Missing the Point

When we read Scripture

If Christ doesn't become more beautiful,

If we do not see more of God's heart,

If the depth of the sin in our heart is not exposed,

If our souls aren't stirred to praise God,

If we seek merely to understand the meaning of Scripture apart from it's application,

If it doesn't drive us to prayer,

If we do not love God more,

If our love is not stirred for our neighbors, 

If our heart is lifted up in pride and we make a mental list of all the ways we are obeying,

If we focus on a list of to do's, and our goal is changed behavior rather than adoring and worshipping Christ,

If we study looking first for lessons to teach others seeing ourselves primarily as the one that needs to deliver God's word to people rather than one who needs to receive God's word,

If we are hearers and not doers,

If we seek knowledge over intimacy with God,

If we hide it in our heads and not our hearts for any purpose other than so that we might not sin against Him,

If we search Scripture to support our theological positions, 

If we half heartedly skim,

If we twist it to justify our sins,

If we look merely for "answers" rather than for questions to ask ourselves,

If we are fascinated with deep mysteries but don't look in the mirror,

If our Sword stays in the sheath when Satan attacks,

If we use the Bible like a harlot just to get what we want,

If our main focus is meeting our own emotional needs, 

If we search the Scriptures because we think that in them we have life,

If we do not imitate what we learn of Christ, 

If our feet do not follow the path to calvary, and we do not take up our cross and follow Him,

If Christ isn't what we seek when we read Scripture,

Our Bibles would benefit us more if we never opened them because when we read them in this way We get further from Christ and look to ourselves,

We condemn ourselves,

We claim to be wise but become fools,

We dishonor the Name of God before men,

We build false confidence that the act of reading the Word will transform our sinful desires without any effort on our part. The more we trust in our action of reading, the more we see our reading of Scriptrure as meritorious. The more we see our action as meritorious, the more we worship the idol of study. The more we worship the idol of study, the more we are blinded to the fact that we are actually not studying God; we are just working. 

We are working like a Pharisee who knows the Word in and out but who completely misses that Jesus is in our very presence. We are actually mad that He takes away our glory from our good work and we seek to rid ourselves of Him. Oh, what a tragedy to read the word of God and miss Christ! 

What a subtle lie that Satan would have us to believe! In fact, satan is twisting the very Book that should renew our minds to blind them. He is calling idolatry worship of the true God. He is making men twice a son of hell. Satan is not opposed to men reading the Bible and never has been. He even used Scripture when tempting Jesus. Satan's goal is not to destroy Scripture but to twist Scripture to become an instrument of destruction to men.

Our hope is not in the Bible, it is spoken of in the Bible. Our hope is in Christ! Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone, and Scripture alone is our authority. Scripture is not our righteousness. The blood of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus alone can make atonement for our sin. May we cling to the grace of God and put no confidence in the flesh or our abilities to study the Bible. 

However, this message is not just to the lost pharisee. It is to the saved pharisee. What do I mean? Christians can miss the point when they study Scripture. They too can look to complete in the flesh what was begun by the Spirit ( Galatians 3:3). The Christian must cling to the Christ not only for justification but also sanctification. They must abide in the branch in order to produce the fruit of the Spirit (hence the name "the fruit of the Spirit" not "the fruit of study").

What can Christians do about this serious but subtle danger? First, they must pray that God would give them true understanding and true fear of Him. Second, they must continue in prayer as they read. Third, they must worship God truly in love (not in order to merit God's forgiveness). True worship is love to God which works obedience. 

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;" John 5:39

I say this from experience: If you miss Jesus, you've missed the point. For too long, I missed the point, but God has been gracious and shown me that HE is the glorious point! Seek Him! Don't trade him for a counterfeit hope of righteousness. Don't get lost in trying to understand all the mysteries in Scripture, just get lost trying to understand the mystery of union with Christ and obey what you do understand. Christ is the true treasure, and the purpose for studying Scripture is so that we might Him! 

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ," Philippians 3:8

Scopus Vitae Christus, 

Dallas

What is Self-Control?

Under Whose Control?

When the Bible mentions self-control as a fruit of the Spirit, what is it talking about? It seems that self-control would be to control one's self; however, this is not the correct definition here. In fact, to be controlled by one's self is not a challenge at all. We all do this by nature. We do what we want to do. It does not take the power of the Spirit to make us decide to take control of our lives. The original sin occurred when Adam and Eve decided to take control themselves. Clearly, Scripture is talking of something else when the term "self-control" is used.

Self control, is to have one's self under the control of the Holy Spirit. This means to have our thoughts, emotions, tongues, and actions submitted to the Holy Spirit. Self control is not just deciding to "behave". It is walking by the Spirit and having ourselves under His control. It is having the attitude of Christ who lived in perfect submission to the Father (John 5:19) and was led by the Spirit (Matt 4:1). Self-control is carried out through the power of the Spirit.

The Keys

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not the self. Too often, I have tried to control myself rather than walking in the power of the spirit. In order to walk in the power of the Spirit, I've found that praying and seeking direction from the Spirit are helpful. Taking time to be alone with God, asking for a greater filling of the spirit, and then walking in the Spirit's guidance and power are the keys to being self-controlled.

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16)."

Are you walking by the Spirit today? Are you being controlled by Him?

Headless

Without a head
I have never met a living headless person, nor a dead one for that matter. the fact is that if you are alive, you have a head. Your head contains a vital organ. Your brain. Without your brain, you cannot do anything. Your brain governs everything in your entire body.  For instance, your heart is important, but it would not beat without your brain telling it to beat. There is nothing that you do aside from your head. In Ephesians 5:^{23b says "}Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body." Christ is the head of every Christian. This means we should do nothing apart from Him.

Christ' Head
God is the head of Christ (1Corinthians 11:3). Christ did nothing apart from his head. Christ set the perfect example for every Christian. We will fail to submit to our head in everything while we are still in our fleshly, but submission should be our goal. We are still on a journey to sanctification, and we must walk by the spirit. We should ask before we act, " What would you have me to do Lord?". We are to have the attitude and mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5  says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:". Consider what Jesus' attitude was toward His head.

*In John 6:38 Jesus said, "'For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."

*John 5:19, 20, and 30 say,  "So then Jesus said to them,' Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me."

*John 4:34 Says, " Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."

Who's Your Head?
Is Christ your head? Does He govern your life? To say He is your savior and not your Lord is ludicrous. There is no such thing as a headless Christian, and if you are your own head, you are not a Christian. God wants your whole heart, mind, soul, and life. Surrender to Him. Ask yourself if you are truly living with Christ as your head.

In a Pickle

Yesterday my mom had to take my grandmother to the doctor, and we were in charge of all the kids except the baby. Mommy took her with her. We had eaten our breakfast, and the dishes were dirty, The laundry needed to be done, schoolwork  needed to be accomplished, and all the little ducks (the children) would not stay in a row. It was right then that the shelf fell off of the refrigerator door, and a pickle jar shattered on the kitchen floor. Pickles and pickle juice covered the kitchen floor, and the juice was spreading under the fridge. I was in a pickle! Does this sound familiar to you?

Ahhh!

I like to think of it this way. God is the  teacher, and I am the student. Every day He gives me a sheet of problems to solve that go along with the lesson He wants to teach me. I have noticed that when I feel the tasks I must do are to many, or that I am incapable of doing them, often God wants to teach me something. It is easy to complain, but that profits nothing. Am I we willing to learn? Will I put in the effort it takes to grow? Are you facing a pickle? Maybe God is trying to teach you something. God will give us the stregnth we need when we're in a pickle if we ask Him and rely on Him for it!

Never Smell a Cinnamon Tic-Tac

   They were so shiny and red. We had been told not to eat them, and we were quite bored while we sat waiting for our mom to find the right pair of shoes at the mall. My little sister and I sat under the chairs with mommy's purse and eyed the cinnamon tic-tacks. We rarely got to have candy because it was not healthy, and mommy cared more about health than we did. It was so tempting, but we knew we should not eat them, so we continued to stare at them. Next, we decided to just hold the container so we could see them better. Then, we decided that we should smell them so that we could better imagine how they would taste if we were eating them. Then, it happened. Gracie sniffed the tic-tack right up her nose. It began to sting because it was cinnamon and everyone in the mall knew it (including mommy). We ended up going to the hospital, and Gracie sounded so much like a siren that no ambulance was necessary. By the time we got there it had dissolved, but Gracie was in much pain!
I was feeling terrible because it had all been my idea!

   Now this true story took place a good ten years ago, but the lesson I learned from it is still applicable today. I learned that one should never smell a cinnamon tic-tack because chances are, one might end up with a stinging nose. No, I'm just kidding. Seriously though, we shouldn't taste, touch, handle, or "smell" temptations. In the scriptures Solomon instructs his son saying, "Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on."(Prov 4:14-15) We are supposed to avoid the evil path. We aren't even to go near it! (And yes, that means no smelling your mom's tic-tacks.)

   I remember when it would be my turn to empty the trashcans from around the house into the large kitchen trash can, and little things would fall on the floor during the process of dumping them. I was so disgusted with the thought of picking up the little pieces with my bare hands, that I would go and get  grocery sacks to use as gloves instead of just washing my hands afterwards (which I would have to do anyways). The fact is, most of us are clever enough to find ways around doing things we do not like. We should go to the same measures to avoid temptation. If it is a sin, our attitude should not be an attitude  that says, "How close can I come to doing it without doing it?", but an attitude that says " How can I go out of my way to avoid coming into contact with it?" Can we expect to handle hot embers in our bosom and not have our clothes burned?(Prov 6:27) When we get too close to temptation we will most likely get burned!

   Lastly, avoiding temptation is not enough. We must also pursue what is good. I would like to close with this charge to all of my readers: "Now flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on God from a pure heart." ( 2 Tim 2:22)