1. The thousands of lives that were snuffed out in a matter of hours, and the many more that were lost in the subsequent wars. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5b).

2. The tragic delusion of those who apparently believed that they were doing the right thing by engaging in acts of terrorism. “Take heed lest any man deceive you” (Mark 13:5)

3. A nation and society that indignantly rejected the idea that God—in the midst of evil and destruction—was speaking to us about our own individual, national and collective evil. “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments” (Daniel 9:5)

4. There is a day coming when everything—the magnificent structures, the environmental disasters, the amazing machinery and technological devices and the nuclear bombs—will all crumble and burn. “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10)

5. Today is still the day of grace. “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).]]> http://www.anabaptistfaith.com/living-faith/index.php?cmd=blog&post=72 Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:00:00 http://www.anabaptistfaith.com/living-faith/index.php?cmd=blog&post=72 In Christian circles, we talk much about faith. Still, the question about faith that I am asking here sounds strange in most of our faith discussions: “Does Jesus have faith in you?”

In John 2:23–24, we’re introduced to a group of people who had faith in Jesus: “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.”

In this case, the King James Version translation fails to express an interesting play on words that appears in John's original Greek. We could restate those verses as: “Many had faith in Jesus’ name because they saw His miracles; But Jesus did not have faith in them, because He knew all.”

In other words, here was a group of people who believed in Jesus, but He did not believe in them. While they passed the “faith test” of today’s “only believe” experts, they ultimately did not have the commitment to Him that was essential to enter into a covenant of commitment to Christ.

They believed Jesus in their minds, satisfied that He was the Messiah. But they did not believe Him with their hearts and lives—or welcome His full impact in their lives. And genuine, Christ-focused faith will always change lives, because it involves absolute belief and complete trust in Him. That kind of faith is something you don’t just dabble in; you stake your entire life on it.

So what kind of faith do you have? A doctrinal, checklist faith that says, “Yes, I believe that Jesus is the Messiah? . . . Yes, I believe that Jesus is able to do the miraculous. . . . Yes, I believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world.”

Or do you have the kind of personal, life-changing faith that says, “Where He may lead me, I will go, for I have learned to trust Him so . . . ?” Doubtless, it is this kind of faith that marks the believers whom Jesus has faith in.

So, then, “Does Jesus have faith in you?”

Like Isaiah, most true believers will come to times and places in their lives where they meet God in special ways. There are three characteristics of these men and women who have caught holy glimpses of deity.

1. Those who have seen God know God for what He His.

Invariably, when men and women glimpse the true holiness, majesty and otherness of God, they worship. There is no alternative response, and only spiritual charlatans promote the dumbed-down, discounted views of a comfortable, cultural deity Who fits into our expectations, and is useful to our personal or corporate agendas. God is God, thrice holy, and if the seraphims—who are constant witnesses of His glory and holiness—can only worship with awestruck astonishment day after day, then we, who are so accustomed to the grey darkness of this world, must surely avert our eyes and fall silent in awe of the Shekinah glory.

2. Those who have seen God see themselves for what they are.

Glimpses of glory leave us with few illusions—we, like Isaiah, are undone, unclean, foul. Aside from God’s ‘live coal from the altar,’ we have no refuge from our unholiness and no escape from our anti-God spirits and dirty lives. Before God’s glory, our spiritual bankruptcy is exposed.

Still, even as believers, we must again and again, and in every situation of life, choose between embracing illusions of our own glory or insisting on God’s true glory. The saint who has truly seen God will be one who, like Jesus, “makes himself of no reputation,” so that God may be all in all, and be magnified.

3. Those who have seen God abandon themselves for His use.

When Isaiah saw God, he didn’t present his resumé. Instead, he unconditionally surrendered to the plan and purpose of God. In essence, his response suggests, “Here I am, however unclean—apart from your live coals. Send me—at whatever cost or through whatever pain—that you may be glorified.” This is the mark of the servant of God who has seen God. And rest assured, the result of any other spirit of service will be mere wood, hay or stubble in the kingdom of God.

In conclusion, if you've glimpsed God, you will worship, you will confess, and you will surrender. Anything less is an affront to His glory, a denial of His majesty, and a rejection of His person—and anything less, for you, will prove soul destroying.

People were desperate for food. So desperate, in fact, that one mother gave her own son for food! Others were scrounging around for tiny bits of stuff that might be edible or might provide fuel—a donkey's head and doves' dung. No wonder the servant of the king doubted Elisha's promise of food tomorrow. Samaria, a besieged city slowly starving to death, was bereft of hope and faith. Was there hope for her?

Only in God and by God's grace hope became sight. Just as God promised, by noon the following day the city had food and to spare. However, because of his doubt, the faithless servant died in the stampede, never tasting of the bounties God had promised. (See 2 Kings 7 for the complete story.)

Is your past littered with hunger and hopelessness? Or failure and regret? Or loneliness and fear? Do you doubt your future? Do your doubts outweigh your faith? Listen to these words: "Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Let me remind you that God is able to give you what you need. Nothing is impossible with God. He will not simply yield to our selfish wants, but notice the promise in Philippians 4:19: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Do you need love? God is love (1 John 4:16).

Do you need acceptance? Christ Christ hath made us accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6).

Do you need grace? Jesus promised Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

List your need and let God fill it. The promises abound throughout the Bible. God delights in showing His sufficiency at times of our greatest neediness. Like the psalmist said, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies" (Psalm 23:5).

Just as God miraculously provided abundant food for Samaria in Elisha's time, so he can work miracles today. However, those who doubt God's ability will not enjoy His blessing. He will one day literally roll back the windows of heaven and call his bride into glory. "And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). "Oh, that will be glory for me."

I think of another ‘regime change’—one that happened many years ago during the rule of the Roman emperor Tiberius, and, in Judea, under the watch of Herod the tetrarch. The new king was Jesus . . .

But at the moment, I’m eying another tyrant that I suspect is ripe for regime change—you. (I beg your pardon.)

We may as well face it, most of us have been our own worst tyrants. We’ve ruled our little, narcissist kingdoms with absolute confidence in our right to rule (“It’s my life, thank you”), and we act as if our own haphazard impulses of desire are our governing mandate (“If I want it, I deserve it”).

In other words, we've become our own slaves, and self-servitude quickly becomes meaningless, wasted and futile. Our vicious cycles of desire and despair have ultimately made our lives, and the lives of those around us, miserable.

Might there be a greater flag to follow?

I contend that there is. And that's why I ventured to suggest that you need regime change, if you haven't already had it. The new King I would recommend is the very One that made Tiberius and Herod uneasy many years ago—Jesus.

This new King and His kingdom is the message of the Christian gospel. In fact, the word gospel was evidently borrowed from the old Roman announcement of a new emperor. In keeping with that inference, the message of the gospel is much more than a call to give mental assent to a magic formula about Jesus, or an invitation to share in some kind of cheerful, ethical “pie in the sky.”

The message of the gospel is that there is a new King—a crucified King; a servant King; a King who overturns every precedent of earthly law and order, authority and submission, redefines greatness as smallness, and turns our conventions on their head. He is a King who seeks out the poor, the brokenhearted, the lame, the blind, and determines to give them His wealth, His wholeness, His healing and His sight.

He is the true King of the ages. There is nothing Machiavellian in Him, no trace of scheming politics, and no shred of falseness. His kingdom is restorative; His law is liberating, and His judgment is joyous. In His kingdom, love dominates, and beauty blossoms. Meaning matters and wisdom triumphs.

Wherever hearts surrender themselves to His Kingship, and acknowledge that His wisdom and His truth make Him worthy to reign, there His kingdom exists.

Of course, in His kingdom, there is no place for petty attempts at greatness and self-determination. If you are to enter the kingdom of Christ, you must put aside all your “king’s purple” rags, your cardboard crowns, and your broomstick scepters and acknowledge Jesus as the exclusive King of your life.

Like Pilate and Herod, the arrival of a new King will make you uneasy too, if you are used to being “in control.” Meeting Him at the gate of your heart with the white flag of surrender is one of the most excruciating decisions you could make. You will never be in charge of your little realm again, because “ye are not your own.”

But if you understand in your heart that your petty kingdom is in absolute disrepair, and that you need someone outside of yourself to liberate yourself from your own tyranny, and to undo the damage you have done, then you are not far from His kingdom.

Why would you wait to abdicate?

There was Christ, at the center, just days from imminent death.

Then there was the woman with the alabaster box, pouring out all the extravagance of her love and adoration on Jesus in a final act of irrational devotion.

And there was Judas, the practical pragmatist with an eye for both convenience and coinage. So practical, in fact, that he went out and sought to conveniently betray Jesus, according to Mark.

In many ways, Judas is today's man—the man with "an eye for a dollar" and a taste for a bargain, shrewd enough to be a business success and down-to-earth enough to be preoccupied with 'real-life issues,' like the money bag.

Even in the face of the Light of the world, only gold glittered for Judas. And, materialist that he was, even the Son of God could be sold for a mere thirty pieces of silver.

Today, countless people are still selling Christ cheap for petty personal profits. Our society measures men and women more by the money they accumulate at the sale of Christ, than by the perfume vases they pour out on Him.

As for the sinful woman, we could assume the worst—that she was a prostitute closing her chapter of sin by bringing her last vial of perfume to pour out on Jesus. Or we could imagine her to simply be a rare woman of means, able to give a year's worth of treasure to Jesus.

We do not know, and so we treasure her heart more than her story. As she broke the alabaster box, so she poured out her own broken and ruined heart to the Redeemer. She had discovered the secret of meaning and life, and it was neither perfume or pieces of silver. Only through self-abandoning Christ-worship can life discover value!

While the world applauds the Judas's you know, remember you are meant for another objective—worship and devotion. Spend and be spent on bringing your perfumes to Jesus—your investments, your treasures and your loves—and make Him, not yourself, the center of your extravagance.

After all, you cannot love Him too much; you cannot worship Him too devotedly; you cannot abandon yourself to Him too recklessly! And when you are His, Judas' thirty pieces of silver will be a forgotten pittance beside the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The pundits said that “God is dead; meaning must go,” and assured us that we are still permitted to discover—like the demi-Gods they told us we were—our own mini-brands of purpose and value.

Thus, the charitable men and women among us find meaning in doing good—though no one is certain what good means. The brilliant find meaning in learning—though there are no absolutes and facts are meaningless. The powerful find meaning and purpose in tyranny—that is, by imposing meaninglessness on their vassal slaves. The sexual deviant finds his meaning in a moment of self-gratification, and even the serial murderer brands his unique meaning with the blood of his victims.

If it’s true that you killed God, then you’ve received the world you custom ordered. If you deny absolutes, then you must plead guilty as the advocate of anything. If you despise morality, then it was you that helped send meaning to the morgue.

And if it’s true that you killed God, then you have nothing left to hold onto except meaninglessness. And meaninglessness makes, at best, a poor guiding life principle. And, incidentally, a poor pillow at night.

Here in the west, we are glutted with consumer goods and gilded luxuries. We have everything we want and a thousand things we don’t want. We’ve prolonged our lives, but at the very same time we were robbing them of meaning.

It’s a famine of meaning we suffer from, and a hunger for purpose in a purposeless world. And the irony is, it’s the things we tried to lock into the morgue that we’re desperate for.

Is meaning truly dead? I venture not.

In fact, I know a Man of meaning who states “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Imagine a life that infused with direction, truth and vitality! When I met Him, I knew that I had had my rendezvous with meaning.

Is the insidious despair of meaninglessness pressing into your existence? Are you weary of a purposeless life? Has freedom from God and meaning failed you too?

If so, I recommend the Man of meaning to you too. His name is Jesus.

Not everyone who puts up a tree, hangs out lights, buys gifts, and wears a floppy red hat is doing it just for the fun. There are many people, who, through all the glitz and glamour of Christmas, sense dimly that Christ’s birth really did have great significance for mankind. Something about the Christmas story stirs their heartstrings. So the loudspeakers at the supermarket play “Joy to the World,” and people enjoy it. At a time of year when tempers are short and credit card bills are long, it’s nice to hear about joy.

Perhaps people see Christmas as a respite from the rat race of selfishness they have run all year. With all the gift-buying, it should be a season when people think of giving to others, not just getting. It is more blessed to give than to receive, even for worldly people. But all too soon, the normal, me-first way of life takes over again.

If only lasting happiness could be found, gift-wrapped, under an evergreen tree!

Some people will remember their Bibles on Christmas Day. They will turn to Luke 2 and read how one night over 2000 years ago angels appeared in the sky, bringing glad tidings to the earth. A baby was born in a stable. His name was Emmanuel, God with us. They will rejoice over the old story full of such good news. And they will close the book of Luke, wish each other “Merry Christmas!”&” and go on with life.

But, who will take up the challenge to get folks to read the rest of the book? Who will show them that what they celebrate with so much enthusiasm is just the introduction to the story? As the story unfolds, the baby in the manger doesn’t stay there. He becomes a Man with a mission. Despite many twists and turns of the plot, He fulfills that mission perfectly. What was it? To bring true happiness to earth, just like the angels said.

No, lasting happiness cannot be found at the foot of an evergreen tree, wrapped in shiny paper and a red bow. But it can be found at the foot of a much uglier tree whose sides are dyed with red. If anyone kneels at the foot of this tree and cries for help to the Man who died on it, he will receive the best gift ever given by God to man, the gift of eternal life. He will receive the power to call every day of the year a holy day, whether it is a holiday or not. And he will be invited to attend a heavenly celebration that will never end!

So if you are wise enough to avoid the holiday frenzy in the coming days, make sure that you do not despise the people who are caught in it. Perhaps their hearts are more open to the Gospel than at other times of the year. By your deeds, by your words, by the expression on your face, will you remind them that peace on earth, goodwill to men is more than just a phrase? Will you help them look through the spirit of Christmas and see the face of Christ? Although the baby of Bethlehem has disappeared, Christ still gives life. He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Christ, you see, is in the business of making men.

Or, as Ephesians 2:10 succinctly states, "We are his [God's] workmanship."

To allow Christ to make us into what He wants us to be can involve some of the hardest experiences in Christian living. There is something about being shaped, molded and created that can be brutally difficult for the flesh. But for a believer who is serious about being Christian and becoming Christ-like, there is no alternative to allowing Christ to make and shape his life.

In our world, there are uncounted self-help books and self-help courses, all developed to help you become the person you want to be. We are deluged by "make-yourself-into-something" thinking from self-development gurus that peddle their wares on every corner.

But it is not Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking or Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People that believers need. Instead, it needs more of Christ. It needs more worn knees and surrendered hearts—hearts that are sold out to Jesus, hearts that are open to being conformed into His image, hearts that want nothing more than for Him to shape their character and disposition.

One man said, "I am a self-made man, but if I had it to do over again, I'd let someone else in." For us as Christians, it would be a shame to come to the close of life only to make a similar discovery—a discovery that we have mistakenly devoted our efforts into making ourselves into "successful" Christians. Christ doesn't reward this kind of self-development with blessing. Instead, He looks only for broken, contrite hearts whose deepest longing is for Him to work within. And when He finds those hearts, Christ can make masterpieces.

It is everywhere, this push for environmental awareness and concern. We are told we are destroying the planet and that we must reduce carbon emissions. We are scared by predictions of vanishing coastlines, frequent hurricanes, global warming or an upcoming ice age—take your pick. The polar ice caps are melting one day and the weather turns unseasonably cold the next.

It is very confusing. Some are saying the whole thing is just a hoax, the product of a political agenda that has manipulated scientific data as evidence in a drive to control your life.

But here's the thing. In all the words, studies, predictions, debate and chatter about the physical universe, air, water, and the Chesapeake Bay, no one is saying anything about cleaning up the spiritual universe.

Where is the push to eliminate profane emissions or to curb pornographic waste? How about cleaning up not just the air but also the air waves? And can we think just once about reducing the violence footprint when we're warned about our carbon footprint? How about cleaning up the sewage on the satellite dishes instead of only the sewage that is killing the streams and rivers? Garbage in, garbage out. You reap what you sow.

Don't get me wrong. I'm neither a ditto head nor an environmental wacko. I tend to agree that we Americans live far too wastefully with concern only for ourselves and none for the environment nor for future generations. I recycle, plant trees, cut carbon emissions, and save energy. I'd love to drive an electric car and use solar panels and a wind turbine. But it's time to start being concerned about our spiritual environment, the universe of ethics, and a diet that is high in truth and low in entertainment.

I'm proposing that we make 2010 as the year to clean up our lives. Turn off the TV. Cancel cable, and stop paying for the garbage that we pour into our i-pods and stereos, and the corrosive chemicals we insert into our DVD's. And let's block all that internet porn junk.

And then let's go green with our diet. Digest the entire Bible in a year by eating a daily portion from a One Year Bible. Sermons could be drawn from those readings throughout the week. Classes may even elect to discuss the readings each week.

It's time for a change. A cleaner, healthier year is just ahead!

—Used by permission from the Brotherhood Beacon, Jan. 2010

There was an American Airlines flight that was to leave for Port au Prince, Haiti, around the time our flight was due to leave. The waiting passengers were clustered around the TV monitors in the airport wondering what had happened to their homes and families and friends.

After our flight left for Dallas, a stewardess told us that a Haitian lady who was scheduled to be on our flight had stayed at the Miami airport watching the news reports with no idea of what to do or of what happened to her family.

In the few months since that happening, we keep hearing of more earthquakes. A major one in Chile. Others that vibrate the surrounding areas where they hit.

What comes to mind?

The Bible tells us in Luke 21:11, "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places." Is God, in some way, using these events to speak to us?

Just as life changed for thousands in Haiti, life could change for us in moments.

Are you ready for that quake? For God's call through death? For the return of our Lord? God keeps speaking to us. He spoke loudly to us through the deaths of the Esh family. One moment they were a happy van load of family, taking a trip; and the next instant, most of them were in eternity.

The Bible tells us to occupy till He comes. This simply means doing what God wants us to do. What does that mean for you and me? It means to obey what the Bible tells us. We allow God's Word to change us, and take it for the foundation on which to build our lives.

For me, this brings practical realizations. For instance, even though I may not drink or be tempted to be an alcoholic, God categorizes gluttony with drunkenness. My overeating becomes sin, not just a weakness. Or it brings the realization that the cares of this life can overtake me even as I am involved in what may be called "the Lord's work."

Where we are in life has come about by a series of choices. If God's peace is absent from our lives, the way to change that is to start making choices that God can bless.

May we be ready for that call or quake, and His peace will fill our hearts no matter what the circumstances about us. God's joy and the blessing of His peace can be a reality even as the world as we know it tumbles in ruins.

The Russian author, Dostoevsky, wrote the famous story of the Grand Inquisitor, who represents the church. In the story this inquisitor tells Jesus, in essence, “We’ve gotten along very well without You in Your absence. The one thing we can't afford to do is let You come back and ruin all our successes.”

This attitude toward Christ has entered into many churches that give lip service to the Lordship of Christ. These churches, like the vineyard keepers, have excluded Christ so that they can manage the vineyard inheritance themselves. Preoccupied with growth strategies and church politics, tolerant of sin and completely compromising in areas of obedience, their church doors are closed to Christ because He has become an interference to their “ten-point plan for church growth.”

But instead of focusing only on our neighbor's churches, we need to be honest with our own hearts to ensure that Christ is absolutely welcome in His vineyard. What are the marks of individuals and churches who have allowed Christ control of His vineyard?

1. Surrender to Jesus’ Lordship. As believers, we accept Christ as the absolute, unquestioned Lord of their lives. Broken, we desire His direction and lovingly do what He has commanded. His vineyard is no place for those who profess to be His stewards but resist His Lordship; Christ must reign.

2. Sensitivity to the Spirit of Christ. In an age of superficial spirituality, much of it attributed to the Spirit, it is imperative that true believers are open to the Spirit’s work of conviction. We cannot learn how to live—how to deal with anger, how to think about ourselves, how to handle our possessions—from the society and churches around us. Only Christ can give us the direction we need for real-life issues. And only sensitivity to Christ’s voice will ensure His Lordship over the vineyard.

3. Actively Seeking the Will of Jesus. When Christ controls His vineyard, we ask Him for direction on how to best keep His vineyard. In the church this means that the real issue in decision making is the will of the Head of the Church. The questions of what other churches are doing or “how we've always done it” pale beside this ultimate question—is it the will of Jesus? The body of believers who can truly bow before the Word and His will, completely open to His direction, is a brotherhood where Christ still keeps His vineyard.

Have we allowed Christ into our hearts to rule in His vineyard? Or do we, like the vineyard workers—or the Grand Inquisitor—feel more comfortable with Christ at a distance?

If so, “What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others.”

Olympic Torch

One runner passes the flaming torch to another and the run continues. Crowds watch and cheer. Soon all cheers die into silence as the runners reached their destination. All that this fanfare celebrates is the extraordinary human spirit, talent and ingenuity demonstrated at the Olympics.

Faithful believers who have run the race of life also deserve our applause as they pass the torch on to us. Thank you to each faithful parent or grandparent for teaching us the Bible way. Hold high the torch and when you must go, and pass it on to those by your side.

"Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain" (Philippians 2:16)

Gold Medals

To win a gold metal is the ultimate goal of the Olympians. Claiming the medal for their country radiates an aura of national and personal pride. With feelings gone wild, winners take this ultimate prize, but only a select few will win this prize.

Apostle Paul contrasts this to the Christian race. He says, "So run, that ye may obtain," reminding Christians that all who run can win the prize. Olympians look for earthly recognition and gold medals, "but we an incorruptible"crown and the Father’s commendation.

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)

Tragic Death

At speeds exceeding normal highway travel, the luger traveling downhill on a tiny sled hurtled to his death beside the track. Was the trail too steep? Was its design faulty? Questions remain unanswered in many minds.

In the spiritual race, some lose their way before they reach the goal. Bystanders ask, was the way too difficult for them? Is the designer at fault? But believers know the way has been designed by the Father and tested by Christ. The trail is passable, and with Holy Spirit guidance the race can be won.

May we be able to say, as Paul testified, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day"(1Timothy 4:7–8).

As we watched our children enjoy playing, I thought of the words of Jesus when He said, "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3)

You see, the kingdom, or the family of God—like the airport play area—is restricted to those who are small enough to enter.

When Jesus builds His kingdom disciple by disciple, He searches out small people to "take up the cross and follow Him." Jesus does not bribe great thinkers, financial tycoons or religious giants to be star converts in His kingdom.

His true church, after all, is not a stage on which to exhibit talent or celebrate success. Neither is it an arena in which to display Christian superstars, or a platform on which to parade heroes.

In fact, I know of no political, religious, or social theory that brings such radical answers to social inequality as the gospel of Jesus Christ. And in Christian churches where Jesus’ teaching is followed, Christians are forced to step out of a world focused on an individual’s wealth, abilities, beauty or education into a kingdom driven by ethics of love and humility—from a world of "make yourself into something" into a world where each is called to "esteem others better than themselves."

Jesus asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He answered His own question with the words in Matthew 18:3, then gave the definition of kingdom greatness: "Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Imagine! A place where a person’s worth comes—not from degrees, achievements or beauty—but from humility. A kingdom where serving others is success and abandoning ourselves is achievement.

Does Jesus description of greatness surprise you?

Have you spent a lifetime pursuing society’s accepted ingredients of success?

Pause for a brutally honest look within. Has self-achievement brought you heart satisfaction? Has self-focus brought you purpose and fulfillment? Or have your "successes" been well-groomed fronts for spiritual meaninglessness?

Perhaps Jesus words merit consideration…

Regardless, Jesus opens the gates of His kingdom to small people. And the miracle is that, through what Jesus called the new birth, He can make great men and women small, equal, humble disciples in the fraternity of His followers.

Jesus kingdom welcomes all provided they are small enough. If you are small enough, or willing to be small enough, please come in.

Jesus answered, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

That word strive, incidentally, is basically our word agonize. In other words, Jesus was saying, “Agonize to enter.”

This concept of agonizing to enter into the kingdom of God is almost lost from Christian thinking in the free world, where other scripturally-based buzzwords like believing and assurance have completely taken center stage. Still, believers who are dead serious about entering into the eternal kingdom will strive, or agonize, to do just that.

This agonizing to enter is not an attempt to force God into allowing us to enter by our own strength; instead, it is the bitter struggle against all that is opposed to our entrance into the kingdom. Three simple—and admittedly interrelated—ways that all believers must agonize to enter in follow.

1. The agony of surrender. Entering in requires the soul struggle of giving up ourselves and surrendering, without reservation or negotiation, to the absolute Lordship of Jesus. Without this surrender, the cry of “Lord, Lord,” (Luke 13:25) is merely an empty profession.

2. The agony of the cross. Entering in requires crucifixion, and only those who have been crucified with Christ and will “take up His cross daily and follow” Him can enter into eternal life.

3. The agony of endurance. Entering in requires faithfulness to the finish. As Jesus said, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22). Believers endure, because of their love for Christ and commitment to Him, against all odds, persecution or temptation.

This striving, or agonizing, is the way of Jesus. Think of the agony He endured to be faithful to the will of the Father—the agony of surrender in the garden, the agony of being crucified on the cross and the agony of enduring the cross.

If you have set your heart to follow Jesus, expect no less for yourself. Seek no exemptions. Experiment with no alternatives. Agonize without compromise.

Like Jesus, endure the cross for the joy that is set before you—the ultimate entrance into the eternal joy of our Lord.

They were hungry and the winter was long. The field of corn, sullen in the cold winter winds and wet snow, waited for harvest. The hungry crows looking for nourishment descended, eager to enjoy this winter storehouse.

While these hungry crows found sustenance during winter’s cold, many souls today are hungry but seem oblivious to the source of real fulfillment. They turn away from the only true satisfaction to hunger after the world. This empty hunger is portrayed by the prodigal son who was ruined by his hunger—his appetite—for the world.

The prodigal son began to be in want long before he noticed it. The day he rebelled against his father’s authority was the day he began to lack. The soul who is departing from the Father wants for lack of submission, because only those who submit to Him feel His love and can know Him. The unsurrendered soul is a lacking soul, bereft of knowing God as his Father.

As he walked out the door, out the lane and away from home, we see his eager hunger for the world that lay unexplored ahead of him. He was so relentlessly eager, in fact, that he went into a far country to find what his soul was longing for. Not only far from truth and right, he was also estranged from the love of home. The empty hunger for the world leads people to places they never intended to go.

Hungry for fulfillment, he “wasted his substance with riotous living.” The hunger of the world only brings waste and ruin, heartache and bitter reaping. All the thrills of the far country can never satisfy an empty soul. Therefore, more and more is required to bury the constant gnawing pangs of emptiness until all is spent.

“No man gave unto him.” This summarizes the result of the hunger of the world. At the end of the road he stood forsaken, cold and hungry. Many a person follows his hunger to this point and gives up hope; somehow believing that this is what life is all about. What a lie that is! The prodigal’s turnaround came when he came to himself and said, “I perish with hunger.”

God is waiting to fill the hungry souls when they turn to Him. The choice is ours. Hunger for the world to destitution, or hunger after righteousness and be filled.

I also heard those words as a young man. In fact, I heard them many times before I made the personal decision to be “born again.” Additional years passed before another statement of Jesus also gripped my heart: “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

It's as if Jesus is offering the recipe for spiritual life in these words, and the first ingredient is death. Unless death takes place, life cannot be. Unless the old dies, the new cannot be born.

Thousands have responded to Christ's first command to be born again. They have prayed the sinner's prayer and claimed the new birth, but have then attempted to incorporate the new life into old ways of living. Little changed, except that they “took Jesus with them” to the office—or to the dance floor. They claimed faith; they called on Jesus to also save their friends—or asked Him to help them make a dollar. For them, Jesus was the perfect, additional dimension to a well-ordered life.

I have no heart to judge them, but I am convinced Jesus meant something more than life renovation when he talked about the new birth. When he told Nicodemus to be born again, he was ordering a man who “had it made,” and who had already shaped his life into a success, to begin his life again at the bottom, to discard his achievements and credentials and become—not a better rabbi—but a spiritual infant. He was telling the old Nicodemus to die so that a new Nicodemus could be born with the spiritual genetics of the heavenly Father.

That death is the deliberate decision that “I no longer matter; Christ is all.” It's allowing Jesus to put the ax to all that was the focus of the old life—the unholy longings, the self-centered ambitions and the bitterness. It's the surrender of everything that comes from self and Satan, and the willingness to leave Jesus take over the inner sanctum of our hearts.

Why is it that we're so quick to think we can be “born again” without also “falling into the ground and dying,” when, according to the words of Jesus, you cannot have life without death?

I could ask you if you've been born again. But, when it really comes down to it, I'm almost as interested in knowing whether or not you've “died.”

It's very true that there is life—abundant life, in fact—for Christians. But only those who have gone through this gate of death will enter the land of spiritual life.

Do you want to be alive in Christ? To live abundantly in Him?

You can, but only dead men and women need apply.

Christ currently has stationed me in the United States, one of the many kingdoms of this world. I have a commission to fulfill while stationed here — represent accurately, to citizens of the United States, the values, priorities and policies of Christ's Kingdom.

If you are a Christian, you also are appointed by Christ to be an ambassador for His Kingdom. You are appointed to be His ambassador in the worldly kingdom in which He has stationed you. You have a commission to fulfill while stationed there — represent accurately, to citizens of the country where you are stationed, the values, priorities and policies of Christ's Kingdom.

Every person that you and I meet gives their ultimate loyalties to a kingdom: either they give their ultimate loyalties to one of the kingdoms of this world (e.g. "I will kill another person only if the president of the kingdom in which I reside commands me to do so in national defense."), or else they are ultimately loyal to Christ's Kingdom (e.g. "My 'President' teaches me to always love instead of kill. I will never disobey Christ in order to obey any other president."). As ambassadors for Christ, we must always give our ultimate loyalties to Christ and His Kingdom, and call others to the same.

Christ lived and taught sacrificial love, even for His worst enemies; He lived and taught radical separation from the system and government of all earthly kingdoms; He lived and taught the beautiful and completely radical concepts contained in the Sermon on the Mount (go read Matthew 5, 6 and 7 again!). It is absolutely imperative that we also live and teach these things if we would retain our ambassadorship and, ultimately, our citizenship.

We must deny the urge to represent the Kingdom of Christ as an easy, popular, fun and capitalistic kingdom with plenty of money to go around for all. We must never be "ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16). We must be committed to representing the Kingdom of Christ at all costs, and be prepared to "labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God" (1 Timothy 4:10).

We are ambassadors for Christ and for His Kingdom. Let us never be deterred from that high calling by our innate tendency to represent instead (1) our personal opinions, wherein they conflict with Kingdom interests, (2) the values of the earthly kingdom in which we are stationed, wherein they conflict with Kingdom interests, or (3) our denominational idiosyncrasies wherein they conflict with Kingdom interests.

God speaks while riches vanish, and His advice is unchanging; yet it is stunningly relevant to anyone who is concerned with the economy or who has to deal with money. Listen to His words.

1. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15).

2. "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

3. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal" (Matthew 6:19-21).

4. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:31-34).

There is no better preparation for bad economic times — bad to whatever degree — than to have lived in prosperity with hearts freed from the bondage of wealth. Those who have lived according to our western creed of greed will be devastated by bad economies. On the other hand, those who have lived after God and the kingdom will know the real value of their non-financial assets. They know the liberation Christian contentment brings. They understand a good investment when they see it — investments into eternal riches. And they commit the cares of this life to the Father who already knows their needs and has committed to meet them.

Does this mean bad economies never hurt believers? No, but believers never "lose everything" in bad economies. Regardless what happens around us, God is our wealth, our sustenance and our hope. If bad economies are what it takes to teach us the value of our truest assets, than, at worst, we will have learned a good lesson from a very difficult teacher. Or if poverty is our gateway to discovering real riches in God's eternal kingdom, then even our losses are the doorway to everlasting wealth.

Something about the very nature of modern Christianity has pushed Christ to a place on the sidelines. In fact, in many churches, Christ is given kind words and that's about it.

You could try to imagine what would happen if professing Christians would en masse invite Christ back into their churches. You could try to picture hundreds of Christian churches rediscovering Christ's teachings and reinventing their churches to match the New Testament pattern.

Needless to say, that would be an exciting development.

But ultimately, if Christ is to be invited back into Christianity at all, He must be welcomed back on a very personal level. In other words, regardless of what the churches around you do, you — personally — must open your own life completely to Him and allow Him to set the terms of everyday living.

Perhaps you have confessed your sins to Jesus; you must also commit your life to Him for His direction. Don't stop with receiving Him — obey Him. Don't merely reverence Him — follow Him. Without this, your Christianity will always be little more than a form or a theology. (Not to mention that your church will continue to be a place where Jesus is figure head, not Lord.)

The real crisis in western Christianity is that so many claim Christ, but so few know and obey Him. In this environment, do you have the moral courage to become a sold-out disciple of Jesus? Will you enter into a covenant commitment with Jesus? Are you ready to commit to doing His will regardless of the cost? Will you embrace His kingdom at the expense of the kingdom of this world with its wealth, prestige and fashion? Will you covenant with other believers who are dead serious about following Him?

In short, will you abandon yourself to Him?

Your church may never invite Christ back into Christianity, but you can. You could endlessly criticize professing churches — and you could find lots to criticize. You could wait a lifetime for the church to invite Christ back into Christianity.

But ultimately, the issue comes back to you. What will you do with Jesus? Will you simply profess Christ? Or will you follow Him?

Jesus said, "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.&hellip" But "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

It's your decision.

Who gets your vote in this election is really none of my business. But at the same time, I'd invite you to pause a moment in your rush to elect a new president — pause just long enough to ask who Jesus would vote for.

If Jesus would go with you to the polling station, who would get His vote? Would He vote Republican or Democrat… or Libertarian, perhaps? Would He vote for pro-abortionists or war hawks? Would experience convince Him, or charisma charm Him?

Or would Jesus stay home on election day?

When Jesus lived in Israel two thousand years ago, He lived in one of the most divisive political scenes imaginable. Not only was Israel under foreign Roman domination, the Jewish people themselves were completely divided how to respond to external political pressure and religious differences within.

Yet Jesus had virtually nothing to say to the politics of the day. While competing parties fought to push Him to take a clear position on Israel's political (and religious) divisions, Jesus disappointed them. He made no endorsements and released no political statements.

Was Jesus simply undecided? Or was there something more fundamental at stake? Not only did Jesus resist taking political positions, he resisted political office as well. In one wildly popular moment, the crowds were on the verge of forcing the crown on Jesus' head. (That's "popular election" if there ever is one!) What did Jesus do? He fled the scene, instead saving His brow for the moment when the crown of thorns would be placed on Him at His crucifixion.

Jesus was a King in His own right, but an otherworldly one. He told Pilate that "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." Judging by His words, action and spirit when He lived among us, it only seems fair that he would teach us the same about voting.

But don't take my word for it. Think about Christ's life, His indifference to the politics and intrigues of His day, and the nature of His teaching.

Pray that Jesus would show you who He would vote for, or whether He would vote at all. Search the New Testament for what He taught about "civic responsibility" or "moral, political responsibility" and think about what a Christian's true responsibility is on voting day.

In light of that, if Jesus whispers to your heart to stay at home this election, then I beg you to listen to Him.

He was right. Where the light and glory of God should have been, there was only the darkness of neglect and emptiness — God-abandoned darkness.

Many who claim Christ are like the temple Ptolemy entered — the outside is in impressive order but the inside holds nothing but darkness — and a few cobwebs, perhaps.

Jesus said, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23)

There is only one solution to this heart darkness — Christ, the Sun of righteousness, dwelling within.

You can pursue all that the world views as enlightening today, and still have a dark heart. Even worse, you can study the Scriptures with a dark heart. You can go to church with a dark heart. You can do mission work with a dark heart.

On the other hand, when you study the Scriptures because you see the Light of Christ in them; when you worship with other believers because Christ enlightens that circle; or when you evangelize simply to share the Light of Christ that is already in your heart, then you have indeed been illumined by Him who is the "True Light."

Our day is a dark day, spiritually. Christ — and the church — desperately need men, women and young people whose greatest desire is to live their lives in the Light. There is no place to be satisfied with discussing the Light, or lauding the Light, or occasionally sending the Light. Instead, we must be desperate to be fully in and of the Light.

In the darkness that surrounds us, there is only one answer to world-embracing apostasy in our churches — it is the revealing, illumining, enlightening Light! There is also only one answer to formal, apathetic coldness in our churches — it is the burning, consuming, warming Light!

Take the True Light out of any heart or any congregation and you have darkness, but welcome Him in and there is light. . . . Take Christ out of a religious lifestyle and you have nothing but good ethics. Welcome Him in and you have holiness. . . . Take Christ out of prayer and you have ritual. Welcome Him in and you have communion. . . . Take Christ out of obedience and you have law. Welcome Him in and you have liberty. . . . Take Christ out of the church and you have a sect. Welcome Him in and you have the body of Christ.

The True Light is among us, and enlightens every heart that is opened to Him. There is no excuse for darkness when we can be "full of light." "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8) 

Take a look back over your life. The rough road behind you, fraught with peril, was not what you would class easy or smooth. But would you not agree that at every turn in the road, God provided? Every incline was coupled with additional grace, every trial was endowed with God's abiding presence, every battle with armor, every table with food, and every temptation with strength for victory. "Not one thing hath failed. . . .

Look ahead and you see the same God busily providing for your future. He scouts the road ahead of us, clearing the land mines, leveling the hills, and signing the way for our direction. He walks beside us in the journey of life, from time to eternity. When His children sustain injury, He carries them until they can walk again. Furthermore, He is building beautiful mansions along the golden streets of Heaven for all who will be faithful until the end.

Do you have a need beyond your ability? Jesus loves filling in when you cannot. He thrives on meeting needs that cannot be met any other way.

Your need may look overwhelming to you — your sin problem, your fear of death, or maybe your health. Even the smallest things like mortgage payments and taxes can look enormous to us. Yet far beyond the immensity of need, can you see the tremendous provisions of your great God?

Nothing is too difficult for God. If He created the universe by the word of His power and sustained it for six thousand years, if He can redeem the world through His Son, and if He has broken none of His promises to date; then He can doubtless keep bread on your table. He can and will grace your life with strength to climb the hills and maneuver the bends in the trail. He will meet the abundance of your need with the greater abundance of His provision. Have you asked Him to?

If you "ask in faith, nothing wavering," He will respond with nothing lacking. May you look up into the eyes of your ever-present Provider and be assured of His bountiful supply of grace. Remember, "Not one thing hath failed. . . ."