Entries Tagged 'Scripture' ↓

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
Psalm 127:2

This verse came as a blessed reminder this morning. I can have the tendency, in the name of discipline, to push myself to get things done, believing that the Lord will bless what I do no matter what I sacrifice to do it, as long as it is for the purpose of godliness. I think there is an element of that which is true, and yet there is a fine line between disciplining for godliness and straining for acceptance - acceptance before God and men.

I know that I need a better understanding of this gift of sleep. I too often excuse my feasting on “the bread of anxious toil” by saying that I’m thinking about something or working through an issue. The contrast is to fast from that bread and “in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Prayer is the gauge by which I can measure whether I am depending on myself or on the Lord.

[**ap·a·thy**](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apathy)
*”Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference”*

Apathy is killing the church. Each week thousands of people sit in services across the nation completely bored and then leave and go through the week without having anything to do with God. They really don’t care for the things of Scripture and they avoid recognizing their sin at all costs. Apathy deadens the spiritual nerves and turns hearts cold to love. It is evidenced by people avoiding deep issues and questions, denying the fruit of their sin, pulling away from accountability, and a broad lack of interest in spiritual things.

My initial thought when I think about apathy is that it doesn’t affect me. I want to think that it is affecting other people in another place. It is in the church across town, but not in my church. Those people you read about online are apathetic, but I’m not. I think I’m so ready to deny apathy because I’m in solid Christian environments - my church, home, and school are all biblical and great influences. Theses places don’t cultivate apathy, do they?

All people are capable of debilitating apathy. Why is this so? Because all have a sinful heart and that sin turns us away from that is divine. Sin hardens us. We then, as believers, have a responsibility to fight against such destructive tendencies. This fight does not call for a casual defense, but a passionate, vigorous, zealous, all-out attack against unbelief. We must daily evaluate our actions and thoughts because our flesh will allow apathy to creep in through small areas and it spread to other areas as well.

I only bring this up because I recognized serious points of apathy in my own heart this past week. At first it didn’t seem to be wrong and I did recognize it as sin, because I wasn’t actively doing anything disobedience. But I soon realized that I was allowing sin of selfishness and comfort to deaden my soul and it would continue shrivel if I didn’t do anything against it.

The author of Hebrews clearly understood this tendency within each human heart and he then urged the church to encourage and admonish each other in order to guard against it. Consider the following the passages:

> Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:1

> “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called to “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
Hebrews 3:12-13

> “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:23-25

> “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Hebrews 10:39

> “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
Hebrews 12:3

In Matthew 17, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up onto the mount, which is probably Mt. Hermon. These select disciples then see Jesus transfigured in front of them and He is joined by two other men. The Gospel accounts tell us that it was Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus. Peter then says, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

Now I can understand that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the identity of those men would be revealed as the authors wrote their accounts. But how did Peter recognize those men? Moses had died about 1400 years prior and Elijah left this earth in his chariot about 850 years prior. At the time that each of these men lived, the technology did not exist to paint, draw, or sculpt a portrait and preserve it. All Jewish people since the times of Moses and Elijah knew who these men were, but there was no way of preserving an image of them for future generations.

So how did Peter immediately know that the two men standing with Christ were Moses and Elijah? Did they have name tags? Did Jesus introduce them? Did the Spirit reveal it to their minds? Were they holding things which would have connected them with the biblical account, such as Moses holding a staff and the stone tablets? That doesn’t make any sense, I guess I’m thinking too much of flannel graph images. Anyway, I’m not sure how they figured out who those guys were, but praise God we have the inspired account.

Mt. Hermon, the best location for the transfiguration of Christ.

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Philippians 3:8

This verse has always had an impact on me, each time that I read it and the chapter simply declares the greatness of Christ and opens another window into Paul’s heart. He had so much in terms of religious clout and he had put so much time into seeing that he served God and yet all that he had put into his religion was worthless. He did not have political, social, or physical accomplishments but they were somewhat in the right direction. He takes all of it and throws it away, he tosses it out the window, never to touch it again. When someone invests so much in something, he values it. The amount of resources that he puts into it is a clear indicator to how much worth he places in it. So then, when all of that is treated as dung, the only explanation is that something replaced it. Something that far exceeds the value must have stepped in. And such was the case with Paul.

The word that stood out to me was “worth.” Paul made a judgment of value and concluded that knowing Jesus Christ far exceeded anything else. Nothing stands in comparison to having a personal relationship with the second person of the Godhead. For Paul, this simply was not just a feel good statement that he would sing in a song and put on a bumper sticker, but this was the undergirding principle of his life. Jesus Christ was so valuable to him that it influenced every decision that he made. His heart held nothing of greater importance, greater value, or greater worth than Christ.

This driving love of his heart explains his life. Why did he put himself in a position to be mocked and ridiculed? because Christ was worth it. Why was he beaten and left for dead? because Christ was worth it. Why would he lose sleep, forgo meals, walk thousands of miles, and be imprisoned? because Jesus Christ was worth - He was everything to Paul.

The church of the 21st century must see Christ as having value that is so much more than all that this world can offer. We need men and women who will take risks and live differently than the world around them - all because Christ is worth it.

I am going through Acts right now for part of my Bible intake and one thing that came to my attention while reading today was the way that Luke, the author, purposely mentions the fact that in many of the cities that Paul went to, the first believers were women. And they weren’t simply housewives coming to hear Paul preach, but they were “women of high standing” (Acts 17:12) and “leading women” (Acts 17:4). In fact, after Paul and Barnabas split up at the end of chapter 15, every city that Paul goes to a group of women or an individual woman is mentioned to be first among the believers.

I also learned that Luke has more mentions of women than any of the gospels. I’m not sure why this doctor would include such details about women, but I do find it interesting.