FROM SECONDHAND RELIGION TO FIRSTHAND FAITH

For too long many of us have embraced a secondhand religion that is based on believing certain doctrines and defending traditions of our faith.

This secondhand religion is based on what we have heard from others - our parents, our family, our church - about who God is what God is like. It defines Christianity, and the Christian life, as nothing more than believing what the Bible says [or what our denomination or church tells us it says].

But the time is ripe for us to shed this dead religion in favor of a more vibrant and living relationship with a person - not a book or a creed or a statement of faith - but a God "in whom we live and move and have our being."

This is firsthand faith. In contrast to secondhand religion, firsthand faith is about an actual relationship with the person that the Bible points to. It's about knowing God and His Son in an intimate way.

All through the Gospels Jesus urges us to abandon the perceived safety of religious information gathering to the truly abundant life found only by abiding in Him.

We are called into an intimacy with God that is scandalous and breath-taking. [Matt. 6:9]

He is our "Papa" and we are His children. [1 John 3:1]

He invites us to draw near. [James 4:8]

He wants to make His home in us. [John 14:23]

He wants us to experience an intimacy with Him that compares to the union of a husband and wife. [Eph. 5:32]

He wants us to experience a "knowing" of Himself that conceives something within us. [John 17:3]

What this intimacy conceives in us is a new life that comes only from our close connection with Himself. [2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:5]

The sad thing is, too many of those who profess themselves to be Christians are not experiencing Christ in this way. They have not yet moved from secondhand religion into a firsthand knowledge of God where His voice is heard, His mind is known, and His heartbeat becomes synced with their own.

Secondhand religion leads to a life of anxiety, fear and stress.

Firsthand faith leads to a life of joy, hope, peace and confidence based on our connection to God.

If you're still stuck in a secondhand religion, I invite you to begin moving into a firsthand experience of God through the Spirit of Christ.

It can be as simple as taking some time to sit quietly alone with the Lord and whispering a prayer to Him, asking for a deeper experience of His presence; being still to know that He is God.

It won't happen all at once, but if you are serious about abandoning your secondhand religion in order to enter into firsthand knowledge of God, you will be rewarded.

"...they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us." [Acts 17:27]

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after God, for they shall be filled....Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." [Matt. 5:6;8]

"...and they shall call him 'Immanuel', which means 'God with us'" [Matt. 1:23]

Are you ready to move from secondhand religion to firsthand faith?

He is waiting to show you more of Himself.

The time is now.

-kg

In Christ?

A few months ago I started to notice something: Paul uses the phrase “In Christ” in a very interesting way. At first I was only aware of a few places where he used the phrase and I was often quoting his use in Romans 8:1:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..”

Over a few weeks of time I found myself reminding people that they are “in Christ” and because of that fact, this verse was true of them; they were not under any condemnation whatsoever.

Eventually, I started seeing a few other verses where Paul used the phrase, like:

“…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord” [Rom.6:23]

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” [Rom. 6:11]

“For I am convinced that neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom. 8:39]

“…so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” [Rom. 12:5]

What I started to realize was this: Paul had in mind a positional reality where those of us who were “in Christ” were beneficiaries of a specific set of blessings or conditions that those who were outside of Christ did not have.

To further research my theory, I searched online for the phrase “In Christ” and I found over 33 verses in the New Testament – mostly from Paul – which described what life looks like if, and when, we are found “in Christ”.

There are honestly too many verses to unpack individually here in a single blog article, unfortunately, but the truth is that Paul held a consistent belief about being “in Christ” and he constantly referred to it in his writings and teaching.

I’m not suggesting there’s some “hidden” teaching here. I’m saying that Paul believed that being “in Christ” was possible, and that it produces a specific set of realities that he plainly and very openly communicates all through his letters. What’s happened, I believe, is that we have glossed over the phrase “in Christ” as if it were some sort of religious terminology without fully taking the time to think about what Paul means by it.

Simply put, what Paul believes about the experience of being “in Christ” is hiding in plain sight. All we have to do is start paying close attention to how and when Paul uses this phrase – and he uses it quite a lot – to understand what it really means for us to be “in Christ”.

One example of this is powerfully expressed in 2 Corinthians 3:14:

“But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.”

That is profound stuff because he’s letting us know that being “in Christ” opens our eyes about the old covenant and allows us to see clearly. It means that if we are not looking at the old covenant through the eyes of Jesus, we are blind. Jesus reveals everything we need to know about the old covenant scriptures. It also means we don’t try to use the old covenant scriptures to modify Jesus. Why? Because only “in Christ is [the veil] taken away”, not the other way around.

Remember this:

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”[2 Cor.5:17]Jesus makes into new creatures – right here and right now. This is a present experience we can enjoy today, if we are “in Christ”.

As I said, this is a deep and far-reaching study that I hope to explore further in the future, but for now I encourage you to do your own study. The easiest way is to go online to BibleGateway.com and search “in Christ”[with quotations] and then write down a list of qualities that are attributed to those who are “in Christ”.

I think the results will be quite edifying.

Be sure to let me know what you learn in the comments below.

Thanks,



kg

Learning To Abide

Fear, worry, and doubt are un-Christian practices.

How can I say this? Because Jesus says this.

Jesus tells us not to worry. If we ignore him and practice worrying, then we are disobedient to Jesus. 

Or, to put it another way, worry is a sin.

When we worry we are saying that we doubt that God is in control. We give power to our fear and we act as if God isn't big enough to handle our life.

Jesus also tells us not to be afraid. He tells us not to fear men, who can only destroy our body but not our soul. He even tells us not to fear Him. 

His Apostles remind us in the New Testament that perfect love casts out fear, and that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

So, if we are ruled by our fears, we are not behaving like a Christian.

Doubt is a natural human emotion, just like fear and worry. But like those other emotions, doubt isn't something that a follower of Jesus can practice. 

If we are abiding in Christ, then we cannot doubt Him. If we go all in with Jesus, then that means we place all of our hope in Him, and if we do that we are not doubting, but trusting. 

Of course, none of us ever perfectly avoids these three things - fear, worry and doubt - but the point is that we do not practice these things. We don't allow fear, worry and doubt to remain. We cast those things out quickly and we refuse to be ruled by those because Jesus is our King and we are submitted to Him.

If we are abiding in Jesus, then we are practicing faith, hope and love, not fear worry and doubt.

Let's continue to walk in our new nature, which is Christ in us.

-kg

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READ MORE:

THE SKY IS [NOT] FALLING>

FEARLESS>

WORRY NOT> 

NOT A RESOLUTION

I'm not someone who makes New Year's Resolutions to lose weight, or eat healthy, or what have you. It's my understanding that those who do almost never follow through with their plans anyway. So, I've never felt the need to follow that trend.

But the other day my dear brother in Christ, Dan Notti, asked me to help him keep a few promises he's made to himself this year. After reading his list I was inspired to create one of my own.

Based on what I was already hearing the Lord whisper to me over the last several weeks, I wrote down these goals:

• To abide in Christ more and more.
• To let love be my dominant response to others.
• To spend more quality time with my wife, Wendy.
• To spiritually mentor my sons.
• To write at least one book and possibly a second book before year's end.

The calling to abide in Christ more and more stems from a simple realization that I need more of Jesus in my life. Everything else I might desire flows out of this.

If I hope to love more in the year ahead, it will only happen to the degree that I allow Jesus to live and breathe in me on a daily basis.

My attention to my wife's needs, and to my son's spiritual development will only emerge if I am connected to Christ and abiding in Him.

Writing my books might not seem to be necessarily dependent upon my experience of Jesus, but I would certainly prefer to be led by His Spirit as I write these books so that what He wants to be communicated is what I publish.

So, please don't call this a New Year's Resolution. It's nothing of the sort. It's simply my decision to lean more into Jesus today and to continually do so until I see Him face to face.

-kg

DOING NOTHING

Jesus said that, “apart from me you can do nothing” but for once I need to disagree with him on that one.

I mean, that’s simply not true. I know from firsthand experience that there are loads of things that Christians can do apart from Jesus.

For example, Christians can do these things without any help from our Lord:

·         Start a church.
·         Hire a pastor.
·         Buy a building.
·         Create a program.
·         Launch a ministry.
·         Market the Gospel.
·         Promote themselves.
·         Attract a crowd.
·         Grow their church.
·         Sell a lot of books.
·         Host a conference.
·         Plan a church service.

See what I’m saying? There are actually a whole lot of things that we can do without Jesus.

So, maybe what Jesus meant was that we can’t do anything of any real Kingdom value without him?

Or to put it another way, the things we can do without Jesus may appear to be important, but as far as He is concerned, they are all worth nothing.

The best we can do is, of course, the best we can do. But, just imagine for a moment what it would be like to raise our expectations a bit?

What if we started praying for things that were impossible to achieve? What if we began to expect the miraculous? What if we really started acting as if Jesus was actually living and breathing within us?

If we can dream a little bigger and embrace the bigger vision for accomplishing things that we know we could never achieve apart from Jesus, then we’ve automatically put ourselves in a position where we either trust Jesus or we’ll never make it.

That way, if these things get done we will know – and everyone else will too – that it was only Jesus who made that happen.

If what we can do apart from Jesus is really “nothing” then let’s ignore all of that and start shifting over to what can be accomplished when we abide in Christ, which is unlimited and eternal.

-kg

 

 

 

 

 

Bearing Lemons

Lately I've been wondering whether or not God has any use for me. Specifically, I've been pretty self-critical about my own apparent lack of spiritual fruit.

As I've shared recently, the Lord has reminded me that His love for me is absolute and unconditional. But there was still more He wanted to show me.

Last Sunday morning, one of our dear sisters in the Lord shared something that God had been showing her as she worked in her garden. She said, "Every time I look at our lemon tree, I think of you, Keith."

We had a few laughs about how the sour lemons symbolized my pessimistic tendencies, but then she continued. "A few months ago you had shared with us about how you really wanted for God to show you the fruit of your ministry, and ever since I've felt like God was showing me that your time is coming. Just like this lemon tree. The fruit isn't ripe yet, but those lemons are just so big. They are going to be huge and ripe very soon. I feel like this is God's way of saying that you will see your fruit very soon."

That really blessed me. This assurance came out of the blue, at a time when I was already doubting God's love for me and his unconditional acceptance.

That evening she emailed me a photo (the one attached to this article) to show me just how large the lemons were. She said, "Keith, the lemon tree is in a pot, and from the picture you can't see

much of the fruit. But you can see the relative size of the lemons...and they're starting to turn--can you see the beginning of yellow? Lord, give Keith fruit in his life that will remain!"

So, while I'm not totally sure why the Lord chose lemons as my metaphorical fruit, I do hope that there's room in his kingdom for a nice tall glass of lemonade in the coming days.

Hopefully this encourages you as well to place your hope in Him for whatever fruit may come in your life. Honestly, the process of bearing fruit is the work the Lord does in and through us. It's really nothing we can control, other than to cooperate with Him in that process.

“Jesus said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

-kg

MIND THE GAP

There is a gap between what I believe and what I practice.

For example, I believe that Jesus commands me to practice radical enemy-love and nonviolence, but in practice I enjoy watching violent films.

I believe that Jesus calls me to love others as I love myself, but in practice I am quite selfish and often put my own needs ahead of others.

I believe that Jesus commands me to share my abundance with the poor, but in practice I use my disposal income to purchase a lot of useless things for my own pleasure.

I believe that Jesus commands me to love other Christians as a reflection of my love for Him, but in practice I often find it more difficult to love my brothers and sisters in Christ than other people around me.

I believe that Jesus calls us to serve others in humility, but I often find myself looking for the praise of others and I sometimes feed on that recognition.

I believe that Jesus loves me more than any other person alive, but sometimes I find it very easy to ignore Him.

There's a large gap between the beliefs I hold in my heart and my daily practice of faith. I suspect you may also share the same kinds of struggles.

The reason why we constantly struggle to align our faith with our practice is this: We're not capable of success.

See, when I read the words of Jesus they are so true and so beautiful that my spirit soars. I cannot help but to acknowledge the truth and the wisdom behind His message, but the part I forget is that without Him none of it works.

The problem is me. I am a member of a race of people who have fallen short of the glory of God. This is why Jesus had to come in the flesh in the first place - because we were not capable of doing what God wanted us to do by ourselves.

Jesus stepped down into the muck with us. He demonstrated unsurpassed humility and weakness. He let go of all of His power and authority and embraced a complete dependence upon the Father. This is how Jesus lived the sinless life. This is how He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.

Then, Jesus turned around and told us that He could do nothing apart from the Father. He also told us that we could do nothing apart from Him. He commanded us to love one another, and to love God and He said that we would never even come close to making that work without remaining in constant and continual reliance upon Himself.

So, my failure to live out the values of His Kingdom is simply due to my attempt to fly solo. This is where I fall down. This is where I am confronted with my own weakness.

The solution? To cling to Jesus daily. To trust in Him for everything. To remain as close to Him as possible every moment of every day. To pray this simple prayer without ceasing - "Help me, Jesus. Help me."

This weakness in my flesh is actually the power of Christ at work in me, if I am connected to Christ. Without that connection, it is only weakness.

The gap between my practice and my faith is equal to the distance between myself and Jesus.

Mind the gap.

-kg

Wanting Less

“Jesus, the Blessed One, is poor. The poverty of Jesus is much more than an economic or social poverty. Jesus is poor because he freely chose powerlessness over power; vulnerability over defensiveness; dependency over self-sufficiency.” - Henri Nouwen.

I can’t fully express to you how profoundly this quote has impacted my heart. The implications for this are astounding for those of us who have decided to follow Jesus. Because if Jesus left the splendor of heaven to become nothing (see Philippians 2), then we should also step down from our earthly splendor and let go of our temporal wealth to follow Jesus into this intentional poverty.

I can hear some of you responding, “But, Jesus didn’t command everyone who followed Him to sell everything and give it to the poor. He only said that to the rich young ruler, right? Right?”

Right. And also wrong.

Yes, Jesus did tell the rich young ruler to sell everything and give it to the poor. That’s true. But he also said this:

“Anyone who does not give up all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

Read that again. Jesus is talking to “anyone”. Other translations use the word, “everyone” if you prefer. But either way, the meaning is clear. If anyone wants to be a follower of Jesus they cannot do so unless they first give up all that they have. Everything.

I’ve said before that Jesus only asks us to give up one thing to follow Him. It’s called “everything.” But for some reason this verse, and that quote by Nouwen, hit me in a new way this week.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been noticing a tendency in myself to become more materialistic lately? Maybe it’s because I’ve been a little fearful to let go of things and to share out of my abundance with people who are in need?

I think another aspect of this is the idea that the poverty of Jesus was intentional. As Paul noted, our weakness unleashes “the power of Christ” within us. (2 Cor. 12:9) So, the reason for Jesus to intentionally step into a life of poverty was to demonstrate to us the importance of depending on God for everything. It was also to model for us the value of people over things and possessions.

If I’m honest, the idea of letting go of my things is painful for me; physically and emotionally painful. I look around my room at my favorite books, and toys, and cd’s and games. What if all of those were gone forever? I consider my gadgets, my cell phone, my iPod, my X-box, and my television. What would my life be like without those? I wonder what items I simply could never let go of or give away and what it might take for me to let go of them for good.

This question of giving up everything to Jesus is uncomfortable for me to consider. The idea of taking these words from Jesus seriously frightens me. And why does it frighten me? Because it’s the Holy Spirit asking me these questions. Because the truth is, there are some things that I do not want to let go of. Jesus knows that I have to surrender everything to follow Him. It’s time to drop a few things I’ve been carrying to make it the next few miles of the journey.

See, on the global scale, I am rich. Filthy stinking rich. I make more in a year than most people on this planet will make in several lifetimes. I live in Orange County, one of the most expensive and extravagant places in the world. I have two cars. I have a garage full of stuff. I own dozens of electronic gadgets and toys. I eat better than most everyone else on the earth. I have a disposal income. I am rich.

The bible has a lot to say about those who are wealthy. None of it is very positive:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 19:23-24)

“He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:53)

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” (Luke 6:24)

“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.” (James 5:1)

“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” (James 1:9-11)

Here’s what I know about myself; one of my love languages is “gift-giving.” So, when I consider my recent desire for materialistic objects the truth becomes clear – I am trying to create an artificial feeling of love within myself by giving myself these gifts. But these gifts to myself are temporal. They do not bring me any joy. In fact, they serve to create a comfort zone around my heart that insulates me from others, and from trusting God.

So, in essence I believe that the Holy Spirit is urging me to change my posture from grasping to giving. If I can begin to let go of my things I will discover that true joy is found in letting go. By sharing what God has provided to me with others, this wall of comfort will begin to come down, and my heart will have more direct access to God.

Not coincidentally, I’ve also been praying lately for God to allow me to bear fruit in my life for His kingdom. Two things are required for bearing fruit:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:24-25)

So, the idea of letting go of my stuff involves dying to myself, and it involves sowing the seed of the Kingdom, and learning to trust in the Lord for everything. Not in my stuff.

Pray for me if you think of it this week. I’ll be continuing to seek the Lord about this and to begin sharing and giving away what I already have rather than seeking to gain more material objects that I do not need.

The irony? There are countless, priceless treasures in store for me as I cast away these temporal things and trust more in the God who loves me and gave Himself for me. He is a God who loves to give good gifts to His children.

-kg

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More verses on wealth:

“You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.” (James 5:5)

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Tim.6:9)

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Tim. 6:17)

“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14)

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev. 3:17)