Nevertheless

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:19-20 (ESV)

The above scripture is a statement by Yeshua regarding the necessary balance that His followers must have in regards to their authority over Satan. We are fallen beings and as such, we can easily obsess over our power and authority. That obsession can result in distorted views on scripture and towards other people in general. We can focus far too much time and effort on our position in Yeshua, particularly our position of authority over Satan, and allow those thoughts and beliefs to unbalance our lives. We can become pompous and arrogant. There was a time when a worship service, in a few churches, would have spent far too much time stomping out Satan and far less time worshipping the Lord.

Instead, as we see in Luke 10:19-20, our focus should be on Yeshua (Jesus) and Him alone. Those that are in authority don’t need to center too much of their time on their power and authority. The more we focus on our authority and power the less time we spend centering on Yeshua. The results are usually pride, arrogance and a tendency towards self-importance.

Look Beneath the Surface!

It is all too common to make snap judgments based on mere appearance. I do it myself all too often. We make decisions based solely on the way a person dresses, the way they speak and so forth. Sometimes we even use God’s word and/or a teaching we heard as a vehicle to render an inaccurate judgment. We can become a type of “Job’s Comforter”. By that, I mean that we start using scripture to make judgments about a person or their situation before getting to know the person, their problem or circumstances.

In Yeshua’s time, a barren woman, one who was not able to have children, was thought to be suffering under a curse or that the Lord was displeased with them. Though scripture does indeed have references in it about the blessing of  having children, we can’t make a blanket statement. Some people have chosen not to have children and for very legitimate reasons. If we were to look strictly at surface clues without getting to know the person, we could easily jump to harsh and incorrect conclusions.

In Luke chapter 1, the scriptures contain an interesting and important point. Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Immerser (Baptizer) had been barren for decades before they gave birth to their only child. It is likely that those around her and possibly Zechariah and Elizabeth themselves thought that they had displeased the Lord for some reason or another. Yet here is what scripture actually records about them:

“In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of ADONAI blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.” Luke 1: 5-7 (JNT) Bold emphasis added

Others may have believed that the Lord was displeased with them or that they were cursed. Elizabeth and Zechariah may have believed it themselves. Yet the Lord saw otherwise. They were righteous before the Lord and walked before him blamelessly.

We need to look beyond the surface and see people as they actually are: loved of God, redeemed, saved and chosen.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1Samuel 16:7 NLT)

God Opposes . . .

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” James 4:6 (ESV)

How many times have you heard or read that scripture? Whether it was in a congregation, in a family situation, or with friends, the odds are you have heard it enough to pay barely any attention to it. If you had paid any attention, I bet it was nothing more than a nod of your head and some mental assent, maybe even a “Yes, Amen.”

Recently, while studying to deliver a sermon in our congregation, I came across the actual original meaning in Greek for the word “opposes” or in some translations “resists”. To say that it rocked my world would be an understatement. Apparently, it’s original meaning is far more active than most of us would believe. The root meaning of the word “opposes” in Greek is that the Lord dresses in battle array to go to war. In other words, if you are proud or display pride of any type, the Lord not only opposes you with a mental assent of opposition but he actively opposes you. He dresses himself for battle and goes to war.

I would suggest you think about that thought for a few minutes.

I can think of the obvious prides:

• I don’t need God
• I don’t want God’s help
• I don’t want your help
• I can do it alone
• I am too wealthy or powerful to consider doing such a low position
• And so on

What about the types of pride that aren’t talked about as much:

• I have to do it or it won’t get done (only the Holy Spirit can say that)
• My pastor or rabbi is the best in his field (can’t objectively be proven, by the way – ever – in any field)
• Second guessing God- “are you really sure God” (Can be said only if you are smarter than God)
• Afraid to ask for help from God (fear-pride)
• Afraid to ask for help from others (fear-pride)
• Unwilling to be accountable to others (pride and arrogance)
• The list is endless

Just imagine, in each of the above types of pride listed as well as all the others not listed, God not only opposes the pride, He dresses himself in battle to go to war with it and destroy it. Any guess on who wins?

What Paul (Saul) gave up for Yeshua!

I have been reading a book by F.F. Bruce called “Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free”. While I am only a chapter or two into the book, I am struck by the author’s descriptions of Cilicia and Tarsus, the region and city of Saul birthplace. Although the books author did not say this (at least so far in my reading), I am beginning to realize the position, education, breeding etc of Paul’s family life and what he gave up.

The city of Saul’s birth had a LONG history before he was born. On the order of almost 2 millennia. It was exempt from Roman taxes by Augustus Caesar. They prided themselves on a long and deep love of culture and Tarsus was a center of education that rivaled Athens and Alexandria. Bruce equated Tarsus to a “university” town, similar to what we have in many areas of the world. Paul would have received a Jewish education, one common to his era but because of his status, (see next paragraph) it would have been deeper. Because of the surroundings he could have easily have learned a great deal about the Greek and Roman culture.

Paul himself was a Roman citizen, something that not many in Tarsus would have achieved. It is likely that the family of Paul would have been part of the wealthy elite of the area, certainly one of the wealthy Jewish elite.

For Paul to have traveled to Israel at an early age to study with the rabbi’s, such as Gamaliel, he would have had to have shown great aptitude in his studies.  By the time of his being part of the party of the Pharisees, his education and training would have been on a world-class level.

Yet, after Saul’s encounter with Yeshua on the road to Damascus, he was willing to give it all up to follow the Lord. For me it helps explain a statement Paul makes in his writings:

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Messiah. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Messiah Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Messiah ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Messiah, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:4-11 (ESV) adapted

The Difficult Road of Jeremiah the Prophet

Redefining the meaning of success.

Are you prepared to receive a shock? Here it comes . . . If Jeremiah was alive and in ministry today many people in the body of Messiah would consider his ministry a colossal failure. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you spend a few minutes thinking about what you would consider a successful ministry. Ask yourself what size building you think is needed, the amount of finances necessary, number of ministries and so on. If you find yourself using words such as “growing” and “larger” alongside the word “success” than you may have a problem. By that definition, Jeremiah the prophet is a failure of immense proportions.

He was called at a young age to speak the word of the Lord to the people of God as well as to the nations. He spent his entire life speaking, preaching, pleading, begging and crying for people to repent of their sins. He spoke bluntly and emotionally to people telling them the Word of the Lord. The sins of his people didn’t make him mad but instead would break his heart. In short, he was a man who desperately loved his nation and his people. Some people spend their days telling others what is wrong with their life but usually do it with a wrong and/or haughty attitude  . . . not Jeremiah. Seeing the condition of his people made him weep. I may be wrong, but I doubt if the Lord would have wanted Jeremiah to be anything else but who he was.

Yet . . . for all his praying, prophesying, preaching, pleading and begging . . . no one listened. From the time he started his ministry until the time he died, no one repented. He was rejected, hated and ignored, his warnings discarded. He was persecuted, locked up and there was even a time when he was thrown into a cistern (reservoir) and left to die. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people, Jeremiah and his aide were forcibly taken to Egypt, away from the land he loved.

He received a clear call of God into ministry, yet he saw no fruit and no one repented of their sins. He was poor and unpopular. No one listened to him and there was no revival. His message, clearly from the Lord was just as clearly rejected. By today’s standards, Jeremiah would be considered a failure and a rather large one at that. Yet he never gave up and never stopped loving his people.

Jeremiah did not live up to ANY of our western definitions of success in ministry, yet he always remained obedient to his call. Perhaps the definition should not be limited to size and growth. Maybe we need to consider the possibility that we can be called into a ministry that could take years or decades to succeed. We need to consider that, like Jeremiah, we may be called to speak words that will be mostly ignored.

Maybe it is time we redefine the meaning of success.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD,  I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)