Could You Be the April Fool?

fool

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.” – Psalm 14:1

Those of us who are unashamed followers of Jesus may be quick to exempt ourselves from that verse. Don’t be so quick to exonerate yourself.  At some level, we are all unbelievers.

Notice that David observed that a fool says in his heart that God does not exist. The fool is not merely the one who dare proclaims with his tongue an arrogant disbelief in the existence of God. It is equally foolish – no, even more foolish – to allow our hearts to misbelieve the promises of God about who He is and what He has done for us in Christ.

In the Biblical sense, the heart is “command central” of our lives. The heart represents our thoughts, affections, desires, emotions, and will. Our heart DETERMINES our behavior.

To “say in our heart” there is no God goes beyond the “macro-belief” in the existence of God. Rather, it  involves the “micro-belief” of our trust Him, His word, and His work for the daily situations of our lives. We say there is no God when we live even one moment in misbelief of God and His plan of redemption and restoration.

While we may never be so brash as to verbalize a disbelief in God’s existence, we all too often loudly proclaim our disbelief when we apply human answers to the problems of everyday life.

What A Fool Looks Like

Several actions constitute such a non-verbal proclamation:

  • We may blatantly disobey something God has clearly told us to do or not do.
  • We may selfishly desire something God doesn’t want us to have.
  • We may plan and plot without considering God’s wishes and His plans.
  • We may harbor ill feelings toward others and refuse to offer the same grace to them we have received from God.
  • We may seek our own fulfillment and self-gratification rather than finding our pleasure in Him.

Be sure today that your heart is not playing an April Fool’s Joke on you. Examine your heart – your actions, affections, attitudes and see if your heart is disbelieving God.

My Heart His Temple

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Recently, I read about the details with which the craftsmen Bezalel built the Ark of the Covenant and the accompanying items in and around the Tabernacle. You can read about it in Exodus 36-39. Some of the preparations stood out in my mind, as I realized the Tabernacle and Ark were not built haphazardly nor in a quick moment.

They used specific materials that were of the utmost quality. They didn’t skimp, take shortcuts, use leftovers, or “value shop.” From the readily available acacia wood to the exquisite metals like gold and brass, the craftsmen used the BEST materials available to them.

Also, I noticed the time and attention to details he gave to the project. This was not a shade tree project or something he did on weekends or in their spare time. This was his primary task and to it he devoted his BEST time and attention. He didn’t take short cuts or gloss over even the slightest detail thinking no one would notice.

Additionally, I thought about the breadth of the sacrifice for the project. People from throughout the camp sacrificed items they owned that were made of the metals needed for the project. They didn’t bring God left overs, they didn’t donate used up, broken, or outgrown things; they brought God the BEST.

Then, lastly, I realized they meticulously carried out the plans God gave them. They gave God what He wanted in the way that He wanted it. They didn’t build it their way but His.

As I thought about this, I thought about what I give God each day. Do I set apart the best part of my day to hear from Him and talk to Him? Do I give my BEST effort to speak for Him, serve Him, and live for Him? After all, the Tabernacle of the wilderness and the Temple of the Old Testament are pictures of the heart of the New Testament believer. Is my heart as meticulously designed as those structures and the articles within them?

Let me suggest some BEST practices for letting our heart reflect the same holiness as the Tabernacle and the Ark.

  • I should give God the time of each day when my head and heart are at their most attentive. I should read His word and meditate on its meaning and application for my life.
  • I should reassess and rearrange my priorities and schedules to reflect His place in my life. All other things on my schedule should revolve around my heart being His Temple and my life being His testimony.
  • I should not take shortcuts in my thoughts, attitudes, or actions, but rather keep my head clear and heart clean. I should immerse my life in the truth of His Word so that I am shaped by it and empowered by His Spirit.
  • I should do what GOD wants me to do for HIM, not what I want to do for HIM. I should build my days, one moment at a time, according to His building plan for that day.

These are but a beginning. In the comments below, feel free to share some ways you prepare your heart to be God’s Temple.

 

 

Missing Jesus

They had made the journey to Jerusalem for Passover and now they were on their way home. Nothing like a 3-hour walk home after a miserable experience. When the stranger joined them on their journey, he inquired as to the reason for their long faces and melancholy, so they recounted their story to him.

They participated in the wave of excitement surrounding Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. They cast their hope toward Him that He was the promised Messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman rule. They watched in horror as the tide of events turned and they saw Jesus crucified.

To add insult to injury, some of the women who went to finish the embalming process reported that Jesus body was missing. Obviously delusional, they reported sightings of angels who claimed Jesus was alive. The women even went in and saw the empty tomb. Apparently, the events of the week had taken an emotional toll on the women.

They had followed Jesus’ “career.” He was a prophet, mighty in word and deed. They had even begun to believe that maybe He was indeed the Promised One. However, the events of the last three days served to dash their dreams and destroy their hopes. So now, it was back home, back to the routine, back to hoping, watching, and waiting.

The stranger began to explain from Old Testament Scripture how the events they had just witness actually fulfilled prophecy. His teaching intrigued them. They invited him to stay with them for dinner before continuing on his way. At dinner, he took bread, gave thanks for it, then broke it and shared it with them. They saw something in the way he did this, something familiar. Then all of a sudden the light bulb came on and they realized He was indeed JESUS.

How could they have missed it? How could they have been so blind? By their admission, while He was walking with them on the road and talking about Scripture, their hearts felt that familiar fire.

We miss it, too. Every day Jesus walks with us through the events of our lives. Do we see Him? Hear Him? Acknowledge Him and talk to Him? Do our hearts burn within us as we experience His presence?

Lord Jesus, help me to have a heart sensitive to You. Let my eyes see, my ears hear, and let my heart know You are near. Let me abide in You as You abide in me.

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.

The above story is paraphrased from Luke 24:13-35

Are Your Issues with the Fruits or the Roots?

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I have often had people say to me,  “Preacher you need to preach a sermon on ___________ .” Most of the time people fill in that blank with something they think others are doing wrong, or something right that others aren’t doing and need to get busy doing.

Two kinds of issues are at play in every person’s life – fruit issues and root issues.  Fruit issues are the visible evidences of root issues. Most of the time, people suggest preachers preach about fruit issues. Sure, I could preach about tithing, alcohol, church attendance and involvement, etc.; but the best that kind of preaching accomplishes is temporary, guilt-induced behavior modification.  As soon as the next temptation comes, the guilt subsides and the fruit issues re-emerge.

If we properly address the root issues, however, then we will see different and more permanently positive fruit.  We don’t have tithing, attendance, involvement, alcohol, or other fruit problems.  We have LORDSHIP and OBEDIENCE root problems.  The key is to get right at the heart level and the behavior level will naturally improve. That was the whole point of Jesus’ comment in the Sermon on the Mount, “…unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) Their piety was mere outward show, but Jesus calls us to a genuine heart.

I encourage you to ask God to work on you from the inside out.  Ask yourself why you exhibit some of the fruit issues in your life.  Ask God to set your heart right and watch the fruit issues take care of themselves.  Watch how God, as you submit to His Word, brings about genuine and permanent change in your life.

Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life. – Proverbs 4:23

 

Three Questions That Set Priorities

How do you decide what you decide?  What goes through your mind as you determine what needs to be done or how you should feel about a certain matter?  Is there a framework that shapes who we are?  Is there a matrix through which design and order our days?  

Yes.  It’s called PRIORITIES.  We think, say, and do according to what we believe are the most important things.  Our priorities will determine, in large part, if we will live intentionally. The question then become how do we set our priorities?  How do we determine what is important?

For some, the goal is to make others happy, so they prioritize those things they believe will please the object of their desire.  For others, the goal is to make oneself happy, so they go about doing what they want to do.  Some set goals for achievement that they deem worthy and order their lives in such a way as to accomplish those goals.

For the believer in Jesus, the only way to be truly successful is to make it our aim to please God (2 Corinthians 5:9). In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus sets forth what successful Kingdom living looks like.  In Chapter 6, we find three important questions that help us determine Kingdom priorities that will please God.  Constantly asking ourselves and evaluating our lives by these three questions will help us be able to focus on what is truly important in our lives according to God’s perspective.

Question 1 – Where is my HEART? (6:19-21).  Does my heart gravitate toward earthly pursuits or do I first think of the eternal significance of my life and actions?  Paul encourages us to set our minds on things above (Col 3:1-4).  The most important things are those that have an effect for all of eternity.

Question 2 – Whom do I SERVE?  (6:24) We choose each day between two worldviews – secular or Kingdom.  We seek please one of two masters – flesh or God. The word Jesus uses is “devoted.”  Am I sold out totally to Jesus?  Do I seek to please only Him?  The most important things are those that most bring glory to Him.

Question 3 – What am I SEEKING? (6:31-34)  All to often we establish priorities based on self-preservation.  We want to get through this life as comfortably as possible and our priorities reflect that goal.  The Kingdom mindset is free to focus on the Kingdom of God FIRST and foremost because it recognizes that God takes care of those who focus on Him.

Think through these three questions.  Regularly evaluate your goals and priorities according to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and you will see a change in your priorities.