Tag: christian life

Not Ashamed (2 Timothy 1:8-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. 

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 

And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.

That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. (New Living Translation)

Guilt and Shame

Shame is a nasty feeling. Whereas guilt is a function of the conscience, and helps steer us toward making things right with others, shame lays an unnecessary heavy burden on the soul. Guilt says that I did or said something that wasn’t good. But shame says we did or said something because I am a failure.

The Apostle Paul insisted to his young protégé, Timothy, that there’s no basis for shame when it comes to proclamation of the gospel. In fact, the Good News confronts shame by putting a wooden stake through its heart.

Shame is a vampire that lives in the shadows and feeds on secrets. But the light of the Gospel penetrates life, disintegrating shame and putting it to death.

God’s word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. God’s word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth. (Hebrews 4:12-13, CEV)

Not a Failure

From a particular perspective, Paul would seem like a failure to many. He was an up and coming star in Judaic circles, but gave it all up to follow Jesus. And then, his life was marked by continual hardship, even persecution. To top it off, he landed in prison. Ironically, Paul found himself in a bad place just for being a preacher of good. He never left his imprisonment, and was eventually killed.

Yet Paul had no shame about any of it. Rather, he embraced the suffering, the difficulty, and all the circumstances that went sideways. Why? Because he had complete faith in who he was serving and what he was doing.

A lot of people, especially church pastors, struggle with shame. Most of them don’t have “successful” ministries when looked at from a certain angle. They see themselves as failures, and end up leaving the ministry and never going back.

Our strength and our help, however, no matter whether we’re clergy or laity, is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth; our assistance is found in the Good News we proclaim, in Jesus Christ, who himself was not ashamed of being tortured and killed.

Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-3, NLT)

No More Shame

Christ has defanged the vampire of shame. And because of the work achieved on the Cross, we can now live in confidence, knowing who we believe, and trusting that the shame-busting Good News of grace will have it’s penetrating way in the world.

Salvation entails being delivered from something so that we can live for something else. We have been saved from the terrible grip of shame – which then allows us to live a vulnerable and confident faith in Jesus through the power of the Spirit.

Deliverance from shame enables us to respond to our holy calling from God.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4, NIV)

God chose us to be holy. He does not want us to live in sin. (1 Thessalonians 4:7, ERV)

“Salvation” is a wonderful word which needs to be reclaimed as so much more than going to heaven someday. In reality, it is the divine purpose by which God makes us just, right, and holy, forgiving our offenses and transforming us by the Spirit into the image of Christ.

Christ, in his incarnation, life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension has redeemed us. Jesus has torn down every wall, removed each barrier, and built bridges in connecting us to a life without shame and with everything we need to live well.

Christians embody the life of Christ within them by living a holy life, free of the weight of shame, and boldly proclaiming a message of grace, forgiveness, and freedom from the dark secrets we all carry.

This isn’t merely an ethereal gospel; it is Good News of great joy that has real impact for the nitty-gritty of our everyday lives.

O God, the author of peace and lover of harmony, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is deliverance and freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Pentecost, by Jennifer Allison

Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 

Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”

All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”

But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
And I will perform wonders in the sky above
and miraculous signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (New English Translation)

The Coming of the Holy Spirit, by Soichi Watanabe, 1996

Tornadoes are powerful. So is fire. They both have an immense potential for awe and destruction.  It’s interesting that when the little band of Christ’s followers experienced the Holy Spirit for the very first time, they likened what they encountered as wind and as fire. 

There is power in the Spirit – for both life and in destruction. It is the Spirit of God who dismantles and rearranges lives to make something different or new altogether. Most certainly, when the Spirit gets involved, nothing is going to be the same again.

On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit upset the status quo and formed a new band of believers into the community of the redeemed (the Church). The presence of God’s Holy Spirit brings energy, strength, and ability to spread the good news of Jesus, heal broken lives, and bring an egalitarian way of life that sees no distinction based on race, class, gender, or ethnicity. 

The giving of the Spirit to the people of God is a whole lot more than a day set aside on a calendar, or a by-gone ancient thing that happened and has no significance for today. In fact, it is more than true to say that an authentic follower of Jesus Christ is a Pentecostal believer.  The New Testament knows nothing of a Christian who isn’t given the Spirit to accomplish the will of God on this earth.

Therefore, this time of the year is hugely significant when we attune ourselves to Holy Time because it is the age of the Spirit, the time of Pentecostal life and power. 

Ten days after recognizing Christ’s Ascension, and fifty days after our Lord’s resurrection from death, the Christian Calendar observes the day of Pentecost (which literally means “fifty” in Greek).  The day coincides with an established Jewish festival, the Feast of Weeks. Back in the day, Jerusalem would be filled with all kinds of different nationalities and ethnicities during the festival.

“There Appeared To Them Separated Tongues,” by Salvador Dali, 1967

Pentecost is often known as the birthday of the Church. It marks the time when the Holy Spirit came upon the fledgling believers in power. The disciple Peter, once a flaky up-and-down follower, was filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. His bold proclamation of repentance and faith in Jesus led directly to three-thousand persons added to the little band of one-hundred twenty.

And it didn’t stop there.

We live in an age where all believers in Jesus have the same Holy Spirit as our spiritual ancestors did. It’s an era of spiritual empowerment. The Church is called to reach the world with good news of forgiveness and grace through the person and work of Christ. 

So, then, the Church possesses confidence and security in knowing that the Spirit’s enablement and power is available for mission and spiritual care to the nations. It’s an immense calling that befits the bigness of God.

There are a wide range of Christian celebrations of Pentecost. Some churches do not recognize the holiday at all. Most churches at least mention it in prayer, song, or sermon. Other churches go all out, with worship focused on remembering the first Pentecost and praying for a similar outpouring of divine power. Churches that employ liturgical colors generally use red on Pentecost as a symbol of fiery spiritual power.

Pentecost reminds us that Christians are meant to live in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, all the time. This day is a chance to confess our shortcomings and failures because of fear, apathy, and selfishness; and to ask for a fresh infusing and infilling of God’s wonderful Spirit. 

The Day of Pentecost flings every single believer into a congregational whole, the Church, and lets us know that we are not to be rugged individualists acting alone but are part of the Body of Christ. Therefore, we must renew our commitment to the Church for whom Christ died. 

The Spirit is ready to use us in forging spiritual bonds of kinship and solidarity. Pentecost throws disparate people together in a unified whole, made up of every kind of language, nationality, ethnicity, gender, and race.  We are all to use the gifts of the Spirit given to us for the benefit of building up one another.

We exist because of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, there is no power source because the Spirit is the battery, the generator of the Christian life. We are to do all life and ministry through the power of the Spirit, equipping and encouraging each other, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and worshiping the person of the Spirit in always being present with us.

Pentecost was (and is!) a watershed event. Worship, community, and outreach are the logical and collective responsibilities of each believer and every church around the globe.

Let us, then, recognize Pentecost and observe this day with heartfelt thanksgiving and a renewed impulse to exercise our spiritual abilities – graciously given to us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Spirit of Faith, Not Fear (Romans 8:14-17)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Come Holy Spirit, by Ed de Guzman, 2014

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (New International Version)

The distinguishing mark of the believer in Jesus Christ is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the sine qua non – the indispensable and most essential element – of the Christian life.

Christians are spiritual people, that is, people of the Spirit. Christianity is a religion dependent upon spiritual resources for life and godliness.

There is nothing more practical, beneficial, and enjoyable than the application of biblical truth to our lives each and every day.  

The Spirit’s work is to point us to Christ. The application of biblical truth is an experience of getting to know Jesus Christ better, and becoming ever more aware and involved with God. This involvement, characterized by faith, hope, and love, increasingly transforms every area of the Christian’s character and life. And it is the Spirit who helps us do it.

It is not God’s will that we fail in living the Christian life by succumbing to fear.  

Rather, it is God’s intention that believers have a robust faith which sings with gusto, connects meaningfully and vulnerably with other Christians, and a boldness to embody the good news of grace and forgiveness in Christ. To love God, and love the world, is to have a life of faith, not fear.

The successful Christian life is characterized by:

  • Experiencing inner transformation through suffering
  • Enjoying ministry and worship with others
  • Progressive deliverance from the power of sin
  • Continual enablement to live a holy life
  • Being an effective witness to the person and work of Jesus

Living this kind of life keeps believers from yielding to temptation. Life in the Spirit motivates us to read the Bible and pray; and to live above criticism and pretense.

The spiritual life helps others discern and understand what Christianity is all about. And, perhaps most importantly, life in the Spirit glorifies God, because we are then reflecting the joy and beauty of the Lord in all we do and say.

So, why don’t more Christians experience this kind of life-giving knowledge and joy? 

It is possible, even with the best of intentions in living a faithful and spiritually rich life, to be stonewalled or crippled with fear and anxiety. And in our fearful state, we almost always produce incorrect actions. These mistakes end up becoming barriers to living an enjoyable and productive Christian life. 

Here are just a few of the fearful and/or erroneous statements I have heard as a pastor over the years:

  1. It’s the pastor’s job to do all that stuff (as if parishioners can live vicariously through their pastor and not have to face their fears of failure)
  2. I don’t need to be a part of a church (as if it’s optional for Christians; and as if I can do it myself)
  3. I don’t like reading (as if this gets us off the hook to personally learn Holy Scripture)
  4. I think (or feel) _____ (as if my thoughts and opinions are the final authority concerning what I should do or not do).
  5. That’s nice advice (as if what is heard in a sermon or read in the Bible does not really need to be followed)
  6. God will lead people to Jesus (as if I have no responsibility for involvement with unbelievers)
  7. I sincerely believe ______ (as if sincerity makes something true)
  8. If I can’t do it 100% I won’t do it at all (as if service depends on my effort, and not on the Spirit’s power)
  9. I might screw it up; others can do it better than me (as if the word “grace” doesn’t exist in Christianity)
  10. That might work for you, but it doesn’t work for me (as if certain people are exceptions to the a spiritually successful life)

      What might you add to this list? 

      What are some of the hindrances which keep you from enjoying the Lord and living in faith?  

Fear disconnects us from the God of grace, that is, unless we acknowledge we are afraid and drink deeply from the fount of Scripture, letting the Holy Spirit be our divine mentor in leading us to Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant,
    so your faces shall never be ashamed. (Psalm 34:4-5, NRSV)

Mighty and merciful God, I humble myself before you, trusting that you shall exalt me in due time. Therefore, I cast all my anxiety on you because you care for me. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all your people, along with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. And may you conspire within yourself – Father, Son, and Spirit – to alleviate our fears and bolster our faith. Amen.

Get Rid of Grumbling (Numbers 16:41-50)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Grumbling broke out the next day in the community of Israel, grumbling against Moses and Aaron: “You have killed God’s people!”

But it so happened that when the community got together against Moses and Aaron, they looked over at the Tent of Meeting and there was the Cloud—the Glory of God for all to see.

Moses and Aaron stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting. God spoke to Moses: “Back away from this congregation so that I can do away with them this very minute.”

They threw themselves face down on the ground.

Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and fill it with incense, along with fire from the Altar. Get to the congregation as fast as you can: make atonement for them. Anger is pouring out from God—the plague has started!”

Aaron grabbed the censer, as directed by Moses, and ran into the midst of the congregation. The plague had already begun. He put burning incense into the censer and atoned for the people. He stood there between the living and the dead and stopped the plague.

Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from the plague, not counting those who died in the affair of Korah. Aaron then went back to join Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The plague was stopped. (The Message)

grum-bled, grum-bling, grum-ble:

  • to murmur or mutter in discontent; complain sullenly
  • an expression of discontent; complaint; unhappy murmur; growl.

Out of all the bad things in this old world, grumbling and murmuring aren’t typically at the top of our list of heinous sins. Yet, they’re bad. The reason grumbling needs squelching is because complaining is like a gateway drug – start using it and it will surely lead to worse things, unless stopped.

A surefire way to divide a community of people is by grumbling and complaining. This was the deliberate tool of Korah – a Levite who was angling for more power and authority amongst the Israelites in their sojourn in the desert. His stirring up rebellion through constant complaints was a high-handed sin, meant to undercut Moses as the leader.

The revolt he incited resulted in a dramatic intervention of God in causing the earth to open up and swallow Korah and the rebels. The Lord has a zero tolerance policy toward satanic plans of upending godly leadership and replacing it with a lust for power.

The Punishment of Korah, Holman Illustrated Bible, 1890

Unfortunately, this was not the end of the story. Aftershocks of grumbling erupted around the community. And it was dealt with by God with the same sort of wrath that Korah experienced. A plague broke out and many more died.

So, why all the death? This was far more than a bunch of malcontents who were griping about how things were going. It was an assault against the Lord – in the same way Lucifer once brought rebellion to heaven. In both cases, swift action was taken.

Please keep in mind that we need a nuanced understanding of complaining, grumbling, and arguing. A great deal of complaining is an expression of grief, of pushing back against the hurt. There’s also the grumbling that comes because everybody else is doing it. But then there is the sort of grumbling that is intended to topple God as the authority and place oneself in that position. That’s the nasty sort which will get one in a heap of trouble.

I once had a parishioner, several years back, who continually complained about me. More than that, he seemed to be always trying to get others to join him in his constant grumbling. I certainly tried to be as meek as Moses. Whether that happened, or not, I’m not sure.

It got bad enough that one Sunday, the grumbler invited me to come outside after church and settle things “like men,” which meant with fisticuffs. Oy.

About a month later, the man was standing in his driveway, then fell straight over. He was dead before he even hit the pavement. I’ll leave it to you for an interpretation. I’ll also say that, obviously, the grumbling and rebellion stopped.

The people’s grumbling and revolt against Moses was tantamount to rebelling against God.

Grumbling is not okay. Whenever folks dig in and complain in order to overturn something or someone which the Lord has established, their plans for destruction get turned in on themselves. In other words, what happens to themselves is what they were planning all along for another.

The New Testament author of Hebrews picked up this tone of grumbling from the ancient Israelites, and offered a warning to his own contemporary audience:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.
That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:8-12, NIV)

The author also provided some simple yet profound exhortation for keeping grumbling and murmuring at bay:

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13, NIV)

Encouragement is the daily practice which prevents a hard heart and soul rot – the very things which lead a person to begin complaining and rebelling.

If there is no encouragement, complaints will take root. And if complaints take root, bitterness begins to grow. And if bitterness begins to grow, it will feed itself on grudge-bearing. And if grudge-bearing persists, it will have very unpleasant results.

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:15, NIV)

So, let us cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, and put aside the shameful deeds of darkness. Let us look for ways to encourage one another, rather than tearing down each other. Let us:

Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3, NIV)

Holy God, you work in us to will and to act in order to fulfill your good purpose. Help us to do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, without fault in a warped and crooked generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.