God Encounters / The Final Installment

Today is last post in a 6 week series of posts on God Encounters.  I hope this series has encouraged and uplifted you.

As we finish it out will look at the encounter that God had with Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul. Look to Acts 9 and get picture of what happened and how God encountered Saul.  Click here to read Acts 9:1-25.  We have  looked at that we should never forget that unbelievers can change and be converted and once someone is converted it should become “not I but Christ”  and that should show clearly in our lives.  Our lives should also reflect the fact that Jesus wants us to know Him intimately and when that happens we are transformed by knowing Him.   We also saw that there are times when we look foolish to others because we are following the wisdom of God.  That then leads to these last few thoughts.

Something else that we need to focus on; an encounter with God should take away our pride and humble us. Every person wants to sit upon the throne of their own life. We are all driven by selfish or egotistical goals – that is all of us – and that is what happens when Jesus is not where he should be in your life or mine. However, Jesus Christ wants to sit upon the throne of our life – He wants you to allow Him to be in control and drive. Jesus needs to be in the drives seat – we are NOT his co-pilot and He is NOT ours – we need to be in the backseat saying nothing and enjoying the ride! The arrogant Saul who met Jesus Christ could say for the rest of his life, "Not I but Christ" which is what he said in Galatians 2:20. For all of us – we need to rid ourselves of saying me, my, and I but make it about Christ and others! Pride is a self focus and humility is an others focus! How many times do you say me, my, or I each day? I dare you to count and I promise you will be astounded by the number times you say them and the subjects you say me, my, and I about. Me, my, and I pushed God out of whatever you use those words with! What are you pushing God out of?

Something else here I want you to notice and that is Saul was not the only one who was encountered by God in this story! God has some people who will help to explain to us our encounter with Him. There was a believer in Damascus called Ananias that was not previously mentioned in Scripture and interestingly he is never mentioned again. Apparently, Ananias is encountered by God and raised up for this one shining moment in life. Ananias was to help Saul in his crucial encounter with Jesus Christ. Ananias was a man whose main stage moment in life was this one thing and it was so very important! He had to step in and show Saul the meaning in what happened to him. Here is the thing – it is not an easy thing to do and in order to do it you must be one who is read up in the Word of God and one who is prayed up in the power of Christ. I believe Ananias to be a very godly man and one who is faithful because he was called to do something powerful in his encounter with Christ and something that was extremely hard!

I am reminded in some ways of Phillip and the eunuch in Acts 8:30 -31 where we read: 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Are you connected with Jesus to the point where you could sit with someone and help them find Christ? Are you a person who has a positive reputation among people to come and talk with – without them feeling judged or condemned? Are you someone who has an open heart and attitude for God to encounter you and call you to speak with someone? Ananias was and God called him to do something very hard.

Ananias was initially afraid because he had heard about the reputation of Saul. He knew what Saul was like and what Saul had done and was going to be doing but now God encounters him to go and meet Saul and lay hands on him and pray for him. God is asking him to do something that was unpleasant and potentially deadly because he did not know if Saul was faking being a Christian to just learn who the Christians were or not! We can learn a lesson in this and that is: in an encounter sometimes God gives us a task that is unpleasant. God gave Ananias a task that was for certain unpleasant but in that task God gave him the strength and courage to do it and great blessing came as a result. We see that Ananias obeyed and went to Saul and then laid hands on him and prayed for his healing. God used Ananias to deliver a message to Saul that he was to be the apostle to the Gentiles. We see an example of someone we need to be like! I challenge you to think about yourself – are you willing to do the hard and unpleasant task if God encounters you to do so?

Has God ever encountered you to do something unpleasant?  How did it work out?  Any thoughts on the series?

God Encounters / Foolishness

We have been looking at the encounter that God had Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul in the last couple of posts. Look to Acts 9 and get picture of what happened and how God encountered Saul.  Click here to read Acts 9:1-25.  We have  looked at that we should never forget that unbelievers can change and be converted and once someone is converted it should become “not I but Christ”  and that should show clearly in our lives.  Our lives should also reflect the fact that Jesus wants us to know Him intimately and when that happens we are transformed by knowing Him. That then leads to these next couple of thoughts.

Sometimes we can’t explain the experience of what happened in an encounter, we can only testify to the transforming power of Jesus Christ. It is all about the transforming power of Christ in our lives! On two occasions in his life, Saul gave testimony of his conversion on the Damascus road. In neither of those testimonies did he try to explain what happened in the experience. He emphasized the radical transformation in his life. Before he was converted, he was a Christ-hating Jew who wanted to persecute the Church and after he met Jesus Christ, he became a preacher of the gospel and proclaimer of Christ. Saul became someone focused on the right things in life and that is what a transformed life is – it is going from a wrong focus to a right one. Paul writes this so well in Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” That is the right focus because it is all about Christ!

That brings about this point: People around us don’t understand what is happening when we encounter Christ. The people with Saul did not understand what Saul heard or saw. Acts 22:9 records Paul saying this; “And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.” They knew something happened but what happened they did not know. When we meet Jesus Christ, we march to a different drumbeat. Our friends who do not know Jesus Christ – should do not understand our motives, or our objectives. If you have people who are not believers in Christ understanding everything you do then you might not be living like you should! If the world understand every decision that the church you attend and I attend then we might be making worldly decisions and not faith decisions. Consider what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18-27  – NAS -18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.

So if people understand everything that we are doing as individuals or as a churches, then we need to begin to rethink where we are getting our wisdom and what it is we are doing! We need to do things God’s way and not ours and God’s way will look foolish to those who do not know him.

What do you think?  Do you think people should understand the things we do as individuals or churches?  Why or why not?

God Encounters / Transformed

We, in the the last post, started looking at the encounter that God had Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul. Look to Acts 9 and get picture of what happened and how God encountered Saul.  Click here to read Acts 9:1-25.  In the last post we looked at knowing that unbelievers can change and be converted and once someone is converted it should become “not I but Christ”  and that should show clearly in our lives.  That then leads to the next thoughts along these lines..

Here is the truth of the matter; Jesus wants us to know Him for who He is. When Jesus encountered Saul on the road to Damascus, He did not give reasons nor did he try to re-interpret Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus simply told Saul in verse 5, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting ". Meeting Jesus was enough to transform Saul’s life and it is enough to transform yours! Jesus encounters us so that we can really get to know who he is! Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 – that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Do you know Him like this? Do you know His power? Do you see his power in your life? If someone were to ask you to prove you know Jesus like this, what would you say? Would you say you go to church? Would you say pray and read the Bible sometimes? Would you say you listen to Christian radio? Those things are all good but I do not think they are proof of knowing Jesus – a transformed life is proof – you are different today than you were yesterday because of the power of Christ in your life! You speak differently, you talk about Christ and not other people, you have the joy of the Lord in your heart and written all over your face! That is how people will know you have been transformed! Again I ask – could someone look at your actions, words, behaviors and see that you know Him and that you have been transformed by Jesus? If you are a believer in Christ, I pray so!

Here is the real deal; after an encounter with Jesus, our life is pointed in a different direction. Obviously, Saul was coming to Damascus to arrest Christians. But after encountering Jesus Christ, he began preaching as we read in verse 20, He was preaching “immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God ". Saul did the opposite in Damascus for which he came – he came to arrest but then preached. Are you living in the opposite manor as you were before you met Jesus? Are you living a little bit different or are you radically different! We need to be radically different from what we once were – that is transformation and that is the transformation we see here with Saul! He is radically transformed! Have you been radically transformed by Christ?

What would you say are evidences of a transformed life?  Any other thoughts to share?

God Encounters / Not I But…

We have been discussing God encounters over the past six weeks or so of posts and we will finish this series up this week. Before anything else let me remind you that the most important God encounter you can have is where you meet Jesus and you understand His work on the cross. It is an encounter where you are transformed and changed by the power of God. It will change everything and give you a purpose in life. After that there are other encounters we can have with God where He shows us things like direction in life or seeing Him in fresh and new ways or where he confronts sin and sinful attitude or pushes us reach out beyond our borders to new people or where He restores us or where He completely transforms our lives. God encounters are where we have an overwhelming sense of the presence and power of God in our lives and they happen when we have an open heart and attitude toward God.

We have talked about a number of people who had encounters. We talked about Jacob and how he encountered God and left being reminded who God was and what He has done for him. We talked about Elijah who was discouraged and who encountered God and God reminded of the future in front of him and the hope that was in front of him. We talked about Ezekiel and his encounters and how God called him to do some seemingly crazy things and how Ezekiel’s dream died but how God gave him a new dream, new vision, and a new passion which he got because of his trusting God. We talked about the woman at the well and how she encountered Jesus and how he transformed her life and how she told everyone she could about Jesus and encouraged them to encounter Him for themselves. The last week we talked about how Jesus encountered Peter after he denied Christ and backslid and how in the encounter with Jesus, Peter was restored to his ministry because of his repentant heart and honest response to God. We have seen that God encounters people for a variety of reasons and it always radically changes the person and they are always better people because of their encounter with God.

Today we are going to start looking at the encounter that God had Saul who later becomes the apostle Paul. Look to Acts 9 and get picture of what happened and how God encountered Saul.  Click here to read Acts 9:1-25.

This is a passage that many, if not all of you have read before – so let me remind you – do not lose the wonder of what happens here. Saul a Jewish member of the Sanhedrin became Saul the Apostle to the Gentiles – his name had not yet changed to Paul. Saul persecuted Christians, after his conversion, the Jews tried to kill him in Damascus and then in Jerusalem. He went everywhere planting churches, and Jews followed him to criticize . . . arrest . . . stone . . . and attempt to assassinate him. Without a doubt, the man who encountered Christ on the road to Damascus became the most influential name in the spread of Christianity. The encounter with Christ motivated him to sacrificial service. He preached the gospel, wrote letters, trained disciples and influenced the future direction of all of Christianity.

What can we learn from his encounter Christ that will help us? What are the important lessons for us to learn so we can encounter Christ in this way?

The first thing is this: An unbelieving person can encounter Christ and be transformed. Before Saul took the trip to Damascus, he was not converted. But in a transforming experience he met Jesus Christ, and was transformed. Not only was his personality transformed, his theology was transformed, and his purpose in life was transformed. This shows us that an unbeliever can be transformed and we need never lose sight of this and it is a sad time if or when do.

The thing is this; the call for all is tell those who do not know Christ how to find Him. Sometimes we have been believers so long that we forget what it is like to be an unbeliever. So instead of reaching out to the unbelievers in love, we condemn them. Instead of shining our light into the darkness, we condemn the darkness. We, many times, forget that an unbeliever can encounter Christ and will be transformed when they do. It is our calling to help them by pointing to Christ so that He can encounter them. We are many times like those around Saul and think that there is no way that God could save this person or that person! Then we do not trust that they are transformed and question it when they do not make the changes we think they need to make in the time we think they should be making it. We need to remember what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Paul who was Saul was a walking example of this and it is our calling to help others to see that they can be someone new in Christ and not discourage it or put road blocks that are not in Scripture in the way! It is our job to encourage an encounter with Christ.

Then we come to this: The basis of encountering Christ is not grounded in logical explanations or empirical proofs, but rather in an experience with Jesus Christ. Saul, who was trained in logic under Gamaliel, could easily argue against Christianity, and had rational arguments to defend his faith. However, Saul didn’t have any defense when he met Jesus Christ. In the same manner, many atheists and skeptics doubt the Word of God but when they meet Jesus Christ, no one has to prove to them that the Bible is the Word of God because they know it too be true when they encounter Christ! When they encounter Jesus Christ, they inwardly know that God exists, and that His Word is true. How about you, have you met Jesus? Have you encountered Jesus? Do you know Him from experiencing his love, power, presence, grace, and mercy in your life? Do you know that He is real? Are you living like it? Are you showing others His love, His grace, His mercy or are your lips saying one thing but you actions something else? When you truly meet Jesus, what Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, becomes your life – he writes: I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. Is it no longer I that live in you but Christ – again is that seen in your life daily?

If someone asked you how do you live a “Not I but Christ” in me life?  How would you answer them?  Any other thoughts on this post?

Positive and the Best to Enjoy life

The last two posts have been about enjoying life and this post will continue along those lines.  Here are two more ways I think that we can enjoy the life we are blessed to have,

Thinking Right or on the positive side of Life – Phil 4:8 – Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious–the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.  (Message)

What do you fill your mind with, things that positive or negative? Paul tells us for a reason to fill our minds with the positive. The positive brings about a better result!

Do negative people have great parties? When I was a kid I loved to watch the Honeymooners. Who would you have rather hung out with Ralph or Norton? Norton was a guy who loved life and lived it not worry about everyone else. We want to hang out with people who are fun and enjoy life like Norton. Not with people who constantly bring us down like Ralph.

Negativity and positively are both contagious – which are you spreading? Are you helping people to enjoy life or to dread life and fear everything?

What is your picture of God – Is he some Old guy up in heaven with rolled up newspaper waiting to slap you like a fly when you get out of line or is he a God who laughs, loves, and wants the same for his people. Do not misunderstand – God is Holy, Righteous and Just and He is also a God of Joy or enjoyment.

Your Thinking determines a lot. If you think that today will be joyful and enjoyable – most likely it will be but if you think it will be a drag then it will be.

So to enjoy life, a positive outlook is essential. That then moves us to the next thing we can do to enjoy this life.

Doing you best all the time for God – 1^st Corinthians 10:31 – So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you–you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. ( Message)

You enjoy the things you work for more than the things given to you. You also get a real sense of satisfaction when you work hard. What is does it mean again to enjoy? Taking pleasure or satisfaction in something.

My first radio/cassette player was something I shoveled many sidewalks to get. I worked hard and did my best so that I could get it and I really got pleasure out of doing what was need to get it. I worked hard and kept it along time – as a matter of fact – I had a junkie car that I kept it in the back on the floor and played it all the time because my radio was broken. I had that thing for almost 20 years – I loved it – because I worked hard and did my best so that I could get it.

We should be doing our best because we always feel better when we have done the best we can – regret kills enjoyment. Live life with no regrets! You will never regret doing your best for God.

What do you think – do these areas help us to enjoy life more?  Do you lean to the positive or negative in your thinking?  How are you working to stay positive?  Do you always give God your best?

He Took A Risk

Doing some reading this weekend  in Acts and I was reminded of these verses: Acts 9:26-28  26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that He had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

What strikes me is  the risk  that Barnabas was willing to take here.  Saul was a known killer of the Christians and so people are afraid of him.  Barnabas was willing to take the risk and take him to the apostles.  Barnabas takes up and share the story of how the Lord came to Saul and spoke to him.  Barnabas is letting them know that Saul is boldly speaking the name of Christ.

Barnabas is risking his reputation by taking Saul to the apostles.  Just think, Barnabas is risking the fact that if he is wrong that he could be killed by Saul and the church could be in great danger.  Barnabas was willing to risk looking foolish  to everyone if he were wrong.   I see it that Barnabas was willing to risk all these things because he had compassion on Saul.  He was willing to risk because he new it was the right thing to do.  He was willing to risk because he believed in Saul and what God has done in his life.

All the believers in Jerusalem not want to trust Saul and some of that was because they did not want to recognize that people can and do change. The knew Saul as the proud one and the arrogant one had been killing and persecuting the ones in the church.  But they were not seeing that Saul was one who was grace oriented and one who was characterized by maximum humility. Barnabas I believe saw this in Saul and therefore he knew it.  He realized that people could  and do change. Barnabas was a person who was willing to get involved in other peoples lives. He was willing to invest the time to find out what was really true and then to act upon that knowledge.

He risked to invest in people.  He risked to believe in people.  He risked to get to know people. He risked to encourage people. He risked to have compassion on people.

How about you?  Are you willing to take a risk and invest in others, believe in others, get to know others, to encourage others, and have compassion on others?

What is the biggest risk you have ever taken?  Any thoughts you want to share on risk taking and people?

Joy or Robbed of it?

Psalm 16:11. “Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand are pleasures forever.”

What do you see as a key here for those of us who know Christ?

How often do we take advantage of the ability to have the fullness of joy? How many believers do you know that live in disappointment and despair that could and should be living in the blessing of joy?

Let us take now just a few minutes and talk about what robs us of the joy that we should have in life but before we do just think again about this: Paul is in prison as he writes Philippians and nineteen times he talks about joy in it.  If someone should have had their joy robbed, it should have been Paul. You have a man who is looking at possibly being beheaded. Paul is not only facing that but he is facing the disappointment of wanting to go to Rome to preach the gospel (Romans 1:13-16) and not being able to do that. Also he is chained to a Roman soldier while being on house arrest (Acts 28:30-31). In all this Paul overflowed with joy and his joy was not robbed from him.

What are the things in life that rob us from our joy?

1. Circumstances – When we have things going our way we feel much better but have you ever stopped to think about how little control we really have in life? We have no control over the weather because if we did, those of you who farm would have had some rain come in the last week or so. We have no control over the car in front of us, whether is goes slow or fast. We have no control over what other people say or do. If your life is only joyful when you are living in ideal circumstances, then you are going to be miserable most of the time.

2. People – All of us have lost of joy because of people at one point in time or another. Because of what people are, what people are not, what they say, what they do not say, what they do and what they do not do. We for sure have all robbed people of joy because of one of these areas. We can not isolate ourselves completely from people and glorify Christ because if there are people around, we are to be sharing in life with them. We are to be salt and light to the world around us. People will be one of the greatest sources of joy and they will be one of the things rob it, if you let them.

3. Things – Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with his two sons who were fighting and crying. A man walked up and asked “What is the matter with the boys?” “The same thing that is wrong with the whole world”, Lincoln replied, “I have three Walnuts and each of the boys want two!” Things are a big robber of our joy. Look with me at Luke 12:15, And he said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” Most people today think that things are what will bring them joy but the pursuit of them are one of the things that rob us of joy.

4. Worry – This is probably the one that I have seen rob more people than any of the others. It not only robs people of their joy but also creates physical problems. Worry has terrible and damaging effects on the body. It effects the stomach with terrible problems, headaches as well as other physical symptoms. Worry is one of those things that just zaps anything positive and steals away any joy that is going on. If anyone had a reason to worry it was Paul, but instead of telling people to worry he tells them to have joy and to not worry.

So these are the four things that come to rob and steal away our joy.   So then let me ask you these two questions:

1.  Which one of these do allow to rob you of Joy?

2.  Is there another area that you find also robs you of Joy that I have not mentioned?

Leap Tall Buildings?

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Let me ask you – what do you see this verse as saying?  

Paul is able to be content  ( which I talked about in yesterdays post ) because Christ is the one who gives him the strength. This verse is specifically  referring to Paul’s ability to be content in all things. To achieve this contentment, he needed the strength of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, many people take this verse out of context and use it to reinforce a "super-Christian" mentality that can leap over tall buildings in a single bound. I really  believe that this verse is one of the most taken out of context verses in the Bible.  What people do is they break the verse into two pieces. They say – I can do all things – and somehow use this verse to show that they can do anything they put their minds too. I have a problem with that because it is leaving Christ out of the picture.

What people miss is that the strength of Christ in Paul’s life was manifest in his ability to be content when he did suffer need. Paul was in need when he wrote this but knew that Christ gave him the strength to get through it.  The verse does not tell us that we can leap buildings in a single bound as many people sadly think.

To really understand what this is saying I think we must put this precious statement of faith in connection with John 15:5 for without Me you can do nothing. With Jesus we can do all things, without Him we can’t do anything.

We never want to lose sight of the idea that we need Christ to be our strength and when He is out strength  we will make it through and be content.

Find your strength in Him today! 

What are your thoughts?

Contentment?

Philippians 4:11,12 –Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

Paul in verse 11 says – I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: We know that this is how Paul can say that his thankfulness was not based in his own need. Even though Paul was in need, he was content where he was at – even in his Roman imprisonment.

We also see he says: I have learned: We know that Paul had to learn contentment because it isn’t natural to mankind.

Then Paul in verse 12  says: I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity: Paul reminds us that his contentment was not only theoretical. He had actually lived this. Paul had been financially well-off; he had been financially needy. When he talks about living in prosperity – the Greek word there actually means overflow. It gives the picture of Paul at one point had an overflow of funds and things. Now though when Paul is writing this he had very little and was living in prison.  What we see here is that no matter what you have or do not have in life you can and should be content in this life.

In my meditating on this verse I continue to have these questions that run through my head that I have to ask myself on a consistent basis and I will ask them of you today.  Are you content? Do you always want something bigger and better? Do you always want what others have? Are you satisfied with your looks, and/or your intelligence?

I have to remind myself this truth – No matter what you have or do not have I  should be content because it is all belongs to Christ.

What do you thing about all this?  How are you doing with contentment?