“The World’s Stain”

James 1:27
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

There are plenty of “big” extravagant and outrageous sins in this fallen world. After all, this world is extravagant in glorifying its outrageous fallenness. And we spend plenty of time discussing those outrageous sins while furrowing our brow at those who do them. We often hear sermons about how wicked these sins are and we shout our hearty “Amens!” in righteous condemnation of them. So, dear friend, it is not rape, pedophilia, murder, or any other number of sins that we likely do not struggle with that I care to speak about with you today...no....instead I want to talk with you about mud.

Just some days ago I came home from daily busyness and as I was sitting down to relax I noticed something alarming: there were muddy foot prints in my wife’s home! (Only a married man will understand that last bit) Who could have committed this travesty? And why would they? So I prepared my list of likely offenders...but as I ran down the roll of potential suspects, I quickly realized that only I was home. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I was the guilty party! Somehow in my travels that day I had unknowingly stepped in mud and now it had left clear evidence of the fact in clear display. Mud leaves it’s mark.
God’s word tells us that this evil world works much the same way. Sometimes without even our knowing, it can leave a mark on us. James calls it a “stain”. The idea is that something pure has been dirtied. My friend, this world is a spiritually muddy place...and often without too much coaxing, we step right in. A coworker gets the promotion we were sure we deserved and we step in the mud of jealousy. Our husband comes home and has forgotten to buy milk AGAIN and we stumble in the mud of angry and uncaring words. Our neighbor just refuses to stop being just so completely strange so we slip in the mud of personal judgment. On and on the muddy list goes; but not only does it not have to be this way, it mustn’t. The Lord has saved us for more than to be destined for this world’s mud. He has called us to love His loves and hate His hates. Isn’t it such a wonderfully humbling fact that God will give us the strength we need to accomplish His will? If we’ve fallen into sin, He promises to forgive and cleanse when we seek Him.

So I ask you, dear reader, is there any of this world’s mud on you? Where do you need to be most careful that you don’t step in it? At the office? In the car? With the family? In front of your computer or TV? Perhaps the most wise answer would be to say that we must be watchful everywhere and all the time...because like we said...this world is a muddy place, and The Lord’s wants His people like my wife wants her carpet: spotless.

"The Fate of the Proud"

Proverbs 29:1
“A man who hardens his neck after much reproof
Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.”

Ok, admit it...you can be pretty stubborn sometimes. And while Godly stubbornness (or perseverance) is a “good gift” from our Heavenly Father to help us face the pressures of the world or the temptations of the flesh, its when we are the one needing correction that general stubbornness can become fleshly pride and send us down a path deserving of what my Dad used to call an “attitude adjustment”.
Consider the message of Proverbs 29:1. By account of the verse this man had already been confronted with his error several times but in stubborn pride he had “hardened his neck” against the corrections. Sometimes our first reaction to reproof and correction is a prideful self defense...an unwillingness to honestly examine our own actions through the lense of Scripture. Sometimes “we just wanna do what we wanna do!” Do you find yourself in that spot today? Is there area of your life that should look differently than it does but you haven’t been listening to the voice of God’s Spirit? Turn your heart over to Him in these moments of conflict...ask Him to bring you to peace and purity. No longer cling to stubborn pride, admit the fault, confess the issue to God, and move on in right conscience before the Lord.
Surely you will not hold so tightly to this error that the fate of the stubborn stiff necked man will befall you? Remember the beautiful promise of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Listen to the voice of correction and find freedom today!

Ongoing Godliness

"You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." 1 Thessalonians 1:5b-7

Have you ever thrown a stone into a perfectly still pond? Isn’t it amazing how the concentric ripples spread all over the water just because you threw one little stone? The entire pond responds to your action.
I was reminded of that pond and those ripples as I was reading the Bible this morning. In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds them that He (and his traveling partners) had “proven” through their actions to be godly men. And in response to what they saw in Paul’s life and the power of God they witnessed in him, the Thessalonians chose to “imitate” Paul’s faithfulness to Christ...even though they were suffering persecution for their faith. But it doesn’t stop there! As the Thessalonians began to imitate Paul (who was imitating Christ), other believers began to hear of the faith that the Thessalonians had and began to imitate them!
Do you see it? It is as if Jesus is the stone thrown into the pond and Paul is changed by Jesus, and the Thessalonians are changed through Paul, and then neighboring towns are changed through the “example” set by the Thessalonians!! Brothers and sisters, the Gospel works the same way today! God wants to use us to bring about godly change in the lives of others. He wants us to set an example for Christ that is worthy of imitation...I wonder, how you will be an example for God today? How will God use you to “spread the ripples on the water?”