10 Rules for a Better Life (#4)

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

Have you ever had to put a 2-year-old down for a nap? Or better yet, can you remember what it was like to have your parents tell YOU to take a nap? If not, then perhaps you know what it's like to stay up well past your bedtime.

The point is most of us (if not all of us) have difficulty admitting when we need to rest. Oh sure, we'll gladly take a nap when it's time for school, work, etc. But we rarely cut time out of our busy schedules simply to rest.

Usually, we think that as long as we go to church on Sunday then we've properly "remembered the Sabbath." But once the service lets out, we go right back to our busy schedule. Sunday is just another day to get last week's stuff done before Monday comes again.

Now I don't want us to get confused about which day is considered the "Sabbath." Originally it was (and still is) Saturday for the Jews, now many Christians observe it on Sunday. Today, some people have to work on Sundays because they work in a hospital or something like that. But what's important is that you have that one day of the week somewhere in there that is dedicated to remembering and resting.
God knows exactly how busy and forgetful we are. He knew we would need a day to rest just like anyone knows a young child needs a nap. He also knows that humans tend to get so busy that they forget about Him. So He intentionally put the Sabbath day into our schedules and commanded us to observe it because it's so good for us!

Like all the rules God gives us, the fourth commandment is mostly for our benefit rather than God's. He does not need us to remember Him to keep His self-esteem up; He is fully sufficient within Himself. Rather, God tells us to remember to come to Him because He knows we need Him. Just as Jesus said in Mark 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

So this week, make sure there's one day dedicated to resting and remembering your Creator. And remember this as well: God is about relationship, not performance. He is not impressed with how much you can get done. If God was interested in our efficiency He would not have created us to need seven to eight hours of sleep every day! But He is interested in spending time with us.

Since time is our most valuable commodity, you might hesitate to give God an entire day out of your week, but time spent with God is never wasted.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#3)

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

Imagine you are holding an American flag. Yes, in the end it's just a piece of cloth, but it represents far more than that. It's a symbol, an emblem of your country. It stands for things like liberty, freedom, independence, and the sacrifice that makes these things possible.

There is a reason we have a certain code of conduct for our flag. We don't let the flag touch the ground, we fold it a special way, display it only in certain ways, we even have rules for "retiring" a flag. Some of the rules in the code may sound picky, but they are there to make sure we give the flag proper respect.

Now imagine you're holding that flag in front of a squad of Navy SEALs or Army Rangers or Marines or (insert your chosen section of the military here). How careful are you going to be with the flag now? With all those soldiers watching you, would you be so bold as to use the flag to blow your nose or wipe off your sweat?You never know these days, maybe you really would do those disrespectful things. But political correctness or not, each one of those soldiers would be tempted to shoot you on site (or at least give you a beating you'd never forget). When you disrespect the flag, you fail to recognize what it means to the country as well as the ones who fight to protect it.

In the same way, when you disrespect the name of God, you fail to recognize the power and holiness of the One who created the universe, including you. Not only is it just stupid to mock the God who has your life in His hands, but the name of God has incredible power and significance because of what it represents.

God's name, Yahweh, means "I am." While we humans have not always existed, God always was, is, and will always be God. And He has never been less than everything we need. Through God's very name He tells us that He is sufficient for us. God is . . . fill in the blank. He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior, our Protector, the list could go on and on. But one of God's most important attributes is that He is holy.

God is set apart. He is not like humans. He is not common. Therefore, His name should not be used lightly. Just like there are rules for how we treat the flag, God has given us the third commandment to tell us how we should regard His name. If you say that you want to honor God, make sure your give His name the proper respect: Don't use it unless you've really thought about who you are talking about.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#1 and #2)

As I explained in the last post, the rules and laws that God gives us help us live the best life possible. Laws have this bad reputation of ruining our fun, but if God's rules can drastically improve our lives if we are willing to follow them.

Following rules isn't easy. Anyone who has tried to get into better shape knows that eating healthy foods and exercising regularly is easier said than done. We know these are good things to do and we know that our lives are improved when our bodies are in better shape. But we still get distracted by unhealthy foods and lazy behavior.

In the same way, God's laws are good for us and we will feel better about life if we actually follow them. In each of the 10 Commandments, God shows that He is looking out for our best interests. If you follow them, I guarantee you'll live a more productive life with fewer regrets than if you simply ignored them.

#1: "You shall not have any other gods before me." Exodus 20:3

Some of you might think that God just made up this rule because He is insecure and He needs you to make Him the most important thing in your life. While it's true that God is pleased when we put Him first in our lives, we are actually the ones who need Him. Sure, you can make other things number one in your life such as sports, music, entertainment, success, relationships, etc. But sooner or later all of these things will fail you. God, Himself, is the only thing in the universe that will never let you down and He lasts forever.
God knows that if you build your life on any other foundation, eventually it is going to crumble. You can save yourself a lot of grief and pain by simply making God your number one priority. It doesn't mean that you can't ever do things you enjoy. But following God still has to come before anything else. This might mean you pass up on things you think are fun, but in the end it will be better for you. If you don't trust that God knows what is good and what is bad for you, then things won't work out very well.

#2: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

The second commandment goes right along with the first. The first rule basically says, "Don't make anything in your life more important than me." And the second rule says, "Don't worship anything else besides me."

So this rule goes beyond just making idols out of wood, stone, gold, etc. Today, we don't really worship statues, but we do idolize public icons, prioritize entertainment, and emphasize our "right" to do whatever we want.Having a role model is great, but idolizing your favorite athlete, performer, or politician is something else. We might not make physical idols, but we create shrines to "important" public figures. We might not worship pagan gods, but we still call our favorite singer a "rock god" (we have a show called American Idol for crying out loud!). And at the end of the day no athlete is super-human, but we still want to make legends out of men who make a living by playing a game.

We might not have a temple to the gods of entertainment or laziness, but we do have stadiums and concert halls and nearly all of us have a place in our homes where we sit down and pay these gods homage for hours on end. You might actually be able to find some shrines to the goddess of pleasure, but even people who don't frequent nightclubs and other shady establishments still follow her one and only commandment: "You shall do what feels good . . . now!"

The point is, there are still all sorts of things in our society that can easily interfere with rule number one. God is sufficient for you. You don't need to worship Him and something else. Once you build up something up in your mind so much that you think you NEED it to feel normal, then you now have another "god" in your life.

These first two rules establish a foundation for everything else God commands us to do or not do: 1.) Put Him first and 2.) Stay away from anything that gets in the way of rule No. 1. Just those two rules cover a lot and the rest of the 10 commandments (as well as the rest of the Bible) help to point out more specifics.

Freedom Through Law

Tuesday Night Truth (T.N.T.) starts up tonight at Campus Life (7:00 - 8:30 pm). Throughout this fall we will be exploring the truth about God's law and the freedom we can experience through it.

Some might say, "'Freedom' and 'Law' don't go together! 'Freedom' means I get to do what I want and rules just get in the way of that." I'm not going to say that following God's law is always easy (actually, it's rarely easy), but let me ask this question: which is better, life with rules or life without rules?

But before anyone says, "I would much rather live without any rules holding me back," stop and think for a moment. If there are no rules, who is to say what is right and what is wrong? For instance, who's to say that it's wrong for someone to take something that's yours? Who is going to stop someone else from beating you up (or worse) just because they don't like you?

How much fun would it be to live in fear of what someone else might do to you? Yeah, you will be able to do whatever you want . . . as long as someone bigger and stronger doesn't come along and do whatever he wants to you.

That's why we don't live in anarchy. We make rules and laws and assign people to enforce them so we can sleep at night knowing that there is some sense of justice in the society.

I would also add that God doesn't really stop people from doing what they want. Obviously, if God immediately punished everyone who broke one of His commandments, none of us would probably be around anymore. God may give us laws, but we always have a choice about whether we'll follow them or not. So if you want to go and do your own thing, you have that option . . . but there will be consequences.

Just like parents give their kids rules to guide them, God's law is meant to guide us away from things that can hurt us. However, the guide can always be ignored. Parents tell their kids not to eat too much junk food, but they do it anyway and get a stomach ache. Some continue to do it their whole lives and have heart attacks or other health problems. Or parents may say not to play in the street, but kids do it anyway and get hit by cars.In the same way, God tells us not to lie. But people do it anyway and wonder why nobody trusts them. He tells us not to covet or steal. But people do it anyway and wonder why they always want more. He tells us not to have sex outside of marriage. But people do it anyway and wonder why they have dysfunctional families.

As C. S. Lewis puts it, "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right then, have it your way.'" While "bad" things still happen to "good" people, there are all kinds of problems that can be avoided in life by simply following God's commands.

If you look closely at God's laws, you'll see that He's simply telling us the best possible way to live while protecting us from a life that we really don't want. If you don't believe me, let me ask you another question: how are things working out for you doing things your way?

Ask, Seek, Knock

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

Do you want answers? Do you want the Truth? Well, perhaps you can't handle the truth. You say you want to be closer to God, to know Him better, but how much effort do you put into seeking Him?

I believe that God could simply grant us wisdom and knowledge and make us understand how much He loves us and what He wants for our lives. But I also think that the reason He doesn't do that is because He wants us to seek Him out. So the real question is: How hard are you willing to look to find God?

Most people don't look very hard at all and then complain that God doesn't reveal Himself anymore. The problem is we've gotten lazy. I know people who complain about the effort it takes to get up and walk to the other side of a room. How are they going to put forward the effort to read their Bibles, pray, and seek after God day after day?

If you have experienced frustration in your spiritual life, don't lose hope. Matthew 7:7-8 tells us that those who continue to ask, seek, and knock will eventually be rewarded. If it seems like you're not growing even when you read your Bible and pray every day, it might be a test of your desire. God may be waiting to see how badly you want Him in your life.

Those who give up reading their Bibles after a week don't get much out of it. God reveals Himself to those who REALLY try to find Him. How hard are you trying?
If you would rather be lazy and just slide through life, God won't stop you. But you will never find Him that way. However, if you take the time seek God and get to know Him, you will never regret it. Nothing else could be a better use of your time.

God is waiting for you to find Him. He WANTS you to find Him. But how hard will you look?

Attitude Problem

I've never really considered myself to be someone with a "bad attitude." I try to cooperate with people and usually avoid causing problems with others. Even when I have to do something I don't enjoy, I stay pretty upbeat and positive. My wife tells me that I'm one of the most patient people she knows. But despite all this, I have a major attitude problem . . . it's one we all share.

While being cooperative and easygoing might help me in my relationships with other people, God's standard is much higher. As soon as we think we are "good enough" in some way, that is the time to watch out. Get into God's Word to see what He really asks of us.

Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Sure, I get along with other people, but do I consider them better than myself? Even when I am nice and polite to someone, I might be thinking in the back of my mind, "I'm smarter than this person," or "My manners are better than his/hers," or "This person isn't as humble as I am," or "I'm right, he/she is wrong."
And when do I NOT act out of selfish ambition?! Sure, I can be kind to others and I can work hard at my job, but when I'm on my own time, my choices almost always reflect my own interests. I choose to do things that will bring ME joy: I watch TV shows that I like, I play sports because I enjoy it, I read a book because I find it interesting. One could even argue that I am nice to others because it's easier for me to deal with people if I can get them to like me. And almost everyone who works hard at their job hopes to get at least some kind of reward or recognition for it (never mind that it's how they earn money).

This is the problem with reading the Bible . . . it tells us to do things that seem impossible. How am I supposed to do nothing out of selfish ambition? Every time we make a choice we choose what will be best for us. Even our decision to follow Jesus is made because we would rather go to heaven than hell. We would rather have God's love and truth than the corruption and lies of this world.

And how do I consider someone better than me if I know I'm smarter, faster, stronger, etc.? Sure, I think some people are better than I am: like police officers, firemen, soldiers, and other courageous people I could mention. But then again, I bet most of them curse, smoke, and/or drink and I don't do any of that so maybe . . . Oops, there I go again.

Perhaps if we read a little further in Philippians we can understand this problem better. Verses 5-8 say this:

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

The world says that as long as you're not bothering others, then what you choose to do is your own business. But that is not what God says. It's not enough to just live and let live. It's not enough for me to be nice to other people; I need to look out for their interests! It's not enough for me to make sure I don't do "bad" things; I need to make sure I act out of humility 24/7 and that my actions glorify God.

This takes a huge attitude adjustment! "Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus." He was God come in the form of a man; He was definitely better than everyone else. But He became a servant, which means His purpose was not to enjoy Himself. His purpose was to serve (and ultimately die for) others.Here is our attitude problem: we think our purpose is to be entertained. We go through life trying to have fun. If it's fun, if it's funny or entertaining, then it's good. But this is not the attitude God wants us to have because this is not our purpose. Our purpose to serve God and others! The sooner we get that through our minds, the sooner we will be able to live the way the Bible tells us.

The next time you are bored, don't think, "How can I have more fun?" Instead, remember that your purpose is to serve and find a way to serve someone. Do a chore that you weren't told to do. Make something for someone else, perhaps a meal. Help someone with their homework. Agree to do something with your family cheerfully even when you'd rather do something else. There are a million ways you can serve; if you try to find them, you will.

If you find yourself asking, "What's in it for me?" that's the old attitude talking. If you truly consider others better than yourself, then what you want isn't as important as what they want. Remember, your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus. He never said, "I'm God, I don't have to serve these people! They don't even appreciate what I do!" This adjustment is hard, but if you ask God to help you, He will.

In the end the choice is yours, though. Will you let go of your pride and accept your purpose to serve others no matter what? I'll tell you a little secret: there's a reward for your service when this life is over.

How to be Saved

Maybe you've heard about Jesus and Christianity, but no one has ever really explained to you how to become a Christian and be saved from your sin. Perhaps you think you are a Christian, but if anyone ever asked you what that means you would get tongue-tied. Either way, I would encourage you to keep reading.

First of all, I want to make it clear that there are no magic words or secret formulas to be saved and go to heaven. Becoming a Christian is a matter of the heart; saying words you don't mean is useless. That being said, many people do use a method called the Romans Road to Salvation as a way to explain the process of salvation to others. It's not the only way to explain how to become a Christian, but it is helpful, clear, and fairly simple.The book of Romans is the sixth book of the New Testament (the second part of the Bible). Paul, the author of this book, talks a lot about sin, salvation, and living a new life as Christians. While the Romans Road focuses on key verses, I would suggest reading the entire book to gain the full meaning.The first stop on the Romans Road is in chapter three, where Paul reminds us that we are all sinners and separated from God. Part of being saved is repenting from sin and asking God for forgiveness. This means you will have to admit to God you have done wrong and can't fix it.

Romans 3:10-12 – “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”

And in Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”Paul is saying that we as humans are not good by nature. We have all done wrong in our lives and we have separated ourselves from God who is perfectly good and the only source of life. Therefore, our sin leads to death.

Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is death;"
Even though God is a loving God, He is also just and can't simply let us off the hook for sinning. He may be all-powerful, but He is also perfect and holy and will not break His own rules. There are consequences for our sin and God must punish all sin. However, the rest of Romans 6:23 has good news for us.

Romans 6:23b – "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Where does this gift of eternal life come from? This is the second stop on the Romans Road. We must understand how God made a way for us to be with Him. He had to punish our sin, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take it on Himself. The penalty for sin is death, so Jesus died for our sin so that we would not have to.

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Now our lives on earth will still come to an end. But when we die, we can either have life in heaven with God or we will spend eternity apart from Him in hell, which is the worst form of death: existence apart from God who is the source of all life, hope, goodness, love, etc.

The third step is to accept the gift that God offers us. Even though Jesus died for everyone's sin, we can still choose to reject Him. He will only save those who want to be saved. So if you are not willing to admit you need His help, you will not be saved. Please, don't slap away the hand that God has offered to pull you to safety.Romans 10:9-10 tells us “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

And Romans 10:13 says, “for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

All you have to do is believe in your heart that 1.) Jesus was who He said He was: the Son of God and 2.) that His sacrifice paid for your sin. If you believe that His death on the cross and resurrection is what saves you from sin rather than your own good works, then call out to Jesus to save you and He will. Put your faith in His ability to save you rather than your own.

Once you have done this, your new life has already begun. Now comes step four: assurance of salvation.

Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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."

These verses tell us that we don't have to worry about what will happen to us. Even though we have sinned, if we have put our faith in Christ we are now justified and God will not condemn us. And nothing anyone does or says, no matter what happens in this life, you can be sure that you will go to be with God forever when this life is over.

Furthermore, you no longer have to live a life of sin like the rest of the world. Those who do not understand what God has done for them still live according to their own sinful desires and try everything they can to find happiness. But once we have received God's forgiveness and the assurance of our salvation. Thus, step five is to live a life of obedience and holiness. Even though we usually do not like people telling us how to live, God will only tell us to do what is best for us. Obeying God will always work out well for you in the end.
Romans 6:20-22 – “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

No matter who you are, where you are, where you come from, or what you have done you can always be saved. There is nowhere you can go where God cannot reach you. Don't even think that there is any sin you could have committed that He cannot forgive. Your sin is not stronger than His grace; do not insult His ability to save.

Do not underestimate the power of Jesus, but do not overestimate your own ability either. Do not assume that everything will work out for you if you have not put your life in His hands. Nothing you do will impress God and He will not make exceptions. One way or another, your sin will be punished. Do you want to pay for it or will you let Jesus handle it for you?