Dave Brown:
men struggled with this from the very beginning with the first
Adam in Genesis, sat by as Eve ate the fruit
a life of passivity is void of courageous decisions
The life of Jesus was an engaged, active life, marked by
obedience, obedience to His father
We know how Jesus turned over the money changer tables in the
Temple and challenged the pharisees by healing and other activities
He did on the Sabaath.
We also see in Matt 10:34-35 "34 “Do not think that I
came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a
sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against
his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law’;",
but he wasn't a macho man or tough guy the way think of today
and the way we glorify tough guys in the movies, like Rambo and
John Wayne.
Jesus was a servant. He washed His disciples feet. He
told His disciples to turn the other cheek if someone struck
them.
"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God." - Matt 5:9
"18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by
those who make peace." - James 3:18
Matthew 11:29 was the only time when Jesus talks about His
heart, and He said His heart is gentle and meek
So we don't fight against passivity by being violent but
rather by being obedient, which means following God's Word, being
Torah observant. But we also should be ready to take a stand
when necessary to stand for God and His Word and against the
traditions of men which I would say is when Jesus showed the most
passion
How many of you have gone tubing, where you just float down a
river
That's a fun thing to do on a relaxing summer day but it's a
poor model for living the Christian life
More than ever we need to be intentional if we're going to be
obedient and be ready for the return of Yeshua.
That's true of our personal relationship with our Father, and
it's also true of our responsibilities He has entrusted with.
As a husband, we are to follow Ephesians 5:25-28 "Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and
cleanse her with the washing of water by the
word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his
wife loves himself. "
As a father, we should follow Ephesians 6:4
"4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to
wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the
Lord." A couple resources I'd like to mention are podcasts
"Parenting Today's Teens" and "The Dad Whisperer"
Our work, Ephesians 6:5-8 "5 Bondservants, be obedient to
those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear
and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to
Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as
bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and
not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he
will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." and
Colossians 3:23
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord and not to men,"
In all these roles and responsibilities we should be checking
ourselves in several ways.
One way is demonstrated in Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God,
and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in
me,
And lead me in the way everlasting."
Another is Galatians 5:22 "22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law."
Final thought on all this is that often we're passive not out
of laziness but out of a sense or unworthiness.
To respond to that I want to first share a couple verses and a
brief devotional.
The verses are familiar to all of us but we need to reminded
of them and not become too familiar with them.
Romans 8:1 says "
There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who
[a] do
not walk according to the flesh, but according to the
Spirit."
Romans 8:37 says "Yet in all these things we
are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us"
Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all
things through
[a]Christ who
strengthens me."
The devotion is called First Light, put out by Pastor Brian
Biggers from The Lamb's Chapel in Burlington, this particular one
was sent out on July 12th and was called "Rich in Poverty"
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who has
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3
Hettie Green is listed in the Guinness record book as the
world's greatest miser. She lived in a one room rundown apartment
in New York. She turned the radiator heat up just enough to stay
alive. She ate cold oatmeal at every meal. She owned one black
dress that she would take off and wash every few nights. Don't pity
Ms. Green. She had millions of dollars on deposit with the Chase
Manhattan bank. She chose to live in poverty although she certainly
didn't have to. If this verse in Ephesians is true, then Hettie's
life is a picture of the life of God's children. Living in poverty
although Jesus has purchased for us "every spiritual blessing".
What is included in this "Divine deposit" the lover of our soul has
made for us? His Word is the catalog of all that is ours in Him.
Our peace, contentment, love, joy, purpose and prosperity are
just a few of the treasures He records in His Book. We will spend a
lifetime and all of eternity discovering all that is ours in Him.
The tragedy would be to live in any need if it was already mine.
Let’s get in His Word and find our inheritance and then lay hold of
it by faith. If there is one moment of regret in heaven it will be
to arrive poverty stricken and find that it wasn't necessary. Let
Hettie scrape by if she wants to. I don't want Jesus sacrifice to
go to waste.
Thank you for being a good Father. Open my eyes to the "riches
of my inheritance in Christ Jesus". I pray for grace not to waste
your sacrifice for my blessing.
So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to
half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
