I'm A Recovering Poisonous Preacher

One day when Elisha instructed one of the sons of the prophets to prepare a meal, he went out into the field and gathered wild gourds from a wild vine and cooked it in the stew. The prophets poured the stew out for all the people to eat when someone discovered, “There is death in the pot!” God’s prophets were serving poison and eating out of the same pot. (See 2 Kings 4:38-41)

That’s what I did for many years. I took the liberating gospel of God’s grace and mixed the wild gourds of religious performance in the same pot with it. The gourds came from a wild vine out in the field. Grace doesn’t grow in a wild field. It is cultivated only in the garden of grace planted and nurtured by God Himself. The idea of religious performance is a wild plant which poisons the grace of God and causes it to cease to be edible, although I did eat and serve it to my church for many years. The tragedy of this kind of poison is that it won’t kill you, but will be just toxic enough to keep you sick for the rest of your life.

The underlying foundation of all religion is performance, whether it’s a tribal dance around a campfire to satisfy the fire god or a dead religious activity performed week after week by an evangelical Christian with the intent of impressing his God. It’s all religious performance and God isn’t impressed by our performance. What impresses Him is faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). He couldn’t care less about religious ritual void of life. God is in the business of Life. Nothing else interests Him. He is interested in living relationships, not dead religion.

The announcement of the gospel of grace includes the good news that God wants to deliver us from religion. He has extended His grace for the purpose of rescuing us from a lifestyle of futile, feeble efforts to make ourselves acceptable to Him. The essence of religion is man’s attempt to somehow convince himself that he has jumped through enough hoops for God to give him the approving nod. It’s the way we try to validate our own self worth through asinine acts of self righteousness which in reality, separate us from the very goal we seek to achieve. It is poison because it kills any opportunity one will ever have to experience genuine intimacy with God. Religion is a prostitute having fifty dollar sex with a man and telling him it’s love when all the while, deep in his heart, the man knows better. Religion offers false hope that somehow there is something we can do to impress God enough to cause Him to accept us on the basis of our actions. Religion is what rushes in to fill the vacuum created by the absence of personal intimacy with God.

Do my words sound too strong? If so I would encourage you to go back and read Paul’s treatment of legalism in the book of Galatians. My words pale in comparison to his tirade against those who preached circumcision. I deliberately use hard language here because religion is robbing people of Life! Keep in mind that it was religious people who hated Jesus the most. Our identity isn’t in religion, but in our relationship to Him.

I doled out a lot of poisonous preaching for many years, but I was eating out of the same pot. Thankfully, I was healed and now want nothing more than to see others experience the same healing.

Rest In Peace - It's The Only Way To Go

For many years the concept of rest was so foreign to me that I couldn’t comprehend it. I didn’t know rest was a gift from God. I thought it was a sin. The invitation of Jesus to those who would follow Him is amazing — “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

For most of my life, I sincerely believed that the only time we would find rest was when we died and went to heaven. There was a verse I used to read at funeral services to give comfort to bereaved families. I would share Hebrews 4:10 with them: “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

When I shared this verse, I would tenderly point out that our beloved friend who had died “has now entered into God’s rest and ceased from his own labors.” I talked about how heaven is a place where there are no more struggles. It is a place where we simply rest in Christ and enjoy Him forever. Entering into His rest and ceasing from our own works. It sounded like dying and going to heaven to me.

Then one day I read the next verse in the passage — “Let us be therefore diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall down through following the example of disobedience.” What? Be diligent to enter that rest? Now I was in trouble. I had always taught that rest means dying. Now here I was being confronted with the verse that says to be diligent to enter that rest or else I would be disobedient to God. I knew I had better go back and reexamine that verse again and hope that my interpretation had been wrong or else I was in serious trouble! I didn’t know that I had already died with Christ and was able to cease from my own works, living instead out of His finished work.

The idea of being called by Christ to a place of rest often contradicts the default setting of contemporary Christian thought. We live in a society where people go on vacation with their cell phones, Blackberrys and laptops. To rest in Christ is a concept which often requires a radical paradigm shift for many people.

To rest in Christ, trusting Him to express His life through us, sounds lazy and negligent after having lived in the wilderness of legalism for such a long time. Many mistakenly think of rest as some sort of passivity, which it is not. Resting in Christ simply means trusting Him to be our Life-Source, depending upon Him to empower our actions with His strength and direction.

Those Ridiculous, Religious Rules That Ruin Lives

A Boston-Globe article reported a couple of years ago that New Hampshire's state drug abuse and prevention program was turned down for a $17 million grant for one reason alone. The Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that the state’s application for the grant was typed with smaller margins than permitted. The state of New Hampshire wasn’t given a second chance. The decision of the Administration was final. Sorry folks, no help available for drug addicts in New Hampshire. The margins weren’t right.

When I read about this incident on the Internet, it reminded me of some of the victims of legalism I’ve met along the way. The law doesn’t care about people. Rules are the only thing that matter to the legalist.

There was the pastor who told me about how one night his wife never came home from work while they were in seminary. He laid awake worrying and praying all night. He had already called the police the next morning when his wife finally called. She informed him that she had been having an affair with somebody at work and had spent the night with that man. She called to tell her seminary-student-husband that she was leaving him.

The young man went to school that morning broken hearted. Due to what had happened, he arrived late. He spoke to the professor of the class he had missed and asked permission to make up the test which had been given that day in class. Despite the fact that he shared the painful details of the night before, his professor told him that to give him a chance to make up the test would be against the rules. He advised this broken hearted student that he needed to speak to the academic dean to get special permission.

When he spoke to the academic dean, he was told that he would immediately be expelled from school because he wouldn’t be allowed to continue his preparation for the pastorate if he was divorced. After all, if he couldn’t hold a marriage together, how could he lead a church? Not so much as an encouraging word was offered.

I’m reminded of another friend – Frank. His wife’s brother was diagnosed with AIDs. Frank and Betty lovingly brought her brother into their home to care for him. Frank was a pastor. His church couldn’t handle it. After all, it was the man’s misbehavior that had brought on the AIDs disease to start with.

Even in my own family, I once asked a staff member in a church we attended years ago if he would have someone in the young adult department of the church reach out to my son who had suffered a serious, life-threatening accident. “Is he in a small group?” I was asked. “No,” I responded. “That’s what he needs to do,” I was told. “He needs to get into a small group.” Our small groups are set up to minister to each other.” My son never got the contact. I guess membership in the small group really was important in that "church."

Rules, procedures, regulations – that’s what the law is all about.

But that’s not what Jesus is about. He’s about people. His focus is relationships, not rules. What matters to Him is love, not laws.

I think Jesus would have wept over the young pastor whose wife left him. I believe that Jesus is proud of Frank and Betty for how they cared for her brother. I believe Jesus loved my son in his need even when the "church" wouldn’t give him the time of day.

I believe Jesus cares about drug addicts and gays, about divorcees and outcasts. I think Jesus passionately loves the ones that repulse the rule-keeping, self-righteous pharisees. I’m glad Jesus isn’t like some people who "go to church" every Sunday.

Do you want Jesus to live through you? Then love somebody that others don’t tend to love. Reach out to the one who has nothing to offer in return. Love them unconditionally. Love them generously. Love them passionately. When you do so, your Father will smile with pleasure – because you’ll be acting just like His Son.

Changing As I Go

I’ve changed a lot over the years, in many ways. Maybe the way I’ve changed the most is centered on how I see God. The church-god I envisioned as a child and even during the early years of my ministry is nothing like the Father I have come to know in recent years.

It’s true that God never changes. He really is the same yesterday, today and forever. But as the barnacles of the rigorous, rules-keeping, regimented religion of my yesteryears have been scrapped away by the growing revelation of His outrageous love, I’ve come to see Him in a different light than I ever knew in my past.

I grew up seeing God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as a team who each had their own unique perspective and approach to me. My view was that God hated sin and, since that was one thing I was good at doing, I needed help to know how to keep Him at bay. That’s where the Holy Spirit came in. His role was to come to me and tell me in no uncertain terms to "stop it!" Sometimes He would use feelings of guilt and shame. At other times He would sternly remind me that God brought me into this world and He could just as easily take me out if I didn’t straighten up and fly right.

Then came Jesus — my view was that He came to keep God from doing what He was itching to do — zap me. I felt like God had one last nerve and I had gotten on it. Jesus was there to shush God when He was about to go off on me by holding up His hands and saying, "Father, remember — the scars, the scars!" "Oh, yeah," God would say and then He would calm down for a while until I screwed up royally again and it became necessary for Jesus to repeat the whole thing.

Is it any wonder I had trouble feeling intimacy with God? The sad thing is that I don’t think my perspective was unique. I meet many people today who still believe that there is somehow a dichotomy between the Father and Son when it comes to their acceptance of us. Many think that the Father is the nervous, on-edge type and that Jesus is the One who sits by His right hand to calm Him down. The Holy Spirit? They see Him as the behavior-policeman.

In reality, it’s not like that at all. The good news is that, contrary to what many have believed, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are really all on the same team. There has never been one moment when they weren’t of the same mind and heart toward you.

In the inner sanctum that exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there has always been nothing less than a loving intimacy that defies human definition or even description. Think of the most passionate and tender and touching and enduring love relationship you’ve ever had with another person in this world and multiply it by an infinite number and you won’t even begin to get close to the love shared among the Trinity.

The amazing news of the gospel of grace is that this divine dance isn’t a closed party. Their love is so great that it’s too big to be contained and too intense to be restrained so the Trinity threw the doors of this private club wide open at the cross and cried out across time and eternity, calling in "the poor and maimed and blind and lame.

The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all see things the same way, do things the same way and see you the same way. They’re all on your side. There’s a party going on right now and, by His grace, you’re in.

Is that how you see God? I hope so, because it’s true. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit love you and want you to relax and enjoy the party. That’s what abundant living is all about.

(This article came from my ministry newsletter, The Grace Vine. If you'd like to receive it either online or through the mail (U.S. only), click here. http://www.gracewalk.org/web/pageid/49197/pages.asp

Walking The Walk

Watch this week's broadcast here: www.gracewalk.org

Let's Do Less For God

Let’s do less for God. I believe we would be much more content and He would be pleased by our making that decision. Before you call me a heretic, consider this fact: God never asks us to do anything for Him. He doesn’t need us to do anything for Him. The Bible says that “He is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life and breath to all things” (Acts 17:25) God doesn’t need anything. And even if He did, He wouldn’t let us know about it. “If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you,” He says in Psalms 50:12. Our call as believers isn’t to do something for God, but rather is a call to God Himself.

The essence of the Christian life isn’t doing things for Him. It’s all about knowing Him. Jesus defined the meaning of salvation when He prayed to His Father, “This is eternal life, that they many know You and the One whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Christianity is knowing Him. We are called to be the bride of Christ, not His maid.

Does this mean that Christian service is somehow unimportant? Of course not! However, service is to be the overflow of the intimate relationship we enjoy with Him. It comes naturally (or more accurately, supernaturally ) for us to serve Christ when we love Him. The early disciples didn’t evangelize for God. They said, “We cannot [help] but speak the things we have seen and heard” (Acts 4"20). Service is to the life of one who is in love with Jesus as planting is to a farmer or sailing is to a sailor. The activity flows from our identity.

We aren’t to do things for God. We are to rest in Him and allow Him to do it Himself through us. “Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it ” says the Bible. Dead religion demands that we do more. Grace calls us to rest in His life and love and trust Him to do through us whatever He wants. We are simply the vessel through which He operates. Let’s do less for God and watch Him do more through us.

Religion's Rubber Checks

It was the very beginning of Grace Walk Ministries. I had been on television for the past hour hosting a “Christian talk show,” as a guest host when someone from the station came to me during a break. They gave me a telephone number and said, “This man just called. He said he saw you on the air and wants to talk to you about making a large donation to your ministry. Give him a call when you’re off the air.”

My mind raced as I wondered about who the man was and why he would call me with such an offer, since we had never met. The program ended and I tentatively dialed the number. When he answered, I introduced myself. “ Oh yes! Dr. McVey! My name is . . . and I want to talk to you as soon as possible. I’ve recently received a large sum of money from a law settlement and have been praying about how to disburse it. I’ve seen you on TV before, but tonight I realized that your ministry should receive a part of this money.”

We arranged to meet in the lobby of the hotel where I was staying. When I met the man, he was friendly and obviously enthused about my ministry. He explained how he was giving a part of the money to Grace Walk, part of it to Focus on the Family and part to the Billy Graham Association. He explained how he had won an injury lawsuit and felt that he should give fifty thousand dollars to each of these ministries. Fifty thousand dollars? my mind excitedly asked. That would cover every expense necessary to get Grace Walk Ministries going and even leave money to develop conference materials, tapes, . . . in my mind I began to spend the money.

We talked for about a half hour. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. I watched in disbelief, barely about to contain myself as he wrote a check payable to Grace Walk Ministries, in the amount of $50,000. He handed me the check. At that time, that was a larger check than I’d ever seen in my life. I profusely thanked him and he left.

I slept little that night. My mind raced as I thought about the miracle I had just seen. I couldn’t wait to fly home the next day and deposit the check and tell my family about what had happened and call the printer to tell him to go ahead with the job I hadn’t been able to afford until now and by needed office equipment and . . . The list of how the money could be used raced through my mind.

The next morning, for “some reason” I thought about calling the bank where the man’s account was held before leaving Pittsburgh to return to Atlanta. I found the number in the telephone book and dialed the number. After several recorded voice prompts, I reached an automated voice asking for the account number on the check I wanted to verify. I nervously pressed in the number on the check. “Please enter the amount of the check,” the prompt continued. 5-0-0-0-0 I excitedly pressed. “We’re sorry, but there are no sufficient funds for this check.” the cold, computer voice responded.

My heart began to sink. Nervously I tried again, this time using the number 40,000 dollars. “We’re sorry, but there are no sufficient funds for this check,” the voice answered again. I tired again – 30,000. Same response. 20,000? No. 10,000? Sorry. 1,000? I finally worked my way down to discover that the check would have only been good if it had been written for less than a hundred dollars.

Did this guy knowingly write me a bad check? I thought. Maybe he has to transfer some funds and hasn’t had a chance to do it yet. I immediately decided that I would call him and ask about it because I couldn’t stand the prolonged suspense of waiting. I dialed the number I had used the first time I called and he immediately answered.

As calmly as I could speak, I explained to him what had happened. What? he answered in disbelief. I wrote that check to you in faith! My Father owns everything and if that bank doesn’t realize that, then this world is in worse shape than even I have known!

“So you don’t have money in the bank to cover the check?” I asked. Money in the bank? I told you – my Father owns everything! That means that I own everything, he answered. Those people are in serious trouble if they don’t even recognize God’s authority!

I quickly thanked him and hung up. Later I thought that I should have felt sorry for the man at that moment. But I didn’t. I only felt sorry for me. My hopes had been dashed as quickly as they had been raised. It was a rubber check and there was no hope that it would ever be any good.

That man’s check reminds me of the promises of empty religion. Dead religion makes great promises about how it can change your life. It offers great hope that things can be different, that it can meet all your needs. But in reality, it is bankrupt. It attempts to draw from an empty account.

An authentic relationship with Jesus Christ is the answer to our needs. Only He can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. Does your life seem empty? Don’t try to get your needs met from religious activity. Only Jesus can satisfy your hunger. Look to Him. He’ll never give you a rubber check. He always keeps His promises. In Him, you are rich.

Ministry In Oregon

Yesterday and today have been great days with the men of the Foursquare denomination here at Camp Tadmor in Lebanon, Oregon. As I write this blog, the temperature here is 56 degrees. It causes me to wish the fall would hurry up and arrive in the south! Sixteen guys were baptized today in the lake here at the camp. Talk about commitment! :)

The topic for the weekend is "Let Us Come Boldly To The Throne of Grace" and that's exactly what these men have done! I spoke yesterday evening on "Our Adoption As Sons." Today I spoke on "Our Acceptance As Saints" and tonight on "His Actions As Sovereign." These guys have been very open and excited about the message of our Father's love and grace. Tonight there were many tears as the Holy Spirit moved among us.

The worship time has been excellent. The guest worship leader for the weekend is Caleb Quaye,formerly a touring guitarist with Elton John as well as recording artist on the old sixties song, "Wild Thing." After reaching the pinnacle of success, Caleb learned that "there's really nothing at the top of Mt Everest but air." His testimony of how the love of the Father sought him out and captured him is thrilling. Check him out at
http://www.calebquaye.com/

It has been good to spend the weekend with my friend, Dr. Dallas Demmitt, from Phoenix. Dallas met me when we both made our connection in Denver yesterday. Dallas is a clinical psychologist who has been ruined by grace. He now says, "I can't help anybody. I can only point them to the one who can." He and his wife, Nancy, have written the best book on communication I've ever read. It's called "Can You Hear Me Now" and can be purchased here: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=374

Tomorrow morning will be the last session. Dallas and I will spend the night tomorrow night in Portland, then fly out early on Monday. We'll meet John Lynch, author of True Faced for a short visit when I make my connection in Phoenix, then I'm heading to Atlanta.

It has been a great weekend with a group of men who are passionate about the grace of God. I've been blessed this weekend as much as anybody here. Thanks to those of you who have prayed for this weekend. Pray that tomorrow morning will be the climactic service and that men will be deeply touched by the Father's love as I speak on "The Agape of Our Savior."

Inconsistent Christians

“The one consistency of my Christian experience is inconsistency. The desire to be consistent in the Christian walk is inherent to the new nature of the believer. However, my own vulnerability toward spiritual failure is inescapable.”

These words were written in my spiritual journal early in 1990. I read them now and feel sorry for that sincere pastor. My heart was in the right place, but my head was filled with legalism. My journal continues:

“The holy desire for consistent consecration gives way under the weight of the old nature. The flame of spiritual desire flickers with determination against the cold winds of carnality until finally a damp blast snuffs it out. In the days that follow, my soul sits enveloped by darkness.

In the midst of all the negative emotions, there is a restlessness, a yearning to be restored to fellowship with God. The desire to confess and be restored is real, but voices whisper from the darkness, pointing out the frequency of my failure and the folly of forgiveness for one who is so given to inconsistency.”

Do you want to know what my failure was that prompted this journal entry? Sounds like it might have been adultery, or stealing money from the church, or even killing a church member (a thought that had crossed my mind a few times during my years as a pastor). No, the failure was none of those. My sin? I hadn’t been doing my daily Bible reading. So I saw myself as a sorry excuse for a Christian and a hypocrite as a pastor.

I review those words written almost twenty years ago and I want to shout back to myself in the past, “Steve! Relax! Your Father isn’t upset with you! Stop setting a standard higher for yourself than Almighty God sets for you. Jesus is the standard and you have Him! The issue isn’t about how well you perform or don’t perform. The bottom line is this: YOUR FATHER LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY!

Steve, that sense of broken fellowship in your mind is your deal, not God’s. His lovingkindness is everlasting. Nothing will change that, not even neglecting to read your Bible. That old nature you think squelches your holy desire? That isn’t your old nature! The old nature is dead. It’s only your flesh and the power of indwelling sin “messing with your mind.” Affirm the truth! Christ is your life, no matter what you do or don’t do.”

Thankfully, the man I was in those days was coming to brokenness. He would eventually learn that his Christian walk didn’t revolve around how well he did certain things. The Christian life revolves around Jesus. Nothing else – just Jesus.

Are you stuck in the place I was during those days? If so, relax. The Christian life isn’t about you. It never has been. It’s about Jesus. He will accomplish in you what He wants to do in the way He wants to do it and when He wants to do it. So quit trying to be God. The uniform doesn’t fit you well. God loves you just like you are. He loves you so much that He may let you struggle until there’s no energy left in you to struggle. Then you’ll be in a position to hear Him lovingly say, “I never asked you to knock yourself out for Me. I only asked you to receive my love. Now, rest here in My arms.”

Ironically, it was when I learned to give up and simply rest in His arms that I began to want to read my Bible and do all the other things associated with a Christian lifestyle. It’s not a matter of self discipline that wins the battle with inconsistency. Consistency happens miraculously by His grace. You can’t make it happen. So just rest in His arms and enjoy your grace walk.

To Speak of Grace

by Kathlene Perry




No words, no words, does my soul have
To rightly speak of Grace,
But Papa’s tender hands reach down
To cup my troubled face.

He sees the little child in me
Who needs to bare my soul;
Who wants so desperately to speak –
To tell of things I know.

He sees my heart and knows its lack –
I need Him ever still;
His knowing eyes behold me
And with love they overfill.

No wondrous words are found in me,
So inadequate are they!
But I can hear a sound in Him –
It sings what I can’t say…

Tears of joy well in His eyes
And spill onto my cheek,
And now I realize just why
There is no need to speak.

Face to face, my God and I,
No use to search for words;
For LOVE requires no utterance –
It’s beyond what can be heard!

How can this be, this miracle?
Too amazing to comprehend.
And yet, by Faith, I know its true –
My words are found in Him!

Incredible, Astonishing!
Oh Papa, can it be?
You’ll open eyes and unstop ears
And I can just be me!

No words, no words, does my soul have
To rightly speak of Grace,
But Grace Amazing sings my name,
When with You, face to face.

Sprititual Children

Do you wish you were more spiritually mature? Join the crowd. Children always want to grow up in a hurry. Every child wishes he were older. He looks at the opportunities and privileges that comes with age and longs for that day. Then as he grows old, he longingly looks back on the days of his youth.

Don’t despise the days of your spiritual youth. You will surely grow, but as you do you will look to these days with a sense of nostalgia. Enjoy each moment of this day. Your Father delights in you, so delight in yourself. Allow your immaturity and weakness be a call to dependence on Him.

Children don’t analyze themselves. They simply live. So just live. Your heavenly Father knows your age, you don’t. Children often believe that they are more mature than they are. “I’m big” they may say, while a knowing parent simply smiles.

You aren’t as big as you think you ought to be? Relax. Enjoy being a child – God’s child. Don’t judge yourself. Enjoy life as you enjoy Him and don’t think about yourself. He superintends your behavior and affairs. He will guide you, grow you and grace you with each step you take.

Forgiving Yourself

“I know that God has forgiven me, but I just can’t forgive myself,” someone recently said to me after describing a recent period of time in his life when he had made the choice to repeatedly commit the same sin again and again. As Christians always do, he had finally reached the place where he couldn’t stand the thought of living like that for the rest of this life. So he cried out to his Deliverer and the cycle of sin was broken.

The foolish behavior was now a thing of the past, but he couldn’t disconnect from it mentally and emotionally. A sense of guilt and self-condemnation was draining him of his energy, enthusiasm and joy. He wasn’t still committing the sin, but was as miserable as he had been when he was.

“So you do believe that God has forgiven you?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered, “but I can’t forgive myself for what I’ve done. I’ve been a Christian long enough to know better.”

After we had talked awhile and nothing I said seemed to be sinking in, I finally asked him, “Do you think you’re better than God?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean that if the finished work of Christ is sufficient for God to look at you and say, ‘Forgiven,” what will it take for you to forgive yourself? If the death of Jesus Christ on the cross isn’t enough for you, what will it take? You’ve set a standard for yourself that is obviously higher than the one God has set.”

“I guess that’s true,” he mumbled.

But I could tell he wasn’t buying it. He almost seemed to want to hang on to his guilt. Have you ever been at that place in your life? I have – and though it might sound strange, that kind of attitude is a serious insult to the finished work of Christ. In fact, I’m not so sure it doesn’t border on blasphemy.

When Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished,” the score card on your sins was torn up. From that point forward, God stopped keeping records on your sins anymore because they’ve all been dealt with – past, present and future sins – the account has been closed. “He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross” (Colossians 2:14, NLT).

Either the cross was enough to deal with your sins or else Christianity is a sham. When we hold on to our sins and nurture ourselves with self-loathing, we’re actually indicating that the work of Christ isn’t enough. We, in essence, are saying, “Yes, Jesus. I know you died for me, but I have to do my part in this too.”

In reality, the only part you have is to receive and believe (and even that part comes from His divine enablement). So do it already. Come outside the prison of self-condemnation and join the party initiated at the empty tomb. Throw down your pride and forgive yourself. Don’t wait another hour.

A Busy Mind

“Often I can’t even go to sleep because of all the thoughts running through my mind,” someone once said to me. “I’m thinking about all that happened during the day. I’m thinking about my plans for tomorrow. I’m thinking about my children, my finances, my past mistakes, my future plans. I’m even having imaginary conversations with people, picturing what I’ll say if this happens or if that happens. It drives me nuts!”

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? You aren’t alone. Jesus told His disciples on more than one occasion, “Take no thought” (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34, 10:19, Mark 13:11, Luke 12:11, 12:22). The command literally means “Don’t take on the least bit of anxiety.” A hyperactive mind is enough to drive a sense of peace completely away!

The step that facilitates obedience to Jesus’ command is the belief that our loving Father really is in control of our lives. We can lay aside our fretting over life and know that He has already worked out all the details of our time on earth in eternity.

A busy mind is the result of divided loyalties. It is important that we nurture ourselves with the constant affirmation and realization of our Father’s love and care for us in every area of life. Relentless reasoning about our circumstances are fleshly ways of trying to understand how to control our own lives. As we grow in an understanding of Abba’s love and grace our minds will learn to rest in contentment.

The mind must be brought in subjection to the Spirit at each moment. It isn’t controlled by our own determination, but by a calm yielding to His Spirit. He will bring growth to us and we will find rest for our busy minds in Him alone.

There will always be outside influences which seek to inhabit your thoughts and shift your focus away from Christ. The key to victory in this area is to bring every thought into the captivity of His all encompassing love and His never ending embrace.

As long as you live in this world, there will be things you don’t understand – things you can’t control. When your mind runs wild, will you submit it all to Him? When you don’t understand your Father’s ways, rest in the reality of His loving heart toward you. He will not tell you the answers to every single question you have now, but will give you increasing revelation and light about your questions as you journey together with Him toward your complete maturity.

Eventually, everything will be answered. Until then, rest in His goodness and grace and know that He is for you. He will always act in the way that works for your benefit and blessing. Trust Him and relax.

Sunday Preaching

This week's message is now online and will be left there all week. You can see it by clicking this link: www.gracewalk.org This is the second message in a series from the book of Ephesians called "God's Plan For The Ages." The title of the message today is "Do You Know?" After you watch it, if you enjoy it will you send a note to the people in your address book to let them know about the broadcast? Let's spread the growing grace revolution!

Grasshoppers & Grace

Are you a slower learner? I am. It sometimes seems to me like the Lord has to teach me the same lesson over and over again. I’ll think I’ve “got it,” then a situation will come along that shows me that I’m still in spiritual kindergarten in some ways.

One area where I still find the battle rages is in my emotions. I know all the verses about God’s faithfulness and I believe them, but I sometimes feel like my emotions haven't caught up with what I know in my head is true. Do you know what I mean? What I know and what I feel don’t always walk together. In fact, sometimes they move in opposite directions.

How are we to respond when situations arise that threaten our peace? I believe it’s all a matter of perspective. We must choose to believe in God’s faithfulness and affirm the truth no matter what our feelings are doing. My feelings sometimes act like a spoiled child jumping up and down yelling in the background while I’m consciously affirming my trust in God in a given situation.

I recently read a great story in Numbers 13. It’s the account of Moses sending spies into the land of Canaan to scout out the area before Israel moved in and took it. God had promised this land to His people. It was a rich land that had more than they had ever dreamed of having.

Faith-filled Caleb saw the land on the horizon and said, “Lets go up at once and take it! We’re more than able to conquer it!” (Numbers 13:30) However the spies who had been there had another perspective. “Are you crazy!?!” they wondered. “We can’t take them! They’re too strong!”

Then their next words revealed their real problem – “We saw these giants and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight!” (Numbers 13:33)

The difference between Caleb’s perspective and that of the spies is interesting. One believed they should charge right in and take the land. The others believed there was no way that was going to happen. One saw God. The others saw giants. One saw himself as filled with grace (divine power to do all that God has called us to do). The others saw themselves as grasshoppers by comparison to the giants.

What do you see when you look at obstacles? A giant or your God? Are you filled with a grace-mentality or a grasshopper-mentality? How do you see yourself? The spies who returned from Canaan saw themselves “like grasshoppers in our own sight.” Do you?

When a mountain of opposition stood in Zerubbabel’s way, the Lord reminded him that it is “not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit.” Then he gave him the key to overcoming mountain-sized obstacles. “What are you, oh great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain, and he will bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace! Grace to it!” (Zechariah 4:6-7)

As we face mountains in life, may we determine to shout “Grace!” to them until the mountains crumble before us. May we live in the face of our challenges with a grace perspective, not a grasshopper mentality. We aren’t like other people. As children of God, we have divine favor resting on us. Let’s appropriate that favor regardless of what our circumstances or feelings say.

Time Demands and Stress

Trust in the Lord and your way will be made clear. Frustration comes when things aren’t progressing according to our plans. But our timetable isn’t the one which guides the flow of our lives. Relax!

We can be fretful through our day or we can have fun – either way our Father will accomplish his purpose for us. Don’t fret just because He won’t align Himself with your timing!

During the waiting process, during the frustrations caused by your own drivenness, God is at work, accomplishing in you and in your circumstances all that needs to be done. So relax. Don’t worry. He knows and understands your schedule and your commitments, but He has his own agenda. Will you submit yours to Him?

God will accomplish what needs to be done in His way and according to His timing. Rest in Him. Your responsibility is not to reach your goal, but to be a willing vessel in His hand. Your goal is to be one of trusting in Him and waiting patiently.

Relax. Your Father is not limited by time demands. So savor every moment of each day. Urgent needs will be with you always. Don’t miss the joy of these days by self-imposed demands. Your loving Father make no demands, but gently leads you to accomplish the things He has purposed for you to do.

On His last night in the world, Jesus said to His Father, “I have glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished what you gave me to do.” Yet He never rushed or became stressed by His schedule even once.

Your works have been prepared in advance (Ephesians 2:10). It’s really not even up to you to accomplish them. In reality, He has already performed all our works for us. (See Isaiah 26:12) Our role is to rest in Him and act according to His guidance and empowerment, leaving the results entirely up to Him.

Diguising Our Doubts As Belief

“I haven’t seen God answer my prayer yet, but I’m still believing Him for the answer.” I often hear this statement made by Christians. I understand the expression and have even made it myself at times. There are times we do patiently wait for the Lord to act in our lives so that we realize the fulfillment of our prayer requests.

On the other hand, sometimes we disguise doubt under the guise of belief. Consider the situation of Moses in Exodus 14. He had just led the people of Israel out of Egypt and down toward the Red Sea. They looked back and saw that Pharaoh had changed his mind about letting them go. Now his whole army was in hot pursuit of these Jews who followed Moses.

It was a tough place to be. Behind them was an advancing army. In front of them was the Red Sea. The response of the people was that they complained and blamed Moses for their plight. “We would be better off still serving as slaves in Egypt than to come out here and die!” they argued. “What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?”

Moses must have responded to them in his most “pastoral” voice. “Don’t be scared! Just wait and watch what God does! He is going to deal with this situation. Wait and see. This will be the last day you ever have to deal with those Egyptians. Just calm down and watch what happens.” (See Exodus 14:11-14)

Then Moses must have gone behind a rock and cried to God, “What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?” We can know this is the case because of what God said to Moses is Exodus 14:15: “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell Israel to go on forward! And you – lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.”

God’s answer to Moses is clear. “Why are you crying for Me to give you something in this situation? What you need is already in your possession.”

How many times do we face situations where we pray for God to help us, then profess that we are believing and waiting on God, when the reality is that we already have in our possession all that we need. Our unwillingness to move forward in faith is really evidence of our doubts, hidden under a profession of faith.

Are you waiting for God to do something in a particular situation of your life? Maybe He is waiting for you to do something! As Christians, we have everything we need for this life through Jesus Christ. Don’t say you’re believing if you aren’t willing to act. You may be holding in your possession at this very moment all you need to solve the problem and see your prayer be immediately answered. Don’t hide your doubts under a profession of faith. Act in boldness and watch what your Father will do through you.

No Forwarding Address

Sometimes people have the mistaken notion that grace plus faith equals a happy lifestyle at every moment. That's a dangerous doctrine because it forces those held captive by it to fake it even when life seems to be crumbling around them. To feel and act normally in devastating circumstances isn't an option for them because they have wrongly thought that faith means any situation we face can never knock us down and we certainly can't let ourselves admit negative feelings. That view stands in sharp contrast to the Apostle Paul's words about the way he felt during great times of trial. (See 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 and 4:8-9)

Melanie and I recently endured one week of time in which we faced six different situations that threatened to forever change our lives in very painful ways. In fact, three of the situations involved health issues among family members that could lead to death. It was a week in which we felt like we were in living hell. It seemed like God had moved and forgot to leave a forwarding address with us. My prayers seemed to fall back on my head and I didn't want to talk to anybody.

Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you feel that way now. The climate of our world is certainly conducive to widespread personal problems in people's lives. Financial threats, health scares, and a general sense of instability in the world make these trying days for all of us at times.

If you find yourself in a situation like that right now, you can be assured of a few things that can help you if you'll believe them. First, know that you aren't abnormal. When we face our own trials, sometimes it seems like things are going well for everybody else and we wonder why it can't be that way for us. The reality is that you may not know what others are going through. You can be sure of one thing - you aren't unique in the fact that you're facing the troubles you have. God hasn't singled you out to bring down disaster on you. The rest of us are there at times too.

Secondly, you can know that your Father hasn't abandoned you. Even when heaven seems silent, God is with you. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have placed you squarely in the center of their divine group hug and nothing can move you from that place. So when you don't feel it, at least choose to know it, because it's true.

Finally, know that your problem will ultimately pass. Things will change, either now or later. So, until they do, cling to Jesus and know that He is clinging to you and will not abandon you.

It's okay to feel emotionally low. Job did. (See Job 23:1-10) Paul did. (See the verses referenced above.) Even Jesus did. (See Luke 22:40-44) Just because you feel low doesn't mean your faith is low. Jesus is your Faith. So lean on Him and rest in His faith until the storm passes.

(This article is taken from this month's issue of The Grace Vine, my monthly ministry newsletter. If you'd like to receive my newsletter by either ground mail or email every month, you can subscribe by clicking this link: http://www.gracewalk.org/web/pageid/49197/pages.asp

Hearing God's Voice

For the first five years of my married life, my parents lived outside the United States. I knew the date they were to return home and looked forward to that day with great anticipation. I missed them and couldn’t wait to see them.

One day, months before the time when my family was scheduled to return, I had just returned from lunch to my office. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of my car and turned to walk into the building. At that moment, I heard a voice behind me speak: Hey there, young man.

My heart jumped within me. I knew that voice. It was my Dad. I immediately spun around and ran to him, falling into a loving embrace.

On that day, I didn’t expect to see my Dad. I knew that he, my mom, and my sister were on the other side of the world. I would have argued with anybody who said anything to the contrary. I could have given all the reasons why I was sure they were still there and why he couldn’t possibly be here. But one word from him changed all that.

I regularly hear my heavenly Father’s voice too. Occasionally people will ask, “How do you know you are hearing God?” The answer is simple: It’s because I know my Father’s voice when I hear it. I’d recognize that Voice anywhere. The more obvious question to me would be, “How would a person not recognize his own Father’s voice?”

There are times that doubts and fears assault me. There are times when I am confused and afraid. Then He speaks. It has never been audible. Sometimes it comes as I read my Bible. Sometimes His voice comes through the counsel of a friend. At times I hear him through a song. At other times, He speaks through the details of my circumstances. Often He will put a thought in my mind that I know is from Him.

I can’t defend my position. All I can say is that I hear His voice. Do you recognize your Father’s voice when He speaks? I don’t have a hot line to heaven that gives me some kind of inside track. We all stand on level ground in the kingdom. Your Father wants us all to hear Him when He speaks.

Critics may suggest that this kind of talk is too mystical, too subjective. The only response to be given is to say that Jesus is the one who said, “My sheep hear my voice.” I can’t imagine how anybody could get more than one meaning from that statement.

Ask your Father to speak to you. Ask Him to speak often. Then listen. You’ll be thrilled with what you hear.

New Series on Sunday Preaching

I began a new series of messages from the book of Ephesians yesterday. You can check it out on the home page at www.gracewalk.org. The title of the series is "God's Plan For the Ages."

Canned Foods And Closed Hearts

My parents were born during the decade of “The Great Depression.” It was a time when many families in America struggled to put food on their tables. Luxuries pretty much became an abstract concept for most Americans during those days. Finding enough food for another week was the goal for most families then.

I grew up hearing the stories about meals consisting of salted pork fat back and biscuits, with syrup or gravy made from a limited amount of flour. I must say that I’m thankful I didn’t have to eat meals like that when I was a child. We never lacked for food.

I did, however, notice something that many people my age may remember about their parent’s kitchen cabinets. The cupboard was always filled with canned foods. Green beans, creamed corn, navy beans, canned yams, peas of various assortments, applesauce, even hominy (a food that ranks right down there with fat back) lined our shelves. Open the kitchen cabinet doors in the home of my childhood and you would think we were about to have an army come over for dinner. Sometime, before Melanie and I go to the grocery store now, the cabinets look pretty empty. Not so in my parent’s kitchen. There was always food.

There was an irony about the whole situation. Much of the food in those cabinets seemed to stay there a long time. I don’t think I ever saw the cupboard empty. As an adult looking back on the situation, I think I get it.

My parent’s generation had known what is was like to be without food. Consequently, somewhere deep inside them a voice must have said, “I will never be caught without enough food to eat again.” Thus, the massive inventory of canned goods. Come what may in life, there would be food in the cabinets.

I think that’s how many of us face most areas of our lives. We have faced circumstances at times that created a sense of loss or need within us. Because the situation was painful, somewhere deep inside us, we said, “This won’t ever happen to me again.” So we hoarded what we have and shut the cabinet door. We went into the self-protection mode.

Some were hurt by a friend and have now closed the door on vulnerability. They’ll never trust another person as a true friend. Others have had a marriage go sour. Today, they won’t completely open up to their mate because of fear. If they give everything, they risk losing everything again. Some were burned at church. Now, they have lumped all churches in the same hypocritical pile and won’t become an integral part of a church fellowship.

The hurts differ, but the response is common. Shut the door of my heart and don’t risk losing what I have or being hurt. After all, if it happened once, . . .

What “great depression” have you experienced in life? What commodity did you feel you had taken from you when you needed it most? Was it trust? Love? Friendship? What have you lost?

As a result have you tried to stuff those things deep inside you that you don’t want to ever lose again? Are you fearful to take them out? Have you resolved that you’ll never find yourself in that kind of situation again?

There’s a problem with keeping canned goods in a cupboard too long. The food will spoil. Sometimes the cans will even explode. What seemed like a good idea initially, ultimately is proven to be the wrong choice.

Don’t make that mistake in your life. Open the doors of your heart and utilize what is there. Trust people again. Open yourself up to be vulnerable. Share from your heart with those you love. The Great Depression is over. Don’t judge your future by the past. You have much to share. Don’t hide it behind closed doors. There’s a hungry world around you and you have what they need.

When We Wonder Why

“Why is this happening to me?” the young man asked me after describing a crisis he was facing. “I’ve tried to be faithful in serving God. He knows what this means to me. Why would he let this happen?”

Questions that begin with “why” are common when problems come into our lives. Some Christians have suggested that it is wrong to ask “why?” but I don’t think that is necessarily true. Jesus asked the question, “why?” from the cross in His final moments and we know he never said anything that displeases God.

The heart-attitude behind the question is the key. When we question why, is it a sincere question or an accusation against God? There’s a big difference between the two.

The answer to questions about why is multifaceted, but there is one simple answer that often applies when we ask that question. It’s this: God’s ways are not our ways.

We look at things differently than the Sovereign God we serve. For instance, we think the three parts of the day are morning, afternoon and night. Not so with God. In Genesis, the Bible says that “the evening and morning were the first day.” From God’s perspective, new days begin when things start to get darker, not brighter. (Any orthodox Jew knows this, as evidenced by the fact that they begin to observe the Sabbath at sunset on Friday, not Saturday morning.) God’s ways aren’t our ways.

Consider another example: We believe we must be strong to be productive. God says that our need is to be weak, not strong. He doesn’t choose the strong and mighty, but the weak to amaze the world. (See 1 Corinthians 1:27) While we’re trying to become stronger, God wants to make us weaker, more dependent on Him. God’s ways aren’t our ways.

Under God’s rule, first comes darkness, then light. First comes weakness, then strength. The list could go on – first comes death, then life. First comes burst wine skins, then new ones. First comes losing our lives, then we find them. God’s ways aren’t our ways.

Will you choose, by faith, to forfeit the right to understand your circumstances and, instead, trust the One who does all things well? Thank God, His ways aren’t our ways. Would you rather have your way? Or would you rather yield to the way of an omnipotent God who loves you so much that He gave His life to ensure that you would receive the best He has to offer?

Just Play

Unless you are converted and become like a little child, you can’t enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s what Jesus said. (See Matthew 18:3) If you were asked, “What is the main activity of a child?” what would you say? You would probably answer, “To play.” A playful attitude may be the most spiritual attitude a Christian can have. What better way to show our absolute trust in a sovereign Father who tends to every detail of our lives? Just play. What an act of faith that would be!

How will you play if you insist on taking responsibilities beyond that of a child? A child’s only role is to enjoy the moment. A child never worries about the future. He only embraces the joys that are before him, however simple, however short lived. He has no elaborate plans. He has no need to control the flow of events. He adapts to any circumstance where he may find himself and turns it into a game. He just plays.

The world is a playground for a child. While others hurry around with urgent tasks which drain them of their zest for living, a child just lives. He takes no thought of the things that worry the adult world. He intrinsically knows that, in the end, matters take care of themselves.

“What about responsibility?” you may ask. I assume you know I’m not advocating abandoning responsibility. Of course you’ll balance this encouragement to play with common sense. I’m not worried that most adults will carry this encouragement to play to the extreme. Far from it, the opposite tends to be the case in the adult world.

So relax and play. Your Father has given you the privilege of living as a child – His child. Learn to adapt the mind of a child, the flow of a child’s rhythm for living, the trust of a child’s heart and the eagerness of a child’s attitude. Learn to see Him in every situation and then relax. He has all the details already prepared and they are being worked out for your good and His glory at this very moment.

Joyfully embrace every day and live with the certainty that your Father’s heart is set on you and on the purpose of thrilling you with His love. Let Him love the bondage of adulthood from your heart until it is filled only with a childlike attitude that trusts Him and embraces the world with enthusiasm.

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Heavenly Father, I Am Your Child

Heavenly Father,

I am Your child. (See John 1:12) You love me with an intensity that refuses to be diminished. (Song of Solomon 8:7) Your plans for me are good. (See Jeremiah 29:11) You love me because you have chosen to and not because of what I do or don’t do. (See Ephesians 1:4) Your goodness and favor will chase me down every day I live. (See Psalms 23:6)

Every blessing in Christ Jesus is already mine. (See Ephesians 1:3) By faith, I will enter in to the grace-filled walk that you have prepared for me. (See Romans 5:2) I am everything you say I am. (See1 Corinthians 15:10) I can do everything you have called me to do. (See Philippians 4:13) I can have all that you have called me to have. (See Psalm 84:11)

My days will only grow brighter.(See Proverbs 4:18) Your favor is upon me and will never leave me.(See Lamentations 3:22-23) Nothing that comes my way can harm me. (See Isaiah 54:17) You orchestrate my circumstances so that everything works out for my good. (See Romans 8:28) Without wavering, I will hold tightly to the hope I say I have, because You can be trusted to keep your Promise. (See Hebrews 10:23)

Amen

Slow Down

Hyperactivity is a curse on intimacy in our relationships. While people sometimes take pride in being a workaholic, it is, in fact, a sin because it reflects that the workaholic views life from the perspective that he is indispensable. Workaholics are deceived into believing that everything in life depends on them sacrificing themselves on the altar of constant activity.

Chuck Swindoll tells a story about a first grader who became curious because her father brought home a briefcase full of papers every evening. Her mother explained, "Daddy has so much to do that he can't finish it all at the office. That's why he has to bring work home at night." "Well then," asked the child innocently, "why don't they put him in a slower group?"

That’s what needs to happen to many workaholics. We need to move to a slower group. Jesus never rushed. Not once. In fact, on many occasions he separated Himself from the demands on his time and went off alone, to a solitary place.

Hyperactivity can be defined as a lifestyle driven by busyness and filled with more activity than God lead us to do. Not every good thing we do is a God thing. We must learn to discern which matters are to hold our time and attention and which ones to let pass. Otherwise, we forfeit intimacy with our Heavenly Father and with our families for the sake of results that won’t even matter at all in a hundred years.

Douglas MacArthur II, was the nephew of the famous WWII General. He served in the state department when John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State. One evening Mr. Dulles called MacArthur at his home. His wife answered the phone and explained that her husband was not there. Not recognizing who the caller was, she angrily complained, "MacArthur is where MacArthur always is, weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and nights--in that office!" Within minutes Dulles had MacArthur on the phone. He gave him this terse order: "Go home at once, boy. Your home front is crumbling.

Is your home front crumbling? Do you give the time and attention to your mate and your children that proves the love you profess for them? Time may be the best thing you can give to those you love.

Jesus once told His disciples, “Come apart and rest awhile.” (see Mark 6:31) In the hustle and bustle of your lifestyle, do you hear a faint voice extending this invitation to you? May the Holy Spirit enable each of us to see what is most important in our lives and adjust our schedules to align our time with the true order of importance.