jumps out and convicts me about the horrible practice of evaluating the worship team, worship leaders and the worship service in general instead of being involved in worship. My focus turns to the form and the rituals instead being on God.

Perhaps that critical attitude comes along on the heels of letting worship fall into a “dry routine,” something done from habit rather than being a delightful and vibrant consecration of myself to God. Whatever the source, reasons or excuses, such practice is nothing else but a sin-filled affront to God.

Being a bottom-line person, I need to examine what promotes that fall into habit. How can it happen? If God were a visible Being seated on His throne before me, worship would never be a ritual or dead and dry. I know that seeing Him as He is knocks the socks off me and puts me on my face.

What I just wrote is a contradiction. God is not visible, yet I do see Him. He makes Himself known to me in His Word, through the things He has made, how He hears and answers prayer, through His everyday care, and in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

I know God because He makes Himself known, but I can ignore that. I can stop reading the Bible, stop looking at the world with an appreciation for its Creator, stop praying, stop relying on Him, and turn my focus off Jesus in vain efforts to be my own Savior and Lord.

When I do those things, God, like a wise parent, allows me to find out the hard way that avoiding and ignoring Him has consequences. For unbelievers, those consequences may not be experienced until Judgment Day, but not so for those who have put their faith in Christ. Psalm 11:3 hints at ignoring the basics, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

When I turn from God, I remove the brick of fellowship and soon experience a sense of loss. The deeper that fellowship has been, the greater the hole it leaves in my life. Instead of being thankful and appreciating all that He has done, those bricks crumble and I start whining and complaining.

Take out the brick of trust and that hole is filled with worrying about life and others, along with a feeling of despair over the mess I see in the world around me. At the same time, I’m trying to do it all, fix the holes with my own bricks, but when that isn’t working, I’m upset and unhappy.

But Christians are supposed to be joyful. So I paste a fake smile on my face (a plastic brick?) and go to church, only to experience more dry routine.

The other side is that “formless ecstasy” bit. I’m not hyper-emotional, but can understand that happening to people who rely on their emotions (instead of what God says) to give them a sense of being right with God and the world. Their phoney bricks include getting pumped by music and ‘good news’ but that never fills the hole the same way as the awe and wonder of God. True worship always rises above and beyond any human ‘perfection’ or excitement we rely on to arouse our faculties.

In four sentences, God challenges me and reminds me that while worship is all about Him, what I am doing at a ‘worship service’ speaks volumes about me and my spiritual condition.

Now for the practical part.

• Study the Bible with intention.
• Continue praying about all things, relying on Him for all things, and being thankful for all things.
• Stay close, and when sin interferes, be quick to deal with it.

Basic stuff, the foundations, but without them, I will crumble and my worship will no longer be a sweet offering to God.