A Lost Attitude

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2: 3 - 4 NKJV

I was in a discussion with a friend this week about the downfall of society when I mentioned to him my perspective on where things went south.  See, I believe that we as a society began to change the day we started seeing ourselves as more important than others.  Once this happened, a lot of what we once knew began to change.  Those around us became competition instead of brethren.  Keeping up with the Jones' became a lifestyle embraced by many.  Whatever my neighbor can do, I can do better.  I see this attitude embraced day after day in the minds of our younger generations.  The idea that if something does not go our way, then the game is somehow rigged.  Needless to say, we've been warned countless times about the gifts of being humble, but for many people it does not compute.  To those among us, living a life of self importance is a high form of flattery and self gratification.  But this is a slippery slope.  For once we get it into our head that we are our own distinct and separate being, we ignore what the Lord has created for us.  Here we are faced with two choices, either we are the Lords creation created in His image, or we are His creation and our own separate self independent from God.  When we embrace the latter, we began to see God not in a close personal relationship, but in a world where we ourselves are left to our own devices.  God is only there to watch what is going on while we are in charge of our own destiny.  It is we who make the entire dynamic work as well as it does.  Forget that it is the Lords creation in which we prosper each and every day.  Forget that all we will ever have will have the Lords fingerprints upon it.  All which we hold dear, the environment, ecology or even the current buzzword of racial equality all are uniquely God.  In fact, there is nowhere which we can go that the Fathers influence has not touched.  I believe that to ignore this truth is the ultimate in selfishness.  Who am I to think myself separate of He who created me?  It is my opinion that this kind of thinking is a fools errand...and we are nothing but.

They became tricked into the false concept of seeing themselves as independent selves, even as their false father Satan was deceived into thinking he was an independent self.
Norman P. Grubb ~ No Independent Self

How many times is it mentioned in scripture that we are not to see ourselves as being greater than we are?  Well, there's a reason for that.  There is also a reason by which we never see Jesus advertising that He is the best game in town.  Now, we do see Him staking claim that He is the Son of God, but in this He is telling the truth.  I mentioned that we cannot ignore that we are formed and created by God in His image {Genesis 1:27}.  Was it Gods intent to create us and then set us free to be our own self?  Never.  That idea where we see ourselves as independent is a lie born of Satan.  This is illustrated by Norman Grubb in his book "No independent self."  It is Satan who bought into the lie that he could be separate from God {Isaiah 14:14}.  It is also Satan who instilled his lie into the Lords creation in the garden {Genesis 3:4-5}.  As I've mentioned, there is nowhere we can go where we cannot see evidence of God in His creation.  Knowing this, can we still remain foolish enough to believe that we are indeed our own self?  Sadly, some do.  The apostle Paul was not counted among that crowd.  Paul knew that he could not be his own, separate self because he had the realization that Christ lived through him {Galatians 2:20}.  In fact, the most powerful evidence that we cannot be independent from God comes from Paul's realization that he...was dead.  So it is with us.  We can never be separate from God when God dwells in us.  It is through Him that the lie of the enemy has been defeated.  Jesus, the living example of humility, is now one with us {John 17:21}. 

~Scott~

The Name

"You shall not take the name of your LORD God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20: 7 NKJV

I was browsing through a book by Duck Commander founder Phil Robertson the other day when I came across a interesting story.  It seems that Phil was doing a sales call with a customer one day early in his career when out of the blue the man began using the Lords name in some pretty inglorious ways.  Well, Phil took the mans order and at the end of the call asked the man why he would want to insult the very one who would ever save him.  This began a conversation in which Phil eventually led the man to the Lord.  However, it got me to thinking about just how common it has become for people, Christian and non Christian alike, to use our Lords name in ways it shouldn't be.  As I did a bit of research for this writing, I came across a definition which stated the using the Lords name in vain is to utter His name in any way which brings dishonor upon Him.  So, I'll go with that.  We must realize that for many generations of the Jewish faith, the name of the Lord was rarely uttered or written due to the reverence it was given Him.  So, where did we fall short?  Where did it become commonplace to utter the name of our heavenly Father in ways that are unflattering to say the least?  Now, I admit that this is something I myself have engaged in, so I'm not pointing fingers at anyone.  In fact, I've made it a point to try my hardest to, when those times of anger and frustration come (yes, I narrowed down my trigger moments), that I would try to stop and take stock of what I was about to do.  At first it didn't help much, but lately I've found myself pausing before I say something.  It may seem funny, but I've thought of other less intrusive words to utter in these situations.  The point is that I'm honestly trying to break the habit of disrespecting the name of the Father.  In a culture filled with obscenity, it can be a tall order.  I know that I am in no place to lecture someone on using the Lords name in vain, but I know what the right thing to do is.  In my heart, I also know the sadness that it might bring to my heavenly Father.

I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.
Isaiah 42: 8 NKJV

Far from being warned by scripture of the pitfalls of using the Lords name in vain, I am also aware of the pain which it brings Him.  For when I use His name in the wrong way, I feel the sadness as well.  It was Paul who introduces us to a personal relationship which we have with Christ Jesus in Galatians.  Paul makes the claim that it is Jesus Himself who lived through him {Galatians 2:20}.  Knowing this, it's not hard to see that when we use His name in ways which dishonor Him, that we ourselves might feel His sadness as well.  I don't hold to the idea that God would strike me down for this infraction, but I have no doubt that it does bring Him disappointment.  I know in my heart that the Father only desires what is good for me, and using His name in unflattering ways certainly isn't that.  So, I can cease following the example of those around me and use the opportunity, as Phil Robertson did, to bring others to the realization of the living Christ.  Sort of taking a negative and turning it into a positive.  I also know that there will be those who will see me as just another bible thumping Christian looking to lecture them on behavior.  If you get that impression then you're missing the point of this opportunity.  My goal is not to dictate to people how to behave...but how to bring them into a relationship with Jesus. 

~Scott~

Jesus removed our sins and guaranteed we could be raised from the dead.  I'm still waiting on someone to enlighten me on what story beats that one.
~Phil Robertson~

Conversations Of The Heart

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Romans 8: 26 NKJV

I remember from  my days in the church where every so often one of my friends would approach me on a Sunday morning and tell me with a serious expression that "God has something for me to tell you."  I usually approached these situations with caution because when someone said that God had something to tell me it usually meant that I needed to improve some area of my life.  That's just how those conversations went.  When I look back, I often wonder to myself that if God had such a urgent matter to tell me, why didn't He just avoid the middle man and tell me about it Himself?  Well, maybe He did, or maybe He tried and I just wasn't listening at the time.  Now, I would never discount the fact that God can and will use other people to show us that which we need to know, but I prefer to be in a relationship conversation with Him.  When we look at prayer, isn't that what it is all about in a nutshell?  Our own conversations with the Father?  I look at the scriptures and I see the prayers of Jesus in the context of conversations.  I have no doubt that we communicate with the Father in the same way.  I don't need some priest to mumble a few words and spread some smoke around to make me feel as if I'm talking to God.  Yet, this is the traditional church view of how we are to communicate with Him.  We are supposed to come before the Father with a guilty heart, knowing that we are sinners and that we need to seek forgiveness before we can even speak to Him.  Well, I'm not buying the traditional church philosophy.  I believe that it makes it easier for us to talk to the Father once we know how it is that God sees us.  Does God look upon us as we see ourselves?  A sinner who needs His forgiveness?  I don't see it that way at all.  First of all, we need to recognize that we live in union with the Father.  That is, He is in us.  The apostle Paul assured us of this when he spoke of Christ Jesus living in him {Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:8}.  Therefore, if Jesus is in us, God Himself is in us {John 14:9}.  Hence, we are one with the Father.  Of course, if we are one with the Father then we indeed can have that heart to heart conversation with Him.  But what about our sin?  Does God still see sin when He looks upon us?  Or, does He see us as we truly are, His precious children?  Paul also tells us of how Jesus dealt with the sin issue {Romans 6:6}.  We are assured of the fact that Jesus Himself became sin on our behalf {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  When we come before the Father asking His forgiveness for our sin, His response will more than likely be "What sin?"

"That they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
John 17: 21 - 23 NKJV

For the longest time my desire was for my own conversations with God to be not as master and servant, but as Father and child.  Of course, back then I followed the church doctrine and never realized the bond which Christ and I shared.  I was taught that Jesus was seated at the throne of the Father, removed from my own life.  Had I known the Jesus I know now it would have been a whole lot easier.  That is my desire for all who come to Jesus, that they would know the true Christ, He who gave Himself for us that He would come to live in all who know Him.  This is the personal relationship which I have found in Jesus.  When I speak to Him, it is not with a heavy heart of guilt, but the joy of knowing who I am in Him.  Our conversations with God are not meant to be a wish list, admission of sin or out of fear of punishment.  On the contrary, when we come to Him it is on a personal level because that is now our relationship with Him.  It was never meant that we should be in a church or temple as a prerequisite to coming to Him.  He is with us wherever we are. 

~Scott~

Crap Game

"My center is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack!"
Ferdinand Foch

The other day I was faced with what I would consider a unique opportunity.  Well, a opportunity to show the futility of a situation.  See, for more than a few months we here in Oregon have been slapped with orders to wear face masks not only while in public, but outdoors as well.  This is all thanks to the perceived genius of some politicians.  Whatever your view on face coverings in the midst of the coronavirus issue (I don't say pandemic because the CDC no longer considers it a pandemic), we are stuck with it for now.  Personally, I think it's a fools errand to think that these flimsy coverings are the be all end all to save us, but that's just my opinion.  Anyway, the other day while at the local gym I noticed a few people arguing with the staff over the mask wearing mandate.  Whether they thought it was wrong or not, policy is policy.  Now, despite my own personal views on the subject, I refused to get involved in that discussion.  Why?  Because the ends did not justify the means in my opinion.  What good does it do me to argue a point if it either gets me kicked out or, in the worst case, gets the place closed for non compliance?  So, I play the cards I'm dealt.  I've noticed that this has become a foreign concept to our younger generation.  We see it night after night with some protest somewhere against some injustice.  What would I say to these protestors given the chance?  Play the cards you're dealt.  Yes, you might recognize that there is injustice in the world, but it is highly unlikely that a few voices will change things.  You might recognize that the other team isn't playing fair, do you complain to the officials or do you play the cards you're dealt and play in such a way to overcome that which is against you?  I have a goal to get in better health, so what good would it due me to possibly ensure that I would not be able to use the gym?  There are times when opportunities come to us disguised as disappointments.  In other words, when one door closes, look for another.  We see this through the scriptures with stories of those who, despite what was going on around them, followed the Lord in what they were doing.  Be it opportunity or perseverance, there are times when playing the cards we're dealt is our only option.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4: 1 NKJV

I have a close friend who fancies playing a few hands of poker every now and then.  From what he has told me he seems to be good at it.  However, there are times when he's in a game and the cards are not that favorable to him.  Does he immediately give up?  No.  Because in the game of poker you might not have the best hand, but you can make the other guy believe that you do.  Play the cards you're dealt.  Those few people who felt as if they were standing up for their rights at the gym were, in my opinion, giving up.  The game was rigged.  It wasn't fair.  Their rights were being violated in some way.  I get it.  However, what I also get is the opportunity to keep doing what I do.  If something happens and they close the gym down...it won't be because of something I did.  Some people look at this as being when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  It's the same thing.  I don't need some fancy self help book to tell me that I need to chase down opportunities, I'm living it every day.  I also know that were I to sit in on a few games of poker I might not be the best player at the table...but I'd make damn sure that someone thought that I was.

~Scott~

The Jesus Example

"If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do as O have done to you.  Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him."
John 13: 14 - 16 NKJV

I heard a radio pastor this week mention that what we need in these times of turmoil is a true example of how to treat one another.  I'm not sure if he was trying to say that it is we ourselves who need to set that example, but it got me to thinking of the example we already have.  We've all heard at one time or another that we are to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated.  We call it the "golden rule" by which we are to treat others.  The trouble with that is, more often than not, our own human  desires for fairness outweigh what we know in our hearts to be right and true.  How can I treat my neighbor as I would like to be treated when I know that he's wrong?  Once we start to think like that, we deviate from we ought to do into what someone else wants for us.  That being our accuser.  When we begin placing our own feelings over that of others, that golden rule no longer applies.  Where would we be if the true example of how we should treat others, Christ Jesus, had not shown Gods love to those around Him?  Would the woman at the well have continued living in sin?  Would the woman about to be stoned for adulatory have suffered her fate at the hands of the authorities?  I'm guessing that, if not for the love and compassion of God shown through Jesus, that the stories of both women would have ended differently.  So it is with us.  Some people will say, "But Scott, Jesus had God in Him already."  Again I say...so it is with us.  Some will point to Jesus as being that example for us to follow in our relation to those around us.  He showed us this that day He washed the feet of His disciples {John 13:13}.  I remember some years back when those little WWJD bracelets and t shirts were all the rage.  WWJD meaning, what would Jesus do?  I'm guessing that it was supposed to be a reminder to whoever wore the bracelet to ask themselves what Jesus would do in any given situation.  Well, when we know the truth of Christ Jesus, then we already know what He would do.  The apostle Paul spoke of the truth of Jesus when he claimed that it was Jesus Himself who lived in him {Galatians 2:20}.  So, if we have the realization that Christ is in us, do we not now live as Him?  Instead of Jesus being an example to us, is He not a example to others as He works through us?

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV

I would say that, for those who have come to know Jesus, that the golden rule has no meaning.  For those who see Jesus not as an example, but as a way of life, treating others well is simply something which we always do.  Now, that does not mean that we who know Christ in us will not forget who we are sometimes and fall back into our old ways.  We know the truth that is in us but, as they say, old  habits die hard.  There have been plenty of times when I, knowing Jesus within me, have treated others wrongly.  I'm sure I'm not alone in that confession.  When we come to the realization that it is Jesus who lives in us, our lives take on a new meaning.  I'm no longer living for myself (in fact, we've never been our own independent self, but more on that later), but that those around me would see Jesus through me.  Yes, I know, that usually isn't my goal each day, but if indeed Jesus lives in me, then logically others will see Him in everything I do, the good and the bad.  Wait, Jesus was bad?  Blasphemy!  Well, too bad we've never had that opportunity to inquire of Mary and Joseph of just how perfect of a boy Jesus was.  Do you suppose that the boy Jesus got into some mischief growing up?  I'm sure He did.  My friend Dennis and I spoke to this imperfect reality of Jesus in a recent podcast.  Needless to say, if I'm not perfect, then Jesus who is in me isn't perfect either.  However, the world around me might never know Him if they did not see Him through me.  It's not up to us to demand that others accept Jesus, but to pray that they will see Him as we do.

~Scott~

Free To Be

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
John 8: 36 NKJV

We speak quite a bit to the truth of Christ Jesus in us.  However, I was thinking this week that there are times where talk is cheap.  How many of us have sat through many a sermon before losing interest?  Usually my attention span does not last that long for such things.  That being said, I can talk all day about Christ in me, but there may be those out there who will not see the truth I have found.  So, what is my own experience of Christ Jesus in me?  Well, as I was thinking this week, the first thing that comes to mind is freedom.  My freedom to be the man that I know I am.  That man, as Paul tells us, is Jesus living through us {Galatians 2:20}.  This is the basis of the freedom I've found in Christ.  That freedom encompasses many things.  A friend spoke to me that freedom in Jesus means that we are no longer barred by "Falling short" theology.  That is, we need no longer fear that that we will come up short in our attempts to "Be like" Jesus.  Contrary to the teachings of the mainstream church, there is really no need for us to continue to challenge ourselves to simply resemble Jesus in some way.  I don't want to simply be like Jesus.  For being "like" Jesus does not make me one with Him {John 17:21}.  Being like Jesus is simply a continuation of the lie the deceiver spoke to Eve in the garden.  It was Satan who spoke the lie that by taking of the fruit which God had commanded not to that somehow Adam would "Be like God" {Genesis 3:5}.  Well, I contend that the Fathers original creation was already like Him.  It was God who created man in His image {Genesis 1:27}.  It was God who breathed into man the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  I would say that from the beginning Adam and Eve were very much like God.  However, the issue which Satan capitalized on, was that they never realized that they were like God.  Adam had known no other life than the life he was living in union with the Father.  So, in order to appreciate what he had, Adam needed to see the opposite as well.  Enter the lie of Satan.  From that day forward it has been our struggle to "be like" Jesus. 

They were at first unconscious expressers of God's other-love nature.  Adam was in harmony with all creatures and could give each its proper name {Genesis 2:20}; they knew no opposite to other-love in union with the Father.
~No Independent Self, Norman Grubb~

The knowing of freedom in Christ is directly related to knowing that Jesus lives through us.  If we believe that we need to strive to "be like" Jesus, then we are missing the point.  I never found freedom in striving to be like Jesus, and my guess is that you won't either.  However, once I came to the realization that I was one with Christ who is in me, a whole new world opened up for me.  Gone were the days where I needed to compete for the Fathers favor {Romans 8:2}.  Even sin took on a entire new meaning for me.  Instead of seeing sin as a wedge between myself and God, I now see it for what it truly is.  It is Jesus who has done away with my old nature, my old man, so that He could take its place in me {Romans 6:6-11}.  As Paul tells us, "he who has died has been freed from sin" {Romans 6:7}.  Who is it that died?  Well, in essence, I died at Christs side on that cross {Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6}.  That part of me which was sin was put to death by Christ Jesus on the cross.  What now remains is Jesus living His life through me.  So, how is it that I can "be like" Jesus when in reality I already am?  Once we come to realize our own freedom in Jesus, we begin to live a life of freedom in Him.  Freedom from condemnation, freedom from a life struggling to be like Him and, most importantly, freedom from the rejection which always comes from not knowing that we no longer need to strive to attain His favor.  The freedom to be Jesus.

~Scott~

The Man I Am

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV

There was a time not so long ago where my own image of myself relied on how those around me felt about me.  I did well when I was among people who knew and liked me.  However, get me out of that element and something changed.  When I was around people who looked upon me negatively, their thoughts carried over to how I saw myself.   Needless to say, I spent a lot of time on the merry go round of emotions worrying about why I was such a failure.  Even when I took refuge in my faith, I was told that I was a sinner competing for Gods favor.  Of course, this didn't sit well with my own self confidence either.  The fact is, it does not take long for ones own self worth to hit bottom when those around them are telling them they are not good enough.  Knowing what I know now, I realize that back then I was a victim of the lies of the accuser.  It has never been God who seeks to instill us with a negative spirit.  It has never been God who whispers that we are no good to Him.  Indeed, we have all been created in the image of the Father {Genesis 1:27}.  I take that to mean that we are all which the Father is.  This becomes more apparent when we look at the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians.  It is Paul who introduces us to the reality of who we truly are.  Was Paul's own identity tied to his persecutions of the church?  If we were to speak to him, Paul would consider his old identity to have been that of one of the worst of sinners {1 Timothy 1:15}.  Yet, how could a man who did such violence to the followers of Jesus today be considered one of the greatest speakers of the gospel of the truth of Christ?  We find the answer in the very same verse in which Paul refers to himself as one of the worst of sinners.  That "Jesus came into the world to save sinners."  If not for Jesus, Paul may well have continued on his destructive path.  If not for Jesus, I might still be believing in all the negative things those around me tell me.  Paul realized the truth that it was no longer his old nature of persecution that defined him, but Christ Himself {Galatians 2:20}. 

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 
Colossians 1: 27 NKJV

It took me a bit longer, but once a good friend mentioned to me the words of Paul, I began to see myself in a different way.  I began to see that it wasn't my old behaviors which defined the man I was.  What defined me as a man is Christ Jesus who lives through me.  Each day I hear of stories of one person or another who, in the darkness of their own despair, fall into that belief that they are but lowly sinners whom God must always keep an eye upon.  That we must continually work and strive to achieve a level of goodness which God will accept.  Well, it is not what we do which makes us acceptable to God, but who we are.  If we go simply on our own efforts, we will always fall short of coming close to a level of righteousness that is acceptable to God.  Remember, in Paul's own persecutions of the early church, he thought that he was doing the Lords work.  He worked under the authority of the religious leaders of his day.  Did Paul's efforts bring him closer to God?  Well, in a way, yes.  However, I will say that it was because of Paul's efforts to gain favor with the God he knew which brought him into his own encounter with Jesus on that Damascus road.  It is because of how God sees us that we need not rely on our own efforts to attain His favor.  When God looks upon me, He no longer sees the man I once was.  That man was crucified along with Jesus on the cross.  What the Father sees now when He looks upon us is the very same man we should be seeing in the mirror...Jesus.  It is Jesus who gave Himself on our account {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Who I am has never been defined by those around me, but by Christ who is in me.

~Scott~