As we’ve already said, every New Year brings with it new hope–the hope that this year will be a better year than last year.

The hope that I can build on what’s good and put behind me what’s bad—that with God’s grace old things will pass away and this will be a new year of blessing and renewal.

The problem is for most people, when they enter into a new year, all they do is hope that things will change–all they do is engage in wishful thinking that things will be different but they never do anything to bring about any change.

Now it’s true that it’s a lot easier talking about change than it is to accomplish it–but with God’s grace and power anything is possible.

In my life I want to make this year a year that I keep the greatest commandment of them all–

Mark 12:30 (NKJV)
³⁰ ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first (supreme) commandment.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Yes, that’s what I want more than anything else this year–to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength” then let’s look at how we might accomplish that together.

We have already looked at the first two admonitions that Jesus gave—loving God with all our heart and soul in our first two studies.

That brings us to the third admonition of the greatest commandment of all–

III. To Love God with All Your Mind

The mind is the seat of reason.

When God said in Isaiah 1:18, “Come let us reason together…” He was appealing to the mind.

When God appeals to our minds, as believers, He wants us to do 3 things primarily—

A. Guard our thoughts

B. Prioritize our lives

C. Don’t worry about our needs

This is what loving God with all our minds is all about.

A. Guard our thoughts

The mind is the processing center of our being.

Everyday raw data enters our minds through our eyes and ears in the form of images and verbal messages where it is then processed.

Most of it is useless information (advertisements that you saw on TV or read in some magazine, the stupid joke someone told at work etc.) and so it gets discarded into your mental trash bin the way you would delete junk mail out of the inbox in your email account.

Some of this information is somewhat valuable and so it gets filed away in your ‘mental file cabinet’ for later use–like the deal on a vacation get away that sounds interesting or some other piece of information that you might want to take advantage of at a later time.

Now some of this information gets internalized and becomes part of the core values of your heart–those things which are consistent with the ideologies and philosophies that you identify with and that make up your world view.

Your world view refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it

As a Christian when you go to Bible study and hear the Word of God taught, you should immediately internalize that teaching and make it a part of your core values–those principles and truths that you intend to live your life by.

We have an expression–“Taking it to heart” that refers to this very thing.

Now this is all very important to us as Christians because most spiritual warfare takes place in the mind for control of your thinking.

Satan wants to control your thinking because he knows if he can control your thinking he can control you. And so the devil wants to flood your mind with images and messages that will destroy your relationship with God by keeping you brain washed in his way of thinking–which of course is worldly.

You might be thinking, “How will I know if he’s being successful?”

You’ll know it by how you think about the world around you and how you interact with it.

If your love for the things of this world is stronger than your love for God—if you desire physical comforts and pleasures more than God or if you’re more concerned with laying up for yourself treasures on the earth than treasures in heaven—then know this, Satan is having his way with your mind.

This is exactly what John the apostle warned against when he said,

1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)
¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

That’s why it is imperative as Christians that we constantly are on guard as to what enters our minds.

Spiritual warfare is the battle between light and dark, truth and error, good and evil and the main battle field where it is fought is in our minds for control of our thinking—that’s why the New Testament has so much to say about our minds as Christians—

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Ephesians 4:23 (NKJV)
²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Colossians 3:2 (NKJV)
² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)
⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

How about one more—

2 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV)
¹¹ lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices (mind games).

The mind becomes the first line of defense in spiritual warfare against ideologies and values that Satan wants to use to destroy us and those we love.

When we talk about loving God with all of our mind it primarily means that we honor God with our thought lives.

Paul the apostle gave us some simple advice along these lines when he said–

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)
⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.

God’s Word teaches us that godly living always flows from godly thinking which is only possible by the renewing of your mind through the Word of God.

Psalm 119:9, 11 (NLT)

⁹ How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

I am absolutely convinced that the reason so many Christians are living worldly lives is because they’re thinking worldly thoughts.

Their minds are still conformed to this world’s way of thinking and they have not allowed them to be transformed by the renewing that comes from God’s Word. In other words their world view is carnal and not spiritual.

B. Prioritize our lives

Secondly, to love God with all our mind means we have to cultivate the right mindset with regard to this life. God has to be our first (supreme) love which means we have to prioritize our lives placing God on the top of our list of priorities.

A medical doctor wrote a book in which he dealt with some of the major maladies of our time.

This doctor called our overriding malady “Overload,” and said that people try to do and have more than they can handle. Here is a summary of his conclusions.

1. We’re overloaded with commitments. We’ve committed ourselves to go here and there, to take part in this activity and that social function. As a result, we soon meet ourselves coming and going, because we have overloaded ourselves in the area of commitments.

2. We’re overloaded with possessions. Our closets are full, and our garages are overflowing. We’ve gone into debt to pay for all of these things we “simply must have.” Now that we have all that “we must have”, we’re afraid that someone will steal them. We are overloaded in the area of possessions.

3. We’re overloaded with work. We get up early, fight traffic, and experience intolerable working conditions, because — we have to, if we’re going to pay for all those possessions we “simply must have”. We find ourselves overloaded with work.

4. We’re overloaded with information. He said that as a doctor, he has to read some 220 articles a month just to keep up with all the changes in his profession. Now with the internet there’s an information superhighway. The problem is that we can’t possibly absorb all that information, so we feel an overload in this area, too.

5. We’re overloaded with activities such as school functions, sports activities, etc., etc., without number.

The list could go on and on, but you get the picture. There are so many demands on our time, so many good things that should be done.

However, there are only 8,760 hours in a year. If you are going to make this New Year count—then you are going to have to prioritize the things in your life that are screaming for your time.

The best way I know how is to prioritize what is most important to you—whatever is most important you will make time for.

When people tell me they’re just too busy to come to church I know that getting close to Jesus through fellowship with the Body of Christ and the teaching of the Word isn’t that important to them.

Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is there your heart will be also.”

One pastor had this to say on the subject—

“It never ceases to amaze me, that when an activity such as a ballgame or something else is rained out and rescheduled during a church activity, I hear — and God hears.., “Well after all, we’ve committed to this activity, so it must take priority.”
You know what, I can’t remember too many times when a church function was “rained out” and rescheduled on a school or ballgame time, that the same standard was applied by saying “We’ve made a commitment to Christ and the church, so this church activity must take priority.”
You can piously say whatever you want, but when those choices are made, I can tell you without question, where the priority is.., and it is NOT with Christ and the church.”

The main problem is they are not obeying the biblical injunction to: “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus” Who said, “I have not come to do My Own will be the will of Him Who sent Me.” And, “I must be about My Father’s business.”

The only way we can prioritize our lives is to make a list and decide what is important and what is not.

It’s amazing most people never do this. They never stop and think through and write down on paper what’s really important to them.

Maybe some of you have never done this.

If not ask yourself, “What’s important to me?” What really counts—what do I really value in life?”

We can’t do what’s important until we first clarify what’s important.

Otherwise you’re going to be pushed around by the pressures of life—a slave to the tyranny of the urgent—and before you know it the year will be gone and you’ll say,

“What happened? Where did this year go and what do I have to show for it in the way of significant change?”

Most people have never made up their mind what they want out of life and if you aim at nothing, you’re going to hit it.

Most people have this vague feeling of, “I just want to be happy.” But happiness is a very subjective and elusive thing.

What does God want me to do with my life? Why am I here? They’ve never written out their values.

I want to challenge each of you to, make a list of things that are important to you, a list of things that you want to accomplish.

What do I value? What do I want to change? Put it down.

Then make this your prayer list. Pin it up on a wall and review it every day and pray about it

Just make sure that your goals honor God—then do whatever you have to, to make the most of this New Year and watch God do miracles in your life.

The key for most Christians will be learning to choose, not between the good and the bad, but learning to choose between what’s good and what’s best.

May I suggest three things that need to be at the top of your list?

1. Your relationship with God needs to be #1.

What are you going to do this year to strengthen and improve your relationship with God? What are you going to do to become more intimate with Him? How much time are you going to set aside each day for prayer and for the study of His Word. You need to make your relationship with God the top priority.

2. Your relationship with your family.

What are you going to do to build a stronger and better relationship with your family? What are you going to change about yourself that will help you to become a better husband, wife or parent?

3. Your relationship with your church and church family.

What are you willing to do to improve the quality of your church? How involved are you willing to get to help your church accomplish the work that God has given it? How committed are you going to be in your attendance and the support of your church?

These are the three things that many a Christian on their deathbed wishes they had given greater priority to.

I have never heard of anyone coming to the end of their life and saying, “I wish I had spent more time at the office building my career.”

Clarify what’s important—don’t wait to begin!

Do it now! These three words can change your life. Do it now!

There will never be an ideal time to start making changes to get your priorities in order.

If you’re going to make this year count by accomplishing your goals then start now, don’t wait.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NKJV)
⁴ He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

In other words, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”

And finally when we talk about loving God with all of our mind,

C. Don’t worry about your needs

The Bible has much to say on this subject, but we’ll just look at a few passages.

Luke 12:29-30 (NKJV)
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
30 “For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Do you see that Jesus is teaching the very thing we’re talking about—get your priorities right, put God first and concern yourself primarily with building His Kingdom and He promises to take care of all your physical needs.

John 16:33 (NKJV)
33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

The reason so many Christians are anxious and stressed out is because their minds are not resting in the promises of God and trusting Him to take care of them.

We are living at a time when, because of the uncertainty of the future, many people are experiencing a considerable amount of fear, anxiety and stress—and even Christians are not immune.

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

The Hebrew is “You will keep him in peace, peace…” Double peace, perfect peace!

But to experience this peace you have to have your thoughts fixed on God, because you trust Him and have absolute confidence in His strength, love and wisdom towards you.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And so to summarize, loving God with all of our mind first of all means to guard what gets into our minds by guarding what enters through what we look at and listen to.

Secondly it means to cultivate a mindset that would prioritize our lives around what’s really important–God, family and church.

And finally it means that we stop worrying about our daily needs and rest our thoughts on God’s promises and trust Him to take care of us.

I hope that these thoughts will help you make this New Year a year of blessing and intimacy with God. Next time we’ll finish up our study in “Making the New Year Count”.

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil
 

The hope that I can build on what’s good and put behind me what’s bad—that with God’s grace old things will pass away and this will be a new year of blessing and renewal.

The problem is for most people, when they enter into a new year, all they do is hope that things will change. All they do is engage in wishful thinking that things will be different but they never do anything to bring about any change.

In my life I want to make this year a year that I keep the greatest commandment of them all–

Mark 12:30 (NKJV)
³⁰ ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first (supreme) commandment.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Yes, that’s what I want more than anything else this year–to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength” then let’s look at how we might accomplish that together.

In our last study on this topic we looked at what it means to love God with all our heart.

I. To Love God with All Your Heart

A. Purpose in your heart to live a life of total obedience and commitment to God

B. Purpose in your heart to control what comes out of your mouth

C. Purpose in your heart to honor God with your finances

D. Purpose in your heart to bring God into every decision

Now we want to look at the second admonition in what Jesus said was the greatest commandment of all.

II. To Love God with All Your Soul

Whereas the heart is the seat of conviction and commitment, the soul is the seat of our emotions.

When we talk about loving God with all our soul we’re talking about having a passion for God!

All Christians love Jesus—but not all Christians are in love with Jesus?

This reminds me of the exchange that Jesus had with Peter after he had denied the Lord three times and Jesus sought to restore him to fellowship and service.

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” John 21:15 (NKJV)

The Greek word that Jesus uses for love is ‘agapao’ the verb form of ‘agape.’

Agape is a word that’s usually used in the NT to speak of God’s love.

A love that’s deep, fervent and unconditional.

So Jesus is asking Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me, deeply, fervently and unconditionally?”

Peter said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

Here Peter responds with the Greek word ‘phileo’ which is a word that means ‘friendship love or affection.’

So when Jesus asked Peter—“Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me, deeply, passionately and unconditionally?”

Peter responds by saying, “Yes, Lord; You know that I am fond of You.”

“He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” John 21:16 (NKJV)

Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me deeply, fervently and unconditionally?”

Peter responded, “Yes, Lord; You know that I am fond of You.”

“He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” John 21:17 (NKJV)

When Jesus asked Peter the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”the Lord used the Greek word ‘phileo’.

So this time Jesus asked Peter—“Peter, are you fond of Me?”

Here Jesus comes down to Peter’s level because Peter would not rise to the Lord’s level.

It’s always a sad day when we bring the Lord down to our level, rather than rising to His level—the level of total commitment.

This is true in our human relationships. If you fall in love with someone and you desire with all of your heart to enter into a deep lifelong commitment with them (marriage) but they respond to you, “I just want to be friends” doesn’t that just crush you?

This is what many Christians say to the Lord when He wants their relationship to go all the way into the deepest of all possible commitments and they respond, “Lord, I’m fond of You–I just want us to be friends.”

It’s always sad to see Christians who, because of carnality and compromise, are satisfied to settle for a lower level of relationship with Jesus than a total full on committed relationship with Him.

This also reminds me of what Jesus said to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2.

Revelation 2:2-4 (NKJV)
² I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

This was a church that had many good works of service and yet they had left their first love— they were going through the motions but had lost the emotion in their relationship with Jesus.

Jesus said to them, “I have this against you—that you no longer love Me as you did at first.”(Weymoth N.T.)

What is “first love”? It is the passionate love for Jesus that often characterizes the new believer.

It is an excited, fervent, unashamed kind of love. It is the “honeymoon love” of the husband and wife.

While it is true that mature married love deepens and grows richer, it is also true that it should never lose the excitement and wonder of those “honeymoon days.”

The word “Ephesus” means ‘darling’ or “desired one.”

The worst thing that can happen to any relationship—whether it’s your relationship with God or your spouse is when you begin to take the other for granted and you lose that desire for each other.

When that happens, even if your service to them continues it becomes meaningless.

The church at Ephesus fell into the trap of thinking that loveless service was enough to please the Lord.

That would be like a wife coming to her husband and saying, “I don’t love you anymore. I have no feelings for you at all, but I’ll stay married to you. I’ll go on cleaning your clothes, cooking your meals and taking care of the house but don’t expect any closeness or emotion from me.”

What husband would be happy with a relationship like that?

I didn’t marry my wife to have someone to cook my meals and clean my house—I can hire a maid to do those things.

I married her because I fell in love with her and she with me. And that makes all the acts of service she does for me special and beautiful because I know they are an expression of her love for me.

But without the love they would be meaningless. It’s obvious that Jesus wants more than service—He wants closeness and emotion in our relationship with Him. In other words He wants some romance!

When was the last time you told the Lord, “I love you” and it wasn’t tied to something you wanted from Him? It wasn’t embedded in some prayer request?

Some marriages have so degenerated that the words “I love you” are only used to get things from each other.

What is the solution for a relationship with Jesus that has cooled into affection rather than passion?

Jesus gives us the remedy Himself in Revelation 2:5—

Revelation 2:5 (NKJV)
⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…

“First love” can be restored if we follow the three instructions Jesus gave.

First, we must remember (literally “keep on remembering”) what we have lost and cultivate a desire to regain that close communion once again.

Then we must repent—change our minds—and confess our sins to the Lord (1 John 1:9).

Third, we must repeat the first works.

“Yes, but what does that really mean?”

What were you doing when you were on fire for the Lord?

“I was going to church.” Go again!

“I was getting up early for morning devotions.” Do it again!

“I sang praise to the Lord as I drove down the street.” Sing again!

Remember—Repent—Repeat is the key to restoring your relationship with Jesus.

You will never be passionate about God if you don’t make the effort to spend time with Him.

Someone has coined the phrase, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and I suppose there is some truth to that on a human level.

But let me say when it comes to your relationship with God absence from God only makes your heart less passionate for God.

Again, you have to purpose to spend time with God—everyday in prayer and Bible study.

Remember James said, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a)

If you will start putting in the time to draw close to Jesus He will draw close to you and you will begin to see the passion return in your relationship with Him.

So purpose to start loving God with all of your soul this year. If you make small changes each day they will add up to big changes in your relationship with Him by the end of 2010.

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

Every new year brings with it new hope–hope that in this new year God will make things in our lives new in the sense of new opportunities, new strength for victory over old sins, a new relationship (if you’re single and wanting a spouse)–the hope of a better year than last year.

As we have entered this new year there are probably certain things you’d like to see changed.

The problem is for most people, when they enter into a new year, all they do is hope that things will change. All they do is engage in wishful thinking that things will be different but they never do anything to bring about change.

And so it doesn’t take long for the hope of a new year to become the same old defeat and discouragement of the past.

As one author said, “We can waste the New Year away by sitting around and worrying about the things we failed to accomplish last year, or the mistakes we made through out the year. We can sit around and mope or have a pity party because things didn’t go the way we wanted them to. Or we can decide to make the most of this New Year that God as granted us. This could be the greatest year of your life if you make a conscience decision to do whatever it takes to have a great year.”

So what are you going to do with 2010? How are you going to make it count?

How will this year be any different than last year?

Last year was a tough year for many in our country. 2009 might have been, for many of you, a year filled with more disappointments, setbacks and failures than it was a year filled with joy, victory and blessing.

The bad news is there is nothing we can do to change last year. The good news is we can learn from the mistakes and heartaches of last year and today we have the opportunity to start over and make some changes.

It’s like God is saying, “Let’s start over—old things have passed away I want to do something new this year in your life.”

Now it’s true that change isn’t easy but with God’s grace and power it’s certainly not impossible.

God brings life to us in small pieces that we know as hours and days. And if we make small changes hour after hour and day by day–those small changes will add up to big changes month by month and year after year.

Of course any change for good in our lives will ultimately come from God’s Spirit working in us.

However it’s wrong to think that God does everything and we do nothing; that change comes about with no effort on our part.

Certainly God has a part and we can’t do His part; but we also have a part and it’s just as certain that God will not do our part either.

Now when we talk about making changes in the new year, I can’t tell you what to change–I can only work on me and you can only work on you.

In John Maxwell’s book, “Developing the Leader Within You” he shares a story of a Middle Eastern man who said, “ I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: ‘ Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’ As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘ Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me, just my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.’ Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: ‘ Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life.”

Bottom line: You’ll waste your life trying to change others—only God can do that.

Instead make this a year that you purpose with God’s strength to be a better person by making some positive changes in your own life.

In my life I want to make this year a year that I keep the greatest commandment of them all–

Mark 12:30 (NKJV)
³⁰ ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first (supreme) commandment.

If you’re thinking to yourself–”Yes, that’s what I want more than anything else this year. I want to love God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength” then let’s look at how we might accomplish that together.

I. To Love God with All Your Heart

The heart is the seat of conviction and commitment. To love God with all your heart means to have a heart of commitment toward Him. But that won’t happen unless you purpose in your heart to do certain things.

A. Purpose in your heart to live a life of total obedience and commitment to God

In a recent George Barna survey that came out not long ago—

• Although large majorities of the public claim to be “deeply spiritual” and say that their religious faith is “very important” in their life, only 15% of those who regularly attend a Christian church ranked their relationship with God as the top priority in their life.
• The notion of personal holiness has slipped out of the consciousness of the vast majority of Christians. While just 21% of adults consider themselves to be holy, by their own admission large numbers have no idea what “holiness” means and only one out of every three (35%) believe that God expects people to become holy.

From the results of another survey taken a few years ago, in comparing the ethics of Christian and non-Christian adults, it was found that:

1. Almost as many Christians steal from work as non-Christians

2. Almost as many Christians use company phones for personal long distance calls, as non-Christians

3. Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to:

a. Falsify their income taxes

b. Commit plagiarism

c. Give bribes to obtain a building permit

d. Ignore construction specs

e. Illegally copy computer programs

f. Steal time from work

g. Exaggerate their products

h. Selectively obey the law

I’d say that we Christians need to make some real changes in order to make our “walk” equal our “talk”.

Obedience and commitment to God won’t happen by accident they are only going to happen ON PURPOSE.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies…” (Dan.1:8)

B. Purpose in your heart to control what comes out of your mouth

Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”.

Psalms 17:3 (NKJV)
You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

1. Lying

I found this article in my local newspaper a couple of years ago. The title read, “Lies fuel Illinois firm that charges for alibis”. The article said in part,

“Roughly 50 percent of the company’s business revolves around hiding infidelity from a spouse. Mary is married, and Mary is having an affair. The Chicago wife told her husband she was sightseeing in Los Angeles last August, but that was a lie. Mary and her boyfriend were vacationing in Las Vegas, and Mary paid a professional cover-up company $350 to ensure that her husband would never find out. He didn’t. The Alibi Network, an Illinois company that specializes in its namesake — alibis — armed Mary with a fake airplane itinerary, fake hotel reservations and a fake hotel answering service; when her husband phoned Mary’s fake room in Los Angeles, the call was routed to her real cell phone in Las Vegas. Three months later, Mary doesn’t want her name printed in the paper. She’s planning on using Alibi again. Roughly half the Alibi Network’s clients use the service to hide an infidelity says, Michael DeMarco, vice president of marketing for Alibi. DeMarco doesn’t feel guilty. “If there was no demand, we’d have no company,” DeMarco said. “We didn’t invent lying. We didn’t invent infidelity. We just found a niche in an existing market.”

We read something like that and say, “Yea the world is full of liars…”

But in that same survey I mentioned earlier, taken among Christians:

91% said that they lie on a regular basis

75% said they lie to their friends

69% said they lie to their spouses regularly

50% said they regularly called in sick, when they aren’t

Once we get saved the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth moves into our hearts and truthfulness must be the hallmark of the Christian life.

2. Gossip

God’s Word has a lot to say about the evils of gossip.

“In a multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.” (Proverbs 26:20)

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29)

3. Bitter, angry and unkind words

“Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows–bitter words…” (Psalm 64:2-3)

I hope that you know that bitter, hateful words are like arrows that, once fired, cannot be recalled, and once lodged in the heart of another can continue to cause pain for many years to come.

We all remember the adage growing up, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”

Our parents taught us to say that to the kids who were making fun out of us by calling us names.

As a kid I tried using that tip several times as a defense against the mean words that some directed at me, but I have to be honest it really didn’t stop the pain of those hurtful words.

As I got older and reflected on that saying a little, I came to realize, that although our parents meant well, the reason their advice didn’t help to stop the pain of unkind words is because that saying isn’t true.

Sticks and stones can inflict physical pain and may even break a bone or two—but those wounds usually heal without any lasting effects. But an unkind word spoken carelessly or in a moment of anger can wound for a lifetime.

Warren Wiersbe—“Never underestimate the power of words. For every word in Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, 125 people died in World War II. Solomon was right: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). No wonder James compared the tongue to a destroying fire, a dangerous beast, and a deadly poison (James 3:5–8). Speech is a matter of life or death.”

“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless”. (James 1:26)

C. Purpose in your heart to honor God with your finances

1. Giving to God

We have heard the T.V. evangelists quote from the prophet Malachi with regard to giving to God:

Malachi 3:8 (NKJV)
⁸ “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Now, I personally don’t believe tithing is for the New Covenant. Tithing was a law of God given to Israel not the Church.

Tithing was a law that related to free men and women not slaves because a slave didn’t own anything it all belonged to his master.

We are bond-slaves of Jesus Christ—

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So I don’t believe that we are under the law of tithing anymore as members of the New Covenant.

But I also don’t believe we should give less to God under grace than they did under law.

Just remember this—

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)
⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV)
⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

2. Spending on self

Most Christians spend their money as if it were theirs. They have forgotten that, even as they now belong to God, so does all of their possessions and resources.

Paul tells us that we are all stewards of God. A steward didn’t own anything he simply took care of what belonged to another.

The main responsibility of a steward was to be faithful. (1Cor.4:2)

As Christians our rewards will be determined by how faithful we were on earth in whatever the Lord called us to do as His stewards—over our household, our finances, our time, our kids and our ministries.

D. Purpose in your heart to bring God into every decision

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

God is so much wiser than I am. I accept that in principle but not always in practice.

I can’t see the big picture like God does. I only have limited information of the situation.

But that never seems to stop me from making decisions based on my limited understanding—decisions that I often make without prayer and God’s guidance.

This often has devastating results in my life. How much better to seek God and not lean on my own understanding when making important life decisions. The One who said, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer.29:11)

In this New Year purpose to love God with all of your heart each and every day.

First of all by purposing to live a life of obedience and commitment to Him in every area of your life.

Secondly by controlling what comes out of your mouth—purpose to use your mouth to honor God and build people up and not tear them down.

Thirdly purpose to honor God with your finances using them for His glory, storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven and not on the earth.

And finally purpose this year to bring God into every important decision you have to make so that God may direct your paths.

If you make these changes moment by moment and day by day when you come to the end of 2010 you’ll be able to say “To God be the glory great things He has done!”

We will continue our study on “Making the New Year Count” next time.

Until then, may the Lord richly bless you this year as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

“What Child is this who, laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?”

We can only imagine that the question asked in this beloved carol must have been uppermost in the minds of the shepherds that were present at Jesus’ birth.

One author said, “We can almost hear the question being asked from one to another as they gazed into the humble manger. How difficult it must have been for them to understand that the babe who lay in ‘such mean estate’ was truly the promised Messiah.”

And through the centuries men have continued to ponder who Christ really is.

In fact that question, whether you realize it or not, is the most important question you will ever have to answer.

Who is Jesus Christ? There are many concepts that people hold to as to who Jesus really is—let me list some of them.

1. Jesus, the social reformer

Some see Jesus as a social reformer.

This is the concept held by those in the Jesus Seminar.

The Jesus Seminar is made up of about 40-50 liberal scholars and meets twice a year for 4 days. They meet to sit in judgment on Jesus’ words, voting on what they believe He did and did not actually say.

They have determined that He only said about 18% of the words attributed to Him in the Gospels.

One of the members of the Jesus Seminar is John Dominic Crossan, who wrote the book, “Who is Jesus?”

Crossan rejects the biblical Jesus in favor of one that he sees as a social, political activist—a kind of first century, middle-eastern Jesse Jackson.

A Jesus that went around speaking out against colonial imperialism, domestic violence, slavery, racism, sexism, injustice and the systemic abuse of power in the Roman Empire.

This Jesus preached social reform, not repentance from sin.

2. Jesus, the investment banker 

 Next on the list we have a Jesus that is presented by many of the tele-evangelists—one that we’ll call Jesus, the investment banker.

This is a Jesus that has come to make us all rich (even though He Himself had no where to lay His head and when He was crucified all He owned were the clothes on His back).

Yet these people contend that it’s His desire that we all drive Cadillacs and Mercedes, that we live in palatial houses and are able to take extravagant vacations.

All we have to do is invest our money with Him (which means giving it to the T.V. evangelist’s ministry) and we will receive a tremendous return for our investment—a hundred fold or more.

This Jesus isn’t the Jesus who said, “Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on the earth…” (Matt. 6:19-21)

No, this Jesus basically encourages greed and materialism.

He is a Jesus that didn’t come to save us from perdition but from poverty.

 3. Jesus, the environmentalist

Third on the list is Jesus, the environmentalist.

On Nov.19, 2002, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled, “Religious Leaders Target SUVs.”

The article went on to say: “Top executives of the world’s two biggest auto makers plan to meet this week with religious leaders who are trying to make the fuel economy of U.S. vehicles a religious as well as environmental issue. Among those leaders is an evangelical Christian group that plans to roll out a TV ad campaign arguing that gas-guzzlers are contrary to Christian moral teachings about protecting people and the earth. The tagline for the ads is “What Would Jesus Drive.” (A play on the popular Christian motto: “What Would Jesus Do” or WWJD)

One of the leaders, the Rev. Jim Ball who heads up the “Evangelical Environmental Network” said, “We hope that when Christians go to purchase their next vehicle, they will ask: ‘What would Jesus have me drive?’ We think the answer would be that He would have you drive the most fuel-efficient vehicle that truly meets your needs.”

More recently, a number of well known pastors have gotten behind environmental policies and legislation that seeks to reverse the effects of global warming and other environmental issues.

I think as Christians we should take care of God’s creation, it’s just that some people have turned the creation into a god and Jesus into an environmentalist.

I think it trivializes who Jesus really is and what He is most passionate about.

He summed up His entire reason for coming to earth with the statement, “I have come to seek and to save those that are lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Further He prayed in John’s gospel (17:9), “Father I don’t pray for the world but for those whom You have given to Me…”

The Book Revelation teaches that God will someday destroy the earth as a judgment upon those who have turned it into an object of worship.

Planet earth is terminal and won’t be healed until Jesus returns. But this group still believes that Jesus came not to save people but to save the planet.

Somehow I just can’t see the Lord Jesus Christ walking around the Sea of Galilee spearheading a “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” campaign.

 4. Jesus, the psychologist

 Today the Church has become glorified group therapy, and Jesus has been turned into a psychologist whose sole purpose for existing is to make people happy by fixing all their problems.

Contrary to what many believe today the goal of our Christianity is to bring glory to God not a better quality of life for ourselves.

To accomplish this God is at work in our lives not to make us happy but to make us holy.

This means that He will allow trials and tribulations to come upon us to grow us and ultimately to mature us.

He does this because He is far more concerned about our eternal rewards than He is about our temporal comforts.

So who’s right? Who is the real Jesus?

We need look no farther than the announcement given by the angel to Mary predicting the Christ-Child’s birth—

Luke 1:35 (NKJV)
³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Who is Jesus? He is the Son of God. Why did He come? He came to save us from our sins–as the Lord revealed to Joseph in a dream:

Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)
²¹ “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus came the first time to save us from our sins–He is coming again to reign as King over a kingdom that will never end as the prophet Isaiah prophesied:

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)
⁶ For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

“What Child is this?” The carol goes on to answer triumphantly—“This, this is Christ the King!”

Many people don’t have a problem with the baby Jesus.

They tenderly imagine the Christ-child lying in that manger—so helpless, and might I add harmless.

And as long as He remains—“The Christ-Child, the Babe, the Son of Mary” they will tolerate Him and even feign love for Him.

But when He is proclaimed the Son of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Who came the first time to die for sinners and is coming again to judge the living and the dead—that’s the Jesus they will not tolerate, cannot handle and refuse to bow the knee to.

A Baby Jesus is cute and harmless and makes no demands on a person’s life—but a full grown Jesus who is King, who demands they get off the throne of their life so that He can take His rightful place as King and Lord; a Jesus who demands worship and obedience—that Jesus is a threat and a danger to them living however they please and that Jesus must be done away with.

This was exactly what motivated King Herod in his attempt to kill the baby Jesus—to keep Him from someday removing Herod as king and reigning in his place.

And so let’s never forget Who Jesus is and why He came to earth.

He is Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, who is coming again to judge the living and the dead and to establish a kingdom that will never end.

He didn’t come to save us from depression or poverty or to give us a better quality of life (unless of course you’re referring to the inward joy and peace and love that He fills us with when we get saved!) He came to save us from our sins and to invite us to be a part of His coming kingdom.

O, won’t you come and bow the knee and receive Jesus as your Savior and King?

O, come and lets worship Christ the King, not the social reformer or the investment banker or the environmentalist or the psychologist—but Christ the King!

May the Lord richly bless you this Christmas season as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

Our nation was birthed in an attitude of thanksgiving to Almighty God for His blessings and providence that planted, sustained, and nurtured our fledgling nation from infancy to maturity as the strongest and most blessed nation on the face of the earth.

Back in those early days, before we were even a nation, those early settlers were thankful to God, not for big houses and new cars, but for keeping them alive!

Most of us are familiar with the traditional story of Thanksgiving where William Bradford, of Plymouth Rock, proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the survival of the Pilgrims in their second year in the New World, and for the abundant harvest that He had provided with the aid of the native population.

However, most people don’t know that the first American Thanksgiving didn’t occur in 1621 with this group of Pilgrims who shared a feast with a group of friendly native Americans.

The first recorded Thanksgiving actually took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60.

The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

You would think that after seeing so many of their loved ones die due to the hardships of the New World, they would not feel very thankful. However, the opposite was true. They realized they had much to be thankful for.

I’d like you to compare the attitude of those early settlers to what we see in our country today. The following is an article written by Craig Smith writing for World Net Daily—

“A Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence two-thirds of the citizenry just ain’t happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I starting thinking, ”What we are so unhappy about?” Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that a large percentage of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year? Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don’t have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.”

Why is this? What has turned us from being thankful for the smallest blessings from God to being the complaining, self-indulgent, ungrateful people we have become even though we have been blessed beyond any nation on the face of the earth?

Let me answer that question with a story that I think will help to illustrate what has happened to us that has brought us to the place we are in as a nation.

The story is told of two old friends that bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears.
His friend asked, “What has the world done to you, my old friend?”

The sad fellow said, “Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“Yes but two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear.”

“Sounds like you’ve been blessed….”

“You don’t understand!” he interrupted.
“Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million.”

Now he was really confused.  “Then, why do you look so glum?”

“This week… nothing!”

That’s the trouble with receiving something on a regular basis. Even if it is a gift, we eventually come to expect it.

This is the “entitlement mindset” that has permeated American society at almost every level. We have been blessed to live in a land of plenty and as a result we have come to believe that these blessings are our “rights” and that we deserve them.

When that happens we forget about God and focus on ourselves as being the source of our prosperity–in other words, we begin to take credit for what God has done.

This is exactly what happened to Israel in the O.T. even though God warned them to be on guard against this very thing before leading them into the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 8:7-14 (NKJV)

⁷ “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; ⁸ “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹“a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰ “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. ¹¹“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² “lest–when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ “and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴“when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

Jeremiah 2:5-7

⁵ This is what the Lord says: “What sin did your ancestors find in me that led them to stray so far? They worshiped foolish idols, only to become foolish themselves. ⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness—a land of deserts and pits, of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?’ ⁷ ″And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the inheritance I had promised you.

This sounds like it could have been spoken by God directly to America today. When we lose a heart of thanksgiving toward God, when we stop appreciating what He has done for us, we begin to take for granted His blessings. When that happens God begins to slide from our national conscience.

Deut. 8:18
¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”

As we begin to push God out of our national conscience, we then start taking credit for what He has done.

Where there was once thanksgiving and dependence upon God—pride and self-reliance take their place.

This begins the downward spiral of national decline where we go from being thankful to an entitlement nation where people no longer appreciate the gifts God has given them but come to expect and feel they deserve what God has given.

When that happens it becomes impossible for people to see the good in life and be grateful for the smallest of God’s blessings—they become miserable people unable to enjoy life no matter how much they acquire.

Professional counselor Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives. Complaining makes us miserable.”

Psalm 77:3 says “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.”

We ourselves often don’t realize how blessed we are, or how thankful we ought to be, until what we have is taken from us.

It is good and fitting that as Christians we learn to be thankful to God everyday for the many blessings He so richly pours out upon us and not to feel that He owes us anything but that everything comes to us as a gift of His grace.

Someone once said that gratitude is the source for all other Christian virtues. If that be the case, then perhaps we need to reason that ingratitude may well be the source of all, or at least many, of our faults as well.

When we begin to take for granted what God has done for us, we become calloused and filled with pride and then God can no longer use us or bless us.

So how can we replace a heart of discontent and complaining with a heart of thankfulness and contentment?

Well, let me just say that in life “attitude is everything.”

One person can look at a glass and see it half empty, another can look at the same glass and see it half full.

What’s the difference—it isn’t the glass it’s the attitude each person brings to the situation. One purposes to see life from the perspective of gratitude and the other person from the perspective of selfishness and ingratitude.

The attitude we carry with us through life is of paramount importance if we are truly to live lives that demonstrate our gratitude towards God on a daily basis for all He has given us.

How can we cultivate an attitude of gratitude in life?

Let’s open our Bibles to Luke 17 and see how one man achieved it.

Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV)
¹¹ Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

I want you to notice something from this story. We are told that as they began their journey to the priests, they were cleansed (healed).

What is significant is that out of the 10, there was only one who reacted differently than the rest. The Bible says that when he saw that he was healed, he turned back and glorified God, and he came to Jesus and gave Him thanks.  Why did this one react differently? Don’t miss this; it is the key to a life of gratitude.

Verse 15 says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed”.

Now the others no doubt knew that they were healed, but there was something different here.  The Greek word used here is the word “eido”, which means to “see and understand; to perceive with intelligent comprehension”.

This one man took the time to notice that he had been blessed. He recognized that God had given him something wonderful and it caused him to be filled with thanksgiving and praise.

Cultivating a thankful heart is a learned behavior. It comes from choosing to focus on all that God has given you in the way of blessings instead of focusing on what you don’t have.

Sometimes we don’t see how God has blessed us until we lose it.

There is an old Jewish story that illustrates this point–

There is a man who goes to the rabbi and complains, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?”

The rabbi answers, “Take your goat into the room with you.”

The man is incredulous, but the rabbi insists. “Do as I say and come back in a week.”

A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. “We cannot stand it,” he tells the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.”

The rabbi then tells him, “Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week.”

A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat and it’s only the nine of us!”

The situation was the same as at first, but now his perception had changed. He realized that he was blessed to begin with.

Do we really perceive the ways that God has blessed us?

Not a one of us is hungry, not a one of us is naked, but most importantly, if you are a Christian, you have been given everything through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I mean if God never gave you another thing in this life you’d still have your salvation and that would be enough to be incredibly thankful for.

The devil will do his best to keep your mind off the blessings of God.

He will constantly tell you how bad you have it, of how everything is wrong in your life.

You see, it’s when you begin to realize how much you have in the Lord that you will truly begin to be thankful. And when you are thankful, your heart will abound with love for the Lord for everything He has so graciously given to you.

An unthankful Christian is a miserable, defeated Christian for he or she has lost their perspective of what God has blessed them with and with it their joy.

Psalms 100:1-5 (NKJV)

¹ Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! ² Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. ³ Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ⁵ For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

For a Christian, every day ought to be a day of thanksgiving, especially for those of us who live in America—

“America, America, God shed His grace on thee. And crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shinning sea.”

I leave you with the words of President George Washington who in 1789 issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

“Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!’ Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country.”

Happy Thanksgiving, and may the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

This is a very important request for every believer especially when living in stressful and difficult times.

I think that most of us would agree that the stress level in our lives over the last couple of years has gone up exponentially until it feels like we are living in a “pressure cooker.”

We have witnessed the economic picture in our country go from bright and optimistic to dark and pessimistic.

People are losing their jobs, their pensions, their homes which has left many wrestling with feelings of anxiety and depression.

Now I don’t know what the outcome of all of this economic uncertainty will be for our country but I am certain of one thing—the only way we are going to be able to hold up against these and other external pressures is by the Holy Spirit strengthening our inner man.

I’m sure that most of you have heard of a sinkhole.

A sinkhole usually occurs when an underground water pipe breaks and water begins to wash the soil away until there is not enough left underground to support the houses, buildings and cars on top of the ground. When that happens a sinkhole opens up where the ground caves in and everything on top falls into the hole.

There are times, if we’re not careful, where our lives can become like emotional sinkholes.

You see the Bible teaches that tribulation is simply a part of the Christian life. The Greek word for tribulation is ‘thlipsis’ which literally means “pressure brought on by outward circumstances like affliction, oppression and trouble especially as the result of suffering for Christ.”

Paul was a man who experienced many tribulations and outward pressures in his life for God—and yet he said, “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed…” (2Cor. 4:8)

The reason Paul could say “we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed” was because he had taken the time each day to strengthen the inner man–just as he had prayed for the Ephesians.

The inner man is the real you in contrast to the outer man or physical body that you live in.

In many ways the inner man is your internal ‘infrastructure’ that supports you on the inside emotionally from the pressures of life that are working to crush you outwardly.

If you don’t strengthen your inner man daily at one point you will become an emotional ‘sinkhole’ where there is not enough inner strength left to support the outward pressures of your life and you’ll have an emotional cave-in or break down.

“What can I do to strengthen my inner man?”

There are four things, four ‘exercises’ if you will, that will build up and strengthen you as a Christian inwardly—prayer, praise, promises and pause.

1. Prayer

In Ephesians 3 Paul the apostle said, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…” (Eph.3:14, 16)

Mark 1:35 says that it was Jesus’ habit to get up long before the sun came up to start His day in prayer.

He would also stop in the middle of the day to pray—

“However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed”. (Luke 5:15-16)

And then there were many times after a long day of ministry that He would go off by Himself to a deserted place to finish His day in prayer, sometimes spending the entire night praying to His Father—(Luke 6:12-13).

I believe that by the Lord Jesus constantly strengthening Himself in the inner man it allowed Him to stand up to all the pressures of life and ministry and ultimately the persecution He would face leading up to the cross.

If Jesus needed to pray to strengthen Himself how much more do we?

2. Praise

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise”. (Ps.57:7)

“Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever”. (Ps.145:2)

Praise has a way of getting our eyes off the problems and pressures of life and getting us focused on God who is bigger than any problem—and that will strengthen our inner man.

We can focus on our problems which will break us, or we can focus on God who will strengthen us.

 3. Promises

And by this I mean meditating on and clinging to the promises of God in His Word.

Jesus promised us that, “I will be with you always even to the end of the age” (Matt.28:20); and “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb.13:5

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble”. (Matt.6:31-34)

And in Philippians Paul reminds us, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. (Phil.4:19)

One of my favorite promises in God’s Word is found in Jeremiah 29:11-13:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me”.

4. Pause

This is simply times each day and week that you take to get alone with God and spend time in His presence.

You can read God’s Word, meditate on His faithfulness while you thank and praise Him for His kindness and generosity in your life.

As you take these times to feed and strengthen your inner man you will find yourself able to say like Paul—”Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day”. (2Cor.4:16)

One more thing—never let your circumstances keep you from serving God no matter how much outward pressure you are experiencing.

Author Ray Stedman—

And while these shows tended to be a little idealistic in the way they portrayed the American family—they, nevertheless, reflected the norm in our society at that time—what some have called the “traditional family unit”.

You have to understand the era that gave birth to shows like these. During the 1950’s and up until the early 60’s there was a post war idealism and optimism that pervaded our country. The economy was booming, babies were booming, patriotism was in vogue, life was sacred and prayer was still in public schools.

In those days people got married first and then lived together. Closets were for clothes—not for coming out of, and bunnies were small rabbits. Back then—grass was mowed, coke was a drink, ‘gay’ meant happy, and ‘aids’ were helpers in the principal’s office.

A kind of innocence abounded. People in authority were respected, our elected officials were trusted and in general there was a kind of ‘youthful optimism’ that characterized our nation—that even though the world was not perfect, good would eventually triumph over evil and somehow America would lead the way. And in that atmosphere of innocence, optimism and traditional values the American family flourished.

But then came the assignation of John F. Kennedy, Roe v. Wade, the banning of prayer in our public schools, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. And in ten short years our country went from innocence and optimism to cynicism and pessimism. Patriotism was out; traditional values were out; the ‘new morality’ was in and nothing suffered more than marriage and family.

In 1871 there was only 1 divorce for every 1000 Christian marriages in this country. And yet today I have heard that Christian marriages are failing, in some parts of our country, at about the same rate as secular marriages. Some States have become so alarmed by the growing divorce rate and the implications it’s having on families and ultimately on society, that they have begun to offer what they call “Covenant Marriage Licenses.”

A covenant marriage requires premarital counseling before a couple can get married, and then, if problems arise during the marriage, marital counseling is mandated before the couple can divorce. Though no-fault divorces are not permitted, the couple can divorce after a two-year separation or before that time in cases where there is adultery, the physical or sexual abuse of the other spouse or a child, if either spouse abandons the home, or is convicted of a felony. Couples who are already married can convert their marriage to a covenant marriage. Several other states have considered covenant marriages as an option to the more traditional “easy to get out of” marriage contracts.

Now I understand what they are trying to do but law is always an inferior bond to holding marriages together than is love—God’s love. In the Bible God defines true love as a commitment not a feeling. Feelings come and go, they ebb and flow according to various outside influences or pressures. Sometimes the passion is flowing and your relationship with your spouse feels like your still on your honeymoon and other times your relationship feels cold and formal—like partners in a business arrangement instead of two people in love.

When you’re passion for one another cools, that is not the time to go looking for another relationship—it’s time to fall back on the commitment you made to each other when you first stood before God, family and friends and pledged to love each other (to remain committed to each other) for better or worse, in sickness and in health for the rest of your lives—even when you don’t feel like it.

Marriage is like a ship that a man and a woman enter into as they embark on a journey together for the rest of their lives that will include sunshine and storms, smooth sailing and rough seas. The key is commitment. It’s the commitment, not feelings, that will bind you together and allow you to weather the storm—which will eventually pass.

Allow me to use this as a segue into Acts 27—which technically has nothing to do with marriage, and yet the lessons here have everything to do with marriage.

After being falsely accused by the Jews of being a “rabble-rouser” and jumping through legal hoops in Caesarea, Paul was finally sailing toward Rome to plead his case before Caesar. On the way, a storm arose that threatened the lives of the two hundred seventy-six soldiers, sailors, and prisoners on board with Paul. One night an angel appeared to Paul and told him that the ship would be lost but God would spare the lives of everyone on board. However, not long after Paul shared this with the captain and Roman Centurian several of the ship’s crew tried to jump ship. We read:

Acts 27:30-32 (NKJV)
³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,
³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

I believe Paul’s words, even though not directed at marriage, express the heart of God for us today with regard to our marriages. Just as these men found themselves in a situation where they had to stay committed to each other and work together in order to survive the storm-the same is true in marriage.

There are times—maybe you’re in one right now—when the wind is howling, the waves are rising, and you find yourself saying, “I’m out of here. I’m jumping ship. I cannot take this marriage one more day.”

But if you jump ship, know this: You will miss the blessing of seeing God work a miracle and taking, what seems to be a hopeless situation, and turn it into such a blessing that you will realize that this is the one that God truly chose to be your life partner.

Someone has written a book on marriage with the award winning title,  “Good marriages take time—bad marriages take more time.”

Listen again to the apostle’s warning, “If you jump ship, no one will make it.” I want you to stop and think of your children, if you have any, and how this will effect them. Many children of divorce suffer the emotional damage for the rest of their lives even to the point of suffering one or more failed marriages themselves.

Look, I’m not saying it won’t take hard work, sacrifice and a lot of prayer for your marriage to weather the storm you’re going through but “with God all things are possible“.

And that’s not to say that divorce isn’t sometimes necessary in cases of infidelity and or physical abuse. It’s just to say that too many Christian couples follow the example of the world and rush into divorce when the storms hit and things get a little rough.

I know there are some who are saying, “I haven’t jumped ship. I’ve only lowered a lifeboat over the side. I’m gonna give it two more weeks, or three more months, or one more year.” But if you keep an escape option open in your mind, I guarantee you will end up using it. If you keep thinking about divorce—you will end up divorced.

No marriage can survive a strong marital storm as long as you’ve got one foot in the “lifeboat” contemplating jumping ship. Get rid of the lifeboats. Cut the ropes. Stop planning your escape. Tell yourself—“Divorce is not an option!”

God can work a miracle if you will trust Him, obey His Word and commit yourself totally to His will for your life—remember God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) which means that all the power of God is at your disposal for saving your marriage.

P.S.  I strongly encourage all couples to see the movie “Fireproof”. It is a powerful movie that I believe God will use to heal your marriage or, if it’s not in trouble, strengthen it even more!

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

1 Timothy 4:1 (NKJV)
¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

How is this possible? It will happen, and is happening, through false teachers who have infiltrated the Church.

Jesus warned us that false prophets and teachers were coming—He said they would come dressed in sheep’s clothing but would in reality be ‘ravenous wolves’ who would devour and destroy many with their demonic lies. (Matt.7:15-20)

Paul told us false teachers were coming—

Acts 20:29 (NKJV)
²⁹ For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Peter warned us they were coming—and that they would bring with them all kinds of destructive and damning heresies. (2Peter 2:1-3)

So Jesus warned us they were coming, Paul warned us they were coming, Peter warned us they were coming–Jude told us they’re here—he said that they “crept into the church unnoticed” (v.4)

How could this have happened in spite of all the warnings? It happened because even though the Church was warned she wasn’t watching.

Now in the first century the main heresy that the early church fought was Gnosticism.

The word ‘Gnostic’ comes from the Greek word ‘gnōsis’ which means ‘knowledge’.

The Gnostics prided themselves on their knowledge—spiritual knowledge that they claimed not even the apostles had when it came to understanding the “deep things of God.”

The Gnostics considered themselves wiser and more spiritual than everyone else. They were the “spiritual elite” and everyone else was below them—which was one of the main reasons this philosophy drew so many people to it because it appealed to the pride in man.

But it was also popular because the Gnostics practiced a form of mysticism which included various practices that appealed to people because it promised that they could “experience God” in a way that others who didn’t practice these things could not.

This is what made Gnosticism so attractive—it gave people things they could do to conjure up God and become one with Him. And through these mystical practices and disciplines they could gain insights and spiritual knowledge that non-Gnostics couldn’t attain to.

So if they meditated a certain way or chanted the right way they could connect with God and reach spiritual perfection—a pillar of Gnostic doctrine.

If Gnosticism was the most dangerous heresy facing the early church in Paul’s day—what do you think is the most dangerous heresy facing the church in our day?

Let me tell you what I think it is (or at least is at the top of the list)—contemplative spirituality also known as Spiritual Formation and at its core is what is known as contemplative prayer.

What is Contemplative Prayer?

Contemplative prayer is a belief system that uses ancient, eastern meditation practices to induce altered states of conscience known as ‘the silence’ (the emptying of all thought to make contact with the spirit realm possible).

There are three different ways to reach the silence:

• By repeating a word or a phrase (mantra)
• By using breathing exercises (that’s why it’s sometimes referred to as ‘breath prayers’)
• By focusing on an object

The most common way to reach the silence is by using a mantra which is why contemplative prayer is sometimes called ‘mantra meditation’.

Ray Yungen in his book, A Time of Departing, had this to say, “Since mantras are central to this type of meditation, it is important to understand the proper definition of the word. The translation from Sanskrit is man, meaning to “think”, and tra, meaning “to be liberated from.” Thus, the word literally means to escape from thought. By repeating the mantra, either aloud or silently, the word or phrase begins to lose any meaning it once had. The conscious thinking process is gradually tuned out until an altered state of consciousness is achieved”.

This kind of meditation has been practiced for centuries by those in Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism (Transcendental Meditation), Islamic Sufism; also by those in the New Age and occult. However, over the last 50 years it has become ‘main stream’ in American culture.

How Did This Type of Eastern Mysticism Become so Popular in American Secular Culture?

Those promoting these meditation techniques knew that to keep them in the realm of the spiritual would only limit their appeal, they knew that most Americans would not get involved in Eastern religious practices since we are primarily a Judeo-Christian nation. And besides secular people wouldn’t mess with spiritual meditation practices anyway.

So they did ‘repackaged’ their product so that the focus was changed from the spiritual to the physical—in other words things like Yoga (Transcendental Meditation) and Creative Visualization were presented as adds to physical and mental health (physical fitness/stress reduction) and self-help tools to help people “tap into their full potential” and thus become more productive on the job etc.

The whole ‘Human Potential Movement’ is built on eastern mysticism and has infiltrated thousands of corporations under the guise of stress reduction and better productivity techniques.

Ray Yungen—“The health, self-help, and recovery sections of the secular bookstores are now saturated with New Age metaphysical books. Christian columnist Terry Mattingly summed up the situation brilliantly when he observed: ‘The New Age didn’t crest, it soaked in … It is now the dominant theme in commercial bookstores.’ If the self-help personal growth sections of most secular commercial bookstores were examined, the only conclusion to come away with would be that New Age mysticism is the prominent spiritual viewpoint of this country.”

If this kind of Eastern spirituality had only affected secular culture in the West it would have been bad enough—but as Paul warned that in the last days many in the Church would depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and would embrace doctrines of demons—that prophecy has now been fulfilled in our day.

This is a doctrine that’s being embraced by thousands of churches, Bible colleges, seminaries, and Christian publishing houses.

How Did Contemplative Prayer a.k.a Mantra Meditation Infiltrate the Church?

Contemplative prayer got its start in the church through a group of Catholic monks known as the “Desert Fathers.”

These were a group of men who lived in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries A.D. and wanted to live lives of total separation from the world so as to experience God in a deeper way.

So they left their towns and villages and moved out into the desert to live a monastic kind of life (the word ‘hermit’ comes from the Greek word for ‘desert’).

Later they built monasteries and lived together but initially they were individual hermits sprinkled throughout the desert seeking a deeper knowledge of God.

At some point they came in contact with other travelers from the East who taught them forms of eastern meditation that they believed would help them experience God in a new and more powerful way.

In the West, meditation means to “think deeply about something”, but in the East it means to “empty the mind in order to open it to the spirit world, leading to mystical experiences with “God.”

These Catholic hermits thought that if they could learn to practice mantra meditation techniques like contemplative prayer and learn to visualize Christ and biblical events in their imagination, the Bible would become more real and they would mature spiritually.

You say, “How could they think they could use Eastern pagan practices to help them get closer to the God of the Bible?”

The Desert Fathers believed as long as the desire for God was sincere—anything could be utilized to reach God. And so if mantra meditation worked for the Hindus to reach their gods, then Christian mantras could be used to reach Jesus.

In other words everything back then and still today with those practicing these things in the Church is based on intent. Yes Hindus and Buddhists practice these things to make contact with their gods but as long as our intent is good, i.e. to make contact with the true and living God—it becomes sanctified and God honors it.

Well using that logic Christians could justify using Crystal Balls, Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards to make contact with God and come into a deeper relationship with Him—I mean it’s OK because our intentions are good—right? WRONG!!

Wanting to draw near to God is a good thing—but it must be gone about in the right way. Good intentions are not enough—the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

David had good intentions when he wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem but he didn’t follow God’s instructions for transporting the Ark and even thought his intentions were good the results were bad (Uzzah died). The moral of the story is, it’s good to want to do a good thing for God but it must be done in the right way–His way if it’s going to be blessed and not end in disaster!

“So what happened with these Eastern meditation techniques among these Catholic hermits?”

Roger Oakland in his book “Faith Undone” writes, “This practice remained obscure for many centuries and didn’t become mainstream until about fifty years ago when a Catholic monk who was also a world-renowned Trappist monk named Thomas Merton brought it out of the convents and monasteries and presented it to a much larger audience. Catholic priest and mystic Henri Nouwen further expanded this interest to Protestant and even Evangelical circles. Others who played a vital role in the propagation of mystical prayer were: Matthew Fox, Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating. Pennington’s book alone, Centering Prayer, sold over a million copies.”

Thomas Merton eventually came to believe and taught that the realm reached during mantra meditation is the same no matter what religion you belong to (just like spokes on a wheel all leading to a central hub—all religions lead to the same place and connect all of us with the same “God”).

This is the foundational belief that Panentheism (God is in all) is built upon  which almost everyone who practices contemplative prayer for any length of time eventually comes to believe in.

One of the most influential and well-known evangelical Christians in support of contemplative prayer is Richard Foster. His book, Celebration of Discipline, is considered a “Christian classic”. It has sold more than two million copies since it first came out in 1978 and is still going strong today.

Christianity Today named it number eleven in the “Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals” and the readers of that magazine voted it the third most influential book after the Bible!

Richard Foster is a big fan of Thomas Merton and praised him as being right up there with Zen Masters from the East as “an authority on meditative or contemplative prayer”.

Foster is another one who believes that as long as our intent is to make contact with the God of the Bible then contemplative prayer becomes a ‘sanctified tool’ to help us draw close to Him.

Listen to some of what Richard Foster teaches Christians to do to experience “God”—Foster in, Celebration of Discipline, he writes, “In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body…Reassure your body that you will return….Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Rest in his presence. Listen quietly [to] any instruction given” (p. 27).

This is astral projection and is the major occult technique used by shamans (witch doctors) to contact their spirit guides.

Yet Foster claims that it will allow you to contact Jesus: “Take a single event [from Scripture]. Seek to live the experience…apply all your senses to your task…represent to your imagination the whole of the mystery…as an active participant….You can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by His voice…touched by His healing power.…Jesus Christ will actually come to you” (p. 26).

Not so! You cannot summons Jesus Christ from the right hand of the Father to appear before you at your beckon call—but any demon will be happy to pretend to be Jesus if you engage in non-biblical occult practices like visualization (which is what Foster is promoting).

If God gives you a vision it’s called revelation, but if you try to conjure one up it’s called divination—and that is strictly forbidden by God in His Word.

In the occult visualization is the quickest way to pick up a spirit guide.

Author Dave Hunt said, “The growing belief that visual images created in the imagination open the door to a closer walk with God is part of an epidemic of extra biblical teaching that is being accepted in the church today. The door is being opened to demonic delusion, and it is astounding how many Christians are walking through it.”

Jesus said, “Father Your Word, (not “Your image, picture or visual representation”), but Your Word is truth”.

If this kind of prayer is so good and of God then why does it come with a “warning label”? Richard Foster writes a curious warning about this practice in his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home:  “I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as a supernatural guidance… While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on that, there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way! … But for now I want to encourage you to learn and practice prayers of protection.”

Brian Flynn an ex-New Age medium and now evangelical Christian responds—“Then why do it, Mr. Foster? Why would God put me in a position to fend for myself in this unknown spiritual realm surrounded by spiritual beings that are not in cooperation with God and his way? He would not. “What would martyrs of the faith who departed from Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism say to us if they could speak of our intermingling Christianity with Eastern mystical practices? As a former New Age medium, I know the difference between Eastern meditative practices and biblical Christian prayer. Sadly, too many in the Christian community do not.’”

Roger Oakland in his book, Faith Undone, ends the chapter entitled “When West Meets East” with these words of warning, “Foster’s implication that some contemplative prayer is safe is terribly mistaken. No contemplative prayer is biblical or safe—even the most “mature” of the Christian mystical leaders proved susceptible to its demonic pull. Thomas Merton at the end of his life said he wanted to be the best Buddhist he could be. Henri Nouwen at the end of his life said all paths lead to God. This was the spiritual fruit of their lives after years of practicing mystical prayer.”

And yet many in the Church continue to allow themselves to be led down a path of deception by embracing these teachers and their teachings.

Again much of it is justified based on intent and results—in other words since their intent is good and these things seem to give them an experience with God and a sense of well-being, peace, joy and even feelings of euphoria—therefore, many reason, “If it feels good and the results are positive it must be from God.”

Brian Flynn—“As a former practitioner of TM, I know that feeling; it is very empowering and seductive. After my psychic meditations, I felt tremendously euphoric. What makes contemplative prayer so dangerous is that Christian practitioners believe this power and euphoria come from God. And they believe the voice they hear is the voice of God. They are mistaken, and Scripture clearly warns us that just because something appears good, does not necessarily mean it is: “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2Cor.11:14-15)”.

Can Mantra Meditation Be Justified From Scripture?

Proponents of this kind of meditation try to justify it from Scripture by saying that the Bible talks about meditation in many different places such as—”This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8)

The word translated ‘meditate’ is a Hebrew word that means “to chew the cud” and simply refers to the practice of “chewing on something God said so as to extract every ounce of spiritual nourishment and meaning from it”. It doesn’t mean to go into an altered state of consciousness by emptying the mind of all thought so as to make contact with the spirit realm.

They justify entering into The Silence as a way to know God by quoting Ps.46:10—“Be still and know that I am God…” The Hebrew for “be still” is a word that means to “stop activity.”God is telling us to  “stop running around trying to fix our problems. Be still and let Me show you that as God nothing is hard for Me to solve”.

Nowhere in the Bible did any of God’s people in either the Old or New Testaments ever practice let alone teach contemplative prayer.

While it is absolutely certain no reference can be found anywhere in Scripture that supports the practice of mantra-style contemplative prayer, there is a reference that actually condemns it, and it is Jesus Christ who says: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matt.6:7)

In the Greek “vain repetitions” means “meaningless, repetitive babbling” which Jesus told us not to do when we pray—the very thing mantra meditation is built upon.

Brian Flynn—“Jesus told us not to use vain repetitions as .. the heathen do. While it is certainly true the Desert Fathers experimented with contemplative prayer, what is not true is that it originated with them. In actuality, mantra meditation was practices by pagan religions (including Hinduism and Buddhism), centuries before Christ was born. So it would only make sense that Jesus knew about this form of prayer and may very well have been referring to it directly.”

What are the Consequences of Practicing Contemplative Prayer?

Some of the physical effects for those who practice mantra meditation include seeing flashing lights and feeling strange sensations like tingling on the top of their head. But some of the more severe consequences would include hearing voices and experiencing a change in personality.

Cassandra Batya, who as a Christian, decided to practice contemplative meditation because she wanted to feel a close relationship with God. However, the more she got into contemplative spirituality, the worse things got. Listen to excerpts of her candid and compelling testimony:

“My spiritual focus and prayer became less about Jesus, and more about mystical spiritual highs and insights. Contemplative spirituality became my drug. During prayer, a voice in the back of my head would tell me I was a witch. One night, my thumb/hand began to shake on its own during prayer. By nature, I am a kind and loving person and have been told such, but I started to have hateful and venomous mood swings and became at moments verbally abusive to my loved ones. I was surprised at my own behavior and language.”

Eventually, she realized she had entered a dangerous demonic realm. Immediately, she began praying for guidance: “I repented and renounced all contemplative practices, inner/esoteric spirituality, and mysticism. Actually, I wept aloud, fell on my knees, and begged God’s forgiveness. I threw out all books and music that dealt with mystics, mysticism, and esoteric/inner/contemplative spirituality and anything else related to it. I immediately knew I had done the right thing. The atmosphere in my home changed, and for the first time in a long time, when I prayed to God I felt a peace and joy in my heart, and not great fear or terror.”

One of the major spiritual results of practicing this kind of meditation is Panentheism and Interspirituality.

Panentheism means that “God is in everything”.

Contemplative prayer is giving Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Islamists the same experiences leading all who practice mantra meditation to believe that the same “God” is in all of these faiths.

The inevitable result is then interspirituality—“a uniting of the world’s religions through common ground”. The term means to “break down the barriers that separate religions”.

One leader in the contemplative movement said that the only way to do this was through contemplative prayer— “All these religious traditions [Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, etc.] emerge out of mystical experience, and mystical experience means a direct knowledge of and relationship with the Divine, God, or Boundless Consciousness. One can almost say that the real religion of humankind isn’t religion at all, but rather it is mystical spirituality.”

These practices are preparing people for the one world religion under the False Prophet and Antichrist.

In his foreword to Ray Yungen’s book, A Time of Departing, Ron Comer says: “By using Eastern mystical techniques such as the repetition of words (mantras) and the emptying of the mind, professing Christians are testifying to powerful experiences in the spiritual realms. In Christian circles these techniques are being called: the silence, breath prayer, centering prayer, or contemplative prayer. Through these mystical prayer practices the church today has opened its door to a subtle abandonment of the gospel…Like two rivers merging together, Eastern and Western religious thought are joining together, thus gaining momentum towards a one world religion in which all paths lead to God.”

It is so foundational to Christianity that anyone who denies the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be a genuine Christian.

Without the resurrection there is no Christian faith, no salvation and no hope for man.

As Paul the Apostle said in 1Corinthians 15: “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is useless, your faith is meaningless, we are still in our sins, those who have died believing in Christ are lost and we are of all men the most pathetic—we might as well eat, drink, and be merry for there is nothing more to life than this.”

However Paul went on to say, “But now Christ is risen from the dead and is the first fruits from the grave of those who have died believing in Jesus.”

The resurrection is central to the Christian faith. And since the resurrection is the core truth that allows someone to become a Christian—I’d like to use the word “RISEN” as an acrostic which will help you to remember how a person becomes a Christian and what the Christian life is all about.

That brings us to the first letter in the word “risen”–

“R”—Renunciation

The dictionary defines the word ‘renounce’ as “to give up, to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further”

The basic idea behind renunciation is to repudiate and walk away from something that you had, up to this point, believed in and followed after—in other words to turn from a way of life to embrace something different.

The biblical term would be “repentance”.

The word repentance comes from two Greek words that literally mean “to have a change of mind that leads to a change of action”—or in other words it speaks of turning from one way of thinking and living to embrace something different.

Of course when we’re talking about becoming a Christian it means to turn your back on the life you are now living—a life of sin and rebellion against God—and to forsake that way of life by turning to God because you want to start living in obedience to Him.

Repentance is the first step before a person can believe the gospel.

Jesus said this in Mark 1:15, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Now after renunciation that then leads to the second letter of our acrostic—

“I”—Identification

The dictionary defines ‘identify’ in this way—“to be or become the same; to conceive as united as in spirit, outlook or principle.”

To become a Christian not only means you have to renounce the old life of sin but it also means you then need to identify with Jesus Christ.

“Yes, but what does that mean?”

Well, as the dictionary defines it—it means, “to become the same (oneness); to be united in spirit, outlook and principle (doctrine).”

In other words to identify with Jesus means that you believe in Him—in who He is (the Son of God); in what He did for us (died on the cross for our sins) and that you receive Him as your Lord (the One Who now controls your life).

Furthermore, identifying yourself with Jesus means that you understand that you will be required to die to your goals and desires to live for Him in such a way that everyone can see you belong to Him.

One of the classic passages in the N.T. on the subject of identifying with Jesus is found in Mark 8:34-38: “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. ³⁵ If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. ³⁶ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? ³⁷ Is anything worth more than your soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (NLT)

Now renunciation and identification automatically and instantaneously lead to the third letter in our acrostic—

“S”—Salvation

Once you have repented of your sins and have come to Jesus by putting your faith in Him, receiving Him as your Savior and Master—the one who now has control of your life—well the result is salvation.

What exactly does that mean? What are we saved from? Many on Christian radio and TV are teaching that what God really wants to save you from is ‘unhappiness, sickness, poverty’ etc.

However the Bible actually teaches that our salvation takes place on three different levels.

As Christians:

1. We have been saved from the penalty of sin—we’re no longer going to hell (1Thess.1:9-10; Rom.8:1)

I was listening to one of the old time preachers who was preaching on this subject and he challenged his audience by saying—“If you say you’re saved—what are you saved from? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lust? Are you saved from cheating, lying, stealing, alcohol or tobacco? What are you saved from?”

If you’re not being saved from the power of sin (sanctification and personal holiness) what makes you think you’ve been saved from the penalty of sin (not going to hell)?

3. We will be saved from the presence of sin—we’re no longer going to live among sin (Rev.21:27; 22:14-15)

Now once a person is saved the next two letters of our acrostic come into play—

“E”—Emancipation

The dictionary defines emancipate—“to free from restraint, control, or the power of another; especially to free from bondage”

One of the things that salvation brings is, not only access to heaven someday, but freedom from the devil’s control right now.

Acts 26:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸ to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

You see, the gospel is our spiritual “Emancipation Proclamation” which set us free from the power of sin and Satan.

And as we just said earlier, if you’re life isn’t changing for the better, if it isn’t becoming more and more liberated from the power of sin and the control of the devil—the question you need to ask yourself is have you really been set free from sin—or in other words are you really saved?

And finally the last thing that becomes a reality when a person becomes a Christian is represented by the final letter in our acrostic—

“N”—New Creation

This happens simultaneously with our emancipation and both emancipation and new creation happen instantaneously with salvation.

What does it mean to be a new creation?

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

This verse is a favorite with those who have recently been born again, and is often quoted in personal testimonies.

Sometimes in being thus quoted, it gives quite a false impression. Listeners are apt to think that when a man is saved, old habits, evil thoughts, and lustful looks are forever done away, and everything becomes literally new in a person’s life–at that instant.

That’s true in part. You see the moment we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Master we were born again and made a new creation inside.

At that instant God planted His Spirit within us and gave us a new nature consisting of a new heart—a new heart that has a desire to obey all that He has commanded and that desires to stay away from all that He has condemned.

This is all part of what it means to be a new creation in Christ—that God saves us and plants these things within us at the moment of salvation.

However with anything you plant it takes time to grow.

2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…

As Christians we are a part of God’s new creation and God continues to work in us to make us what He wants us to be—His own personal work of art. (Eph.2:10)

In other words, our conversion is not the end; it is the beginning of all that God wants to do in and through our lives.

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

And so there you have it, the five things involved in becoming a Christian—all made possible by the core truth that Jesus Christ is risen!

Renunciation

Identification

Salvation

Emancipation

New Creation

The first two lead to salvation; the last two proceed from salvation but altogether they make the Christian life a reality.

The question is have you made them a reality in your own life?

Salvation is the greatest gift in the universe built on the greatest event in history. However with any gift it will not do you any good unless you receive it.

Will you reach out by faith right now, repenting of your sin and rebellion toward the holy God Who loves you and gave His Son to die for you and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

The Bible says that today is the day of salvation, if God is speaking to your heart right now don’t put this decision off–it is the most important decision you will ever make because it alone carries with eternal consequences.

If you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior now He will confess you before His Father someday that you belong to Him. I guarantee you will never regret making that decision!

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil

You might be thinking to yourself—“why is Paul praying that Jesus may dwell in their hearts—I thought he was writing this to Christians who already had Jesus living in their hearts?”

It is true that Paul is writing to believers living in Ephesus. It is also true that Jesus lives in the heart of every Christian the moment they receive Him into their heart by faith as Lord and Savior.

So then what is Paul actually saying here? The answer is found in the word “dwell.”

According to the Greek scholar Dr. Kenneth Wuest the verb literally means “to settle down and feel at home.”

Certainly Jesus was already living in the hearts of the Ephesians, or else Paul would not have addressed them as “saints” in Ephesians 1:1.

What Paul is praying for is a deeper experience between Jesus and His people.

He yearns for Christ to settle down and feel at home in their hearts. He’s not talking about a superficial relationship, but an ever-deepening loving communion.

However, Jesus will never feel at home in our hearts until He feels welcome and comfortable in every room and secret chamber of our hearts—otherwise He will go on feeling like a tolerated visitor.

Remember one thing—Jesus didn’t force His way into your heart when you became a Christian.

He said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock—if anyone opens the door I will come in…” Notice the Lord didn’t say, “Behold I stand at the door and kick it open.” He said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock”.

There was an English artist, Holman Hunt, who attempted to capture this scene on canvas—the painting now hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

He pictured Jesus standing at a door of a neglected cottage—knocking to be let in.

When he first painted the picture, he invited his artist friends to critique it.

After studying it for awhile one of them said to him, “Holman, you have left off a very important part of the door–the handle, you left off the handle of the door.”

“Ah,” Mr. Hunt replied, “This door is a picture of the human heart, and the handle of the door is only on the inside. You see it’s up to the one within to respond to the knock of Jesus and open the door of their heart to invite Him in.”

Jesus will not force His way into a heart. He won’t barge in where He’s not welcome.

He’s a perfect gentleman who knocks and says, “If you’ll respond to Me, I’ll come in and dwell with you—but the choice is up to you.”

Most of us have made that choice. We heard His knock and said, “Come in, Lord. Come into my heart and make it your home.” And He did.

And now that He has come into our hearts He won’t feel comfortable until He has full access to every room and closet so that He can clean out the junk and rearrange and redecorate things so that He really feels at home there.

In his booklet “My Heart Christ’s Home”, Robert Munger pictures the Christian’ heart and life as a house, through which Jesus goes from room to room.

In the library, which is the mind, Jesus finds trash and all sorts of worthless things, which He proceeds to throw out and replace with His Word.

In the dining room of appetite He finds many sinful desires listed on a worldly menu. In the place of such things as prestige, materialism, and lust He puts humility, meekness, love, and all the other virtues for which believers are to hunger and thirst.

He goes through the living room of fellowship, where He finds many worldly companions and activities which He replaces with godly friends and fellowship with Himself.

Next the author pictures Jesus going through the workshop, where only toys are being made and He replaces these with the work of the Kingdom.

Then He goes into the closet where hidden sins are kept which He proceeds to clean out, and so on through the entire house.

Only when He had cleaned every room, closet, and corner of sin, carnality and foolishness could He settle down and be at home.

Author William MacDonald has said concerning this,

The problem with all too many Christians when they invite Jesus into their hearts, is that they lock Him in a ‘back bedroom’ somewhere and only bring Him out when they need His help.

They make most of their lives “off limits” to Him because they really don’t want Him intruding into areas of their thought lives, their associations, or interfering in how they spend their time and money.

But if Jesus Christ isn’t Lord of all He isn’t Lord at all.

Another problem with a lot of Christians is they have neglected their heart relationship with Jesus so much and allowed it to grow so cold that Jesus feels unwelcome, unwanted and abandoned.

Again, using Holman Hunt’s painting of Jesus standing at a door of a neglected cottage knocking to be let in.

One author put it this way—

Folks, if you’ve never opened your heart to Jesus then know that He is standing on the outside of your heart knocking—it’s up to you whether or not you let Him in.

But understand that if you do it’s all or nothing. You must be willing to give Him total control of your life to clean it up and make it holy.

And for those of you who are Christians whose hearts have grown cold to the Lord know this—Jesus loves you and is saying to you, “It’s not too late to repent, it’s not too late to renew the warmth of our fellowship with one another.”

Of course the key to all of this is faith even as Paul stated in verse 17—“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

Why has your relationship with Jesus grown cold? Maybe it’s because your faith is failing.

The reality that God has revealed to you has begun to seem unreal. Your faith is dragging.

The solution—you need to turn back to Him and renew your relationship by doing the things you used to do when you first opened the door of your heart to Him.

This would include getting back to church and back into your morning devotions.

Fill your day with praise because God inhabits the praise of His people.

But most importantly you must get back into His Word if your faith is going to be strengthened and renewed.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. (Romans 10:17)

The first thing to believe is the most fundamental fact of the Christian life and that is that Jesus Christ has come to live in you.

This fact is not dependent upon your feelings, which ebb and flow. It rests solely upon Jesus’ promise given in the Upper Room in John 14:23 when He said to His disciples, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

And also, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

That is what Paul refers to when he prays that Jesus may dwell in our hearts through faith.

First of all remind yourself of that every day as a Christian—that Jesus Christ lives in you. He has taken up residence in you and He promises never to leave you nor forsake you.

He has made your heart His home and you belong to Him forever!

Now make Him feel at home by surrendering every area of your heart and life to Him that He might start giving you an Extreme Makeover Heart Edition!

May the Lord richly bless you as you walk with Him day by day.

Pastor Phil