SKIMMING THE DROSS

“You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 is an emphatic future command revealing the intentions of God to bring each of His children to spiritual maturity. God purposefully steers us to places where we must choose between our desire and His will, using trials and testing to refine and approve our faith, and nurture our new nature into Christlikeness. In Psalm 11:5 we find, "The Lord tests the righteous." And again in Psalm 17:3, "You have tested my heart.  You have tried me…” Paul affirms this with, "We speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts." (1 Thess. 2:4) James admonishes us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2), Peter to “not think it is strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you” (1 Peter 4:12), that the “genuineness of your faith” may be tested and approved (I Peter 1:7). Paul to “glory in tribulations.” (Rom. 5:3). The Greek word translated “fiery trial” in 1 peter 4: 12 is an old smelting term used for the refining of precious metals in a furnace. When the smelter skimmed the dross off the liquid gold ore and could see his own reflection, he knew the ore was pure gold. When God looks at us in the cauldron of adversity and sees only the likeness of His precious Son, His perfecting process is finished. (Send an e-mail request for complete study)

SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE

It is all too easy to be transformed by our culture rather than by our Savior. “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” The Apostle Paul said that. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Agur said that.  We need to develop an eternal rather than temporal perspective, seeing beyond space and time into eternity where our blessed hope anchors our soul from the waves of this life, and our true treasure resides incorruptible. I said that. The orphans, widows and homeless need our help more than we need that new toy, the one that’s going to burn anyway. Extrusion through the eye of a needle: Painful? You better believe it! Survivable? Iffy at best! Why choose that path when we can let Christ be our portion, and find our riches in Him. Why indeed!

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

God does not live in a box: It is sometimes hard to see God’s will, to hear His still small voice, when our emotions are driving us down a path of desire. We are so accustomed to experiencing God’s presence during worship, His “worship presence”, that we fail to recognize the many other ways He demonstrates His presence. During these times we misread God’s “silence” as desertion, much as Job did. Job was overwhelmed by what he perceived to be God’s silence, not realizing that God has many ways to communicate to us. All of our God directed desires are evidence of God’s presence, for God puts into us everything He wants us to give back to Him - it’s the “putting in” that changes us. When we worship it’s God saying “love on Me”, when we pray it’s God saying “talk to Me”, when we hunger for more of Him it’s God saying “want Me more”, when we are burdened for others it’s God saying “love on them with My love”, and when we study His word it’s God saying “ask Me to teach you”. These desires are put into us by our loving Father and therefore are demonstrations of His abiding presence - for He has said He will never leave us or forsake us and will always be with us (Heb. 13:5). We don’t want to just believe for God’s presence, we want to believe in God’s presence, to see it, taste it, hear it, smell it and feel it – to recognize we are continually experiencing God’s presence. God’s presence is dotting the landscape of our lives like trees - we are truly surrounded by God. We must learn the discipline of stilling our self before God and listening, for He is always present -- always!

SACRIFICE

It is funny, this struggle we have with faith – what we see in the mirror darkly is often the image of what we should be, of what God wants to change us into. Questions of faith, especially where sacrifice is evolved, are always questions about self and our willingness to die (more) and thereby more fully submit to God’s heart. It’s simply replacement theology where self, our carnal nature, is crucified, making way for God’s resurrected life to grow within. There are those who look for unity in The Light, the revelation of God’s word, and those who look for unity in The Life, the life of Christ within. Perhaps we should look for unity in Love, God’s love within embodying the commandment to love other people in the same way, degree, and manner we love our self, and demonstrated by a heart that willingly gives (Acts 4:32, 34-35), never counting the cost -- a sacrificial life that never seeks its own and gives out of excess and abundance, gives out of need, and gives until all is given. Can we really trust God for our “daily bread” when we already have cupboards full of food and money to buy more? A better question: Can we have this Love without having The Light and The Life? I think not. Can we have The Light and The Life and not have this unity of Love? Sadly, we seem to think so.

Matthew 25: 31-45 provides a mandate on demonstrating God’s sacrificial love to our brethren, a mandate we need to take to heart. Notice it is the righteous who give food, water, clothing and shelter, and visit the sick and imprisoned brethren. And it is these righteous ones to whom Jesus says “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The return of our Lord will usher in this judgment of moral character – Christlikeness -- in preparation for the millennial reign, determining who will enter the Kingdom. One gets the impression both the goats and the sheep are surprised at the judgment criteria, but the sheep, who had demonstrated the passionate sacrificial heart of God in life, were overjoyed at their reward. And the goats… well it doesn’t get any more serious then this! The metaphor with the sheep and goats is the “Christian label”:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21) Righteous works are the outward demonstration of inner faith and righteousness. Good works do not produce Godly character, Godly character produces good works. Matthew 25 should give us nightmares if we really understand this passage and have not taken it to heart in committed action. In this case obedience is sacrifice!

THE SIGNATURE OF JESUS

Jesus was and is a rebel, and His invitation is a revolutionary call to fight for the very heart of humanity.  To be “born again” is, literally, to be “born from above” into a war zone here on battlefield earth. His followers are called into an unconventional war using only the weapons of faith, hope and love. Christ chose the cross, His passion drove Him there, and the cross should ignite a passion in all His followers to follow the heart of their king.  If you are a follower of Christ, then you are called to fight for the heart of your king.  This is not a pristine call to a proper or safe religion.  Jesus beckons His followers to a path fueled by passion... passion for God and passion for God’s people, that is far from the easy road.  “The Way” is all about Love, Obedience, Passion, and Sacrifice... the things that bring a twinkle to our Daddy’s eyes, and filled with risk, adventure, uncertainty, and unlimited possibilities.  And the cost to truly embrace Christ, to embrace the cross, is nothing less than everything we are, everything we have, and everything we ever hope to be... everything!

SAY THIS TO YOURSELF: “HE WANTS EVERYTHING”!

THE CROSS IS THE SIGNATURE OF JESUS.