Ultimate Approval Rating

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In 1958 I received my very first copy of God's Word.  On the flyleaf was a handwritten inscription:

Christmas – 1958

Love, Mom and Dad.

2 Tim 2.15

That scripture verse became my "life's verse."  I want to share with you what has been a lifelong love affair between that verse and my heart.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15NRSV

Godly excellence is the right explaining of His Word.  The handling is the picture of a father dividing up the apple pie, so that each family member in the household gets an equal share.  (Believe me, that was a closely watched event in the house in which I was raised!)

Excellence in the handling of God's Word comes from a commitment to learning and rightly using the Word.  Vince Lombardi once said, "The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor....I firmly believe that any man's finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious."

Notice the excellent vessels of which God approves...

Prepared Vessels

A prepared vessel is one of which God approves, and may stand before Him in service, unashamed.  The word approved is a term from the banking industry and means tested and found worthy.  It’s like examining a $50 bill and finding it genuine, not counterfeit.  How do you get there?  How do you become God’s  worthy workman?" 

Note the characteristics of a Prepared Vessel:

1.     Preparation means knowledge 

Our business is to gain the kind of knowledge we need to be God's workers.  That comes primarily from the Word of God.  In such a world as we live, a world of darkness, only the light of the truth of God’s Word will do.  You can never honor God as a prepared vessel if you will not study the Word of God.

2.     Preparation develops knack 

Just as a carpenter develops skill with his tools, a worthy workman in God's Word will learn how to rightly handle it.  So many people read God's Word with minds already made up as to what it says.  How in the world can you learn anything if you won't allow God to speak to your heart?  It is God who must teach you the "knack" of using His word properly.

3.     Preparation begins on the knee 

Submission to God, His Word, and complete allegiance to Him as Lord, is not just bowing the knee in prayer, it is bowing the life in surrender.  A prepared vessel is a vessel surrendered into the hands of the Great Potter! 

Another kind of vessel the Lord approves is....

Pure Vessels

Among the timeless truths God’s Word teaches us, are some purity principles Paul teaches:

1.     The Mouth reflects the heart

Pure vessels avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.  Paul mentioned to Timothy about Hymenaeus and Philetus, two men who wandered away from the truth of God’s Word.  They taught^[2] that the resurrection had already taken place, and they destroyed the faith of some of the church.

Jesus laid down the principle ^{(Mark 15:19)} that whatever comes out of the mouth simply reveals what the heart is like.  Hymenaeus and Philetus taught an erroneous view of the resurrection.  Their view was that the afterlife was a myth, and that you needed to get everything out of this present life you could.   To Paul these false chatterboxes were to the church what gangrene is to a leg wound.

2.     The Mouth can be cleansed if the heart is cleansed

God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:  

The Lord knows those who are his; everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.  In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2.19-21

There is a reality about sin that is not debatable – you cannot cover it over; God must remove it from you.  If we ever attempt to hide sin, cover it over with good works, God can still see.  The heart can only be cleansed with confession.  That is what empties a heart.  But there is a caution in this too…

3.     Be careful not to stay empty

You do well to confess sin and be done with it.  But, remember that in nature (which often parallels the spiritual realm) a vacuum is abhorred.  Empty space will be filled. 

In Matthew 12 there is recorded the Lord's parable about having a "house swept clean."   If it stays that way, it will only be an invitation to trouble.  You see that in churches all the time.  People get saved, and store up an incredible amount of Bible knowledge, yet act the part of the troublemaker – a child of Hell.  Why?  Because it isn't enough to empty of sin in confession.  Living the Spirit-filled life is a matter of continually being filled with the Spirit.  Remember, no vacuums. 

It is useless to prepare the vessel in surrender to God and purify the vessel in confession of sin if you won't allow the Spirit to fill you and make you a....

Powerful vessel

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.  And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,  and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.  2 Timothy 2:22-26(NIV)

How does it happen?  How are you filled?  How are you useful?  Paul says, pursue righteousness, faith and love.  These are put forth as in opposition to evil youthful desires. 

I have been young (it was a long time ago), and I know that all youthful desires are not evil.  But the most prevalent ones are impatience, greed, anger, and lust.  Paul is trying to tell us that the most powerful forces for God are the opposites of those. 

·      Righteousness shows itself in kindness and gentleness. 

·      Faith evidences itself in patience and unselfishness. 

·      Love is revealed when one lays down his life for another.

How are you doing with handling rightly the Word of Truth?

Two lions escaped from the Washington Zoo.  They knew they couldn't stay together, so they agreed to separate and meet back in a month by the Lincoln Memorial.  They met.  One lion was pathetically thin and emaciated.  The other was well-fed and robust.  The skinny one spoke, "I'm going back to the zoo.  It's impossible out here.  I hide in the park and hunt for lunch scraps.  At night I fight squirrels for peanut shells.  I can't make it.  But look at you, all fat and sleek.  Where did you hide?"  Said the fat lion, "I'm hiding out at the Whitehouse.  Every other day I eat a Cabinet Member.  As long as I clean up the mess, nobody seems to notice."

Cabinet members that aren't missed in an administration are no different than Christians who aren't missed in the Lord's service.  To be a useful vessel in God’s Kingdom requires preparation, purity depending on the power supplied by Christ. 

A few Questions

·      Have you trusted Christ for salvation, leaning on His Word for direction? 

·      Are you current in confession of sin to keep this vessel, your life pure for Christ? 

·      Have you asked and allowed God's Holy Spirit to fill you for serving powerfully?  Have you?

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth (original work)      All Scripture from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated) 

[2] 2 Tim 2:16-21

A Closer Look

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Thursday, June 27, 2019

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine.  Test yourselves.  Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.  As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.  We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction.  I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive.  Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority.  For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth.  We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.  I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come.  For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.  2 Corinthians 13:5-10

Nobody really likes examinations.  We may grow to appreciate the value of an examination to see where we stand, but who really enjoys it?  In the opening four sentences of Paul’s message he uses the word “test” or “examination” five times.  He could not have been very popular with the folks at Corinth! 

In high school, I had way too many exams for a student who thought studying was cruel and unusual punishment.  And subjects like geometry, science, and my third year taking Introduction to German…well, let’s just say breakfast on exam day seemed like what the condemned man got as his last meal.  I once had a teacher in eleventh grade who was pop-quiz-happy.  I got so sick of it that one day when he was walking into the class he hadn’t even put down his briefcase, and he began spouting the hated words:  take out a half-sheet of paper, class.  I obediently grabbed a sheet and did what he said, I took it OUT…out of the class…all the way to the General Store to drown my sorrow in a root beer float.

As much as I’m not fond of tests, I know they’re necessary; especially in the spiritual realm. 

Paul’s concern for the Corinthian believers led him to encourage them to self-test to see if their faith was genuine.  History informs us the Corinth bunch were people whose belief and behavior were hardly on speaking terms.  Paul’s not-so-subtle approach was of genuine apostolic care for their souls to remind them that saying you’re a Christian means very little if you won’t live it. 

How painfully true.  Back at Hauppauge High School, if you check the records for 1961-65, you’ll find Russell was listed as a student…but his performance hardly passed the test!

For You Today

If you get a little nervous every time you read a Scripture that deals with how your behavior ought to be consistent with your belief, it might be a good thing to follow Paul’s admonition to check how much effect Jesus’ influence is having on your daily walk.  Write it down…that’s right…take out a half-sheet of paper…

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

What About You? Part 2

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Thursday, September 13, 2018

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”  But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.  Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law.  He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.  As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.  Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said.  “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”  Mark 8:29-33(NLT)

We are preparing for this weekend’s worship (using the Lectionary Gospel text).  As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, there was an overwhelming response to the ministry of teaching, healing, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  Jesus had sent out the disciples to spread the word, and they came back incredibly hyped over all that was happening.

Then He popped a rather innocuous little question on them … tell me, what do the people think; WHO do they think I am?  Some thought Jesus was the return of Elijah or John the Baptist come back from the dead, God’s deliverer, a supernatural Messiah Who arrives on Heaven’s mission to save us all.  Those answers prompted the final question, a real bomb:  How about YOU; who do YOU think I am?  Let’s look at the right answer and the wrong attitude disciples have been carrying around ever since Jesus asked the question.

The Right Answer

Peter, ever the impetuous quick-to-talk-slow-to-think leader of the band got it right.  He got an “A” for recognizing that Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us. 

But then Jesus began dropping the rest of the story on the disciples about how He would suffer rejection by the rulers and be killed, yet three days later resurrected from the dead.  It was too much for Peter; he took Jesus aside and asked him to tone it down.

The Wrong Attitude

This moment of Peter’s wrong attitude in his brash attempt to control Jesus brought about a harsh response; Jesus called his disciple Satan.  Now, it’s not that Peter opted for the red suit, pitchfork, and growing horns; the word means “adversary”.  Peter was coming crossways to Jesus’ mission, and the Lord had to correct him quickly.

This is a moment all disciples experience sooner or later.  It is that moment when you awaken to the reality that actually living the life of your will surrendered to Christ’s is not going to be what you thought it would be, and certainly not as easy as it seemed.  Jesus teaches us he is not our personal vending machine; you just cannot pop-in a nickel’s-worth of prayer and, voila, out pops your answer.

Jesus’ answer to Peter’s (OCD), control-freak management was simple and painfully dead-on the mark … Simon, you just don’t know what you’re saying; you’re looking at it in human wisdom; I’m trying to teach you to see with Godly eyes. 

And this sets the stage for all of us to understand that the basis for becoming a follower of Jesus is the same for living that life – we sing the song:  I surrender all!  Being a Christian disciple means learning from Christ, not instructing God how things ought to be.

For You Today

In preparing to worship this weekend, what is it that you hope will come of the worship service…revival?  People saved?  Lives changed?  Perhaps some miracle to make your life easier?

Here’s a thought: 

If your prayers end with anything other than not my will, but Thine be done, it’s time to get a new way of praying.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

What About YOU? Part 1

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018

A Note of Explanation:  Most churches will have a reading of God’s Word as part of the worship services.   Depending on how many people are there, if you made a list of how people understood the Scripture, you would find many different interpretations, and just as many (if not more) questions than answers.  I did a simple Google search on John 3:16, and I found on one site over a thousand sermons (even three of mine).  there is so much that can be said about every Bible text that you must do more than consider the Scriptures casually; they demand further investigation!onsidering that reality I have opted for the last three days of this week to focus on this Sunday’s lectionary text as a means of getting ready for Sunday – which, by the way, is a very important part of devotional life, preparing the heart to worship.  Here is part one of the text:

Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”  “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”  Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  Mark 8:27-29(NLT)

The questions Jesus asked were very interesting, sometimes disconcerting, and always to-the-point.  This question, copied-down by the Gospel writer, Mark, is the mother of all opinion polls.  It asks the most important question, and demands an answer.  What is at back of this question forms another vitally-important question, which demands just as vital and eternal answer:  who are YOU?

Jesus and the Disciples were having an overwhelming response to the Lord’s ministry of teaching, healing, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  Jesus had sent out the disciples to spread the word, and they came back incredibly hyped over all that was happening.

Then He dropped a rather innocuous little question on them … tell me, what do the people think; WHO do they think I am?  Nielsen ratings, opinion polls, and Survey Monkey questionnaires couldn’t have stirred a more active response.  And much of it wasn’t far off.  Prophet – check!  Elijah – check!  John the Baptist back from the dead?  All these answers focused-on God’s promises to send a deliverer, a supernatural Messiah Who arrives on Heaven’s mission to save us all.

Those answers prompted the final question, a real bomb:  How about YOU; who do YOU think I am?

There are many opinion polls which gather volumes of answers of the multitudes, and are fed into computers that average, leverage, classify, modify, and codify all the supposed empirical data into tools a politician, business, or group of whatever kind can use to push their product or agenda.  But in that entire mix there are only two opinions that really matter to an individual – that individual’s answer, and what God thinks of that individual’s answer!

This question, what about YOU, demands an answer, and even a silent response, one of those I’ll think about it later responses, is an answer.  The demand of this question isn’t put-aside by our personal free will; it only intensifies the importance of it.  If we didn’t have free will there would be no question; God would have placed the answer inside us, and we wouldn’t be able to resist it. 

But God gave us a choice, and that presupposes there will be challenges to which way we will go.  Therefore, you must make up your mind about this question, because there are (as C.S. Lewis pointed-out) only three possible answers:  Jesus is LIAR, LUNATIC, or LORD! 

For You Today

Tomorrow we will look at the answers; today would be a great start on preparing to talk about this text this Sunday in church…you ARE going, aren’t you?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com