Spiritual Healing

Wounds cause negative cycles, but it’s not enough to break cycles, we must replace them. Healing of said wounds cannot be achieved at a distance.

Matthew 12:43-45
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

It’s really easy to get distracted by Jesus’ dark imagery on this one. Yet perhaps the reasoning for it is because the potential consequences are so very dire. Once we get past that it becomes clear that he’s saying it’s not enough to eliminate the bad because it leaves a void. If not refilled deliberately with good things, bad things will find their way back in. In the case of sin, they don’t just spawn out of nothing after all, each person responds from their own heart. So if our heart is wounded it will more likely respond in ugly shortsighted ways.

It’s also easy to just label things wrong or evil. it’s not as easy to stop and consider how these sins we struggle with may actually be a misguided coping mechanism. Removing even dysfunctional mechanisms recklessly without a replacement will produce consequences, and ultimately backsliding. That’s why we must face the wound behind our sins, and not just the sin itself. As I said upfront, we must do more than break cycles, we must replace them.

Ephesians 4:22-24 puts it this way.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

It doesn’t just say take off the old self, nor just put on the new self, but both. If we just took off the old self we would be left spiritually naked and vulnerable. If we just put on the new self, the old would soil the new. If we only focus on one side of it, we are only setting ourselves up for failure. Yet there is a third point in-between, about the attitude of the mind. This is key to breaking unconscious behavioral cycles.

Consider Matthew 19:16-22

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

In the original Greek the word translated perfect, can also mean complete. Which may fit better with the actual question of “What do I still lack?” A curious way to put it, but it indicates he knew something was missing and was looking for answers to fill his emptiness. Despite all his wealth, he still did not feel whole. We don’t know how he came to put all his hope into money, or what happened to him afterwards. Since he chose to walk away from the answer at that moment. He didn’t even try to question or argue with Jesus. The only thing certain was he refused to change when told what he lacked. So the wholeness of heart he sought could not be found, since he refused to accept what the real problem was, misplaced hope. Like I said up front, healing cannot happen from a distance. Our flaws must be faced to overcome them.

A specific detail I noticed about this passage this time around is that when asked, what commandments should I follow, Jesus doesn’t say all of them; he gets specific. You may have heard that the Ten Commandments are divided into our relationship with God, and our relationships with one another. The six mentioned are all the commandments that deal with others, not God. It’s like Jesus is leading him to his ultimate answer. Letting us know that there is more to caring about others than mere commands. Even if we don’t break said commandments, it doesn’t automatically make us sincere. Do we also think of ourselves as more righteous than we really are similarly? Technically within the letter of the law, yet insincere in its application. Do we like the rich man only care about ourselves, not others? This insincerity points to the flaws within our hearts. Are you willing to face your areas of insincerity?

We see a very different response in John 4:13-26 & 39-42
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 

“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.””

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.””

Here there are no excuses, no denials, and no running away, but rather engagement. Jesus responds not with criticism or judgment, but by sharing great truths with her. Not about her errors though. Instead, he speaks of worship and salvation. Why is this? Could he be focused more on solutions because she had effectively owned her problem already? So he offers her an alternative, what she could be filling the void with. Instead of condemning the questionable things she was trying to fill the emptiness with. A solution Jesus himself wants to be a part of. What are we focused on with ourselves and others; the solution, or the problem? Not only that she shared her experience with others, and they engaged Jesus as well. She is already starting to experience the “set apart” life by touching the lives of others. This is critical for the full restoration of the heart.

Let me wrap up by repeating my opening statement. Wounds cause negative cycles, but it’s not enough to break cycles, we must replace them. Healing of said wounds cannot be achieved at a distance. What cycles do you need to replace? Are you trying to prune the proverbial weeds from a distance with no results? It's not enough to identify problems, we must deal with them. Otherwise, they just turn into excuses, a place to shift the blame from self.

The Visual PARABLEist

The Mystery

The book of Ephesians is an epistle I have taken a deep dive into recently. While the general theme is supposed to be about expanding our horizons. However, it occurred to me this time around that the misapplication and misunderstanding of the principles within have actually minimized the horizons of the church. For example, the Greek word musterion appears 6 times in the book of Ephesians. (1:9, 3:3, 3:4, 3:9, 5:32, 6:9) Which literally means mystery or secret. While most scholarly translations maintain the mystery, simplified translations will sometimes marginalize the word. The current church has marginalized this mystery in practice as well, and the ramifications are catching up to us. Alan Hirsch has already highlighted one of them with his book 5Q, which I have blogged about already. So we have been there. If only the church would do that. Here is a brief recap of some of the other misunderstood truths I found in this powerful epistle.

Chapter One, Predestination.
Some people take this concept to the extreme. Thinking it means that all our choices have been made for us already and that there is no free will. I imagine the appeal is that it absolves us of all responsibility. Leading to a very passive church that has fallen way short of the many things promised in Ephesians. In chapter one alone it talks of blessings, unity, and power. Clearly, passivity has not led us there. There is so much more to be had. We were predestined to be gifted with the means to live the Mystery of God’s will. Too many have chosen not to embrace those options fully.

Chapter Two, Works.
One of the most quoted passages in Ephesians is 2:8-9 which says we are saved by grace, not by works. Since works have nothing to do with salvation, people assume works must have no value at all. Leading to a very passive church. If only they would keep reading to verse 10 they would realize how wrong that is. Works have tons of value in areas other than salvation. Passivity is not God’s will, because it doesn’t work at all.

Chapter Three, The Holy Spirit.
Here it is revealed that the Holy Spirit is the key to unlocking the mystery. How we live out a love that surpasses knowledge. However, since we cannot qualify or judge the spirit systematically. Or embrace it without making a spectacle of it. Many just dismiss the idea. The church's horizons have diminished as a result. There are teachers and even denominations that openly blaspheme the spirit by saying that there is no other authority other than the Bible. Despite that, the Bible itself rebukes such ideas. (1st Thessalonians 5:19, John 3:5-8)

Chapter four, The two sides of righteousness.
Many teachers merely define righteousness, and just tell people to go live it as the Pharisees did. (Matthew 23:1-4) If that worked we wouldn’t have needed a savior. As Galatians 5:16 says “if you walk by the spirit, you won’t gratify the desires of the flesh.” In other words substitute instead of suppress. Don’t just take off the old self, but put on a new self in its place. Don’t just put on a new self either, the old self underneath will soil the new. Applying this truth one-dimensionally has only led to continuous failure.

Chapters Five & Six, Rules for Christian Households.
When some people read this all they see is the privilege of masculinity. Yet failing to notice this comes with huge responsibilities as well. Men who don’t live up to these responsibilities have no right to demand said privileges. Men who want all the privileges but not all the responsibilities are bad husbands, fathers, bosses, ministers, and leaders. It’s irresponsible men who have brought on radical feminism. The thing is feminists want all the privileges of femininity and masculinity as well. Yet not necessarily the responsibility that goes with it. In the end, their attempt to prove that they are better than men has only revealed they are no better than men.

Ephesians closes with the famous passage of the armor of God. This is in no way a call to passivity, apathy, or privilege. Quite the opposite. It is a call to step up in preparation, a call to action, a call to live the mystery of the gospel. But a church with such narrow horizons just isn’t up to this mystery that surpasses the mere knowledge they idolize.

The Visual PARABLEist  

This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”-Ephesians 5:14

Birthmark Society

Excuse me for breaking free from my regular subject matter to say something about May being vascular birthmark awareness month. (May 15th specifically being birthmark awareness day.) Some may be rolling their eyes and saying to themselves "Do we really need another awareness day?" Well, as the old saying goes “First seek to understand, then to be understood.” While such days may always start as an invitation to understand. One cannot help if some merely see it as a demand to be understood. The easiest thing in the world to do is dismiss someone who dismisses you first. So an innocent invite can easily escalate into a demand when people refuse to allow their assumptions to be disrupted. No wonder there is so little understanding these days.

With that out of the way, as someone who has a prominent birthmark here is what it has taught me about humanity. Despite all our virtue signaling, and conditioned tact, there are still a lot of shallow and superficial people out there. You would be hard-pressed to convince me that people are basically good because of it. It’s one of multiple reasons I tend to distrust people. That’s one of the biggest demons I wrestle with right now. I get judged for that too, but humanity in general earned that distrust, so their judgment carries little weight with me. Which brings me to the flip side of it. This has taught me not to be motivated by acceptance, approval, and validation. This frees me to pursue my genuine interests, rather than what the world around me wants to validate. Let’s face it, we live in an age where acceptance is so coveted, that you can get people to do just about anything if you only validate it. 

Children will ask straightforward questions about my birthmark out of curiosity, and I don’t fault them for it. I usually tell them I’m part leopard and those are my spots. Most are smart enough to know I’m teasing them, but it does defuse the spook factor of it. Unlike a bunch of technical jargon. Even adults would not likely know what a Nevus Flammeus is after all. The caveat to that is that autistic kids have responded in absolute terror, regardless of the type of language I’ve used.

As kids age to the middle and high school range, curiosity tends to turn to disgust. This is where the bullying ramps up over inconsequential differences, making them seem very consequential. This is a time when the desire for acceptance, approval, and validation goes into high gear after all. This is where our culture starts to faction off. When individuals start to compromise themselves for the sake of being part of a peer group. Even so-called counter-cultural groups do so collectively. While they may choose to dis-identity with the mainstream because the mainstream rejected them first. They are still doing so in a formula way for the sake of having a peer group. As Eric Hoffer Once said. “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Yet having a superficial difference of any kind can disqualify you from such foolishness.

Adults tend to make assumptions about it. A rash or burn is the most common in my case. That’s how adults are, once you get to a certain age you try to make everything fit into what you already know. Instead of assuming you haven’t seen everything yet. Many will even assume you are lying, even after telling them the truth. Especially when you are a kid. Being constantly disbelieved for telling the truth as a kid didn’t exactly increase my faith in humanity. However, with my birthmark being on my arm and chest I tend to have a different experience than those with a mark on their face. That conditioned politeness keeps most adults from asking me about it most of the time. They usually have to get comfortable around me first to ask about it. Hard to say how many don’t get comfortable with me because of it though. But it seems having a mark on the face tends to stretch the limits of manners as I hear it. With that being said, senior citizens can revert back to a childlike wonder about it in their final years.

Some people just love to be cruel regardless though. You can regulate “hate speech” all you want, but in the end, it just makes the fruit forbidden, i.e. more desirable to the sadistic. If people want to wear their ugliness on their sleeve like that, then so be it. It’s a red flag for decent souls. The thing is, people wouldn’t flaunt their ugliness like that if someone wasn’t encouraging it, or if it wasn’t attracting like-minded people to them. Yet it may go deeper than that. When a person makes another uncomfortable, the uncomfortable person often tries to shame the person triggering their discomfort. They want you to hate yourself for disturbing the illusion inside the bubble they live in. In hopes that you will steer clear of their hair triggers. For example, there are YouTube channels run by amputees sharing their experiences. Which is a great resource for recent amputees to adapt and adjust to their new situations. Yet some pathetic people will report these videos as disturbing imagery. A testament to how individuals think their comfort is more important than other people's trauma. This is exactly why I don’t hide my birthmark, or even get laser treatments for it. If you are really that shallow, I’d just assume know about it up front. Yet, I may delight in triggering your superficial nature. Besides, who am I to change God’s work. However, I do recognize if my birthmark was on my face, or it grew and thickened like many vascular birthmarks do, I may feel very differently. The trauma caused by basically good people would surely be on another level.

I am so much more than my birthmark, identity is more than skin deep after all. Yet, I do recognize its presence has shaped who I am. Not the mark itself, but how it has affected my relationships with others. Sure I could go to great efforts to try and convince the world to feel about me the way I think they should. Since we live in a culture that wraps so much of our self-worth in our relationships. Or I can just live my own life without revolving it around the people who hate me for dumb reasons. While promoting understanding can be a good thing, yet if you're basing your happiness and fulfillment on everyone feeling the way you want them to, you are just setting yourself up for misery. If people were that reasonable, we wouldn’t even be discussing this in the first place.

The Visual PARABLEist

Birthmark society Apparel

Imbalance

A minister friend of mine who has switched churches recently is revisiting the fivefold gifting found in Ephesians 4:11

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

One point he lifted up that struck me this time around was the distinction between the outwardly focused roles versus the inward ones. You really do need both because they support one another. But do we approach it that way?

For example, I once knew a minister whose mantra was reach up, reach in, reach out. Yet the majority of the emphasis was on reaching out. His thinking was, that we need to reach out to build attendance. In his mind, that is what the church needed most. I tried to point out the shortsightedness in his logic multiple times. One time in particular I said, “Reaching up and reaching in is like boot camp for reaching out.” While he agreed, he still insisted on rushing everyone through basic training. So few felt up to stepping up to his challenge to reach out. So basically his outreach was limited by his reluctance to reach in where his church truly needed it, or lead the flock to more in-depth reaching up.

Another example from the other end is a church I used to go to that has fallen on hard times in recent days. So they have shifted from thriving to merely surviving. They are so busy trying to save the institution, they have forgotten what the institution is supposed to stand for. When you don’t support outwardly leaning programs just because they don’t serve you directly, you are clearly missing the point. Their inward focus has become more about the institution, for self’s sake. Instead of restoration of self through our relationship with God. Which is ultimately meant to equip us for discipleship.

Either way, an imbalance is created in the fivefold. So let’s look at the rest of the passage.

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” -Ephesians 4:12-13

A church that only enables two to three of the gifts cannot truly be united in faith, because some people and their inherent gifts are excluded. Nor can it experience the fullness of Christ, because vital truths are being neglected. So consider this, the original Greek for "equip" can also mean repair, prepare, or perfecting. So I reiterate, a church that does not utilize all five gifts is far from perfect. If anything it needs some major repair of its inner structure. The question is, are we willing to let go of the familiar to rebuild the complete and balanced church that Christ intended.

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” -1st Corinthians 3:10-15

The Visual PARABLEist

Why we won't Forgive.

Forgiveness takes Faith & Trust.

The infamous phrase “eye for an eye” found in Exodus 21:23 is often used as an excuse to retaliate instead of forgive. Forgetting it is specific to physical injury. However, another way to put it would be, may the punishment fit the crime. This was their official law back then, not how to be a vigilante. Let’s face it, when we feel wronged we often have an urge to one-up the betrayer. The command was meant to maintain reason in justice and prevent over-punishment of this kind of crime.

Yet with wrongs like theft, the offender was required to pay back double in the case of returned property. Or up to 5 times in the case of property that cannot be returned. (Exodus 22:1-4) This crime is treated differently and meant to teach us consequences and accountability. Let’s face it, loss often cuts deeper than the intrinsic value. The time and energy in dealing with the aftermath is reflected in the punishment. Yet also recognizes that this punishment is not permanent. 

However, these are not typically the areas we take issue with or obsess over when it comes to payback. Rather intangible things that can’t ever be taken back like betrayal, slander, or adultery. These are the negative things we latch onto, that only fill us with said negativity. As Hebrews 12:15 says “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” The implication is that the effects of bitterness can go far and wide beyond the grudge holder. Not that we can’t air our grievances at all. But if they aren’t validated immediately, it’s unlikely that nitpicking the issue will change anything. This is where bitterness starts to take root in our hearts. This is where we need to self-regulate and offer Christ-like grace.

Biblical forgiveness ultimately takes faith and trust in God's judgment and timing. That means letting go of our right to judge. As it says in Proverbs 28:26 “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.” Other translations use the word delivered instead of kept safe, either way, consider what we are delivered or kept safe from in the case of trusting God with discipline. Is it not our own bitterness?

Biblical forgiveness does not necessarily mean everything is forgotten and OK either. Hence our hesitation in forgiving. Ironically, relentlessly chasing after restitution, even just in thought, means ongoing contact with the offender. This just opens us up to additional pain when they refuse to own their wrongs or are blissfully unaware. Sometimes forgiving without strings is the only way to truly be free of toxic people and situations. Again we must trust in God to handle it.

As it says in Romans 12:17-19 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. We don’t know the other person’s full story, or what kind of wounds lie behind their behavior. Nor do we know what lies on the other side of their mountain. But God does, he knows who can be saved, and what it takes to give them their moment of redemption. That may take time, more time than we may like. Again we must have faith, trust God, and be patient with his timing. When we focus on vengeance, we are only focusing on things that will destroy our hearts. When we take our focus off retaliation, we can put our focus back on what can heal our hearts, God.

Consider Genesis 18:20-21 “Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”” God specifically cites the outcry against them as one of his reasons for destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. While an extreme case, it does show that God will deal with issues when we take it to him rather than deal with it ourselves.

We must remember that we can’t fix other people, especially by counterattacking. But sometimes as believers, our presence can have a positive impact on people. Therein lies the variable of whether to keep hurtful people in our lives or not. Whether the negative impact on us is greater than our positive impact on them. Know your limits. Then focus on dealing with your own limitations, instead of the faults of others. Like any good disciple should. (Matthew 7:1-6)

The Visual PARABLEist

Choices

What we choose has an impact on what we become. Every choice we make has ramifications one way or another.

Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”” The authority to rule equals the power to choose. It is ultimately God's will that we have a choice. Let’s face it, humanity has not always been responsible with said authority and made many ungodly choices. As Christian philosopher Dallas Willard put it. “The whole history of God and man recounted in the Bible is the story of God wanting to entrust men with his power, and men not being able to handle it.” The questions we should ask ourselves are, why have we not been able to handle it, and what can we learn from those who came before us? So we can make better choices ourselves. For one, we must understand the real issue.

Romans 7:15-25 says “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”
While making the right choice should be cut and dry, we have a way of making it difficult. Mainly because our own nature will often lead us to defy our better judgment time and time again. We often choose preferences over principle, pride over purity, feelings over facts, sentiment over spirit, the exact opposite when we feel like we are not given a choice, and just about anything else other than faith. The previous passage proves that scripture acknowledges this struggle within our nature. Even when we don’t acknowledge this reality when judging the choices of others that seem so simple from the outside looking in.

1st Corinthians 6:12
““I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.”
While we like to think we are masters of our own choices, in many cases our choices end up mastering us. Especially when our willful choices are short-sighted, made in rebellious spite, and not particularly beneficial in the long term.

Consider what Jesus prayed just before being arrested. Luke 22:39-44

“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
Even Jesus, in his flesh state, had to find the will to fulfill the will of God. So how much more will you? The takeaway is, that he has been where you have been. So he wants to be a part of your solution when faced with hard choices; when faced with your “cross.” But remember, Jesus needed help with his cross too. (Luke 23:26)

This leads us to Luke 9:23-25
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” The other gospels that quote this close with “forfeit their soul” rather than self. But the Luke version illustrates another struggle we have in making choices. What part of self are we to deny, and what part are we to not lose sight of? Where do we draw the line between losing our life, and saving it? How do we distinguish God's blessings, and the worldly things that distract us? What God created us to be, and what the world broke us into? One thing is for certain, historic discipleship was about being as much like the teacher as possible, what we often refer to as Christ-likeness. Perhaps our struggle lies in that we are too focused on the what, instead of the who. Let’s face it, most don’t choose a cross at all. We choose the treasures of the world.

Just as Matthew 6:19-21 says
““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” To store up treasures in heaven means to delay the reward, to have faith that it will be worth it in the end. Worth more than what this temporal world offers. Not a popular choice in our instant gratification culture.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” After a very complex analysis, Solomon gives a seemingly simplistic answer to close his book. That God is the master of our fate. But do we truly understand God or his judgment? As I have said before, holiness is modeled after the very nature of God. To understand his commands is to understand him, and vice versa. However, it is so easy to interject a confirmation bias into our understanding of God. This is where things like emotion, preferences, sentiment, want, tradition, comfort, and convenience distorts our perception of God and his will. How we rationalize our less-than-righteous choices.

In the end, when decisions get hard we need to consider a few basic things as disciples. Does it glorify God and represent his truth? Or does it only serve our own comfort, selfish wants, and desires? As well as, how will my choices affect others? We often forget about that last one. We forget that what we do unto others is done unto God as well. (Matthew 25:40, 45) So we really cannot use God as an excuse to treat people terribly. Yet that choice happens all the time. This is a testament to why we need to act deliberately with our choices, instead of reacting recklessly with them. Clearly, our own nature can lead us to disgrace God in the name of righteousness if we are not careful and weigh our choices carefully. Remember, Jesus was an example-based teacher. Are we living up to that example with our choices?

The Visual PARABLEist

Let's face it, most Christians don't answer the call to take up their cross, because they are too busy taking the road most traveled, that's paved with idols.

Gratitude is not passive

Salvation is a gift from God that’s bestowed by His Grace and Mercy. Our sincere gratitude for this maintains our heart

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— The moment you have to pay for something it’s no longer a gift.

not by works, so that no one can boast. Salvation is something to be thankful for, not prideful over.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” While works have nothing to do with salvation, they do have value in other areas. Since verse 10 is often left out when quoting this, we leave people thinking Christianity is a passive thing. Therein lies the heart of so many issues that the church faces today.

People often counterpoint this next passage with the previous one as a contradiction. Especially if they overlook verse 10. It’s a weak argument That is easily dismissed if you look beyond the mere surface.
James 2:14-26

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Faith is not meant to be passive.

Can that faith save him? A battery can save you if placed in the right device during an emergency, but it does you no good if it remains in the package.

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? This idea of helping the poor is constant throughout scripture, but it is a constantly neglected truth as well. Is this false idea that works have no value to blame for this oversight?

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Like that proverbial flashlight that was made in advance to cast light into dark places. Without batteries, it cannot fulfill its purpose.

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Faith is not some abstract concept you just put on a pedestal. That kind of passive faith won’t get you through the hard times.

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. I dare say you need to be more righteous than demons. (Matthew 5:20, 46-47)

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Even batteries waste away over time on the shelf.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? Abraham trusted God, even though he did not understand what was being asked of him and why.

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. Would we even know who Abraham was if he had not perfected his faith like this? Would he have succeeded here, if he hadn’t failed previously? As I often say, today's success is built upon yesterday's failures.

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. Not saved but justified. What would our faith even be in, if we weren’t already saved?

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? Even a harlot can be justified, if she acts in faith.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Where works without faith are empty and done more for self than God. We don’t buy our salvation through works, we do works because we are saved, and have faith in the one who saved us.

Isaiah 29:13

“The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”
These words that also happened to be quoted by Jesus himself in Matthew 15:8-9 can be summed up in a single word, sincerity. We can debate the value of works until we are blue in the face, but does any of it change how we show our appreciation towards God. If we truly love God, if we appreciate his Grace, if we are thankful for his salvation, we certainly would want to show it somehow, some way. Sincerity turns commands we must fulfill into a genuine desire.

Gratitude is a big element of worship after all. Thanks to the new covenant, the sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus has been traded out for living sacrifice. As indicated in Romans 12:1. Meaning, it’s just as much about honoring God in our everyday lives, not just scripted rituals.

Works may not earn us salvation. But it shows gratitude towards God, it shows honor towards God, it expresses love towards God, it counts as worship towards God, and it also builds God's church. Again, a devoted disciple shouldn’t have to be commanded to do any of this. If they do, then they need to check their heart, because there is likely a fault in it.

As Romans 1:21 & 22 says “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” Are you passive in your gratitude towards God's salvation? Consider the ramifications of an ungrateful spirit: Foolishness, a futile mind, and a darkened heart. All from simply being a passive ingrate. 

The Visual PARABLEist