John 20:30-31 - Humility and Thanks
We read the Bible every day to have a deep relationship with Jesus. John tells us that the purpose of the Bible is so that we may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and so that by believing in Jesus we will have a godly and productive life now and an eternal life with God through trusting in Jesus (20:30-31).
We are to lead and live with humility and gratefulness. Yes, the Bible is extremely practical. But it is more than that. God’s word is alive. It penetrates and molds our very thoughts and motives and calls us to follow the example of obedience and reminds us of the consequences of following the example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:11-12).
In this time of Lent I’m astonished at how fast I drift. Strong one moment and weak the next. We need constant minding and mending. Christians are called to continuous prayer - we need it.
Stock markets will go up and down. Storms and floods and earthquakes are certain. What’s also certain is that God is building His Kingdom and the Kingdom of God is advancing, worldwide. I see a lot of liberal Christians these days, never missing an opportunity to prove their allegiance to worldliness. They criticize any attempt to have God’s standards (including two sexes, male and female, and fair systems and good systems of government accountability). They would rather side with anarchists than take a stand for godliness. They are false teachers. But I also see folks on the so-called conservative side who are legalists. They too are false teachers, wolves on the prowl, and while they pretend to love the inerrancy of God’s word they follow their greed and their appetites and show by what they do that they know little about God’s word.
We are to help each other grow in Christ. Admonish where necessary and remember who Christ is and who we are in Him. We are not God. And we shall never put anything in His place.
Pride and a haughty spirit are the product of selfish ambition; the product of sin. It’s often after a win or a promotion or some sort of success that we fail to give credit to God. We think we are God’s helper - the one He needs. God orchestrates and does what it takes to get us on track. He will let the stock markets crash. He’ll let us go hungry if necessary (Deuteronomy 8:3) to get us right focused and producing good fruit. We may think our fat granaries are the answer and that we have all the security we need in worldly assets - God can prove that thinking faulty in an instant.
God says, “Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
Pray for our leaders. Pray for our nation. May we be a humble, hard working, and God honoring people in all we do. And pray the same for every nation on this earth.
Just to give you a sense of how rotten the modern day evangelical church can be, a quick story. I worked with an executive once that told a group of us around the board room table that God would return to earth, set up an earthly kingdom and make him the special advisor to help God rule for a thousand years. Not only is his theology bad (he thinks he’s a part of the Godhead), but his eschatology is wrecked by his foolish pride as well. That type of pride shows that many of our so-called leaders do not know scripture and do not know God.
God warns us for a reason. Stock markets crashing are not the be all and end all. Yes, that is bad, but nothing compared to eternal destruction. The grace of God is our only hope. God is the source of all good things. It’s His peace, His true church. God gives His people family, security, good government, police protection, justice, and the abundance of our closets, bank accounts, and fridges. The reason we say “grace” (from the Latin root word ‘gratus’ - think gracias in Spanish) is because it is essential we continuously check our hearts for pride and reject it with gratefulness to our King.
Let’s say thanks today to Jesus by what we say and do. God will come through for us as He always does. He will destroy all of this earth one day, judge all people and create a new earth for those who love Him and are in right relationship with Him. Make no mistake: God needs no man's counsel. Let’s help ourselves and each other to be wise and humble. It is not our power and strength that fills our investment accounts (Luke 12:16-21). Yes God calls us to productivity. But if we are full of ourselves in our abundance, we will be by ourselves in time of distress and in the time of judgment.
We are in a new era. There is nothing new under the sun, but like it or not the devil’s schemes are being exposed like never before. The church is growing everywhere - thank God! Satan hates it. The powerful and the church grifters hate it for their power and control are quickly slipping away. Good. Thank You Jesus for what You are doing to bring righteousness and expose evil!
Churchmen are called to be selfless, humble, responsible, and focused on God’s purposes. We are to be good stewards of His resources. Never lazy nor associated with prideful men. We help the weak, poor, and hungry. We give rather than take. We are ever mindful to speak a word of encouragement and to speak quickly against bad actors. Be prepared today to stand up against oppression and stand up for those being persecuted. Shame on those in the church who cover up sin and who let the evil doers continue to harm others.
We ensure those in authority are responsible. Their respect must be earned by good character. We always place people in authority who are worthy of the role - and if they are not, we expose and remove them promptly.
God orchestrates. He always provides a way for us. No temptation is too great for a Christian to avoid. But men must act. We are able to respond as God commands us to. God’s gift of freedom and responsibility must be used wisely.
God sees us, our thoughts, our boasting, and our pride. Let’s repent of all that. He sees how hard we work and He lovingly shows us how to teach our children and how to show thanks by what we do. God loves us dearly. So much so that He sent His Son to die to pay for our sins. Anyone who believes in the Son and continues to believe in Jesus is holy and blameless in God’s sight (Ephesians 1:4-6).
Lord Jesus, we know this life is delicate and precious. You hold all things together. Help us to have the right attitude and motives today. Help us to have mercy on others and to forgive well. And please help Your church to shine with good work today. Amen.
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