The Language of Christ

"...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

Ephesians 4:22-24

     When a foreigner enters a country of a different tongue, their ears perceive unfamiliar sounds. A language their mind does not understand, because it has not yet been trained in the language. It isn't that the tongue has not been trained to speak, just the mind and the tongue have not yet unified to allow a new language to come forth. When a sinner comes to Christ, a new way of living, a new language, a new life has been opened...life in Christ. Before coming to the Lord, that mind and had been under the influence of the enemy and spoke the language of the flesh, his mind and tongue had been trained by the world, and responded to the lusts of the flesh; coming to Christ, a new language must be learned. A language that says "no" to the flesh and "yes" to the Spirit. 

A language that chooses surrender over resistance; denying self over getting what you want; choosing obedience over desire. That mind and tongue must be re-established. Sin had interrupted our heavenly voice, causing the praises to the Father to cease from our tongues, but now it must continue--that life has been redeemed, purchased, saved and has a reason to sing! The same tongue that has always been used to speak, in connection with a mind that is renewed as the Word of God is opened and His language, His commands, becomes the focus, the goal, that spiritual mind is now renewed. The more one studies the language, the more one may understand the voice of God--the way He speaks, His still small voice (John 10:27). 

Just as learning a new language takes time, so is the renewing of the spirit of one's mind. The influence of the world has been strong, but greater is He who is in us that he who is in the world 

(1 John 4:4). The more time you devote your mind to the eternal things, to the Word of God, and to fellowship with your God, the sooner you will learn to be more and more like Jesus.

Application to myself: It's easy for me to think that the little interruptions i commonly allow the world to make, such as cutting short my devotions, will not effect my understanding of God's language, but the less time I spend with Him, the less I will hear Him speak; my God is always speaking, I am just not always listening. He has renewed me, given me a chance to be re-established to the eternal world; I would be a fool to not listen to His instruction. I need to silence the world's voices of distraction, that I may be obedient to the voice of my Saviors sweet invitation to be in fellowship with Him each day. 

Second application (for the present): As I embark personally at this time to learn a new language and enter into a foreign language--I will bring prayer into it, for I cannot expect to be able to learn a language apart from the God of all tongues. 

CLINGING

"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."

Romans 12:9

     What is love? The question of all questions. What is this complicated and perplexed word? The Scriptures tell us that God pouring out His blood for us to bring us life while we were dead in sin, this is love. God is love (1 John 3:16, 4:8). We saw love through Jesus Christ. Through the life of the One they called Jeshua. Giving was found in love. Sacrifice was found in love. Relating was found in love. Teaching was found in love. Caring was found in love. Eating was found in love. Fellowship was found in love. Living...Christ came and lived out love through living life amongst us. With that in mind, looking at this verse's instruction: "let love", let your living, "be without hypocrisy", without fake-ness. Let your living be transparent. Live in such a way that you can give an account for your actions. Jesus ad a reason and purpose behind all He did. He did not waste time, He lived for the will of God. A life full of conviction, purpose, and reason. His life was far from hypocrisy, He spoke truth, He lived by the truth of God's words. View how many times He quoted the Scriptures in His earthly ministry. Love speaks truth, and sometimes that truth being revealed can pierce, but knowledge for growth through truth brought into the light, if withheld, that would not be love. Love wears no face, and puts up no face...love is transparent. Clothed only in humility. See our Jesus who, being fully God during His time of living and showing us love, fully God beneath that skin, but cloaking Himself in humility, taking on the form of humanity and living in the flesh through the Spirit...He daily wore love. 

     Do i shutter at evil? Do i flee from it? According to this verse, if I am to live in love, than i must have a disgust for evil. To no longer tolerate that which pierced the face of love to a tree. Seem to be an impossible task? Ah another great remind of the mystery of that first word, love. If we are walking and living in love of our Savior, than our love for Him will compel us to abhor evil. It's not that we will masterly overcome the temptations of sin and tame the flesh, we are fallen, it is in our nature to cling to evil things; nevertheless, we will find that the more we love, the more we will desire non-else but the One we love, and in Him is no evil.

     When a heart has committed to loving Him, and has let go of it's ties to evil, those hands are now in need of clinging to something else...cling to what is good. Who first uttered such a word? Was it not our God? He created all, and saw that "it was good"(Genesis 1:4). The working of His hands, things that come from Him, His heart, His ways, He is good. Clinging to Him is clinging to that which is good, and when hands are truly clinging to something, there leaves no room for anything else. 

     I need to not shun truth when it reveals itself, but i need to let go of my clinging to self, allow the evil in me to die, that love may refine me, and i may cling to good things, cling to my Savior and the good things He has pre-ordained that I should walk in (Eph. 2:10). Amen.

Difficulties...Settings for His Workings

"And in Lystra certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked..." Acts 14:8 

Here a setting for a great testimony in the waiting...

What a neat way to look at difficulties, disadvantages, less than perfect situations, in our lives. 

Not necessarily how we desire for things to be...He had never walked. Which is why he was exactly in the right position to have his situation used for the glory of God. 

When things aren't going the way you desire, or something horrible should happen, remember, God is placing you in a place where you have opportunity, a choice set before you to be used or stay feeling abused...to take the opportunity, to have the faith to position yourself to see the Lord do a great work in your situation...to make of it a testimony for His glory. 

Strange and Lovely Indeed!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Matthew 5:6

     Has the thought ever occurred to you strange that we should be blessed for seeking after Christ? As I read this today, the strangeness occurred in my mind. We receive a promise of blessing when we long after the righteousness of God. Why this thought seems strange? be it that pursuing righteousness on its own leads to blessing. That word, blessing, literally means "oh how happy!" and how true it is that righteous living produces happy living. Choosing to do the right thing over evil, choosing to love over hate, to forgive over holding a grudge, to love the light rather than darkness, all of this righteous choosing leads to happy living. Is that not enough than? If we know that it will lead to a happy and more enjoyable life, and above all, the way that we are commanded by our God to live, should that not be enough of a reason to live in constant desire for righteousness? But His grace goes deeper still, and hereby we see that He promises blessing for those who seek after Him. Hebrews tells us that to those who by faith believe, He is a rewarder to those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Righteous living will also lead to righteous following, for He will direct our steps (Psalm 85:13, Proverbs 3:5-6). 

     These words from our Savior mark His character--He not only brings the filled life to one who loves Him, but He provides for His hunger and thirst spiritually and physically, and goes further still to bless those who live for Him, although the blessing of living in His ways alone is blessed; strange and lovely indeed, may we echo King Solomon and declare, "He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever TRUSTS IN THE LORD, HAPPY IS HE" (Proverbs 16:20).

Run...Come...and See...

Acts 8:30     

     Philip was a man with a heart to follow. When Jesus came to Him and asked him to follow, he immediately responded and walked along the road with Jesus. He walked with Jesus, he listened to Jesus, but above all He saw Jesus and desired that others would see and love Jesus. 

Philip understood his ministry--a ministry of bring others to "come and see" the power of Christ's work in salvation (John 1, John 12). His ministry was to bring others to see Jesus. We know that we are saved through faith and we know that faith comes from hearing, and in this passage we find that faith is given sight through applying what we hear...we see Jesus when we apply what He reveals of Himself to us through His word and we allow Him to be apart of the details of our lives. Here in Acts we have a man, who understood his calling, and walked therein. When the Lord had told him to take the route from Jerusalem to Gaza, he did not question, but followed. His ears heard and His faith responded...soon his eyes would see the reason for the command. When the Holy Spirit lead him to the eunuch upon the pathway, he responded in a run. The word run is described as moving at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time. Philip ran. He kept himself from settling into life in this world. Instead of walking, he wanted to be running, that he wouldn't leave space for the methods or habits of this world to shape or alter his walk in following Christ. From the moment he first followed to now, he had seen Christ to be faithful in being his Lord, and therefore he saw no other response but to go forward, to not only continue to walk with HIm, but to run for Him. He ran in obedience to what he was called to do. And when he came to the place, he sat down beside the eunuch and listened to him reading. 

     He came and listened...a good lesson for us in ministering to another. He came and took the time to sit with him, to listen, he didn't just approach and charge in with the gospel message. True ministry takes time. Jesus spent time with His followers--He lived life among them and showed them the way. He sat and spoke with this man, and then simply asked him if he understood. He asked him is he had a applicable knowledge of what he was reading; not so that he could have more knowledge of the scriptures, but that he may see Christ. That his faith may have sight to see Jesus within the scriptures, and apply Him to the details of his life. 

     Philip obeyed. came. listened. and then showed the eunuch the Jesus he loved, the Jesus he followed, by showing him how to apply the truth of the Scriptures to all ares of his life. By obedience to his call, by choosing to put action behind the call, he ran, and the Lord lead him to a place to "come and see" Jesus revealed in the life of another. Do you desire to see Jesus? Than come and see. Come when He calls for you. Run in response. Listen to the Word and invite the understanding of Jesus into the details of your life, and you will see Christ and His work in and through your life.