IDENTITY CRISIS

A person’s identity is who they are; it is what sets them apart from everyone else. Who are you? Who do you claim to be? Do people know you, and does their knowledge of you match who you claim to be? Don’t make room for them to assume who you are, and don’t make room for them to guess, but if they do guess, make it possible for them to guess correctly. Just be yourself!

For example, if you see an individual with a stethoscope around his or her neck, you could assume he or she is a medical professional. If you see an individual in court, wearing a robe, sitting behind the bench, and holding a gavel, you could assume he or she is the judge.

In our natural world, everyone has parents. So it is in the spiritual world.  You either have God or Satan for a father. Do you call yourself a child of God? If you do, then be a child of God. When you meet people, do they notice something about you that causes them to assume or guess you are a Christian, or will they be uncertain? If they don’t think you are a child of God, you are left with only one other option: they must think you are a child of the devil. But if you are a Christian, then there is something wrong with your identity. What is it? 

If you became a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, then person you are should be obvious to people around you. If you live a life of obedience to God, you will in essence be saying you love Him (see John 14:15). On the other hand, if you are living in disobedience, people can quickly assume you are not a Christian, even if you claim to be one.

Jesus is not interested in lip service, and He made that plain to the disciples when He asked them, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not what I say” (Luke 6:46)? When Jesus was warning against false prophets, He said, “By their fruit you’ll recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18).

If you are a child of God, the characteristics (fruit) you exhibit should be a clear indication that you are His son or daughter. There is no better way of demonstrating that you are child of God than through obedience. The Bible says, “Be holy for I (God) am holy.” In other words, we should exhibit His trait of holiness in the way we live.

Developing those traits is an ongoing effort. We do not arrive at holiness overnight. According to the apostle Paul, we have to work at it with fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:12). It takes meditation on God’s Word and allowing it to transform us into His nature through the renewing of our mind. Then we will shine, as the Scripture says, like stars in the universe (see Philippians 2:15).

Observing the lives of the disciples, the Jewish leaders were able to accurately conclude that they had been with Jesus. If we indeed have been with Jesus, it should be obvious to others. Claiming to be a Christian and yet living as an unbeliever is proof of an identity crisis. It means one is not really sure who one is.

We need to turn our backs on worldliness and all appearances of evil. A Christian should not live comfortably in sin. If you are, then you need to revisit God’s plan of salvation to make sure you are really born again. If we fall into sin, we should quickly repent, confess, and seek forgiveness. That is the mark of a Christian: the fear of sin and the concern for displeasing God.

Are you experiencing an identity crisis? You can change that by making the determination to live a life that is pleasing to God, and then seeking the help of the Spirit to accomplish it. The cure for identity crisis is: putting on the armor of God and keep it on (see Ephesians 6:11-18), 24/7.

Major Biblical Themes part 1 - Humans Are Weak

 

http://www.halffullandoverflowing.com/how-to-resist-temptation/

We Think We Are All That! In Fact We Can't Handle The Simplest Tasks

I am five pounds away from my goal weight. I know from past experience, including the last few weeks when I've shed 15 pounds, that I can lose this last five pounds in about three weeks if I just stay the course.

Today I did fine at breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I decided to consume an extra 180 calories on a bag of popcorn in the afternoon. That may not seem so bad except I never snack between meals, and I wasn't hungry. It just sounded good. Can we agree on that being the very definition of "Weak!"

God made us, and clearly he knows that we are weak. So much so that he repeatedly showcases our weakness throughout the Bible. Every major character in the Bible except Jesus showed huge weakness in the face of difficulties or just plain willfulness; David, Moses, Paul to name just the biggest and most obvious cases.

God comes at our weakness from another angle. He provided us with lists and lists of incentives and disincentives to help us overcome our weakness and our proclivity to sin due to weakness. Then he gave us clear direction a few dozen times in Deuteronomy alone: Deuteronomy 12:28  Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

But the Jews, even with all those promises and incentives, proofs and miracles, couldn't keep even the easy rules. I mean how hard is it to not worship false gods, stay away from certain foods, and not sleep with your father's wife? 

We can look at the Old Testament Jews and be shocked at how dumb they were to keep going way off the plan of God, getting into serious difficulties, crying out to the Lord, receiving mercy, doing well for 40 years, then repeat and repeat the story. Seems perfectly silly and senseless. 

Modern humans, with the advantages of all of our wealth, our science, our psychology, our communication methods, our mega churches and 24/7 radio and TV preachers, not to mention having the New Testament, Jesus as an example, and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, haven't progressed one half step further along the evolutionary plain when it comes to being weak. 

Now I'm going to get to meddling. I personally sometimes have difficulty thinking of sins I've committed that need to be dealt with through repentance. I have a hard time seeing myself as Charles Spurgeon said: As thoroughly wicked. Okay, sometimes my prayer requests for others might border on gossip. Does exaggeration count as lying? What about failure to say something that needs to be said? What about not praising God for the life we have been blessed with, the phenomenal gifts in nature that are all around us, or His blessings every day.

How hard is it to follow the disciplines and rules that God has asked us to do FOR OUR OWN GOOD! The short answer - impossible, because we are weak. What is the solution? Dying to self, trusting God, heeding the Holy Spirit, and staying away from unrighteousness in every form. Somehow all of those seem harder than just following some clear rules.


This is the first in a series on Major Biblical Themes. I was struck by the fact that a quick Google search for Biblical themes provided a list of over 20. One was not included anywhere; human weakness. I also discovered that almost no one listed love as a theme. Over the next few weeks the case will be made the love is the unifying theme of the Bible and that the most critical and closely related aspect of love that is also completely overlooked is Joy.

The Death of God

Around Easter, a title wriggled into my brain. I tucked it away, not wanting to address it, not wanting to abandon my current fiction project long enough to rummage through some real-life research. Besides, the idea of writing down the title made me uncomfortable. That kind of disrespect was inconsiderable. But it didn’t fade into a blip on my “stuff to write about” radar, and I had to consider it. On the Sunday after Easter my pastor started a sermon series about, among other wonderments, the cultural shift into post-modernity. About the Christian worldview. The title’s sting sank deeper under my skin until I agreed to give it a few paragraphs. I smiled at the timing of my giving in because research immediately revealed that this week marks the 50^th anniversary of Time magazine’s famous cover asking the forbidden question, “Is God Dead?” (April 8, 1966)

This title that bothered me is not original, nor does it shout any sort of unprecedented proclamation or shocking revelation. In my own personal estimation it means nothing at all. I do not consider the possibility, the probability, the forlorn admission, the prideful assumption, or the wishful assertion that God has experienced death. And yet what brought this stubborn title urging the writer in me was the mental observation of Christ hanging blood-soaked on a cross. His skin torn from His bones. His lungs refusing to expand. A blade piercing His side. He was…He is God. And He died. That dreadful, awesome day brought the death of God. That glorious, joyous, Good Friday. 

This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

I picture Jesus and His disciples singing this Psalm, traditionally sung at the Passover meal. Was it for this day the Psalm was written—the day the Lord meant for death? Not just any death, but His death.

Even though He died, I do not accept He is dead. I was not called by a dead God. I do not follow a dead God. Even in death, God is God and He did not remain dead, but conquered death completely. And He lives.

I’ve always assumed those who proclaim God dead, or even question that perhaps He is dead, do so out of ignorance or stupidity. “A fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14: 1) But it appears the instigators, while fools they may have been, were not staunch in their atheism. If Nietzsche perfected the argument of those who came before him, and if atheist was his identity, then perhaps I've made an incorrect assumption. Those who’ve wasted more time than I have reading Nietzsche may take this quote from another angle.

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

As I read this, fear cries from between the eloquent lines. Perhaps Nietzsche’s fear sprang from what he knew would become of mankind when the ideals and morality that accompany belief in God were abandoned. But maybe he just didn’t know what to do with his guilt. Maybe he saw Christ as I saw Christ. Perhaps he saw a dead God and didn’t know how to absolve himself of the enormous recognition that it was all his fault. Of course, it was his fault. As it was my fault. 

 Maybe this unhappy fool, this brilliant writer and thinker, brought up the subject at the perfect time in the history of the modern world to launch it with enthusiasm. But a hundred years passed before the Death of God movement dropped its coin into the rippling pool of Christian theology. It’s all right there in Nietzsche’s guilty plea, but the trend didn't begin or end with him. Through the last five hundred years, Satan has propagated news of God’s death. Not the Good News, but the hopelessly wrong conclusion. In the 1960s several theologians gave a post-modern voice to the death of God with the spread of theothanatology. (Greek: god: theos, death: thanatos). 

A few pseudo-Christians smart enough to use that big word in a sentence proclaimed God may have died. What they meant was that religion was dying. The notion of God was no longer needed for the functional purposes of society. Some of them considered the crucifixion, the actual death of God as the beginning of the dismissal of God.

Then the magazine put the announcement out there for all to see. In preparation for writing this dreaded title, I read Time’s article. It addresses not so much the death of God, but the death of the need to know that God is.

And yet, He is. Death was followed by resurrection. Death cannot contain the One who contains death.

My mental observation turns to a newsstand where a magazine cover demanded attention. Some wondered at the question, but could not answer it. Some were relieved because now they could live as though God no longer watched them. Some shook their fists, thinking surely this kind of talk would bring the wrathful God down to teach us all a lesson. Some simply went on with a smile, though perhaps they deliberated that the fist-shakers might be right. But they praised the living God of their redemption all the same, for He would not, and He will not, be defined by a man, dismissed by a magazine, or declared dead by His own creation. 

Every Soul Matters To God

God sent Jonah to Nineveh, a gentile .city, to warn them of impending judgment if they did not repent. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, a pagan city, which had a reputation for brutality and torture and was nicknamed “the city of blood” (Nahum 3:1 NIV). For that reason, Assyria was a dreaded enemy, not only to Israel, but also to the surrounding nations. Nineveh apparently was as great in wickedness as it was in wealth and power. Jonah wanted no part of God’s deal with them. He headed in the opposite direction, far away from Nineveh. He got onto a ship that was bound for Tarshish, not for Nineveh. He went below deck, lay down, and then fell into a deep sleep.

When God caught up with him, he gave an honest but sad excuse for his behavior. He said to God, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2 NIV).

Regarding salvation, the Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? . . .  Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:13-14, 17 NIV). Jonah must have thought if he didn’t declare God’s word, Nineveh wouldn’t know the truth that would lead the people to repentance and subsequently to forgiveness. After all, he did not believe they ought to be pardoned. He wanted them to face the impending doom, and that would have been a blessing in disguise for Israel—obliteration of their enemies forever.

Scripture, however, teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (See Matthew 5:44 NIV). Jonah could not forgive the enemies of Israel, but God could! The souls of our enemies are just as important to God as the souls of our loved ones, and that is why He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. (See 1 Timothy 2:4 NIV).

You need to answer two important questions.

One: are you neglecting to share the word of God with any particular group of people because you don’t care for them, or because, in your assessment, they are anti-God, terrorists, and etcetera? It is not for us to decide who should or shouldn’t be pardoned. We need to work with God’s agenda, not our own. He came to save all, He died to save all, and He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Every soul matters to God!

Two: are you running away from God because you disagree with His ideas or plans? You will not get very far. God knows where you are every second, and he can find you without looking. Learn from Jonah’s mistake, make a U-turn, and go in the direction God is leading you.

God gives second chances. He gave Jonah a second chance, and said to him a second time, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give to you” (Jonah 3:2 NIV84). He will give you another chance. Running away is a waste of time.  

Perfect Love Drives Out Fear

Worry and anxiety kept me internally isolated for much of my life. When I did share, any reassurance I received was like sand trickling through open fingers. I felt comforted and cared about for a short time, then it was gone and I needed another handful of reassurance. This pattern made me feel helpless and incompetent. Constantly asking for reassurance was taxing on my family and friends. Believing I was a burden caused me to feel even more isolated and fearful. But God broke through and rescued me from that lonely place. 

1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” My lightbulb moment came when I realized moving from Fear to Freedom happens in the context of relationship. Even though my circumstances may not change, my ability to persevere and grow through them happens when I’m anchored in relationship.

I will never love God, myself, or others perfectly – but I don’t think God expects that of me this side of heaven. 1 John 4:18 tells me is there’s a connection between not feeling loved as the person God created me to be and my worry, anxiety, and fear. Being able to receive love, mercy, and grace significantly affects our ability to decrease fear-based symptoms. Fear breeds secrecy and shame. Opening ourselves up to receive love from God and safe people allows us to see what is true and hold onto hope.

I’ll always have a chemical predisposition to anxiety and depression, but I can have compassion and learn how to care for myself well when I’m in the midst of that storm. Learning how to battle my isolating thoughts and allowing God and others to care for me was really difficult. I had a lot of feelings and beliefs about being seen as weak and vulnerable that needed to be critiqued.

As a counselor, I work hard to offer a safe, caring therapeutic relationship to my clients. Sharing how they've been wounded emotionally and relationally is the key to healing. Allowing God to show how parents, spouses, and important people failed to love us in ways you needed is painful, but often uncovers old fears and hurts which invade the present. 

Asking “what, why, how” questions allowed me to move from living in fear to embracing a joyful, freedom based life. John 8:32 tells us the truth will set us free. Truth gives us a solid foundation and energy to withstand internal and external storms. Doing the hard work of seeing how you’ve been relationally failed and understanding your unhealthy responses to those hurts will equip you with truth to face fearful worries, thoughts and feelings.

Your Body Is The Temple Of God

       What is a temple? A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. So in short, a temple is a place of worship, and for the Christian, the temple is the house of God.

       The first Israeli temple was a permanent worship center built by King Solomon, the second king of Israel, four years into his reign. It was built four hundred and eighty years after the Israelites came out of their captivity in Egypt (see 1 Kings 6:1). David, his father, had wanted to be the one to build the temple, but God had other plans. God said to David, “Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my name” (1 Kings 5:3 NIV). In preparation for this project, King David put together most of the materials and supplies the builders would need for building the temple.   

       That structure was huge and magnificent! (See 1 Kings 6:2-36) Unfortunately, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon destroyed it by fire during the reign of King Zedekiah (see 2 Chronicles 36:17-20).

       The temple was later rebuilt at the command of Cyrus, king of Persia, who proclaimed throughout his kingdom that God had appointed him to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem in Judah (see Ezra 1:1-4). Some of the Israelites in captivity returned home to undertake that project. When the foundation was laid, the Israelites who had seen the first temple many years prior wept bitterly, because the foundation of the new temple was no match for the first one (see Ezra 3:12-13).

       The temple remained a place of worship and sacrifice, and a place where God met with His people. Anything or anybody considered unclean for health or other reasons was not allowed in the temple, an indication that God wants the temple to remain holy at all times.

       During the time of Jesus, the temple area had become a trading place. Offended by the practice, Jesus overturned the tables and benches of the traders, and drove them out, saying to them, “It is written my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13 NIV). 

       It is obvious that the temple at this time was a physical structure visible to the human eye, built by humans: with human hands, human effort, and physical materials. But there is another temple; it is invisible, made without human hands, or human efforts. It is not built over time, but rather instantly.

       This temple, of course, is a spiritual temple. It is erected as soon as a person makes a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. At that moment, God comes to indwell the believer in the form of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes one’s heart the temple of God. God didn’t live there prior to conversion, because it was cluttered with sin. Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin, making our heart a suitable dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. So now God’s dwelling place is no longer a physical structure, but a spiritual one: our heart. The apostle Paul,  teaching the people of Athens about the true God, said, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24 NIV).

        Just as God demanded His temple be kept holy in the Old Testament, so He requires us, in the Church age, to keep the temple of our bodies clean. It is important to note that there are consequences for destroying God’s temple. 

        On warning the Church of Corinth about godly living, the apostle Paul said to them, and to all Christians, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV). On the topic of sexual immorality, Paul again wrote to them, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

       If we constantly remind ourselves that we are God’s temple, we’ll be a bit more careful about what we do with and to our bodies and what we subject our bodies to. For instance, some of the conversations and music we listen to, some of the things we think about, and some of the things we watch have the ability to contaminate our thoughts. Let’s remember, “We are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV). Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV). May God help us to respect His house and keep it clean!

What Are You Talking About?

A flimsy conversation and a deeper calling.

A study I’m participating in at my church presented the question of what constitutes genuine Christian fellowship. Here's the scenario: Five Christians gather to talk about sports, technology, and weather. Was this genuine Christian fellowship?

The group was split. Some said, yes it was. A group of Christians getting together is fellowship. Others said no. A group of Christians discussing worldly matters and nothing else is not true Christian fellowship.

I leaned toward the “yes, it was” answer, pointing out that a conversation of the same subjects among five unredeemed people would have different markers. An outsider listening to either exchange would pick up on which group called themselves Christians. A code exists among the one group demanding respect for God, resistance of improper language and topics, and hopefully a kinder demeanor. The other group might not exhibit these markers to the same degree, if at all. Also, there is an understanding among the believers that they’re in safe company. They’re with family.

The friendly discussion went on longer than it should have. Someone commented that perhaps we should find out what the Bible teaches on the matter. Then the leader of the group moved us into the rest of the lesson. Of course, the rest of the lesson offered Biblical insight into our dilemma.

Some of us, including me, stuck to our original conclusion. Although I began to see the problem with a bunch of Christians habitually getting together for no good reason. If Christ is the head of the body, why would the members of the body join for any purpose other than His purpose? Later, I asked my son his opinion. The thing that stuck out in his “that’s not true fellowship” answer was this: “The early church wouldn’t have cared about football.” Hypothetical, yes, because they didn’t have ESPN. But exactly right. According to Acts 2: 42, the early church met out of devotion to learning, to the care of each other, to the remembrance of the sacrificial body and blood of Christ, and to prayer.

Well, that doesn’t sound anything like discussing sports, technology, and weather. So, I’d like to change my answer. Those five Christians did not experience genuine Christian fellowship. Not that there’s anything wrong with a group of Christians getting together and discussing anything at all that doesn’t offend the group, those who might be listening, or the head of the body. But…is it not an offense to Christ to be upstaged during fellowship by matters of the world? The early church would have been more on task with encouragement, with empathy, with building one another up in knowledge and commitment. They wouldn’t have cared if it was going to rain this weekend. The Gospel would not have fallen in line behind…anything.

Mundane conversation can be the beginning of fellowship. But if it doesn’t move past this world to the other-worldly, to the mission, to the love we share, to the remembrance of the sacrifice, to the spread of the Gospel, then we’re just chatting. And if all we have is chatter, then maybe we haven’t realized who we really are in Christ. Maybe we’re neglecting the Bible’s clear call to fellowship with one another.

While we’re talking…This Sunday is the day. The recollection of the resurrection. Come Monday, don’t stop talking about it! He is risen. He is risen indeed!