When you think of the word saint what comes to mind?

If you're like most people you're likely to think of those who have left all the comforts and niceties of life in order to serve others.

You probably think of those who have sold all their possessions to serve on the mission fields of Africa or some other country that you can't even pronounce.



Mother Teresa certainly comes to mind, how can she not, she served on the mission fields of Calcutta, India for over 45 years. She ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying of Calcutta.

She has to be on the top of the top ten list right?





As I was having my Bible reading the other day in the book of Philippians, I was struck with how the apostle Paul referred to the Christians who live in Philippi; the apostle Paul addressed these believers as "saints" in Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:1b).



So I did a little digging and discovered that the word for saint literally means holy, and that the idea of holy is to be set apart.

As we go through the Bible we discover that all believers are saints, all believers are holy, and all believers are set apart for God.

Now the good stuff---since God has declared  that you are a saint, holy, set apart, then you are holy. This saintliness or holiness is not yours, it was given to you when you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

All believers are saints, not because we are righteous in ourselves, but because we have been given the righteousness of Jesus (Rom. 4:22-24).

Our understanding of the word saint has been somewhat twisted. We have come to believe that saints are a special higher order of Christians who accomplished extraordinary good deeds and lived an exemplary life. The danger here is that it leads us to believe that we have some holiness or saintliness of our own.

If you are a child of God, then you are holy, not because of any innate holiness of your own, but because God has set you apart and declared that you are holy.We are like the poor beggar, we are destitute of any righteousness or holiness of our own. This is exactly what Jesus meant in His sermon on the mount  when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Matt.5:3).




The child of God is the one who realizes that he is poor and destitute before a Holy and Righteous God. The child of God looks to God and rests in His grace and mercy.The child of God realizes that it is in recognizing his own poor condition before God that he finds eternal life.



The old hymn, "Jesus paid it all", shows us that it is not our goodness, righteousness, or holiness, but God's work in our lives:

1. I hear the Savior say,
   “Thy strength indeed is small;
   Child of weakness, watch and pray,
   Find in Me thine all in all.” 
2. • Refrain:
     Jesus paid it all,
     All to Him I owe;
     Sin had left a crimson stain,
     He washed it white as snow.
   •  
3. For nothing good have I
   Whereby Thy grace to claim;
   I’ll wash my garments white
   In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
4. And now complete in Him,
   My robe, His righteousness,
   Close sheltered ’neath His side,
   I am divinely blest.
5. Lord, now indeed I find
   Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
   Can change the leper’s spots
   And melt the heart of stone.
6. When from my dying bed
   My ransomed soul shall rise,
   “Jesus died my soul to save,”
   Shall rend the vaulted skies.
7. And when before the throne
   I stand in Him complete,
   I’ll lay my trophies down,
   All down at Jesus’ feet.

Simple

Sometimes you just need to put off all the cares of life and just meditate on this one simple truth:


"JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO."

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John. 3:16).

Please take the time to read this fascinating account of one of the greatest Christian linguists of all time:

Robert Dick Wilson (1856-1930) was fluent in 45 languages and dialects, including all of the Biblical and cognate languages, such as Hebrew, Greek, Babylonian, Phoenician, Coptic, various Aramaic dialects, French, German, and so forth. 45 languages and dialects in all.

Wilson could already read at the early age of four, and by the age of five he had read, among other books, Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. Wilson graduated from Princeton University at the age of 20, and he read the New Testament fluently in nine languages by the time he got to seminary. He had memorized the entire New Testament in Hebrew, along with portions of the Old Testament, and it is said the he could recite the New Testament in Hebrew without missing so much as a syllable.

Dick Wilson demolished the critics of his day, especially the likes of the heretic S. R. Driver and the Graf-Wellhausen School. Wilson's major publications, in which he not only annihilated the liberal critics, but also fortified the foundations of the study of the Old Testament with brilliant elucidations and conclusions, like nobody before or since, were, The Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament, Is Higher Criticism Scholarly, Studies In the Book Of Daniel (a two-volume masterpiece, and THE classic defence of the book of Daniel), and a host of papers and treatises in various publications. An example of Wilson's genuis and scholarship can be seen in this short paper -- The Veracity Of The Old Testament -- which delivers conclusive evidence for the accuracy of the foundation and transmission of the Hebrew Text.

Wilson became the leading professor at Princeton Theological Seminary where he spent many years defending the Bible against all comers, as well as turning out students with a sound foundation of rare learning. Nearing the age of seventy, Wilson nevertheless produced a stirring moment for his students when, after a dissertation on the complete trustworthiness of Scripture, the renowned scholar said with tears streaming down his face --

"Young men, there are many mysteries in this life I do not pretend to understand, many things hard to explain. But I can tell you this morning with the fullest assurance that -- Jesus loves me, this I know For the Bible tells me so!"

Cracks in the Wall

The longer I live the more I realize how little I know.

Over the years I've found myself uncomfortable with sweeping generalities...with all inclusive statements, with just accepting things as they are, just because they have always been that way.

In the area of my theology, I look back over the years and see where I don't hold the same positions today that I held in the past.


One of the greatest traps that we can fall into is to stop thinking, stop challenging the status quo.

 "An unexamined life is not worth living." -
  --  Socrates










Matthew 15:1-9 gives us tremendous insight into the dangers of just following religious tradition without thinking.


The religious leaders of Jesus' day (the scribes and pharisees) accused the disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders verse 1.


The religious leaders accused the disciples of not washing their hands before they ate---thus breaking the tradition (the extra biblical law) of the official institutional religious system of the Jews verse 2.


The rest of the verses (3-9) record the rebuke of Jesus---giving an example of how tradition contradicted the clear teaching of the Scriptures.

One of the traditions taught that a person does not have to take care of their parents in their old age. The tradition taught that children could set aside money for GWAD (god = the religious leaders) while ignoring the needs of their elderly parents.

Jesus sharply rebukes the religious leaders and their un-scriptural tradition by quoting from Exodus 20:12 that says to "honor your mother and father." The Jews knew that part of honoring their parents was to make sure that their parents financial needs were met.

Jesus concludes, with yet another rebuke to the religious leaders---he tells them that it is not what goes into the mouth that makes a man evil, but it is what comes out of the mouth (comes from the heart-the center of our being) that makes a man evil.

Jesus goes back into the Old Testament and quotes from the book of Isaiah---telling the religious leaders that the prophet Isaiah foretold of people like you. Jesus said that you are the people that honor God with your mouth and lips, but your HEART is far from God.

The goal of the Christian life is to allow our thinking to be informed by the authoritative Word of God. Don't just accept the teachings of your church or pastor, priest, or your religious leader; challenge, think, argue, by being INFORMED BY THE WORD OF GOD.

HOPE

We all have experienced brokenness at times in our lives! No one is exempt.

Job cries out in anguish as the pain of brokenness overwhelms him, " Let the day perish on which I was born. And the night which said, 'A boy is conceived'" (Job. 3:3).

Bob Dylan seemed to capture the sentiments of Job in one of his classic songs "Everything is Broken"

Broken bottles, broken plates,

Broken switches, broken gates,

Broken dishes, Broken parts,

Streets are filled with broken hearts.

Broken words words never meant to be spoken, 

Everything is broken.

The farther you are on the journey of life the more you see the "messiness of life:" sorrows, disappointments, unrealized dreams, broken relationships, addictions that have so disfigured a loved one they are barely recognizable.

Gerald Manley Hopkins asks, "O why are we so haggard at the heart, so care-coiled, care-killed...so cogged, so cumbered?"

Johnny Cash's life came to a grinding halt; having lived life in the fast land for decades, his life was ready to crash and burn. Johnny Cash noted that he tried everything, and everything had failed him. However, those old-time hymns that he learned on his mother's knee would speak to him during his darkest nights:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah tells us that we are like sheep who have gone astray, wandering from the Shepard---and God the Father has laid our sin upon His son (Isaiah. 53:6).

The HOPE and CURE for our brokenness is found in a restored relationship with our God. Sin has separated us from God, and man lives in this broken relationship with his creator until he comes back and allows God to restore this broken and damaged relationship.

Let me share a link to the "lift me up" song, by "The Afters," very uplifting and encouraging. God can restore and give us hope when all seems hopeless: The Afters new video, "Lift Me Up"

What is Joy

John MacArthur in his commentary on the book of Philippians writes about joy, noting that "Biblical joy [is] the settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for believers' good and His glory...."

Let's just take some time and meditate on that thought.

Biblical joy is to be differentiated from the happiness of the world. The happiness of the world is dependent on life's circumstances; worldly happiness, therefore, is fickle and fluctuating, always dependent on outside circumstances.

Biblical joy finds its roots and foundation in the conviction that God is sovereign and He controls the events in our lives. 

Biblical joy is also rooted in the conviction that God loves us and is working all things out for our good. Our good may not be what we think. According to the Scripture, our good is when "Christ is being formed in us" (Gal. 4:9), in other words, we are growing spiritually to look more like Jesus.



Ultimately, the whole of the "christian life" is not about us, it is for His glory (Rom. 11:36).

Let us live our lives in obedience to God for His glory, and I guarantee that you will experience true Biblical Joy.

The Gift Of Writing

Another sub job in my school district another lesson learned. Let me get right to it, as I was wandering the halls after school I noticed in one of the hallways there was a tribute to the great writers of the world.

I started to read some of the poems and short stories posted by some of the students, however, there was one poem that caught my attention. 

The title of the poem was "why I write." The student expressed that writing gives VOICE to what she feels. The poem said with much force and emotion that writing gives her a VEHICLE to say those things that were on her mind.

This got me to thinking about the Bible. God has given us His voice, His mind, His Will, in one glorious book; the Bible.

Think for a minute about the history of writing and in particular the history of how the Bible was transmitted to us: We have baked clay, parchment, papyrus, vellum, and Gutenberg's printing press and all were used as a medium for God to give us his voice.

 (For those who would like to investigate the history of how we got our Bibles here is an excellent resource): http://www.anabaptists.org/history/howwegot.html





Let us not leave our Bibles on the shelves to collect dust; pick up your Bible, love God's Word, study God's Word, remembering that "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him" (proverbs 30:5, New International Version).

Take God's flawless Word and let it be the meditation of your heart day and night, psalm 1:2.

Stress....who needs it?

Stress affects us all, and none escape its wear and tear.

ONE STRESSED OUT-SECRETARY told her boss: "When this rush is over, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I earned it, I deserve it, and nobody's going to take it from me."




The American Institute of Stress tells us that, job stress is very costly with the price tag for U.S. industry estimated at over $300 billion annually. Here are some additional facts compiled by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health:

40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful;

25% view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives;

Three fourths of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago;

29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work;

26 % of workers said they were "often or very often burned out or stressed by their work";

Job stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than financial or family problems.

Now keep in mind that these statistics are only dealing with work place stress, now add to that, marital stress, relational stress, financial stress, and, well, I think you get the picture, stress plays a big part in our lives.


The effects of stress on our bodies can be staggering. Migraine headaches, chronic fatigue, bruxism (gnashing of teeth), kidney disorders, hardening of the arteries, heart disease, ulcers and a list of other health maladies.

Stress also affects the way we think and feel. Stress is also associated with adjustment disorders, conduct disorders, (hostility, aggression, neurosis, and psychoses).

I don't think that too many people would disagree about the damaging affects of stress. But by now you have to be asking, "Yeah, I agree stress is bad, but is there any hope?"


Howard Taylor, in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, gives us good advice when it comes to stress:


"IT DOESN'T MATTER how great the pressure is. What really matters is where the pressure lies. whether it comes between me and God or whether it presses me nearer His heart."





Annie Johnson's beautiful hymn, Pressed out of measure, Pressured beyond all length also gives us some keen insight on how to handle the daily grind of stress, she writes:

Pressed out of measure, pressed beyond all length;

Pressed so intensely, seeming beyond strength;

Pressed in the body, pressed within the soul,

Pressed in the mind till darksome surges roll.

God is my hope and God is my joy;

He is the resurrection life I enjoy.

Pressure by foes, and pressure from our friends;

Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends;

Pressed into knowing none to help but God,

Pressed into loving both the staff and rod

There is a poem by Wilfred Peterson that can also give us comfort and peace when the pressures and stresses of life get us worn down:

Slow me down Lord:


Slow me down, Lord!

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amidst the confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the music of the singing streams that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magic restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations ... of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day of the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise that I may know that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing speed.

Let me look forward into the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater
destiny.

 

The cure for anxiety:

We are to bring our concerns to God in prayer.

We are to look to God as the only one that can truly help us in our time of need.

We are to look at pressure (anxiety) as a tool used by God to bring us to trust in Him.

We are to realize that God is bigger than all our problems.

Closing Thought: The Christian Life is to be lived for the Glory of God, allow God to use
the daily pressures and stresses to bring you into a deeper relationship with Himself.



"Casting all you care upon Him for he cares for you" (1 peter 5:7).