The only thing about me is the way I walk!

"Do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:4)  My buddy Gil McNutt was talking about walking according to the flesh, and he said, "If your sin doesn't bother your conscience, you're walking according to the flesh."

The conscience is a blessing: it can defend us and it can accuse us. If we ignore it and shove it to the back when it's being pricked through conviction about sin,  we effectively start to sear it—and the end of that reaction is that we become liars seared in our own consciences. 

 Is there any sin in your life that you're getting comfy with? Maybe that you're defending a little? That's your warning sign! Reverse your course immediately, get rid of the sin, and be able to say, "I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit!" (Rom 9)

Coefficient of Spiritual Friction

 Have you ever, in your heart of hearts, felt like you should be out making new Christians? Felt like your Christian life is going nowhere, but you know that it can reach the stars? Felt like you just can't get it moving for some reason?

Ever tried to push some heavy object across a floor—a box, a fridge, or somethin'—and it doesn't budge at first, but then all of a sudden it's like something releases and it moves forward with very little exertion on your part? In physics, that's called the coefficient of friction. A certain amount of force has to be applied before the object being pushed seems to "unlatch" and move forward.

The same is true with our spiritual lives. Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mt 4:19) Once we apply enough pressure to get your spiritual shows on the road, THEN we can start being fishers of men and seeing results. And you want to know what's awesome about applying that pressure to get it moving? You've got plenty of brothers and sisters ready to help you push forward! Go for it!

Grace does not make sin less dangerous.

Grace does not make sin less dangerous. 

In Genesis 4:7 God warned Cain, "And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."  In Hebrews 3:13, He cautioned, "But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." 

Sin has the power of deception. Examine yourself against the mirror of the Word. (James 1) Look upon your inner man. Be honest. If you ignore a monster in the mirror, sin's power of deception will be your master, and it may become a nightmare from which you never wake up—the worst reality of all. 

What is righteousness?

Elli Poysti, a very spunky cowgirl-turned-city-slicker, asked me, "What does being righteous mean? What does righteousness look like?" Those are really great questions. I'm hoping that Mike and Nettie Clouse and the rest of our study group get some good answers. It should make for an awesome study. 

As much as I'd like to say that God gives a couple of bullet-points on this topic, reading His word shows that God says a TON on righteousness, so it's important to know what it means. For example, He says, "And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever." (Isaiah 32:17) He also compares being good with being righteous, notes that there was righteousness in the Law, but a type which did not give life, that we must ourselves have "righteousness which exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees," or we won't have eternal life, and points out that faith is inextricably intertwined, and thus partially defined, by righteousness. 

Anyway, some things to consider. Afterward, answer the questions originally asked based off these passages.  

1—The Greek word "dikaiosune" means ""the character or quality of being right or just;" it was formerly spelled "rightwiseness," which clearly expresses the meaning." The root word, "dikaios," means to be "just," as in justice. Righteousness, applied to us, means, " right action."(Vines Theological Dictionary of Greek: http://www.menfak.no/bibelprog/vines?word=%AFt0002409)

2—Righteousness is an aspect of being saved: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (I Peter 4:17-19). 

3—Righteousness is a part of our decision-making as Christians. ""Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (Jn 7:24)

4—Righteousness can be of the wrong variety, such as the Jews who: "have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:2-3).

5—Righteousness is critical to salvation: ""For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

6—Righteousness is faith, "For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."

——>And this faith is borne out by actions. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed [i]by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb 11)

7—Righteousness doesn't necessarily mean "goodness." "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. (Rom 5:6-7)

8—Righteousness in the Law (which we are no longer under) could be a harsh mistress. Paul said of himself, "as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless." (Phil 3:6)

9—Rightousness and justification/salvation are not the domain of the "undeniably perfect," "religious leaders," etc., and may come from surprising places. However, rightousness lives in action, and grows from a desire to love and live like Christ, and to please God.  Check out this little stunner: "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?" (James 2:25)

TLDR: Righteousness is following Christ, which makes sense, as He said, "“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). It is demonstrated in our lives, and we exhibit it because of God, and the working of belief in us. Ultimately, it is an expression of our character, and is notable for making us appear more like Christ, and less like the world. It can be of a type that does us no good: self-righteousness, or righteousness based off our own thoughts (ignorance) and not God's.  

Righteousness, however, is not merely making the right actions. It is not merely justice. It is tied up in our character and our motives. 

Here is one thing I studied a while back, though, about being GOOD and exceeding being merely righteous.  https://www.facebook.com/notes/lucas-necessary/son-of-encouragement/720620628033106

The applause of a single person.

You've seen the scene: a man makes a daring speech, and there is silence. Suddenly, one person in the crowd stands up, and begins to clap. Then another. Then another. It is true that the applause of a single person is of great consequence.

How daring are you for the Christ? Do you keep quiet about it? In Philippians 1, Paul was thrown in prison for not keeping quiet, but he noted,  "Most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear....yes, and I will rejoice." 

One person's boldness can be infectious. How bold will you be?

Hurtful Words

BQ:  I bet we've all experienced it. You wonder if a person is the best thing ever, or vicious and crazy. One moment they're the kindest ever, and then they cuss you out, screaming, out of the blue. Within a couple of hours it's like it never happened. 

So what's the truth—are they totally loving or absolutely hateful? What's the baseline? Luke 6:45 says, "the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." 

Don't discount hurtful words; they can be a look at the very heart of a person.

Addicted to the World?

My study on spiritual addiction to the world turned into a study on Light, and what it can be to wander in the darkness. As such, here's an updated version. It's mostly for me, and I'll keep studying it, but it needs a place for me to easily access it online.


BQ: What would you think of a former addict who said, "You know what...I think that I can have just one sip/hit/look and call it good?" Probably not very smart, huh?

When we are baptized, we can say that we are crucified with Christ, and our sins and desires with it, yet we often have a period of time to unlearn our bad habits.  As Christians, it can be tempting to return to worldly behavior, yet when we do, we often find ourselves lamenting, saying, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)  

Don't be the addict who decides to go back for another sip. Be free from the body of death. 




 

BQ: HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)

How are you going to improve your spiritual health this year? On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you? How can you improve? I have a suggestion that helped me a lot. 

Often, when we're spiritually weak, we tend to stick with those who are spiritually weak as well, or who are not spiritual at all. There we do not risk being looked down on, but instead are "loved" for our bad behavior.  

Why is this so?  Because, "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."  When we struggle with the old addict, we struggle wanting to keep our old deeds, and not have them exposed, so we keep bad friends, and not only cannot help them, but cannot help ourselves! We're stuck in the mud!

I encourage anyone who is not at the height of spiritual health to make a change of friends. Start now. Replace those who keep you spiritually in the grave with those who will raise you up, and remember that, "he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:20-21)

BQ: Happy New Years! Again!

When we're addicted to the desires of the flesh, we can struggle with leaving our worldly friends.  It can be very tempting to "stay out of the spiritual high-beams."

Have you ever been on an airline flight and had the safety announcement say to put on your oxygen mask before anyone else's? If we want to help others, we first need to save and strengthen ourselves—or we risk losing ourselves, and our friends who are trapped in the world.

Don't be afraid of some spiritual high-beams. Light burns away the fog of sin, and repels the darkness. Embrace your family in Christ first, and leave the old behind. Walk into the light because, "Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."  (Jn 8:12)



 

BQ: I once had a friend who admitted to having some great spiritual struggles with being unable to break away from the world.  This friend expressed a great desire to "stay out of the spiritual high-beams." Think about how striking those words are. High-beams are used...in the darkness.

 What was being expressed was actually a desire to avoid walking in Light. We MUST remember that, "Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."  (Jn 8:12)

Don't avoid spiritual light, but rather leave addiction, darkness, and death behind by taking all the Light we can get! 



 

BQ: When we seek to stay out of the spiritual headlights, we don't want our worldly behaviors exposed, and so we start sliding away from our Christian family and turning to worldly friends for companionship.  God addresses this human habit and says, 

"But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,

“Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.” (Eph 5:13-14)

It can be embarrassing to have our behavior brought to light...but we need to seek that help.  Yes, it makes it all visible, but it causes us to wake up, come to our senses, and rise from fleshly death to a wonderful life with Christ. Go to your spiritual family and grow; let go of the world.

BQ: If we give in to spiritual addiction to the world, we end up being partakers with the world and its darkness rather than ambassadors of light to it. We must be lights, not darkness:

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light."

Notice the warning here to keep our light shining bright. There is no provision to sometimes hide it. As Christians, we can't let ourselves sometimes go out and get drunk at the bar with our friends! We can't pick some person we "love" and sleep around with him/her. When we do that, we embrace spiritual death and darkness for ourselves and our "friends."

BQ: I once knew a man who was addicted to the world, always going to the bars with friends and always drinking.  This friend engaged in a lot of bad behavior but told me, "My friends aren't Christians, but when we go out I convey Christ to them in a big-picture manner."

I was heartbroken for this person, as the symptoms of Luke 11:34-35 were present,

"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.  Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness!"  

As Christians, we cannot partake in the activities of the world. It is incompatible with life in the Light. When we do, we delude ourselves into thinking that we are full of light, but the light in us becomes darkness. The last time I ever spoke to my old friend, he was no longer assembling. Though always in my prayers, it is a tale of the greatest sadness for me. Be careful! 

BQ: Yesterday we saw an example of a person who was convinced that he was "spreading the light" while out engaging in dark deeds of the flesh to fuel his addiction for the world. God warns us of this delusion, saying,

"If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth," and that, "they are blind guides of the blind, and if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."  (1 John 1:6; Mt 15:14)

This man was convinced that he was spreading the light of Christ, but was engaged in the darkness. While in the darkness, we are blind and cannot see, and we stray from Christ's path, and those we take with us, too. There is nothing sadder.





 

BQ: When we become spiritually addicted to the world, wanting to avoid the light, which can burn painfully, can become a deadly byproduct which can speed up spiritual decay.  This sort of pain is something that we have to go through, and Daniel 12:20 has a prophecy of Christians noting just that, saying,

"Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand."

Refining, as referenced of silver and metal, is done in a bright, hot fire. That process isn't fun,but it is purifying—yet if we embrace the world, we don't understand that. Pursue a new world and refinement, not an old one of sin and death. 
 

BQ: Christians sometimes return to the world, and the addictions of the flesh, but not by simply jumping whole-hog back into sin. Usually it starts with a few small, fun desires of the flesh, and an hunger for the world instead of a "hunger and thirst for righteousness." (Mt 5:6)

It is this sort of behavior that leads God to warn us, "not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (Rom 7:24)  

If you think that you can have just a tiny sip of an old appetite for the flesh, you're thinking to highly of yourself, because Satan plans everything to draw you back in.


 

BQ: God warns us not to think too highly of ourselves, and to use sober judgment. Often a Christian's sliding back into the world begins with hanging out with bad friends, and thinking very highly of our abilities to withstand the onslaught of worldly pleasure. But God warns us, "Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." (1 Cor 15:33)

I've seen many Christians hang out with partiers, which slowly leads them to party, and then they begin assembling more with people of the world and partaking of worldly things than fulfilling the great commission. 

We must be extra careful that we do not become those who "know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." (Rom 1:32) 







BQ: Romans 1:32 warns us not to become those who encourage and engage in fleshly destruction. I watched this happen to one Christian  man who liked the bars, as I've mentioned.  As a refresher, he'd been immersed and growing, but he went back to his non-Christian girlfriend and partying.

This man had liked to drink, and so when he was with her, he'd drink a little to keep things "socially lubed." This slowly led to him going to the bars every now and then with their old friends, and from their, to missing assembly every now and then.

Eventually, he no longer assembled at all. Remember how bad company corrupts good morals? Remember how God says to use sober judgement and not to think too highly of ourselves? My friend didn't heed those warnings, and became a man who both engaged in worldly behavior and encouraged it, and so became one with the world.  We have to be very careful to not let those old desires come back.






BQ:  We simply CANNOT compromise with sin. We cannot decide to go "partying just once." We can't compromise with what is essence addiction. Like an addict who goes back, we can be those who

"after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first." (2 Pet 2:20)

Don't mess with the old addictions. Don't compromise. Kick that slave to sing and death out. Keep him dead, period. 






BQ: The zombie apocalypse is always something to see when it's in a movie. Yet when we're addicted to sin and start hanging out with the world, we rarely think of zombies, but instead think of the happiness and "fun" that occurs when we engage in the desires of our flesh. 

What we should see, instead of people happily getting totally wasted, is the true, invisible, spiritual state of these lost individuals. Zechariah says of the lost, "their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth." (Zech 14;12)

It'd be a lot harder for us to go back to that rotten life of sin and death if we saw spiritual reality as it is—not pretty at all. 







BQ: Spiritual addictions are more easily concealed, which makes them doubly deadly, and there can be a time where we go too far down the rabbit hole to recover. Hebrews 6:4-6 warns us about this, saying, 

"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."

Don't risk delving too deep. Don't delve back into the grave looking for the old man at all, in fact. Leave him dead and buried.

Spiritual Mathematics: The Sin Wave.

BQ:  Have you ever seen a sin/sine wave? It's something in math that looks like the attached picture above.



Notice that there are ups and downs, but the average value is zero.

This can happen in the lives of Christians, too. They cycle between the world and Christ, bouncing back and forth, which results in an average growth of...none at all. Stagnancy.

In order for us to claim that we have a personal struggle with sin, we have to actually be fighting it.  If we don't, there's no struggle involved. How do we begin to get out of this endless wave of horror?

1 John 1:9  helps us begin saying, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

BQ: In order to get out of a stagnant cycle where we're run between Christ and the world seemingly ceaselessly, we first have to confess our sins. This is deeper than just saying, "I have an issue." In fact, it's taking a full-on look at exactly where we are...and also exactly what we're doing to get out of that place.

Without that, we often slip back into the mindset of, "Well I sinned really, really bad, God's grace is there again."  This is a very true statement, but it lets in the subtle notion that we can sin all the more, and grace will simply increase, which God doesn't want us to have. 

You see, God doesn't want us to say, "This is something that I just can't beat." He doesn't want us to say, "Well for this issue, I'm just always going to need a bucket of grace, because I can't kick it."

NO! God wants us to say, ""No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (I Corinthians 10:13).

BQ: You see, God does not want us to have the attitude of someone who has been conquered by some sin that we can't overcome. He doesn't want us to accept a sin wave as the ultimate reality of our existence!  In fact, He wants us to know that such a stagnant thing can kill us, and warns us in James 1:14-15 saying,

"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death!"

If you let the poison of the world keep coursing through your veins, eventually that sin wave will not even be a wave anymore, but will accomplish death! That's why God not only said verses 14-15, but with 16 warned us, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethern!" 





BQ: We can't let Satan deceive us into thinking that we've tried our hardest and it wasn't enough. If we've tried hard by ourselves and can't shake some sin, it's time to enlist a brother or sister in helping! Alcoholics Anonymous uses a buddy system, so that when you're struggling, you can call on someone else to help you shake it.

We can't be too proud to do the same! Instead of pushing away those who would help and hiding our sin, we need to not only admit it, as God says, but to pester a brother or sister to help us put distance between that darkness and ourselves! 

DON'T HIDE YOUR PROBLEMS! DON'T TRY TO FIGHT IT ALONE! Ecclesiastes 4:12 begs us, saying, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

If you try to go lone-wolf, the world may overpower you. And if you're already in a sin wave, the fact is, you're already overpowered, because that which is not growing, is ultimately dying. Enlist a brother or sister to help defend against Satan!






BQ: God tells us, "For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

When we're stuck in a sin wave, that help that God provides comes from multiple places, but much of it is from our brothers and sisters. There is a spiritual war going on, and Satan is a supernatural evil who has only lost once. But that failure was utter and complete, and now God has made us "an exceedingly great army." (Eze 37:10)

To all of my spiritual family, there is a horrible war going on, and we are part of an army of magnitude. But if we decide to run off onto the battlefield alone, without all of that power going with us, Satan will win.

If you are struggling, reach out to your brothers and sisters. Apply the sword of truth to yourself.  Removing cancer is never fun, and often painful, but we have the best physician with the best helper and the best support group. Embrace them. Embrace life. Embrace a trajectory that is ever upward. 


"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) He has overcome, and so can we.

As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her sons.

With thanks to Rio and Miriam, about something that has been on my mind.

I have personally watched Christian friends slip into the world, committing both spiritual suicide with themselves, and spiritual murder with the things they did with others, and encouraged others to do. And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none.  And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none. A lot of that pain comes from the pain of knowing what I've been, and the damage I've caused in the past.

Even if you don't personally like the person that much, the pain is devastating, because there is nothing you can do.  You cannot be the conscience for someone who wants his or her conscience to be seared.  Often, these people will apply a veneer of godliness, so that they can look at their fake reality and call it real, but the poison runs deep and is killing them.

What do you do? Do you delete such a person from your life? Do you utterly abandon them?  

I have often done that. I don't think it's right. It was my selfish way of protecting myself from pain. I once encouraged my mother and sister to abandon someone who caused them great pain and tears. They refused.  Instead of letting the person simply get off easy, they were loving but also truthful.  Their efforts were met seemingly forever with rejection and cruelty.

And yet God says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" (Psalms 126:5)

Who wants to sow a field with such effort that it causes them to cry? Isn't it easier to just abandon that plot and more on to easier territory? 

My sister and mom didn't. They sowed in tears. Eventually, the person they loved changed. Hard times came. Rock bottom was hit. This person was abandoned. And suddenly, the person realized that through everything she had done, despite the evil of it, two people were still compassionate. Compassionate despite the way they'd been treated. And indeed, none of the person's actions had been more than passing pleasure.  And in the end, my mother and sister reaped with joyful shouting.

Compare that with two of my own examples. Both times, I saw someone reverting back to their old friends and old ways, including drinking. Both times, I said, "That hurts me and is repulsive behavior. You're otta' my life."  And both these people, now, are fully surrounded by the world, molded into it as a part of it, horrifically deep.  Attempts by me now to say, "Hey, I care about you," have no weight behind them. Because I gave up. Instead of being loving but correcting, I threw away anything, including hope, no matter how small.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." 

Are you like that? If you persist in love, will you not remain green? Are you afraid of the pain, and willing to wilt away from hope and caring? There is only one way to bear fruit, and it is through persistence. 

Sometimes, however, when you are persistent, people will reject you. It happens. As my friend Rio once told me as a wake-up call, and this is paraphrased "Sometimes nothing you do can reach people, and you'll be consumed."  You have to know when that point is, but you can also make the conscious decision to not simply and utterly reject them.

The truth with the person struggling is that we do not know if they will be overcome, or shall overcome.  We cannot make the call with their struggles, or with their future.  We cannot condemn their hearts, but can see their difficulties. 

And more importantly, sometimes people have to hit utter rock bottom. They have to be at the lowest, where the sun does not shine, before they decide they don't want to be in the pit. 

God tells us that a struggle is present, and that it shall not come without weeping. For our struggles, for our help, and for the struggles of others, it is often true that much pain must be endured before we conquer. 

In Isaiah 66:8, God confirms this and says, "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons."

New birth does not come without pain and persistence, but we have to maintain the hope of beautiful things to come. We must have the attitude that we would, "could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (Romans 9:3)

And if you're sad, hurt, and damaged, remember, "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD." (Proverbs 16:20)  When you're feeling darkest and down in the dumps, dwell even stronger in the Word.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Essential elements of perfection

BQ: We know that God is perfect, but what are some aspects of perfection? What does it mean? This is a very minor overview of the essential elements of perfection. God gives us the goal, and like any assignment, we're to aim for the 100%! "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48) The gauntlet has been cast down, so it's up to us to start figuring out what made Christ perfect, so that we can model ourselves after Him.

For today, we'll look at Mt 19:21, which says, "Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” This was a very specific statement in a very specific circumstance, but part of perfection is putting aside self and rendering sacrificial service. That's why God says, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." (James 1:27)

Want to walk as Christ walked? It'll take some self sacrifice to make that dream complete!

BQ: Looking at the essential elements of perfection, and thus the things which God directs us to strive toward, we've seen that self-sacrifice goes a long way, and is essential in making a person more like Jesus and less like the world. Today we'll look at a simple verse, Col 3:14:

"Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity."

I've blown by this a billion times, but it only recently truly struck me that being united comes PERFECTLY, COMPLETELY through love. Love is active,  and so being united must be both a decision and a desire. 

BQ: More on the essential elements of perfection. Today we'll examine faith and works, from James 2:22. 

"You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected."

We know that our faith must be placed correctly, and that faith is indeed a matter of salvation. However, to have perfection of faith requires it to go hand-in-hand with what it naturally produces: loving, sacrificial work. See how it's all tying together? Want perfect faith? Without works, perfect faith doesn't exist, because, " For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)

BQ: We know we want to be Christ-like. It's the perfect goal, and that picture has to be in our minds for us to soar upward. Today we'll look at another verse on perfection. From James 3:2,

"For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well."

Perhaps the hardest thing to control is the tongue. It's so easy to speak a harsh word, or, even more, to simply be careless with our words, and thus hurt people. However, in order to resemble Christ, we need to make what we say a priority, and not just in avoiding harsh words, but in being active in doing good. Remember the verse on faith being perfected by works? About faith without works being dead? We cannot simply choose to be lazy and say nothing, but instead we must excel in our speech, encouraging, exhorting, and lifting up. (And even at times rebuking—but in love, and with gentleness.)

BQ:  Ultimately, how was Jesus perfect? In the following manner:  "but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him." (1 John 2:5)

The truest love comes by loving God's word, and striving to be like His Son. Not only does it do that, but it allows us to see that we're truly in Christ. It comes when we're striving to be like Christ. It's like pulling hard and, by doing so, opening a floodgate of love. :) There's much more that could be said on all this, but I want to keep it pretty short! 

"As your heavenly father is."

BQ: God undoubtedly challenges us, and He does it in the best way: having us aim for perfection. Every military in the world has its soldiers shoot not for "just ok," but instead for 100% accuracy and excellence, and that's why the motto for the Air Force used to be, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."

God throws down the gauntlet with Matthew 5:48, saying, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  In a world of, "I'm nothing but a black-hearted sinner,"this is a pretty stunning thing to say. How does God modify this, though? We'll see tomorrow. 

BQ: God casts down the gauntlet, saying, "be perfect," but He immediately launches into some application. What's the application when aiming for excellence? Matthew 6, which comes right after God says to be perfect, gives many examples, but starts off by saying,“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." (Mt 6:1)

He goes on to say in the same chapter that when we give to the poor, we shouldn't brag about our charity, and when we pray, we shouldn't pray to make ourselves noticed. Part of Jesus' perfection was the fact that He didn't do what He did to show off; we need to have the same attitude. 

BQ: We've seen that God threw down the gauntlet in the NT, telling His followers not to just aim for "fair-to-middlin," but to aim for the perfection of Jesus. It makes sense, because if you're never aiming high, you're going to stay pretty low. Is this a new thing for God to do, though? 

Nope! For example, consider Genesis 17:1, which says, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless." 

That word "blameless" is better translated, "complete, perfect; or having integrity." God's always had the same desire for us! 

BQ: I'm not looking to do a word study on "perfect" yet, as I don't feel I have the time to do it justice, but I'd still like to look at one cool use of it. Colossians 1:28 mentions perfection, saying, "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ."  That word, "complete," also means perfect. 

How can we be in Christ to receive this completion? As the Bible often mentions, it comes from being immersed: "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:27)

BQ: Another way to describe completion and perfection is that of maturity; having a lack of nothing. Heb 6:1-2 says it well, "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,  of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment."

The Air Force has a silly saying: "Aim high—fly, fight, win!" Although it's pedantic and trite, it does have some practical application. As Christians, we need to aim high, and we need to grow. We can't stop at the basics and call it good, just like no soldier can grant boot camp and call himself a special forces operator. The basics are just a foundation from which we move on to maturity, so challenge yourself to study by yourself, with others, and to be constantly immersed in a godly environment! :) Grow!!!

Self-deception and the seared conscience.

Self-deception, seared consciences.
BQ: How deceitful sin is! In 1 Tim 4:2, it's mentioned that there are people who are "seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron." We're tempted to think that we can pick some little forbidden thing and just keep it around while getting our salvation. It's kind of like saying your steak is on the grill and as long as you don't turn UP the heat from the current setting, it's not going to continue to cook. The thing is, you will indeed sear that steak through unless you pull it off that hot surface!

Question: When is God faithful to forgive our sins? What does repentance cause? Don't be deceived—who won't inherit the kingdom?

A: 1 John 1:9, 2 Cor 7:10-11, 1 Cor 6:9-11.

If we don't confess our sins and get rid of self-deception, we continue searing our consciences in the heat of the world! Let's get off that hot grill! 
(PN4)