Choose Your Direction

Choose Your Direction Revelation 22:11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” Jesus tells us that people must stay with the direction they have chosen.  He tells us to choose a direction and stay with it.  Is He encouraging sinners to stay sinners?  Why would He say this? It is because God sees direction more than He sees individual actions.  This is why Jesus’ first words to His disciples were “Follow Me” instead of “Do this.” The choice of direction once made will have tremendous future consequences on every action. Jesus wants us to choose our direction and own it as ours. Imagine two people walking side by side down a path. It appears at the moment they are headed to the same destination. But what if the reality is they are walking with a slight, imperceptible difference in direction? Over time the imperceptible difference of this moment will become a vast gulf fixed between the two.  This is what God sees as he looks at our lives.  He sees the direction.  He sees the end of the direction not the result of an action.  In spiritual circles we want to debate individual actions. God wants to talk about direction that will determine actions. In the business world great leaders see directional trends and adjust.  Weaker leaders see daily results and panic. Adjusting to trends means the business will stay with its market.  Adjusting to daily results will mean losing touch all together. In raising kids great parents see directional trends. Weaker parents scream and yell at daily behaviors.  Adjusting to each and every error a child makes will drive both child and parent crazy. Adjusting to the trends in a child’s behavior is helping them to choose the right direction. Take a look at your direction. This is what God sees.  You may make periodic changes in a behavior, but the direction you have chosen will overcome the momentary stumble along the way.  Evil people can do good things occasionally but not as a trend.  Good people can do bad things occasionally but not as a trend. Direction overcomes momentary lapses every time. Choose your direction wisely.  It is taking you somewhere.  Is that really where you want to go? Bud McCord Abide International

Discipleship and the Scriptures

Discipleship and the Scriptures Matthew 28: 18-20  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Jesus commanded His first disciples to go and make disciples.  He went on to clearly tell them to make disciples by teaching all new disciples to identify publicly with Jesus' work and presence and to  " observe all things" He commanded. Go back and read the verses.  Is it clear to you that Jesus and His commandments are the measurement and tools for discipleship?  If it is, think with me for a moment about why we seldom focus only on Jesus and on His commandments in discipleship. Consider these questions...             Were you discipled to live from Jesus' presence in you while obeying His very specific commandments?             In your discipleship were the Scriptures used to help you see Jesus clearly or were the Scriptures used to help you see the Scriptures clearly?             Were you taught to obey the specific commands of Jesus or to obey equally all the Bíblical commands from Genesis to Revelation? I am convinced the failure to focus on Jesus' presence in our lives and the obeying of His very specific commandments  are the missing elements in modern discipleship. Let me explain. In our needed attempts to defend the inspiration of the whole Bible as it has been repeatedly attacked,  we have failed to distinguish what the Bible itself clearly  distinguishes. The Bible distinguishes Jesus Himself and His very specific commandments from everyone and everything else that comes before or after Him.  The Bible clearly  distinquishes Jesus and His commands because He is the fulfillment of  every Bíblical command. The Bible leads us all to Him and His commands as the final Living Word.  The Bible is the most beautiful book in the universe because it reveals Jesus. In John chapter 5 there is a striking story of a group of Pharisees (Teachers of the Old Testament Scriptures) who do not believe in Jesus while saying they do believe in the Old Testament Scriptures and obey them completely.   Here is how Jesus confronts their failure to receive His presence and hear His words as a result of their intense but wasted Bible Study. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5.37-40 The Bible never asks us to substiture all of its content in the place of all of Jesus or all of His specific commands.  The perfectly inspired Scriptures always direct our full attention to the perfect person of Jesus and His perfect commands which we are to obey joyfully and continously. If anyone focuses completely on Jesus' presence and obeys His commands, that person will see Jesus in every verse and command in the entire Bible. That person will love the Scriptures because they took Him to Jesus.  That person will be a disciple of Jesus and never a Pharisee. Bud McCord

Divine GPS

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

Think of the Bible as a Divine GPS device that is set to take you straight to Jesus. For a GPS to be useful, it must always know where it is and where it wants to go. The Bible is programmed (inspired by the Holy Spirit) to know from Genesis to Revelation where it is in relation to God and man. God has also set the entire Bible to Jesus which is the one destination where He has decided to meet every man.

 No matter where you are in this world, contact with the Bible is designed by the Spirit to work from your location and take you to Jesus as quickly as possible. In fact, no matter how often you enter the pages of the Bible before or after conversion it is constantly trying to take you to Jesus. To try and get to any other place or do any other thing with the Bible is a waste of time. Too often we misuse the Bible. When we do, we hear the Bible say "Recalculating". This is because we prefer to go our own way instead of going straight to Jesus and His commands!

Once the Scriptures (the Divine GPS) get you to Jesus and to His commandments, the Bible says "Arriving at destination.. Enter, hear Him and obey Him." If you take Bible apart verse by verse as Bible teachers do, you should end up seeing that every verse is programmed with every other verse with Jesus as it's destination.

A GPS is never set to take you to itself. Neither is the Bible designed to take you to the Bible. The Bible is Divinely set to take you to Jesus and His commandments. Let the Bible take you to Jesus. Let the Bible do its job. Trust it to take you to Him! When it does you will find yourself face to face with Jesus and expected to obey His very specific commands.

No matter where you are you can open your Bible and know it will take you to Jesus every time. Bud McCord Abide International

Easter or Resurrection?

Easter and The Resurrection   "I am the resurrection and the life..."  Jesus   Easter is an event.  The resurrection is a person.  An event comes and goes.  A person is alive for as long as the quality of their life permits.  The quality of a resurrected life is forever.   When we reduce our celebration of Easter to an event on a calendar instead of celebrating the quality of life that now lives in us, we lose the power of the resurrection.   The resurrection is as powerful today as it was on the day Jesus defeated death and the grave for all of us.   Today is not Easter.  Today is resurrection.  Tomorrow will be resurrection.  Ten thousand years from now will be resurrection.  Because Christ lives in each of us who have believed Him and received Him every moment is resurrection.   The resurrection lives in you.  Rise!  

Mystery Solved

Mystery Solved
 
An unsolved mystery creates drama and suspense.  A sense of suspense is a great tool for selling books and movie tickets as long as the suspense eventually reaches resolution.   We love suspense and drama for a time, but we all long for resolution.

After a long period of suspense we all love to finally say  "That explains it!"  A tremendous sense of relief floods our minds and emotions we we finally know what is really going on.

If we long for resolution while reading a great novel or watching a good film, imagine our need for resolution to the mystery and drama of the meaning of  our own life!  We must  have a "That explains it!" moment about life.  Fortunately, God has provided it.

Jesus is God's resolution to the mystery of our history.  Jesus is the "that explains it!" relief which our mind, emotions and will must have.  As much as we may enjoy temporary drama and suspense, we need an end to suspense and drama when it comes to what God has in mind for us as human beings.

The Apostle Paul saw his ministry as a wonderful  "Jesus explains it!" process.
 
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Col. 1:24-29
 
Jesus abiding in us is the resolution to the drama and suspense that troubles our souls.  As we learn to bring every thought to Jesus we will begin to experience inner peace and an end to unneeded drama that makes our inner world uneasy and stressed.

Jesus is God's final explanation.  Let Jesus be your great "That explains it!"  Mystery and drama are good in books and in films, but your inner life needs resolution right now.
 
 
Bud McCord
Abide International

A Deeper Repentance

 
When we go through a time of great personal failure it can lead us to repentance.  We respond to our failure knowing that we truly are at fault and need to come before God with a broken and contrite heart.
 
Is this failure provoked change the most powerful kind of repentance?  Until recently I would have said  "yes" to this question.  Today I would say there is a more powerful kind of experience that produces an even deeper kind of repentance.
 
This more powerful kind of repentance is produced by experiencing the kindness and longsuffering of God toward us.  When we become aware of His tremendous goodness toward us instead of our own tremendous failure toward Him, we experience the deepest kind of repentance.
 
The shift in my thinking came about as I heard a pastor calling his church to repentance in his Sunday sermon.  He called them to come and repent not because they had failed.  He called them to come and repent because God is so good to them and so longsuffering toward them.  The altar of the church filled with people repenting because they had seen the goodness of God.
I was profundly touched by the wisdom of this pastor.  He has it right!
 
If we would see others repent we can hope they fail or we can hope they see God's goodness and kindness.
 
God uses His goodness and kindness to reach us.  God does not seek our failure.  He seeks our good. 
 
Do we secretly hope others will fail so they will repent or do we hope they will see God's goodness and longsuffering before they fail?
 
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"  Romans 2:4

Game On!

...be filled with the Spirit... Ephesians 5:18b

Have you ever tried to play a sport with a ball that is not properly inflated?
Basketball, volleyball, tennis, football and soccer all depend on exact inflation for excellent results.

As you master a sport the proper inflation issue becomes more and more important. The higher your skill level the more sensitive you are to an underinflated ball. It is nearly impossible to put a ball where you want it to go when it is improperly inflated.

Your ability to accurately deliver love to others depends on inner life filling by the Spirit of Christ. The better you get at delivering love to others, the more sensitive you will become about the internal filling of the Holy Spirit. Proper filling of the Spirit means love goes where it needs to go.

Perfecting the delivery of God's love is the goal of all discipleship. Putting love exactly where it needs go time after time is the skill of discipleship. This skill depends on the filling of the Holy Spirit.

As our outer life takes the blows that are part of delivering love here in this world, our inner life must be continuously renewed at the level of our spirit where we connect with the presence of Christ moment by moment.

This continuous filling is needed even as the external pressures against love grow in intensity in our outer world. As we get better at delivering God's love, the outer resistance grows as we face greater spiritual resistance.

Loss of proper internal filling will mean the delivery of love becomes heavy and damaging to our mind, emotions and will. Trying to love others without proper internal filling is like playing a demanding sport with an underinflated ball. Every play made with such a ball is hard work, lost energy and less excellence.

Every moment we try to love others without the filling of the Spirit is loving with a heavy, underinflated soul. This makes delivering love inexact, hard and energy draining.

It is no accident that this "be filled" passage in Ephesians is immediately followed by instructions on husbands loving their wives like Christ loved the church. Delivering love in marriage is not easy for anyone with an underinflated inner life! Loving like Jesus is for men and women filled with the Spirit of Christ.

Game on! Be filled!
Bud McCord
Abide International

Growing Up In Christ

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4.11-13

"I was raised in Church."

There is a difference between growing up in Church and growing up in Christ. If we ever hope to truly be the Church we would be wise to understand the difference.

To grow up in Church is to learn the art and importance of Christian community. To grow up in Christ is to learn the art and importance of communion with Christ within.

To grow up in Church is to learn the rythm of services and calendars. To grow up in Christ means to learn the rythm of love and eternity.

To grow up in Church creates memories that last a lifetime but begin to fade. To grow up in Christ creates actions that last for eternity and never fade.

We would be wise to grow up in Church. We would be wiser to grow up in Christ so we can truly be the Church worth growing up in.

Bud McCord
Abide International

A Mary or Martha Day?

The two most famous sisters in the New Testament are Mary and Martha. The presence of Jesus in their home and their different responses to His presence made them memorable.

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10: 38-42

Mary comes across as the sister who got it right and Martha as the sister who got it wrong. Sounds like many families we all know!

The issue is not who is right or wrong. The issue is the presence of Jesus and how to properly respond to Him. Jesus is that "good part" that must be chosen. The lesson intended is not judgement of one person over another but the choosing of the one necessary thing--Jesus' presence.

Mary and Martha are a picture of each of us. At times we are Mary. At times we are Martha. Since Jesus had made His home in us, we must deal with our own personal responses to Jesus each and every day.

Mary set her speed to Jesus' speed. Mary set her inner life to Jesus' peace and calm.

Martha set her speed to the need. Martha set her inner life to her own need to please and control.

I see myself in both of these women each and every day. Will today be a Mary or Martha day for me?



Bud McCord

Abide International

Prayer--Technique or Faith?

John taught his disciples to pray so Jesus' disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. A simple request which elicited a simple answer.
Luke 11: 1-13
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

So, in these few simple sentences Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.
Go and speak to God like you would go to a dear friend when you need something immediately to love someone you must love and you know your friend has it and will give it.
Go and speak to God and ask like a child who wants some particular kind of satisfaction that is a good thing that he knows his caring father has in his possession and he knows he will give it.

Simple. "When you pray, say...." That's it. Go to God asking for resources to love those you must love. Go to God asking for what He has that you need to be His satisfied child. Go to God asking because He is generous toward you and toward others. "When you pray, say" to God what you really think about Him as your friend and as your father.

Jesus' simplicity is amazing. His instruction is simple because He begins and ends everything in His Father's character. Man's teaching is complex because it begins and ends in spiritualized technique.

We want to learn the techniques of the Christian life so we can dominate them and control them. We want to become less dependent through technique. We want to graduate to what we are told are the highest and most powerful Christian techniques so we can climb the pyramid of Christian attainment. We want to say
"I am getting better at this Christian technique called prayer."

Jesus never taught a technique called Christianity. Listening to Jesus there is no such thing as "Christian technique." The two words do not go together.

There is no technique in Christianity but there is God's character revealed in Christ to which we speak and from which we receive. Jesus revealed and taught the character of His Father. When we pray by faith we speak straight to the character of God.

Faith is not a technique. Faith is receiving directly from God's character in Christ by the Spirit. Faith is being a friend of God. Faith is being a healthy, satisfied child of God. Faith is orienting absolutely everything to the generous character of God just like Jesus did.

So much of today's teaching is technique. So much of today's Christianity is complicated. That is why Jesus is so refreshing. Hear Him and prayer will simplify to "When you pray, say...." Speak to God what you really think of Him. Simple.

Tremors

Seismologists are aware of tremors beneath the surface of the earth that cause no alarm to the millions who live and walk unaware. The scientists watch and listen because they know these nearly imperceptible movements will someday give rise to earthquakes that may claim thousands of lives in a matter of seconds.

Though their contstant vigilance cannot stop what may happen, they can perhaps give sufficient warning that danger is close. Even a few minutes warning can save lives.

There is evidence in Scripture that mankind's behavior influences the creation. There is a link between how we as humans behave and how at peace the earth will be. It appears that we humans can make the creation tremble and groan.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."

Romans 8:18-22

What is it that causes the earth to tremble and groan? What sends tremors through the creation? It is the failure humans to behave as the "sons of God." It is humanity's failure to continuously love as God loves.

Whenever love stops in a human life it sends a tremor though the creation. Though this love stopping tremor may be imperceptible to other human beings, those who stand close to the person whose love stops can feel the effects. We are all like seismologists when it comes to love stopping close to us.

Creation feels the collective effect of mankind's constant love stopping tremors. The creation trembles and groans waiting for the day that the earth will be populated by a humanity whose love does not stop. Only when all men love will creation stop trembling and be at peace.

Regardless of how Christians may feel about global warming and its conseguences, there is a greater threat to life on earth. That threat is the growing force of the love stopping tremors that are clearly gathering across the planet.

For this reason every disciple must be a contributor to the peace and rest of the planet by loving without stopping. May our lives be tremor free to the glory of God and peace on earth.

Christian enviromentalism starts with love for our God and our neighbor. May the place beneath our feet be at peace because we do not stop love.

The Speed of Love

"Pursue Love...." I Cor. 14:1


Many disciples of Jesus believe that true spirituality would require a significant change in the speed at which they live. Faster would mean less spiritual. Slow would mean more spiritual. Mountain retreat would mean spiritual. Busy life in the city would mean less spiritual.

The reality is very different. No choice of speed on our part is needed. True spirituality is able to move at any speed in any place. We must pursue something much deeper than speed. We must pursue love.

True spirituality is about a continuous inspiration and orientation which comes from abiding in Christ and always produces love. To abide in Christ is to enjoy a barrier-free, moment by moment inspiration and orientation from Christ's Spirit within. We must choose to abide in Jesus' love moment by moment and then He chooses our speed. We choose the inner and He chooses the outer.

Once we make the choice to begin all inspiration and orientation in Jesus as our source, He will increase or decrease the speed of our activity as needed. Divine speed setting is part of what it means to pray "Your will be done."

Think of a pilot flying a modern jet airplane. The most important question is not speed. The question is sufficient inspiration (power from the engines) and orientation (direction and altitude). Losing power or losing altitude and direction is the real danger.

The spiritual life is somewhat like flying. It is a moment by moment inspiration and orientation found in Christ. Speed problems won't kill spirituality but a loss of inspiration and orientation eventually will.

Divine speed setting is called walking in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, being filled by the Spirit. It is called abiding in Christ and living by faith.

What we need is complete confidence that Jesus abides in us by His Spirit as both our continuous inspiration and orientation. Staying focused on Jesus inspires and orients us to move in the right direction at the speed of love.

The speed of love may be as slow as sitting by the bedside of a sick friend or it may be fast as leading a major company. It will probably be both for some. All of us will have what I call "monk" days. All of us will have what I call "executive" days. Some days we will be executive monks!

Jesus in us will set the speed of our love. Our job is to receive by faith from Jesus within the inspiration and orientation to release perfectly timed love.

Stay inspired and oriented in Jesus and the speed of your life will be the exact speed of the love only you are called and equipped to deliver.

The Satisfying Life

The Satisfying Life in 2012

Blessed is the man
         Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
         Nor stands in the path of sinners,
         Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
  But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
         And in His law he meditates day and night.
  He shall be like a tree
         Planted by the rivers of water,
         That brings forth its fruit in its season,
         Whose leaf also shall not wither;
         And whatever he does shall prosper.


The writer of Psalm 1 had discovered the plan for a permanently satisfying life. It was a clear and simple plan and needed no adjustments from year to year.

Continuously meditating on and aligning his life with God's loving intentions as expressed in the written law brought to this person a satisfying and fruitful life. Why did the plan work so well that it became the famous Psalm 1?

First, it works because of the universal spiritual reality that says "Whatever gets your attention gets you." Human beings are "receivers". Humans are what they receive and release. We receive by paying attention.

As much as we humans like to think we are our own source and can decide what we will do or won't do, the reality is that we do what gets our attention. We do get to choose what gets our attention from the available lists of possibilities. This choosing can be the solution or the problem. The choice the author of Psalm 1 made is the solution.

When we give our undivided attention to God's intentions for us and for others, God has us. Until we do this, God does not really have us and we do not have the real satisfying life.

Second, it works because of another spiritual reality that says "Only God can make us truly human." Being what you were meant to be and doing what you were meant to do is the satisfying human life. Only the person receiving continuously from God becomes like a tree planted by rivers of living water which gives its fruit in the right season.

When Jesus came to earth and lived among us He made meditating on God's intentions much easier to see and to live than it was for the author of Psalm 1. Jesus is the God's law written in human flesh. Jesus is literally God's intentions made visible and available to us. He is also what true humanity looks like.

Since Calvary Jesus has become the source of the Satisfying life and staying focused on Him continuously means God will have all of you and you will have all the satisfaction you need to be a fruitful human being.

This is called abiding in Christ and it is the right plan for living in 2012 and beyond.

Abide in Christ 2012. In other words "receive well to release well!" When you do God will have you and you will have the satisfying life! It works for all who freely receive from Jesus because Jesus is the plan that satisfies. He is the satisfying life!

Pure Goodness

Pure Goodness

Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Bad cannot produce good. It takes pure goodness to produce true good.

Just ask yourself if your heart is good or bad. Be honest. Unless you have truly understood that Christ lives in you right now and He is the source of all pure goodness, it is hard to say "My heart is good!". You need to believe you have a treasure in your heart to seek pure goodness there.

As a believer in Jesus you have the source of pure goodness in you right now. Good intentions live in you. Good words live in you. Good ideas live in you. Good courage lives in you. Your job is to stay in touch with this pure goodness and bring it out into the light to bless others.

Try saying this..."I am forever united in my spirit (heart) with the pure goodness of Jesus." Now from this good place ask for the specific kind of goodness you would like to "bring forth." It is there. Your job is to receive it and release it.

When we say we cannot be good, we may be telling a truth. We may be admitting that nothing good lives in our flesh. That is a truth. Even so, the greater truth for a believer is that we no longer live in the flesh. We now live in connection with Christ who is pure goodness. The greater truth is pure goodness lives in connection with our spirit.

Christmas is about pure goodness being born into the world. Don't forget that that same pure goodness now is born in you! Draw from this good treasure and be good.

Merry Christmas!

Bud McCord
Abide International

P.S. I wrote this devotional thinking about our daughter Rachel who has a wonderful website about really good food. Check it out! www.puregoodness.net Only good food can bring out the best in you.

Reputation

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phillipians 2:5-11

Jesus perfected His love not His reputation. What an unlikely strategy when compared with the wisdom of this world.

Jesus' commitment to love was the living manifestation of His depth of commitment to His Father. Reputation would be left in the hands of His Father. Love would be Jesus' singular focus.

Reputation protection and the perfection of love are never comfortable traveling companions. As we move through life we will be forced to go with one or the other. At times they can seem to be united but there is always a time when perfected love will need to abandon reputation so love remains preeminent.

The description of Jesus in Phillipians 2 is a call for each of us to see the perfecting or our love as more important than the protecting of our reputation. When our reputation is at stake we often panic because we have invested so much in the building of our reputation. When we have been working on perfecting our love we can let go of our reputation because we trust the Father with our reputation.

We remember and revere Jesus because He perfected His love for us instead of protecting His reputation.

Be remembered for the quality of your love. Let love be your reputation.

Bud McCord
Abide International

The Speed of God's Compassion

"Pain suffered while we are alone is very different than pain suffered near someone else." Henri Nouwen

Most of us consider ourselves fairly compassionate people. We weep when we watch really sad films. We get very indignant when we see someone abuse another. We may even pray fervently for those who suffer. Even so, do these things qualify as compassion?

The meaning of the word compassion is to "suffer with". That means to do much more than be moved emotionally to a state of caring. I believe it means to actually stay with the sufferer for a God appointed period of time.

There is no way to stay with a person who suffers without suffering with the sufferer. There is no way to stay with a sufferer without reducing our speed to their speed for a time.

Perhaps that is why we want to get away quickly from the suffering of another. Suffering spreads by contact and suffering alters travel plans. Compassion is risky and time consuming. All true love is.

As a minister for over 35 years I have noticed that I wanted to help people get past their suffering as quickly as possible. Slow recoveries seemed to me to be a sign of my pastoral incompetence and a lack of faith on the part of all involved.

Good counseling in my mind was fast counseling. I was too busy for someone's stubborn pain to slow down my plans to help so many. I lacked the speed of God's compassion.

I don't believe God wanted me to stay at the hospital for hours at a time with every person. I think He wanted me to stay as long as He needed me to reveal His compassion to a particular sufferer. I seldom remember asking how long He wanted me to stay. I guess I assumed He was in a hurry since I was in a hurry to go after all the other pain.

Fast cures certainly sound very appealing to us unless we are the person whose pain is stubborn. Perhaps the desire for fast cures explains why modern healing meetings draw such huge crowds. Compassion and fast don't match. Massive healing meetings many times reveal more frustration with stubborn pain than compassion for sufferers.

Compassion is being willing to stay as long as God would have us stay with a sufferer while going at their speed so they won't go alone.

Some of my friends who are ministers live at only one ministerial speed--fast. The faster they go, the more famous they become. They are incredibly dynamic and gifted. There is only one problem with great speed in the life of a minister and that is the fact that our calling includes showing God's compassion not just God's speed and direction as we see it.

God's compassion has its own speed. Are we willing to let God make us His campassion? I am learning to ask Him if He approves of my speed. Amazingly, I have time for everything that truly matters at His speed.

(For a Biblical example of The Speed of God's Compassion read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.)

Bud McCord
Abide International

Treasure

Treasure

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6: 19-21

A human being without a desire for treasure (abundance) does not exist. The difference among humans is defining what the true human treasure should be, how it is to be obtained and where to keep it safe. Some people say they have no need of treasure but even they will protect something or someone given just the right set of circumstances. Even killing oneself is an attempt to protect something or someone we treasure too much to let live without an adequate treasure.

All humans desire to live from treasure or abundance because we all started out in Adam and Eve in an environment of perfect abundance. Since that perfect place and perfect spiritual abundance with the Creator was lost by looking for the false treasure of trying to be God, the hunt by humanity for treasure has been ongoing and tragic.

A sense of no treasure can drive human beings insane. Black Friday at Walmart comes to mind! Human beings without a treasure can become depressed, violent, intolerant, protective, demanding, discouraged and even suicidal. The crash of the stock market in 1929 with millionaires jumping from skyscrapers comes to mind. In all of us there is the deep sense we should have a safe treasure that is our source of abundance from which we will live. Trying to get this treasure makes some of us crazy. Protecting this treasure can make some of us dangerous. Protecting government retirement programs or government funded tuition comes to mind.

Jesus never condemns the human desire for treasure (abundance). Instead, He defines the true treasure as a return to the Creator and the Creator's Kingdom. He tells us the treasure will be kept for us as we "lay it up in heaven". He tells us that treasure is meant to keep one's heart focused. Jesus forever links treasure and the focus of the human heart. What we treasure has our heart. We don't have our treasure as much as our treasure has us.

Christianity is not a treasureless life. It is unashamedly a way of life that depends on God Himself offering to be our treasure. God is willing to be our treasure because He wants our heart. He wants our heart because when He is our treasure we are finally able to become human again. Being humanity's treasure was God's original plan.

The problem for Christians comes in when we want multiple treasures just in case the God treasure does not work out too well. The rich young ruler who went away sad when Jesus told him to sell all and give it to the poor comes to mind.

Jesus never condemned treasure or abundance. The human heart needs its treasure. He also never suggested we could mix treasures of this world with the treasure that is His Father.

Is God your great treasure? If He is, then your heart will be in the right place and you will live a life of increasing sanity called love. God as the human treasure calms and quiets the human heart. Nothing else really can.

If you have multiple treasures, then expect to live with a divided and weakened heart. As a multiple treasures person you may even do some crazy things from time to time. Don't be surprised when you do crazy things for treasures that are less than God. The wrong treasures are that powerful.

If God is your singular treasure, then don't be surprised when you do incredibly sane things like forgiving and loving. The right treasure is that powerful.

Choose your treasure wisely. It will have your heart.

Bud McCord
Abide International


Abide International is an organization dedicated to helping Christ-followers worldwide
understand and experience true satisfaction in Jesus as a moment by moment reality.

Abide International - 17701 N.W. 57th Avenue - Miami, FL 33055
Web: www.abideinternational.org - Email: info@abideinternational.org

Flesh or Spirit?

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6

As humans we try to make judgments of others using our carefully constructed human views of moral behaviors. When God judges humans he judges their birth not their behaviors. God doesn’t give us grades for behaviors. He sees our behaviors and gives them a DNA or birth test.

If the origin of any human behavior is birthed in something other than God’s Spirit it is called “flesh” and it is condemned by God as useless no matter what human standard is applied and how nice the behavior might appear to other humans. With God it is not a “pass/fail” accomplishment system. It is a “flesh/spirit” birth system.

In John 3 Jesus told a “pass/fail” leader named Nicodemos that all men and women need a new birth--including him. To say he was shocked is to put it too lightly. He was stunned. He had spent a lifetime working the “pass/fail” behavioral system and he had never once heard of the “flesh/spirit” birth system. Jesus basically told him he had wasted his time and needed to start over as a new human being.

It is never easy to free ourselves from the accomplishment system and move to the birth system. We all want to earn our standing with God instead of being born into our standing with God. Adam and Eve switched from birth to accomplishment in Genesis 3 and the effects can most clearly be called “death.” It stinks.

In our spiritual formation, we need to become accustomed to determining in our own behavior what is born of the Spirit an what is born of the flesh. Even though we now are “born again” and we have the Christ in us, we must be trained by the Holy Spirit to Identify and put off the works of the flesh. God wants us to learn to see birth over behavior in everything. The “pass/fail” system must be put to death.

This is not as difficult as it may seem for a disciple. Try this. When you are behaving in a way that needs a “birth” evaluation to see where the behavior is coming from, just ask Jesus “Is this behavior birthed in you?” You will be surprised how quickly Jesus owns what he births and how quickly He rejects what He did not birth. Remember, we focus on behavior but Jesus’ focus is on birth.

It is possible for a believer to begin in the Spirit and then try to be made perfect in the flesh. Galatians 3:2b “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Having begun in the birth system of grace are you now made perfect the the behaviors system of works? Great question!

A believer can begin experiencing things birthed in the Spirit and suddenly begin to put on behaviors that are from the flesh. Why would God permit this?

He allows this to teach us that birth matters most and no amount of good work can ever hope to birth what only the Spirit can birth. Jesus put it this way “Without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

You can also learn to look for birth not just behaviors in others. Source is more important than symptoms in our relationships. Reacting to symptoms in others is a waste of time. That is why Jesus tells us to “turn the other cheek” when someone attacks us. Striking back at a behavior cannot reach the level of birth, but turning the other cheek can.

A disciple should become a birth expert not a behavior expert. Don’t judge behaviors. Look for the source not the symptoms. Aim for the new birth of others by living as Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount. Behavior modification is not Christianity. New Birth is.

Bud McCord
Abide International

"It Was Good For Me"

The parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price. Matthew 13: 44-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Why did the man and the merchant do what they did? They did it because it was good for them and it was very smart. It was to their great advantage to reach a place of absolutely no need outside the possessing of the treasure or the pearl. With these choices they were done choosing. What a relief! Does the Kingdom of heaven approve of such thinking? According to Jesus it does and that took me by surprise. Here is how I might have ended these parables to make it fit my old idea of Christian self denial which always left me feeling I should do only things that would leave me with less. “And the man gave the treasure to the poor so his treasure would not distract him.” “And the man who bought the pearl sold it and gave the money to the poor so he would look humble.” Whey didn’t Jesus add my thoughts to His? Because He approves of human beings doing what is best for them. He always has. He approves of human beings who know how to choose their permanent, personal solution before they try to become someone else’s partial solution. Jesus approves of human beings living from permanent abundance. The treasure and the pearl are Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate value of the Kingdom. Jesus is the Kingdom made visible. Jesus is perfect abundance. Letting go of everything we have valued in our old pursuit of happiness in order to have Him is good for us and it is very smart. In the end such a singular pursuit of Jesus is the only thing that will make us most useful to those in need. In fact, choosing Jesus is the only thing that will make us truly useful forever. Beneath all the wonderful sounding reasons we give for our personal behavior is one inescapable fact. We all do what we think is best for us. We love ourselves too much not to do so. To lose our life in this world and find Jesus as our life is what is best for us and it is a very smart choice. Jesus is our only hope to live and love from abundance. The choosing of what is best for us is not the problem. The problem is we choose things that are not best for us and then we suffer a sense of lack, start looking again and everyone else suffers with us because we are still on the hunt for what is best. When we choose Jesus as what is best for us, God is pleased with us because He is the One who created us to choose Jesus who is the best. When we get choosing Jesus right, we will certainly bear the good fruit of such a smart choice. Once you have the best you can really get on with living the best. When you choose Jesus your need to keep on choosing ends. You have what is best for you forever and nothing is smarter than settling the abundance issue once and forever. To truly love the issue of permanent, personal abundance found in Christ must be settled once and for all. Make Jesus your final choice and you will choose to love. What a relief it is to love from the certainty of Jesus’ eternal perfection and abundance instead of constantly checking to see how much we have spent loving others. Bud McCord Abide International

The Farmer

On the last day of His life on earth before His crucifixion Jesus refers to His Father as a Vinedresser--a farmer. Hardly the title I would chosen for the King of the Universe and the One who was at that moment overcoming the Evil One through His Son's sustained and sustaining love. Still, the title is the one Jesus chose. I have come to see why Jesus called His father a farmer during my 60 year journey in the world. God is not about changing the world. He overcomes it one human at a time. He takes the world as it is and does what He wants done through those He chooses. He takes into consideration all the tragic elements of the world and says, "I can grow my crops here in this life." We get angry at God because He does not change the tragic elements of the world, but He goes on with His work--getting His fruit visible and available in the middle of this tragic world. The crop (fruit) God wants is called love - sustained love. Jesus is the first to have sustained the Farmer's love. Since He did this all excuses about the world being too tough a place for sustained love to exist are eliminated. All excuses are gone for the branches of His sustained love and it is time to harvest the same sustained love crop worldwide. Every time you pick up a beautiful apple, pear, banana or grape cluster, some farmer has overcome the world for you. For such beautiful fruit to end up on your table, the world was overcome and you benefit from the victory. Thank God for farmers! The One who overcame the world is now abiding in you to bear the fruit of Jesus' sustained love. No excuses now about the world needing to change before you can bear this fruit. The Farmer knows what He has done and he can do in the world just as it is. He can make us the bearers of sustained love if we will but abide 24/7 and moment by moment in His sustained and sustaining love. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will suffer tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Jesus inspiring his disciples in John 16:33 Bud McCord Abide International

A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. I Cor. 2:16

Jesus was the only human being who ever enjoyed a mind that was completely free to function as a human mind was meant to function. He was the most intelligent man who ever lived and His mind was the perfect tool for God’s loving purpose. Jesus never wasted His mind. He used His mind to live the Christian life.

Unfortunately we as disciples waste His mind. We waste it because we do not believe we have His mind. We think great Bible teachers have some of His mind, but we honestly do not see ourselves having nearly any of His mind.

How many children grow up and live their entire lives never being encouraged to develop the ability that their own DNA possesses? They don’t even know what their DNA is. How many young adults give into distractions and end up living their entire lives beneath their full potential? They don’t even know what their potential is. How many Christians never access the mind of Christ while trying to live the Christian life? They don’t even know what the mind of Christ is.

I, for one, have wasted much of the mind of Christ over the years. Quite frankly, I have only recently realized something of what it means to have the mind of Christ. I have only recently begun to realize that having the mind of Christ is critical to living Christ’s life as my life.

“For to me to live is Christ...” Phil. 1:21 “it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me..” Gal. 2:20

To have the mind of Christ means I can literally think with Jesus about everything that is happening to me at any moment. If you have a mind you can think with that mind! If you cannot think with it you don’t have it.

Jesus abides in me by His Spirit and is willing to think with me. He is willing to give me His thoughts about my reality until my reality becomes His reality. As we think together as one we begin to face the reality with one mind--His mind.

I know this sounds very strange, but I imagine that the first time people heard that they carry their parents DNA that, too, sounded strange. Even so, the only DNA we will ever have or ever use is the DNA we received from our parents. It is also true to say “I have the mind of Christ.” Jesus gives me His mind by His Spirit within me. The only thinking that I can use to live the Christian life comes from Jesus’ mind not mine. My mind cannot think the Christian life up as I go along. My mind needs to receive the thoughts directly from Jesus who is the living Christian life who lives in me.

Every believer has the mind of Christ. Every believer can let the mind of Christ teach their mind how to live Jesus’ life in our daily reality.

I have tested this idea with many congregations and with many Christians by describing to them scenarios where they are facing some challenge or attack. I ask them to ask Jesus who abides in them what He thinks about this challenge or attack. I ask them to think with His mind if they should be afraid or go on the attack. As incredible as it sounds, they always know what He thinks. That shocked me. They did not always want to do what He thinks, but they always knew what He thinks.

The next time you are facing a great challenge ask Jesus what He thinks about the challenge. Ask Him if He thinks it is the end of the world. Ask Him if the challenge is impossible. Ask Him if you should be afraid to face the challenge. I know you already know the answer because you really do have the mind of Christ.

The next time you are attacked or offended ask Jesus what He thinks. Does this attack determine who I am? Does this offense mean I need to vindicate myself? Should I retaliate? I know you already know the answer because you really do have the mind of Christ.

It is a terrible thing to waste the mind of Christ.

Bud McCord
Abide International

Equality

The Spirit of Christ is an equalizer not a divider.

When the Spirit of Christ is in control of a group of believers there will always be a deep and abiding equality among all. When there appears in a group of believers a sense of the “haves” and the “have nots”, equality in Christ is dying and the Spirit of Christ is not being followed.

In the book of Galatians the Apostle Paul confronts the Apostle Peter because of the issue of equality between Jewish and Gentile believers. It is hard to even imagine one of the apostles confronting another, but equality is that important.

Here is what happened that caused the confrontation.

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Galatians 2:11-16

Some Jewish “haves” came and determined that some Gentile “have nots” were not up to their level. This new paradigm was so powerful that Peter and Barnabas were “carried away with their hypocrisy.”

If this kind of mistake can be made by Peter and Barnabas, who are we to think we cannot be drawn into this mistake? This is the kind of failure that can and will destroy the very essence of Christian life and community.

How can we avoid this mistake?

1. By focusing exclusively on Christ as Christianity. Jesus is Christianity. If a person has Christ they are as much a Christian as any other Christian. Treat them as such.

2. By seeing love as our reason for existence. We exist to love. We exist to give the best we are and the best we have to those who need us. Even if we see ourselves as a “have” in the midst of a lot of “have nots” that only increases our responsibility to love them more effectively not isolate them more effectively.

3. By resisting the temptation to confuse leadership positions as places of superiority instead of places of service. God gives leadership authority to those who can still wash feet. Leaders who cannot wash feet need to be confronted.

Listen to these remarkable words that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

When equality in Christ begins to die in a group of believers, so does the spiritual power begin to die no matter how impressive the “haves” still appear to be in their special but separate gatherings. Unfortunately inequality draws huge crowds.

Bud McCord
Abide International

Spiritual LIfe--Goals and Pace

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18

The promise contained in these verses that one can be completely free of the desires of the flesh by walking in the Spirit is truly remarkable. For those of us who have battled with our fleshly desires that are not born in God, this passage offers hope but it also raises a serious question.

What does it mean to “Walk in the Spirit..”?

I believe it means to spend each moment adjusting myself internally and externally to the goals and pace of Christ in me. That’s right, Jesus is continuously moving in us with clear goals and with a determined pace. Jesus may not be physically in the world, but He is in each believer and He is still walking among men through each disciple who walks in the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit is learning to adjust myself continuously to the abundance of Jesus’ perfect presence in me by His Spirit. It means that I must continuously relate everything that is happening to me to Christ in me by His Spirit. When I do relate everything to Christ within by His Spirit, I get in sync with Jesus’ goals and pace. I walk in the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is in me to make this adjustment to Jesus possible and to release to me what I need in order to not need what the flesh is offering me. The Holy Spirit of God is in me to align me with the goals and the pace of God in Christ 24 hours a day, seven days a week and moment by moment. The Holy Spirit walks me into this adjustment.

Imagine you decide to walk an entire day with another person. They have agreed that you can accompany them as long as you truly want to do what they do and you understand that they have a busy agenda and a determined pace. You accept the conditions and off you go toward their goals and at their pace.

At first it is easy, but as the day progresses you find that you are being continuously invited to leave the person with whom you are walking and satisfy some other need the way you normally would. Eventually you discover that walking with another person who has a very specific agenda and pace in mind means you must continually submit to their goals and pace or walking with them just will not work.

This is how Jesus walked with His Father. When Jesus said he always did what pleased His father He was describing what it means to walk in the Spirit. God’s goals were His goals and God’s pace was His pace at all times.

We either walk in the Spirit or we walk in the flesh. We either conform to God’s goals and pace in Christ through the Spirit or we conform to the old goals and pace of our flesh. At any given moment I am either walking in the Spirit or I am walking in my flesh.

Over time it has become abundantly clear to me when I am in the Spirit and when I am in the flesh. The fruit just does not lie. The goals and the pace of Spirit are clear. The goals and pace of flesh are clear.

If you want to walk in the Spirit it is as simple as saying to Jesus who abides in you--”I will walk with you right now by your Spirit.” As the day moves along and the temptation comes back to fulfill your own desires first, just whisper the words “Jesus, I am entirely yours.” and walk where the Spirit is leading at Jesus' perfect pace for you.

Today we can make the goal and the pace of Jesus our goal and our pace. When we do this the fruit is true Spiritual Life. To be spiritual is to let the Spirit set your goal and your pace to those of Jesus moment by moment. What wonderful goals and what a wonderful pace await all those who walk in the Spirit.

Bud McCord
Abide International


Abide International is an organization dedicated to helping Christ-followers worldwide
understand and experience true satisfaction in Jesus as a moment by moment reality.

Abide International - 17701 N.W. 57th Avenue - Miami, FL 33055
Web: www.abideinternational.org - Email: info@abideinternational.org

Abundant Life-Being, Having and Doing

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

The most valuable thing a thief can steal is our inspiration to keep on living our story. The material he takes can be replaced but a stolen inspiration leads to the certain death of the story of our life.

Jesus came to make our inner life safe from all those who would steal our inner inspiration to live and to love. This continuous inner inspiration in Jesus is the abundant life.

To live the abundant life, essence must come before effort. Our essence is who we are in Jesus and what we have in Jesus. We keep the thief out of our life when our essence is beyond his reach. The only way to keep our essence out of his reach is to abide in Christ moment by moment.

Most people who are good observers of human nature would agree that we need to be and have some kind of an inner inspiration in order to do something memorable with our lives. In fact, the most inspiring stories among all cultures and religions are those which describe a person who overcame enormous odds because of some inner being and having that won the day. A Mother Teresa inspires because her inner life prevailed in the face of such immense poverty in India. Because no thief could steal her inspiration the narrative she told with her life is so powerful it continues to inspire even after her death.

When Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life, it is clear He was not speaking about giving every disciple an abundance of material things no one could steal and with which they could do what they wanted to do. He was talking about giving each disciple a permanent and safe spiritual abundance at the level of their inner being and inner having. He came to inspire in each disciple a very particular kind of doing called love. Jesus knew it takes abundant inner life no thief could steal to love like He loved.

Looking back over the last 2000 years of the Christian experience it is clear that the true and memorable Christian narratives are the ones which describe time and time again what happens when disciples live inspired lives of being and having while in union with Christ. As much as some have tried to make Christianity about doing in order to be and to have, this human effort narrative just never works. Thank God for that!

Right at this moment every believer in Christ has the perfect presence and abundance of Jesus in them by the Holy Spirit. No thief can reach this place and steal this abundance. If we would do something that actually would create a story worth remembering, then we must start in this inner abundance. When we start in Jesus, the doing will happen and the narrative of our lives will inspire others.

Truly, being and having must come before doing and seeing the results. Just how sure are you of who you are and what you have in Jesus right now? The answer to that question will determine what kind of story you are telling as you live and it will determine how long your story and life will bless others.
Write a brand new, unique Christian narrative as you abide in Jesus! No one else could ever write your story of being and having in Jesus.

Remember, no thief can steal who your are what you have in Jesus. Write your story!

Bud McCord
Abide International

Temptation

"And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." Matt.6:13

What does it mean to be led into temptation?

To be tempted is to be led into the tragedy of trying to be and to have by doing for ourselves what apparently God has not done.

It means to be led into thinking and behaving as if we can become what we want to become and have what we think we need to have by taking a situation into our own hands.

Adam and Eve were the first humans to be led into temptation. They were led to believe by the evil one that they could become like God because they wanted to be. All they needed to do was simply take the issue of being and having into their own hands and into their own mouths. (See Genesis 3)

Temptation is the opposite of faith. When we live by faith what we are and what we have come to us freely from God. When one is led into temptation one is fooled into thinking being and having depend on human effort instead of Divine grace.

Religion is often the most destructive form of temptation. Religion tells us to be and to have means to produce our own identity and possessions by works that will convince God we are worthy to be what He wants us to be and have what He wants us to have. Religion always tells us what we are not and what we lack. Faith always tells us who we are and what we have in God.

Jesus was also tempted since he was the "last Adam." (See Matt. 4) Unlike the first Adam, Jesus never tried to become something more than He had been made by God or use resources other than those God gave Him. Jesus never stopped being what He received from God and He never started trying to produce on His own what Satan said He needed produce to live.

Satan tried to lead Jesus into temptation and failed because Jesus never forgot who He was in His Father and what He had available to Him in His Father. In every way it is possible for a human to be tempted Jesus was tempted. Even so, He never sinned. He never stopped living who God made Him to be and using what God gave Him to use. His love never stopped for one moment. He was continuously delivered from evil by abiding in His Father's love.

Every day of our lives in this world we will be tempted. We will be led to believe we are not enough and we do not have enough because God did not make us enough or give us enough. We will be repeatedly told that our only hope to be or have is to act on our own. Any day we follow this idea to its conclusion we will be led into temptation. Our love will stop and more suffering is added to us and those we love.

The solution to temptation is to be delivered from evil by God's love in Jesus. How does that work? It works by faith. It works by knowing who we have become in Jesus and what we have in Jesus right now. Deliverance comes by abiding in the Vine. (See John 15)

Whatever the Vine is, I am. Whatever the Vine has, I freely receive. The fruit of being in the true Vine and receiving as ours what the the true Vine gives to us moment by moment delivers us from evil. Being in the true Vine allows us to be continuously delivered from the evil one and it allows us to deliver love continuously for God''s glory.

Christ in us is God's answer to our prayer "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil." What He is, you are. What He has is what you have.

Abide in His love right now in the same way He was abiding in His Father's love when He was tempted.

Bud McCord
Abide International

The Gospel of Jesus-Begin Again or Change?

Is the invitation of Jesus to live a new life a call to change the life we already have? Is Jesus’ calling us to begin again or make significant adaptations with His help? Is discipleship a perfecting of the imperfect in us or is it the living from a perfect life that is put in us? Do we ask people who are living such complex and sinful lives to focus on changing those lives with church intervention or to begin living an entirely new life in Jesus?

These questions take us right to the heart of a debate that has tormented the church of Jesus since Paul confronted the false teachers in the Galatian church when he said “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel-which is really no gospel at all.” Gal. 1:6-7a

Change your lifestyle and way of living with my church’s help is not the message of Jesus. The message of Jesus is begin again by living my life, not yours. In other words, forget change that never works and embrace Me the One who never fails.

As hard as it is for us to accept, men and women cannot change on a level that God can accept as sufficient for true, loving humanity to appear and be sustained. To tell a person that they can change or adapt the way they live for God’s acceptance is to preach another Gospel. To tell them that they can begin again in Jesus is the true Gospel. God is starting in Jesus a new, living humanity not a changed, somewhat improved humanity.

Jesus told Nicodemos in John 3 that nothing short of a new birth would allow him to see or enter the kingdom of God. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that nothing short of another living source of water and inner life would satisfy here and allow her to begin again. Jesus said in John 15 that we could do nothing without Him and that includes living a fruitful life that God wants of us.

The language of Jesus and of the New Testament is not change language. It is begin again language. It is leaving the Kingdom of darkness and going into the Kingdom of Light. It is leaving death and entering life. It is crucified with Christ to begin living Christ.

It is common to be asked here in Brazil, “Do you think a homosexual can change?” Just yesterday I was asked this question. This question is asked by sincere and not so sincere people. My answer is “Christianity is not about changing the homosexual or about changing anyone. No plan for change can help any of us if our goal is to be what God wants us to be. Our problem is beyond change. Christianity is about living a new life- Jesus’ life-now and forever. It is about a constant cooperation with that perfect life of Jesus in us that lets Jesus manifest Himself through us. Anyone who wants to begin again in Jesus is welcome to live Jesus and that includes the homosexual and me.”

Selling change is religion and it is big business. People who market change as Jesus’ message get rich because they are offering something that never ends and in the end never works. Making people dependent is big business. Just ask drug dealers. Paul said that these types of people have a god. Their “belly” or their own interests are their god.

People who offer a new beginning from the perfect source that is Jesus in us will soon not be needed by those who begin to live Jesus. So much for creating dependence that feeds the religious! Pointing people to new life instead of never ending change doesn’t make for a great financial plan but it sure makes us more like Jesus and the apostles. None of them ended up rich, but they still have living influence 2000 years later. Take your pick-- Change sells or Jesus lives?

People can’t be reached by change because the problem is too deep for change to reach. Imagine you found you needed a bone marrow transplant. No amount of exercise, medicine or activity can reach the marrow level. So it is with what we need spiritually. We need new, eternal spiritual marrow. We need a spirit to Spirit marrow connection with Jesus in order to begin again.

The good news is that once the Spiritual marrow transplant takes place when we receive what God is willing to give us in His Son, we just need to increasingly cooperate with this new spiritual, eternal marrow since it is the same spiritual marrow that Jesus gave at Calvary to save us all.

Only when we abandon change as the goal will certain Bible verses begin to make sense. These verses are “transplant” verses not “religious change” verses.

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: whichis Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27

“For to me to live is Christ.” Phil. 1:21

“It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.” Gal. 2:20

“Christ is all and is in all” Col. 3:11

Humanity is beyond the need for change no matter how well it sells. Humanity needs the life of Jesus in us by the Spirit of God. Don’t tell people they can change. Tell them they can live Jesus. In Him all things become new not changed.

Bud McCord
Abide International

A Growing Awareness

“Lord, increase our faith!”

What does it mean to have the Lord grow our faith? It means to experience a Divinely inspired increase in our personal awareness of God’s generous disposition and loving activity toward all mankind.

Many believe that to grow in faith simply means having an increased awareness that God is generous toward those of us who believe in Him. This is too limited in its scope. To grow in faith is to become aware that God is generous toward all men and we should be, too.

In other words, God is on His own “side”. He is not just on our side. He is not just interested in those who cooperate with Him. He is interested in love as the universal reality that must come to all. He is not against human beings. He is for His love defining everything and everyone. He increases our faith so we can join Him in His love for all.

We can hear God’s love in Jesus’ words.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: 43-48

Jesus’ presence, behavior and teaching were man’s first perfect opportunity to see and hear what God’s love looks like in human form. Jesus said “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” John 14:9

Jesus’ life inspired his disciples to expand their awareness of God’s love. His every word and action challenged everyone’s awareness of God’s goodness and love toward mankind. His words and actions still inspire our faith to grow.

In one such moment of Jesus increasing his disciples faith in God’s commitment to love Peter and Jesus have this exchange in Matthew 18: 21-22

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

When Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 X 7, Peter lacked a deep enough awareness of God’s commitment to loving others to absorb such a view and behavior toward others. Jesus did not lack this awareness. He knew the heart of His Father and He was cooperating with the will of His loving father at all times and toward all men.

Growing our faith is truly a work of God’s grace and patience with us. The same love God expects of us toward others is the love that patiently grows our faith in God’s love.

When we pray, “Lord, increase our faith.” we are inviting God to take us right into the heart of why Jesus came. Jesus came to return humanity to a complete awareness and practice of God’ infinite love.

When God increases our faith He increases our love. His love needs no increasing but our love certainly does. Let Him increase your faith in Him and your love will grow toward others.

Bud McCord
Abide International

KNOWING

Imagine a small woman named Maria who has lived her entire life in a remote village along the Amazon river. All she knows about life is that the river is the key source of everything she needs to live. She is illiterate but she knows how to read the river and live from the river. Maria knows the river. Maria loves the river.

This woman accepts Jesus. He becomes life to her inner world just as the river is life to her outer world. She is deeply in love with Jesus. She knows Jesus.

Far away in the great city of São Paulo is a world famous professor who has studied the rivers of the world and their impact on ecosystems. He is considered the most knowledgeable person in the world when it comes to river systems. Of all the rivers he most admires and studies the Amazon river. He, too, is a believer in Jesus.

One day this professor comes to the tiny village where Maria has lived her entire life.

As the professor speaks with Maria he begins to realize that to her the river is life. To him the river has been a fascinating subject and a challenge to dominate. He has known the river but he has never lived the river.

Who really knows the river best, Maria or the professor? The person who depends upon something to live truly knows. Maria knows the river. The professor knows about the river.

Even so, Maria hangs on every word the professor says. She has always wanted to find out all the facts about the river. Where does it begin? Where does it end? Why does it rise and fall always in the same months. Why has it never stopped? Who started it?

Maria already loves and lives the river. In reality the professor should hang on her every word. She knows what he does not yet know. If he could humble himself and let Maria teach him about the river, he would begin to live the river, too.

So it is with the poor of the world who know Jesus. Those of us who have made Christianity a fascinating subject and a challenge to dominate would do well to listen to the Marias of the world. Those of us who have only studied Jesus would do well to grow quiet in the presence of those who live Jesus.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Bud McCord
Abide International

You Are What You Receive

God told Adam and Eve they would be dead if they received the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They received the fruit and died. The became what they received.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Gen. 2:16-17

John tell us that when we receive Jesus we will be children of God.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:11-12

From Genesis to Revelation we see this truth--We are what we receive. No one can decide to be what they want to be. They can receive what they want to be. They can choose the source and by so choosing they choose their being.

In Psalm 1 we see a contrast between what people chose to receive in the Old Testament.

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Notice the words “he meditates day and night...” This is a deliberate receiving from God’s intentions as revealed in the law. This man became what he received.

Christ lives in you by His Spirit so you can abide in Him. To Abide is to receive moment by moment directly from who Jesus is.

You will bear the fruit of what you receive. Abide and you will be like Jesus.

Remember, you are what you receive.

Bud McCord
Abide International

Daily Renewal

Life was meant to be lived day by day. The cycle of 24 hours we call a day is truly all we were meant to handle. When the sun goes down each day it is a statement that says “That’s enough. Rest.”

This daily routine is where the real battle for quality of life is fought. If we can learn to live well one day at a time we find ourselves truly fit for a fulfilled life and an even better organized life.

It has been my observation that internal problems mount as we try to manage our time on earth with a monthly planner or even a yearly planner. Thinking we will diminish stress by planning ahead we actually get out of rhythm with day to day living and complicate our future in the process.

Jesus taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread.” He also said that the evil of one day is enough to handle for any of us. Consider again His words.

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34

My mother-in-law Ruth McCartney once inspired me with these words. “Well, you have to be somewhere at all times so you might as well be here.” She was observing how we get all worked up about not being happy were we are because we are so anxious to get to where we are going. Maybe she noticed how anxious I could get wanting to be living tomorrow instead of enjoying today. As I wait in airports or get stuck in traffic her words come to me. “Well, you have to be somewhere at all times so you might as well be here”

As I remember Ruth’s words and I have obeyed Jesus’ words, I have come to deeply appreciate the joy of living well a day at a time. I suppose I am just a beginner at this skill of daily renewal, but I intend to keep investing in daily joy. It definitely fits better than worrying about tomorrow.

Bud McCord
Abide International

The 21st Century Challenge

Thoughts for Church Leaders
21st Century Discipleship--A Difficult Reality

The 21st century challenge for churches and church leaders is to recognize the difference between local church mobilization systems and true discipleship while discovering a way to do both effectively.

The difficult reality is to admit that there is a difference between mobilizing people for the success of a church strategy and making disciples. Church mobilization is not the same as discipleship and well mobilized Christians may not be great disciples. It is hard for a church leader to say “My people are well mobilized but I don’t see the true marks of Jesus in their daily lives.” Even so, that is the reality that most pastors see if they are honest.

21st Century ministers are being primarily trained to mobilize church people because success at mobilization will most likely be the measure of their pastoral success. Ministers are becoming experts at mobilization as if great mobilization is great discipleship. Is it any wonder discipleship is the most disappointing area of modern church life for most pastors?

What can be done in light of this difficult reality? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Admit once and for all that mobilization is not discipleship. Stop trying to make a mobilization system the key to discipleship. Cooperating with Jesus in us is the key to discipleship.

2. Insist that the standard for discipleship in every church is Jesus in us and constant cooperation with His commands. Insist that discipleship is not simply meeting the demands of the mobilization system chosen by the church.

3. Affirm that every church needs a mobilization plan that fits their culture but discipleship (cooperation with Jesus) is never adjusted for culture. Being like Jesus and obeying His commands is not negotiable or flexible in any culture.

4. Train leaders who know how to affirm discipleship while leading effective mobilization. for delivering love.

5. Make discipleship the primary qualification for true mobilization. Make sure all leaders are disciples before they lead.

This is and always will be a challenge!

Bud McCord
Abide International

Maria

When I preach in Brazilian churches for the first time I often ask the pastor to point out to me the finest Christian that attends his church. I ask him to point out the person who most lives the teachings of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Nearly every time the pastor will think for a few moments and then point to a small woman. Usually her name is Maria.

As the pastor describes Maria to me she is most often very poor, semi-literate, a maid in someone’s home and living a very difficult life. Even so, she is the finest Christian in his church.

Over time I have come to believe that these small Christian women are a picture of how discipleship is meant to work. These tiny ladies are not the result of years of Bible courses or specialized theological instruction. They are the result of poverty of spirit. They are what they are because they begin at zero each and every day.

Real poverty forces people to live a day at at time. Real poverty forces people to measure life each day starting from a position of dependence. In simple terms the deeply poor know that they have nothing accumulated from which they can live. If they will live today they will receive what they will live on today.

The men and women in our world who learn to live each day believing God will provide for them through Christ become the Christians who most live the Sermon on the Mount.

Maria lives in “receive mode” because she has no alternative. Over time she has learned that “receive mode” (faith) needs no alternative. It works.

Yes, Maria weeps and she is comforted. Yes, her heart is pure and she sees God.

Yes, she is a peacemaker and she is God’s child.

Little by little she becomes salt and light and that is why her pastor wishes his whole church lived like Maria.

These little Brazilian ladies have become my spiritual heroes.

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Bud McCord
Abide International