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Colossians 2:8, My Take…

Apr29

Back in the days of Paul, the Apostle, the church at Colossae was facing a dilemma much like Christians face today. False teachings and philosophies based on human reasoning contradicted the core message of Christ. His obvious warning, therefore, was to be diligent in spending time with God in prayer and His word. And to surround themselves by a supportive community of faith. That is just the advice we need today.

Case in point. The philosophy of self-autonomy (governing oneself without outside interference) permeates society these days. Yet, I have witnessed it creating confusion in the minds of some young adults I’m close to. For they are advised by counselors (even some Christian counselors) to make decisions or choices that reflect one’s genuine self! Conforming to imposed rules or the opinions of others is to be rejected. You know, like God and parents!

It’s understandable that these young victims of such a philosophy could get quite heady with this kind of freedom initially. But not having to answer to anyone but themselves eventually leads to disaster. Christian young adults who have drifted from consistent engagement of the teachings of the Bible and an encouraging community of fellow believers are most vulnerable. Without a growing source of God’s truth and supportive community, they are blinded. Unaware of how they are being manipulated, deceived, and distracted by the fiery darts of the enemy.

Consider this. An emerging adult heads out into the waters of adulthood. They leave behind the community of faith they were once a part of. Spending time with God in prayer and His word and hanging out with fellow believers no longer has the priority it should have. So what’s going to be their guiding factor when the waters get a bit rough? How will they steer themselves in the storms? At first it may be thrilling and exciting to steer their own ship. But the storms will come. What then?

As appealing as being your own boss is, it is a direct contradiction to the Truth thoughts in Scripture. This is how the enemy tricks us. Remember Eve, in the garden of Eden? Her desire to be her own boss led to the fall. And just as it will today, choices made to please ourselves alone will lead to sin.

The high sounding nonsense saturating the philosophies of our day are to be recognized and rejected. But without the power of wisdom supplied by the Truth thoughts of Scripture, we simply won’t have the discernment.

Listen, there is NOTHING in this world more fulfilling, NOTHING that offers more peace than living to please God. NOT the empty philosophies and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world!

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light

The Freedom of Truth…

Jan13

It burdens my heart to see Christians ignoring their Bibles. It’s pretty obvious who’s behind that. Yep, the enemy is working overtime. I’ve written this before but it bears to be written again. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Everywhere, here in the US and all across the globe is evidence of his deception and manipulation. So how does this happen? I believe the answer is simple. And it is revealed in John 10:10. If he can steal, kill, or destroy God’s word from an individual, that individual’s faith will be compromised. For if we don’t feed ourselves on the Truth of God’s salvation, we become malnourished in our faith.

God’s word is where Truth resides. Without Truth, evil has no restraints. And when evil is not restrained, lies become truth and Truth becomes lies. For the enemy knows that when we know the Truth, his plans are thwarted.

I want to break this down to the individual level. Consider the problems we face. For example, when we have discord in our family relationships and need insight as to how to handle it, where do we go? Friends? Books? Social Media? The internet? Television? Movies? Music? The enemy makes sure we have a smorgasbord of options to choose from. And he will deliberately steer us in the opposite direction of Truth.

So here we are, people who call themselves Christian but are ignorant of God’s Truth. Yes, we too often turn to the patterns of this world. A world that is blind to God’s Truth. When we turn to the world for the solutions we need, it’s like the blind leading the blind. For instance, the world will tell us that we are the author of our own lives. That we should reject any advice from those who contradict what we want. Shut them out. Put up boundaries. Don’t let them in. The very people who love us the most are the ones we are influenced to turn from. Know why?

Because the Bible is going to refute the idea of self autonomy. How? By instructing us to forgive those who have hurt us. And by being willing to ask for forgiveness! By counseling us on how to treat each other and avoid conflict.The Bible might even point out the sin we are guilty of that has contributed to our family problem. God knows we need His wisdom to grapple with the pitfalls we encountered.  

Therefore, Satan’s goal is to separate us from what is True by making sure we are ignorant of it. Keeping us from spending time in the Bible is his default tactic. His goal is to imprison us with lies.

However, the only way to be set free of such bondage is to know the Truth. When we know the Truth, we will be set free.   

What does it mean to think like a Christian, or not?

Sep28
Who should I listen to?

Before becoming a Christian, our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors were ruled by our personal desires. The aim of such desires is to fulfill thoughts centered on self, not God. Such thoughts and desires are heavily influenced by society. And if we allow today’s society to define what is good (instead of God’s word) then we enter a world darkened by the absence of God’s truth. As a result, our self-centered thinking sets the course of our lives, not God’s truth. So, if God’s truth is not our ‘go to’ authority on what is good for us, then what is?

The authority of inner feelings is now hailed as the authority of the day.(Back in the 60’s when the ideology of the day was “if it feels good do it” is nothing more than an update but with a wider following today on that same ideology) Better yet, if society endorses our feelings then we can feel free to express those feelings. And guess what, those thoughts will reinforce the idea that this is truly who we are! Back in the day, we called it rebellion. Today we call it expressive individualism.

The problem with this is that if an unchanging absolute authority does not define truth for us, then truth becomes something that is in a state of flux. What we determine as truth and what we reject as not being truth today, cannot be counted on to be the same tomorrow!

In contrast, upon becoming a Christian, our desire to please only ourselves, is put aside for the desire to please God. That voice inside our head telling us what is right and what is wrong, finds its source in the word of God. A Word that is absolute and unchanging.

Yet, as Christian we know that as long as we are alive, we now have two voices that compete for control of our thoughts. (Keep in mind that thoughts determines attitudes, and attitudes forms behavior.). Additionally, we know that the voice that speaks the loudest is the one we focus upon. Therefore, in order for God’s truths to speak the loudest we must be able to readily recognize it. If we do not consistently absorbs His truths, by spending time daily in God’s word and with God in prayer, then the voice of our flesh will take advantage of this lack of knowledge and drown out the Voice of truth.

Remember, to think like a Christian we need to have a sense of how God would want us to think. We aren’t going to know that unless we become familiar with what God thinks, right? And, the main place to find that out is in His Word. Otherwise, we will be allowing what we think to be determined by our self-centered nature.

The Real Me…

Apr27

Ever had a thought intrude upon your mind that made you shutter? Have you had thoughts about a situation that just couldn’t move beyond the negative? Do these types of thoughts plant seeds of concern about who you really are? If we persist in giving sway to these concerns, they will set us on a path of lies and deception.

But as Christians, we have a defense against such deception. It is clearly stated in over 100 verses in God’s authoritative word that our true identity is based on our personal relationship with God. By believing in Christ and accepting His sacrifice on our behalf, our bodies became the dwelling place of Christ via the Holy Spirit. At the moment of salvation, our old self’s took on a new identity. Therefore, my true identity, my authentic self, is based on my new life in Christ. I am no longer deceived. I have the assurance my negative feelings are not my true self. In other words, “I was one way then I was completely different and what happened in between was Him.” (Season 1, Ep. 1, The Chosen)

Ponder these Truths:

…and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV

Yet, when we reject God’s authoritative word, we open our sin nature (our old identity) to any and everything false. And today the downward spiral of the morals of our country gives evidence of the consequences of such rejection. Some have even digressed to the point that they place authority and value on feelings, over God’s transcendent truths, to define their authentic selves.

In short, the modern self is one where authenticity is achieved by acting outwardly in accordance with one’s inward feelings.

Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists redefined identity and sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl T. Trueman

When the feelings of ‘self’ dictate our attitude and actions, we are capable of choices that fly in the face of God. Choices that will eventually set us and those directly affected by our choices on a path of destruction. Attitudes and actions that deep within our hearts we know are wrong.

Feelings as authority vs God as authority?

The Scriptures explain the nature of our old selves and why the world rejects those of us who belong to God, as well as God’s authoritative word.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1 ESV

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,..Ephesians 4:22

Consider

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 ESV