Let the secret out

            JOHN 19:38  Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away.

              A lot of times, Biblical characters get type cast (as do each of us)! Thomas will always be known as a doubter, even though he died a martyrs death, Peter a rock, even though he denied Christ three times, Judas a betrayer even though for a moment in time, he and Peter were practically the same type of man (a denier and a betrayer) who simply turned their backs on the Lord. Joseph of Arimathea is also type cast as a good servant of Christ, because he asked for the body of Jesus and helped fulfill prophecy.

I have no doubt that this Joseph was a good man, a upright man, but it clearly states in John 19:38 that Joseph secretly followed Christ.  He did not stand up for Christ until after his death.  He was a closet Christian.  How about you?  When is the last time you took a stand for Christ? When is the last time our country took a stand?  Polls still suggest we live in a Christian nation, when will we stand up for Christ?  When it is too late? We need to have a live out loud faith, not a flaunt my salvation, self righteous faith, but a faith that shows a lost and dying world a real hope.  Are we living like Joseph?  Are we afraid to stand up for Christ, who stood up and walked to a cross for you?

FIRST LOVE

Ephesians 6:19
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,

These words were written by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus.  When reading the book of Ephesians you cant help but notice the respect and the praises Paul sends to this church.  The Ephesus church was one of the leading churches in early Christianity.  They were on fire, ignited, and attempting to make a difference in the world. Think about your own relationship with God.  Think about your “early” relationship with God. Your boldness, your desire, your hunger to know more about Him.  Where is that relationship now?

If you continue reading the New Testament you know 30 some years after Paul’s letter to Ephesians, Jesus also talked to the church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation.  Jesus said “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen!”. In such a short period of time the good works and faith that the church of Ephesus displayed was gone.  Today the church doesn’t stand anymore, 2000 years later Ephesus is gone.  They had lost their first love, what about you today?  Do you still love Jesus with the same passion, vigor, emotion, dedication, and joy that you once did? 

Are you still fearless in the Lord?  For me it has been almost 3 years since I have typed on this xanga site.  So maybe I need to ask myself, am I still fearless in the Lord.  No matter what you are going through, no matter the trials and the tribulations, God still wants you to love Him, and he still wants to love you.  Jars of Clay sing a wonderful Christian song with the lyrics “no one loves me like you do”.  Do you still feel that way about your God?  Do you still love him like you once did?

HOUSE RULES

Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul

You know I believe (and sometimes paraphrasing can get one in trouble) you can paraphrase this verse by saying, the Lord wants us to WORSHIP HIM.  Therefore I ask you what does it mean to worship God?    Some synonyms of worship found in the thesaurus are adoration, love, reverence, respect, devotion, adulation, and veneration.  To me though worship is as the above verse states….fear the Lord, walk in his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and all your soul.  I have been told worship is a LIFESTYLE.  That everything you do can bring worship to the Lord.  I have been taught that we are to worship in the temple of God, alas 1 Corinthians 6:19 we learn that our bodies are the temple of God.  Your body is the house of God, therefore today’s question to ponder is; "what are your HOUSE RULES when it comes to worship"?

We all worship the Lord differently.  No one person worships exactly the same as another.  Even though we are all made in God’s image, we can all worship him in different ways.  Still, I believe it doesn’t take a Bible scholar to conclude that all Christians need a daily quite time as part of their worship to the Lord.  Mark 1:35 tells us that Jesus woke up early, went to a solitary place and prayed to the Lord.  If a daily quite time was a part of Jesus’ worship, it should very much be part of ours.  Therefore if we aren’t devoting to the Lord each day, we need to start.  What is your routine of quite time?

I have heard some people like to have their quite times in a group setting which allows for more accountability.  Bible studies and prayer request from other believers help them to concentrate on their own relationship.  Others like to have quite time alone, just one on one with God.  The solitude allows complete focus and adoration on the Lord.  Others take their favorite activities reading, cooking, sports, etc and allow part of their quite time with the Lord to come from those hobbies.  Some read their Bible and pray, others use prayer journals, Max Lucado books, Billy Graham revivals.  Some spend hours in prayer with God, others minutes.  What about you?  What is your quite time like?  How do you worship the Lord?  What are your HOUSE RULES?

Kinda Long Da Vinci Rant

Proverbs 9:10

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

        This verse has been on my heart lately.  In the Purpose Driven Life, the author asks a rhetorical question about “if you were the first person to try out a new invention, how would you find out how to work it”?  The answer of course was to ask the owner, read the owner’s manual.  Now as Christians, we are all NEW INVENTIONS or at the very least creations, so who should we ask?  Obvious answer is God, and is reading his owner’s manual ( a little book we call the Bible).  If we want wisdom, knowledge, and understanding we should be engulfed in the word of God, not in self help books, or fictional myths.  I have noticed so many Christians have read the Da Vinci Code.  Now the Da Vinci Code is a brilliantly written piece of literary FICTION.  The key word is fiction.  Advocates of the book discuss the FACTS found throughout the novel.  The problem is the Da Vinci Code is full of thrilling, intriguing, mystery, but very empty of historical truths.

        Have you ever had someone put words into your mouth?  Ever had someone twist something you say to their benefit?  That is the exact method of the Da Vinci Code.  Honestly, if you are willingly to allow me to twist around the facts of history to my advantage, I am positive I could change your outlook on Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro.  I could make them all look like benevolent leaders.  Of course that is absurd to think of, but not nearly as insane as the idea of Jesus being a fake (the claim of the Da Vinci Code).  The Da Vinci Code takes a few facts and smothers them into  well written, descriptive, fiction.

        You may be wondering what all of this has to do with; "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  Well, it has a lot to do with how we find wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  What we must not be guilty of is doing the exact concept of the Da Vinci Code.  We can’t take a few facts out of the Bible and apply our own descriptive, beneficial, interpretation.  Now, I certainly believe that God can revel himself through other things than the Bible (hence this site), but there is a huge difference between divine revelation and bias interpretation.  We live in a world that wants to apply God to their advantage and chant religious freedom when morality goes against their own desires.  We live in a time when abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, adultery, pornography etc are all becoming accepted.  The greatest problem with Christianity today is; Christians that accept those transgressions as moral freedoms. 

CHAINS

Philippians 1:14

Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Ephesians 6:20

for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

            I love the complete boldness that Paul displays in those verses (and many others), while being in what seems to be a completely horrendous situation.  You notice the word chains in both verses above, referring to being in prison, for believing in Christ.  While in prison Paul still wrote optimistically about the Lord (see Philippians 4:13).  Now the prisons Paul found himself in were not even as nice as the ones we have today.  No cable tv, no weight lifting, no guards v. prisoners football games.  Through all the drama of being beaten and imprisoned Paul still focused on the Lord.

            Do we attack life with the same zealousness of Paul?  Do we display such fervor during our financial burdens, indecisions, unfair times of criticism, or even during road rage, daily comments, and the grid of work or school? I find it so very hard to always approach life like the apostle Paul.  Yet, over the weekend I heard a Christian song, that said (paraphrasing) “Jesus didn’t say the cross wouldn’t be heavy, HE didn’t tell us the hill would be small”.  That line really hit home to me.  I hope each of you take time to think about that.  No where did Jesus promise everything would be smooth, easy, and perfect.  He offers us love, and support, and the incredible opportunity of eternal life.  That is enough for me to focus on HIM, when times are tough.  Another little thought that pops into my head when I get selfish about my life being too hard, is how other people have it much worse than me. 

I would imagine the people in Philippi and Ephesus had to think being persecuted, tormented, and mocked was completely unfair.  I would imagine they called out to GOD.  Asking HIM where he was, but with Paul’s letters I am sure they all got a glimpse of how worse of a situation they could have been in.  Think about yourself, without God in your life, where would you be now?  What would you be doing?  How many unanswered questions would you have?