Many of us suffer from chronic dehydration and never realize it. We do not drink enough water.

Some of the signs of chronic dehydration include:

• Fatigue
• Loss of mental alertness
• Digestive disorders
• Arthritis, gout, and other joint/osteo issues
• Urinary tract problems
• Blood sugar imbalance

Maybe we could change that if we substituted water for the sodas and other useless beverages we consume. We certainly would feel better.

Even more people suffer from a more desperate hydration issue, but it is one of a spiritual nature. I call it spiritual dehydration. Sin dries the human soul and even bears physical consequences. Consider a simple two-word sentence recorded in John 19:38 uttered by Jesus as he hung on the cross.

I thirst.

The words succinctly echo the experience of King David as he tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba. You can read his testimony of spiritual dehydration in Psalm 32:3-4:

When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was drained
as in the summer’s heat.

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Signs of Spiritual Dehydration

1. Neglect of prayer.

We cannot harbor sin and pray as usual. We cannot pray as usual and harbor sin. Loss of faithfulness in regular, daily prayer is the first sign that sin is dehydrating us spiritually.

2. Spiritual restlessness.

Many people try to quench a physical thirst with something other than water. Similarly, many try to quench a spiritual thirst with something other than God. Substitutes only leave us more dehydrated than before.

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3. Holy Spirit conviction.

The body sends many signals that it needs water. Conversely, the Holy Spirit speaks to the inner recesses of our lives to warn us of our spiritual dehydration. Just as neglecting the body’s warnings is physically dangerous, so also not heeding the Spirit only worsens our spiritual condition.

4. Lack of spiritual motivation.

Physical dehydration may leave one listless and with little energy. So also, spiritual dehydration leads to spiritual apathy. As our spiritual vitality dries, we find little motivation for doing the very things that would lead to our healing.

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How to Recover from Spiritual Dehydration

As you read this, you may get the idea that I write from an informed position. You are correct. Sadly, I look back at too many spiritually dry times in my life. I neglected to confess known sinful actions, attitudes, and affections. Before I knew it, my spirit was dry.

The same once-shepherd then-king who found himself spiritually dry because of his sin offers some great rehydrating reminders. We find them in the most famous of his songs, Psalm 23.

1. Feed on the “green pastures” of God’s Word.

Dwight l. Moody rightly said, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

In another Psalm, David said, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word.” (Psalm 119:9)

Discipline yourself to read God’s Word, even when you don’t “feel it.”

2. Drink from the “still waters” of daily prayer with God.

Still waters are quiet waters. God does not intend to refresh us through moving waters. We need to learn to be still. Set aside time every day to shut down and be with God. We will not find refreshment trying to drink from the rapids. God restores the life of His child who slows down and spends time with Him.

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3. Resolve to live obediently to God’s direction.

Sin, as it’s core, is deviating from God’s established course. He will lead us in the right paths for the sake of His name. We, however, bear the responsibility of choosing to walk that path. We risk sin’s dehydration when we choose any path other than God’s.

How is your spiritual hydration? Are you exhibiting any of the signs of dehydration? What will be the ONE thing you will do TODAY to get back on track?

Truth has taken quite a hit lately.  The press has created two new terms to describe our untruthful habits: fake news and alternate facts. Everyday we encounter dishonest politicians, salespeople, strangers, friends, and sadly even church people. I’m sad to say that, yes, even preachers fall victim to the temptation to lie.

What Exactly IS Lying?

Lying takes several forms.  Most obvious is the blatant disregard for facts and the deliberate deception of others to serve one’s own purpose.  Some have honed the skill of sounding sincere while sharing what they know to be false.  Lying, however, can wear many disguises.

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“My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46

Have you ever wondered if sin effects God? At the darkest moment in earth’s history, because of our sin, God had to turn away from His Son. Earlier He had said about this same Son, “This is my beloved Son in Whom I a well pleased.”

What changed from the time of Jesus’ baptism until His crucifixion? Consider these Scriptures:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Then even more graphically:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6

Jesus’ shoulders – that is what changed. At His baptism, those shoulders, dripping with water from the Jordan River, bore holy glory of Almighty God. John remembered, “We beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of God full of grace and truth.”

However, on the cross, those same shoulders now carried the stench and stain of every sin. They bore the guilt of every human being who had lived, was living, or ever would live.

Sin Affects God

What effect did that sin have on God? He had to look away. The ugliness of sin was so repulsive that God could not even look at His own Son. That is the sickening effect of sin on God. God loved His Son. But because of His essential holiness, He could not even look at His Son at this most agonizing time.

So the next time you face temptation to excuse sin, think about the reaction of God to sin.

When you want to rationalize or even turn a blind eye to sin, picture the darkest day in human history.

The next time someone calls it a “lifestyle choice,” remember what that choice did to God that day at Calvary.

“Don’t ask – don’t tell” did not cover the atrocity of sin that day at Calvary.

The next time the entertainment industry uses sin to amuse us, remember Sin neither amuses nor entertains God. It repulses Him.

Let’s take sin more seriously, shall we? God does.

“…He said to His mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” – John 19:26-27

What a tender moment. Even as His life slowly was dripping from Him, Jesus had the wherewithal to make provisions for His mother’s care. As He looked around, the scene must have broken His heart even more so. How could His dearest friends abandon Jesus?

There stood the women who had faithfully supported His ministry the last three years. But where were those twelve men who had been his close associates for the last three years? The Bible only accounts for three of them. What happened to the other nine?

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Isn’t it amazing how rapidly things change? Of course things can go from bad to worse in a heartbeat. However, they can also move the other direction just as quickly.

How long did it take Jesus to turn dirty hand-washing water into premium wine? It was instantaneous.

How long did it take five loaves and two fishes to feed 5000 men and their families? The story seems to imply it was immediate.

With that in mind, consider this second statement of Jesus from Calvary’s cross found in Luke 23:43.

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus made this statement to one of His co-sufferers. We do not know much about the two men crucified with Jesus.  From what we can gather, however, they were quite a pair. They responded differently to their demise, however.

One of the men hardened and cursed his very life until the bitter end. Conversely, the other softened and actually opened his heart to Jesus. Can you imagine what hope the message brought to a man suffering a slow, agonizing death? “Assuredly . . . today . . . paradise.”  Paradise TODAY.

This word from the cross affirms Jesus’ mission and His ability to carry it out even at creation’s darkest hour. He came to seek and save the lost. His death on the cross was the substitute that would forever pay for the sins of all mankind. It was – especially on that day – salvation for a man hanging with Him.

How Do We Experience Paradise Today

To those of us who have experienced His grace this word encourages us in three tenses – past, present, and future.

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Christians love boycotts. Somehow we have come to equate moral superiority with boycotting.  Let an individual, institution, or industry oppose something important to us, and, immediately we call for boycotts.

Maybe it’s time to rethink our penchant for boycotts.  Could it be that we might win a battle with a boycott but lose the greater eternal, spiritual war? Maybe the time has come to boycott boycotts.

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Four Reasons We Should Rethink Boycotts

1.   Jesus’  example.

I cannot remember a time in the New Testament when Jesus boycotted.  In fact I remember reading about a few times He went places boycotted by the religious superstars of His day. 

He dined in the homes of at least two tax agents for the loathsome Roman Emperor. Matthew and vertically-challenged Zacchaeus both felt the scorn of the religious folks in Jesus’ day.

Jesus hung out with prostitutes and adulteresses.  He befriended the ceremonially unclean, socially outcast, and spiritually broken.  He didn’t condone their sinful behavior, but He didn’t boycott them either.

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2.    Culture’s need.

We usually feel the temptation to boycott those people and places who stand in contrast to what we believe.  How will they ever believe, though, if we withdraw from them.  They have a clearer path to redemption with our loving investment in their lives.

The humanist in Starbuck’s needs to hear about Jesus from us.  We can’t share Jesus if we boycott. 

The employees of Target need to see the love of Jesus.  They can’t see Him in us if we aren’t there. 

The cashier at the store that sells beer and lottery tickets will need answers when her life falls apart.  We can’t point her to the answer in Jesus if we refuse to go in the store.

Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.  If we refuse to lovingly interact those who need Him, how can we share Jesus with them?

3.   Our testimony.

Do you refuse to allow people who work at the places you boycott to come to your church?  Of course not.  You not only allow them to come, you invite and encourage them to come.  At least, I hope you do.

“I want you to come to my place, but I would not dare come in your place” is stark hypocrisy.  I am afraid our culture identifies us more by what oppose than by Who we represent.  They know us more as people against them than people who love them and want to introduce them to Jesus.

Why should they listen to our message about Jesus if we want nothing to do with them at their level?

4.   Unintended consequences.

Sometimes, actions we intend for noble purposes yield counter-productive results.  In the process of making our point, could we possibly cause greater harm in another area?

The economic impact of a boycott may cause innocent people to lose jobs that provide for their family.  That innocent person may even attend our church.  If they don’t, our boycott will ensure they never will.

The reputation of a boycotting church may hinder that church’s evangelistic efforts.  Sometimes we unnecessarily close doors through which we can share Jesus.

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A Greater Good

I understand that sometimes we have to “draw a line in the sand” against the moral decay of our time.  But that line must always be drawn over issues and not individuals.  We cannot sacrifice an opportunity to share the Gospel on the altar of boycotting.

Please understand, I am not saying we should compromise Biblical teaching or heartfelt convictions.  We cannot cave into to sin and be salt of the earth.  However, we can state our case for right without voluntarily cutting off ourselves  from those who need Jesus.

Paul made it his aim to be all things to all men so that by all means he might win some.  Instead of limiting our interaction with those outside of our faith, let us look for ways to make ourselves more accessible.

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God has a way of using man’s evil intentions for His good and glory.

Jesus spoke a word of forgiveness to those mean souls who meant to destroy Him and annihilate Him. They wanted Him gone, and thought that now they had finally accomplished that feat. Surely His death would be the end of Him and His “trouble-making” revolutionary ways and teachings.

But Jesus understood that what they were doing was all a part of God’s plan. He HAD to die. He HAD to be the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. While his persecutors and enemies thought they were doing themselves a favor.  However, they  were the unwitting agents of God accomplishing their own undoing. They meant it for evil, but in their act of crucifixion, God was working the ultimate act of good. He was providing for our salvation.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. – Luke 23:34

Why You Can Forgive Your Enemies

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Of all the words in the Bible, the first five may be the most important: “In the beginning God created.”  Since the beginning of time, hell has unleashed a savage attack on the concept of divine creation.  Today the attack rages at a fever pitch regarding the issues of gender identification and sexual orientation.

Those who are confused about their gender and sexual orientation often make the claim “God made me this way.”  They either blame God for their behavior or they try to justify it in His name.   Even many well meaning but unfortunately misguided Jesus followers have taken this bait and swallowed it hook, line, and sinker.

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Let’s take a moment and consider some very important truth about God’s creation and man’s rebellion.

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