“If we confess our sins….” I John 1:9
Do Christians still confess their sins to God? It has been a long time since I heard a sermon on the need to confess our sins. It has been a long time since I heard a disciple of Jesus talk about confession. Where has confession gone?
Confession has always been difficult for men and women. It is not pleasant to discover when, where and how our love stops toward God or toward others. It has always been easier to throw stones at others than it is to see ourselves as we really are.
I remember hearing a speaker say that our ability to easily see and judge another person’s sin reveals a deep and intimate knowledge of the actions being judged. In other words, if you can see another’s sin easily, it is because you have personal experience with that same sin.
Jesus once dealt with an angry crowd of judgmental religious men who were about to stone a woman found in the act of adultery. (See John 8) He stopped their judgment by saying “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” Beginning from the oldest and ending with the youngest they all dropped their judgment and left.
They left because Jesus led them into confession. The cure of judging others is in the spiritual discipline of confession. How long has it been since Jesus led you into confession?
“If we confess on sins….” that is a big “if”.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Monster God
Recently I heard a pastor refer to the God of the Old Testament as "the Monster God." This pastor was lamenting the apparent fact that the God we meet in the Old Testament seems so cruel and vindictive. Is the God of the Old Testament "the Monster God?" Is God cruel and vindictive?
Around the same time I heard this pastor talking about the vengeful God of the Old Testament a new convert spoke to Pam about how much trouble she was having reading through the Old Testament. She was shocked by all the conflicts and war. She was shocked that God would be involved.
Well, what should we do with the Old Testament? Should we apologize for the God of the Old Testament?
What we should do is understand what inspires God to do what He does here on earth. God is doing what must be done to keep love alive on this planet among men and women.
Consider these statements about reality. If oxygen disappears, we disappear. If water disappears, we disappear.
If food disappears, we disappear. If any of these things begin to disappear, should we take action to find the source of the problem and resolve it? I guess that depends on whether or not we think humans disappearing would be a bad thing. Would our disappearing from earth be a bad thing?
Keep thinking with me a little farther. What if humans are the only delivery system of love on earth? What if saving humans is to save love on earth? What if the Old Testament is God saving love on earth?
I believe that human beings are meant to be the Divine delivery system of love on earth. Humans are to the sustaining of love in this world what plants are to the sustaining of oxygen.
Sin destroys love. Sin is like pollution which destroys all things clean. God will go after sin for this reason. God will go after what is destroying love because God is love.
The God of the Old Testament is not a monster. The God of the Old Testament is the hero of love.
God in the New Testament continues to be the hero of love. God didn't calm down. God in the New Testament got even more aggressive. He sent His Son to take the last blow against man's sin.
I, for one, read the Old Testament with shame that man did not cooperate with God's love from the beginning. To criticize God for being too harsh is to say mankind was not important enough to save. I am glad God felt we needed to be saved and He did what He had to do.
Go back and read the Old Testament and when things get ugly remember what is at stake is the very existence of love on this planet.
Around the same time I heard this pastor talking about the vengeful God of the Old Testament a new convert spoke to Pam about how much trouble she was having reading through the Old Testament. She was shocked by all the conflicts and war. She was shocked that God would be involved.
Well, what should we do with the Old Testament? Should we apologize for the God of the Old Testament?
What we should do is understand what inspires God to do what He does here on earth. God is doing what must be done to keep love alive on this planet among men and women.
Consider these statements about reality. If oxygen disappears, we disappear. If water disappears, we disappear.
If food disappears, we disappear. If any of these things begin to disappear, should we take action to find the source of the problem and resolve it? I guess that depends on whether or not we think humans disappearing would be a bad thing. Would our disappearing from earth be a bad thing?
Keep thinking with me a little farther. What if humans are the only delivery system of love on earth? What if saving humans is to save love on earth? What if the Old Testament is God saving love on earth?
I believe that human beings are meant to be the Divine delivery system of love on earth. Humans are to the sustaining of love in this world what plants are to the sustaining of oxygen.
Sin destroys love. Sin is like pollution which destroys all things clean. God will go after sin for this reason. God will go after what is destroying love because God is love.
The God of the Old Testament is not a monster. The God of the Old Testament is the hero of love.
God in the New Testament continues to be the hero of love. God didn't calm down. God in the New Testament got even more aggressive. He sent His Son to take the last blow against man's sin.
I, for one, read the Old Testament with shame that man did not cooperate with God's love from the beginning. To criticize God for being too harsh is to say mankind was not important enough to save. I am glad God felt we needed to be saved and He did what He had to do.
Go back and read the Old Testament and when things get ugly remember what is at stake is the very existence of love on this planet.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
True Spirituality
What does true spirituality look like?
The only way I know to see clearly and define correctly true spirituality is to look closely at the life and behavior of Jesus. Only Jesus’ life and behavior define and reveal to mankind what constitutes true human spirituality.
As I have examined closely Jesus’ true spirituality in the Gospels, I have come away with two helpful words—Pure Inspiration. Jesus lived Pure Inspiration among us. Being constantly inspired by God’s purity and presence, He was “God with us” as a human being. He was “grace and truth” made visible and available to us. The fullness of God dwelt in Him and that explains why we see God in Him.
If I want to be a spiritual human being like Jesus, then I must also be a man inhabited by the same pure Inspiration. I must find and enjoy the same source of Pure Inspiration that allowed Jesus to be who He was and do what He did.
In the book of Galatians Paul called finding and living in this kind of Pure Inspiration “walking in the Spirit.” In the book of Ephesians he called finding and living in this Pure Inspiration “Being filled with the Spirit.” In John 15 Jesus called this constant connection to Pure Inspiration “Abide”.
Whatever this contact and connection to Pure Inspiration is called, it always comes down to an intimate, continuous, personal relationship to the only source of Pure Inspiration that allows men and women to be what God intended for them to be since the beginning described in Genesis 1 and 2. Pure Inspiration is contact with and connection to the triune God that said in Genesis 1 “Let US make man in our image…”
No one’s spirituality will be what it should be until it is sourced in God’s total and inspiring purity. Jesus in us is our connection to that total purity. Jesus in us is God’s way of inspiring us moment by moment to be like Jesus was as a human being Just as He was inspired by His Father through the Spirit, He is willing to be our connection to Pure Inspiration right now.
When Jesus said He always did that which pleased the Father, He was saying that He always did what Pure Inspiration made Him want to do and also enabled Him to do.
When we abide in the true Vine, we, too, can be inspired to like Jesus. There is equal hope for all of us since the same Pure Inspiration that abides in one believer abides in all believers. Live Pure Inspiration today. Live Jesus. Living Jesus is what true spirituality looks like.
“Christ is all and is in all.” Col. 1:16
“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
Bud McCord
Abide International
The only way I know to see clearly and define correctly true spirituality is to look closely at the life and behavior of Jesus. Only Jesus’ life and behavior define and reveal to mankind what constitutes true human spirituality.
As I have examined closely Jesus’ true spirituality in the Gospels, I have come away with two helpful words—Pure Inspiration. Jesus lived Pure Inspiration among us. Being constantly inspired by God’s purity and presence, He was “God with us” as a human being. He was “grace and truth” made visible and available to us. The fullness of God dwelt in Him and that explains why we see God in Him.
If I want to be a spiritual human being like Jesus, then I must also be a man inhabited by the same pure Inspiration. I must find and enjoy the same source of Pure Inspiration that allowed Jesus to be who He was and do what He did.
In the book of Galatians Paul called finding and living in this kind of Pure Inspiration “walking in the Spirit.” In the book of Ephesians he called finding and living in this Pure Inspiration “Being filled with the Spirit.” In John 15 Jesus called this constant connection to Pure Inspiration “Abide”.
Whatever this contact and connection to Pure Inspiration is called, it always comes down to an intimate, continuous, personal relationship to the only source of Pure Inspiration that allows men and women to be what God intended for them to be since the beginning described in Genesis 1 and 2. Pure Inspiration is contact with and connection to the triune God that said in Genesis 1 “Let US make man in our image…”
No one’s spirituality will be what it should be until it is sourced in God’s total and inspiring purity. Jesus in us is our connection to that total purity. Jesus in us is God’s way of inspiring us moment by moment to be like Jesus was as a human being Just as He was inspired by His Father through the Spirit, He is willing to be our connection to Pure Inspiration right now.
When Jesus said He always did that which pleased the Father, He was saying that He always did what Pure Inspiration made Him want to do and also enabled Him to do.
When we abide in the true Vine, we, too, can be inspired to like Jesus. There is equal hope for all of us since the same Pure Inspiration that abides in one believer abides in all believers. Live Pure Inspiration today. Live Jesus. Living Jesus is what true spirituality looks like.
“Christ is all and is in all.” Col. 1:16
“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
Bud McCord
Abide International
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Inspired
I love the way God orchestrates our circumstances to inspire us. It has been my experience that every day can be an inspirational experience if we will receive it as coming from God's loving hands.
I recently experienced 4 days of continuous inspiration in a small Brazilian city call Jaguaquara in the state of Bahia. this city is not a place I would ever have found on my own. God picked this city for me to visit. He wanted to inspire me.
The city is simple, far away from the main traffic of the state and clearly not the kind of place I would have picked to live. It is, however, home to an inspiring work of God.
In 1898 an American missionary family named Taylor and a Brazilian family named Egidio decided to bless poor children with a Christian education. 114 years later the school continues its mission and is blessing over 500 students who come in from farms where good education is not available.
What inspired me was to walk the streets of this simple interior town and know that many of the state's leading citizens and even governors were loved in Jesus' name at the school.
I wonder how many days the Taylor and Egidio families wondered if their work and life would matter? I wonder if it ever entered their mind that they would bless me like they did this week?
The things you do today may inspire someone 114 years from now. Do the best you can today.
(In one of the photos there is a woman who is praying for the team that led the conference. She is the granddaughter of one of the original families that started the school in 1898. Now that is inspiring!)
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Sir, We would see Jesus
I recently visited a well known Vineyard near São Paulo in the city of São Roque. This area of Brazil has been home to vineyards ever since European immigrants brought their precious vines with them as their hope for a better future. Their dreams came true and many of the vineyards are now multi-million dollar businesses that fund comfortable lifestyles for the descendants of those poor immigrants who came to Brazil believing that their vines would keep them alive.
My visit to the Goes Vineyard was to take a picture of the vines and branches at harvest time. Unfortunately I missed the harvest by about two weeks.
Pastor Sidney Costa and I enjoyed a great lunch at the vineyard's fine restaurant and then we asked if we could see the vines and the branches so we could take a few pictures. The people selling the juices and the wines said that would not be possible, but we could buy all the juice and wine we wanted. They also told us we were free to shop in their gift shops.
I insisted that I wanted to see the vines and the branches. They insisted that the public could not see them except during paid tours.
We wandered out into the parking lot and I found a vine and some branches. It caught my attention that what the original immigrants believed would build the vineyard was the vines and the only vines I could see were in the middle of asphalt. It seemed to me that the current owners were more interested in selling food, wine, gifts and tours. The vines and branches were no longer the focus.
In a way this reminded me of the modern evangelical church. We say we trust Jesus and He is the source that builds our churches. Is that really what we believe? Could it be we now trust our courses, studies and services to do what the vine once did? Are we interested in a comfortable income rather than healthy vines and branches?
We left the well known vineyard and headed back toward São Paulo. We saw some vines and branches along the side of the road and stopped. The contrast was amazing. This was apparently a newer vineyard and the thing they wanted us to see was the vines and the branches.
I wonder what that same vineyard will look like when it "succeeds"? Will it surround its vines with concrete, open restaurants and gift shops? I hope not. It is the vine and branches that build vineyards.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Breathe and Rest
I am so deeply in debt! I have lost control. I am suffocating. I am about to faint.
Even being so deeply in debt to God, His grace in Christ keeps coming to me day after day. Like oxygen I have never produced, His grace surrounds me. I have paid for none of it yet I continue to breathe in His grace in order to live. I cannot stop. I have become as dependent on His grace as I am on oxygen.
My debt grows exponentially until my hope to settle the debt overwhelms me. I weep. He smiles. He laughs. He knows I am too poor to pay. He finally has me where I belong—breathing His grace with no way to pay.
Suddenly I see the truth. I am not in debt! I am in His love. We live and dance as one.
I rest. Finally I can see what He wants. Freely I have received. Now freely I can give.
When I lost control I found my life. I live to give. I live to love.
Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8
Bud McCord
Abide International
Even being so deeply in debt to God, His grace in Christ keeps coming to me day after day. Like oxygen I have never produced, His grace surrounds me. I have paid for none of it yet I continue to breathe in His grace in order to live. I cannot stop. I have become as dependent on His grace as I am on oxygen.
My debt grows exponentially until my hope to settle the debt overwhelms me. I weep. He smiles. He laughs. He knows I am too poor to pay. He finally has me where I belong—breathing His grace with no way to pay.
Suddenly I see the truth. I am not in debt! I am in His love. We live and dance as one.
I rest. Finally I can see what He wants. Freely I have received. Now freely I can give.
When I lost control I found my life. I live to give. I live to love.
Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8
Bud McCord
Abide International
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Spirit and Soul
Did you know that there is a difference between your spirit and your soul? There is and that difference needs to be understood if you ever hope to understand and live what God has in store for you.
Read these words in Hebrews 4:12 and note how the spirit and the soul are differentiated and contrasted.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (emphasis mine)
In this verse soul is linked to “joints” and spirit is linked to “marrow”. Problems with your joints will not kill you but they may make you want to die. Just ask people with chronic back pain! Problems in your mind, emotions and will (your soul) will not condemn you death, but may make you want to condemn yourself to death.
Problems with your marrow (spirit) don’t seem as dramatic or as painful as joint issues (soul disturbances) but they will eventually take your life. Problems with your spirit may seem unimportant and almost unnoticed, but they can separate you from God’s life forever.
The verse goes on to link “thoughts” to the soul and “intents” to the “heart” or spirit.
What goes on in the thoughts is significant to human behavior, but God sees our intent and judges our intentions as the essential thing about us.
It is in the marrow of our being, our spirit, where our intentions are birthed. Just as marrow is supposed to be the source of healthy human blood that allows us to live, so, too, spirit is supposed to be the source of healthy, loving intentions from which we should live. It is from the marrow (spirit or heart) that the intentions travel to the soul where they are felt, considered and become personal human desires. As soon as these desires are birthed in your soul you will quickly fulfill them with your body as actions.
Your spirit is where God designed you to connect with Him for the constant inspiration of healthy, loving intentions. No constant Divine inspiration in your spirit means no hope of healthy life and love in your soul. This is why the book of Ezekiel says God will need to give us a new heart and write His laws on our heart.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
Your soul is where those Divinely inspired intentions are transformed into your thoughts, feelings and desires. These healthy, loving intentions did not originate in you but they become yours by God’s gracious generosity. That is why you will say as they become yours in your soul “I am what I am by the grace of God.” I Corin.15:10
Your body is where those Divinely inspired intentions, which are now fully yours, are manifested as continuous love.
So, here is the Divine plan. You receive in your spirit the inspired, living intentions of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who abide in you. You rest and rejoice in your soul as these intentions become yours. You then release these intentions through your body as sustained love.
Over time, as you live from the union of your spirit with the Spirit of Christ, you stop limping in your soul and love gets delivered efficiently. Then you say “For to me to live is Christ.” Phil 1:21 This is what is called “spiritual formation”.
This is the faith, hope and love reality Paul describes in I Cor. 13- 14:1. This is the more excellent way to live.
If you have received Christ as your Savior, the Father, Son and Spirit have come to live in your spirit where they will inspire your intentions until your soul becomes one with them and real love is delivered through you where it is needed. Your job is to believe and cooperate—to abide.
Your soul pain (joint pain) will diminish over time and one day you will walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the wrong intentions which once were so natural to you.
What a plan! I’m in! In union with the Spirit of Christ, that is.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Read these words in Hebrews 4:12 and note how the spirit and the soul are differentiated and contrasted.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (emphasis mine)
In this verse soul is linked to “joints” and spirit is linked to “marrow”. Problems with your joints will not kill you but they may make you want to die. Just ask people with chronic back pain! Problems in your mind, emotions and will (your soul) will not condemn you death, but may make you want to condemn yourself to death.
Problems with your marrow (spirit) don’t seem as dramatic or as painful as joint issues (soul disturbances) but they will eventually take your life. Problems with your spirit may seem unimportant and almost unnoticed, but they can separate you from God’s life forever.
The verse goes on to link “thoughts” to the soul and “intents” to the “heart” or spirit.
What goes on in the thoughts is significant to human behavior, but God sees our intent and judges our intentions as the essential thing about us.
It is in the marrow of our being, our spirit, where our intentions are birthed. Just as marrow is supposed to be the source of healthy human blood that allows us to live, so, too, spirit is supposed to be the source of healthy, loving intentions from which we should live. It is from the marrow (spirit or heart) that the intentions travel to the soul where they are felt, considered and become personal human desires. As soon as these desires are birthed in your soul you will quickly fulfill them with your body as actions.
Your spirit is where God designed you to connect with Him for the constant inspiration of healthy, loving intentions. No constant Divine inspiration in your spirit means no hope of healthy life and love in your soul. This is why the book of Ezekiel says God will need to give us a new heart and write His laws on our heart.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
Your soul is where those Divinely inspired intentions are transformed into your thoughts, feelings and desires. These healthy, loving intentions did not originate in you but they become yours by God’s gracious generosity. That is why you will say as they become yours in your soul “I am what I am by the grace of God.” I Corin.15:10
Your body is where those Divinely inspired intentions, which are now fully yours, are manifested as continuous love.
So, here is the Divine plan. You receive in your spirit the inspired, living intentions of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who abide in you. You rest and rejoice in your soul as these intentions become yours. You then release these intentions through your body as sustained love.
Over time, as you live from the union of your spirit with the Spirit of Christ, you stop limping in your soul and love gets delivered efficiently. Then you say “For to me to live is Christ.” Phil 1:21 This is what is called “spiritual formation”.
This is the faith, hope and love reality Paul describes in I Cor. 13- 14:1. This is the more excellent way to live.
If you have received Christ as your Savior, the Father, Son and Spirit have come to live in your spirit where they will inspire your intentions until your soul becomes one with them and real love is delivered through you where it is needed. Your job is to believe and cooperate—to abide.
Your soul pain (joint pain) will diminish over time and one day you will walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the wrong intentions which once were so natural to you.
What a plan! I’m in! In union with the Spirit of Christ, that is.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
WMD or RLW?
How do you defuse Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)? One at a time, carefully.
In 2003 the most powerful military force in the history of the world invaded Iraq looking for WMDs. None were found. The embarrassment for the USA lingers to this day. Even so, WMDs do exist and we would be wise to carefully find them, defuse them and disarm them if they are pointed toward us and those we love.
Where should we look first for the WMDs that most threaten us? We need look no further than the human soul—especially our own. The landscape of destruction across our planet’s history can be traced to individual human souls bent on independence from God’s original plan. The most destructive things that have every happened on this planet happened first as an explosion in a human soul. (see the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4)
The human soul was a gift from God to mankind. As His greatest gift, the soul was originally designed to be a River of Living Water--an RLW. A rebellion turned Rivers of Living Water (RLWs) into Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). Humans became explosive and began destroying love on earth. Now each human soul needs to be found, defused and disarmed by Jesus, carefully.
C.S. Lewis describes humanity’s situation in these shocking terms.
“Now what was the sort of ‘hole’ man got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself. In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor---that is the only way out of our ‘hole’. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self will that we have been training ourselves with for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.” Mere Christianity - The Perfect Penitent.
God in Christ has invaded our world to disarm once and for all the WMDs in the souls of men. Jesus set this finding, defusing and disarming process in motion by giving his own perfect and loving soul on the cross to gain legal, spiritual entrance into all human souls. At Calvary Jesus gained the authority to find, defuse and disarm our destructive souls. Our souls which so easily destroy love are pointed straight at the heart of God because God is love.
God through Christ is willing to disarm my personal WMD, my soul, when I personally repent, surrender and invite Him into my inner life to defuse and disarm me. Through His church and by His Spirit Jesus right now is finding, defusing and disarming human souls one by one, carefully.
When Jesus disarms my WMD He abides in my inner life to keep me disarmed and carefully transforms my soul into a RLW—a River of Living Water. He restores the gift of my soul back to what it was originally intended to be-the delivery system of love. Christians call this regeneration or a re-genesis. A bomb becomes a blessing.
Perhaps we think that our souls are not all that dangerous. Certainly human history tells another story and our own inner thoughts tell a story of what we are capable of if the right buttons were pushed. Given the right circumstances any human soul can wreck havoc where it should deliver love. We may never do all the damage we could do and we may do less damage than most, but we are still just as dangerous as all other WMDs when it comes to destroying love.
Christians believe that this process of disarming WMDs hidden in human souls is the most important thing going on in the world. Even in heaven there is a celebration every time a sinner repents and a WMD becomes a RLW.
That gentle knock on the door of your heart is the invading Jesus. He doesn’t invade you with force. He knocks. Let Him in and He will defuse and disarm you. You really don’t want to see what your soul could do if it really went off, do you? That would be hell.
John 7:37-38
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
In 2003 the most powerful military force in the history of the world invaded Iraq looking for WMDs. None were found. The embarrassment for the USA lingers to this day. Even so, WMDs do exist and we would be wise to carefully find them, defuse them and disarm them if they are pointed toward us and those we love.
Where should we look first for the WMDs that most threaten us? We need look no further than the human soul—especially our own. The landscape of destruction across our planet’s history can be traced to individual human souls bent on independence from God’s original plan. The most destructive things that have every happened on this planet happened first as an explosion in a human soul. (see the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4)
The human soul was a gift from God to mankind. As His greatest gift, the soul was originally designed to be a River of Living Water--an RLW. A rebellion turned Rivers of Living Water (RLWs) into Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). Humans became explosive and began destroying love on earth. Now each human soul needs to be found, defused and disarmed by Jesus, carefully.
C.S. Lewis describes humanity’s situation in these shocking terms.
“Now what was the sort of ‘hole’ man got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself. In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor---that is the only way out of our ‘hole’. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self will that we have been training ourselves with for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.” Mere Christianity - The Perfect Penitent.
God in Christ has invaded our world to disarm once and for all the WMDs in the souls of men. Jesus set this finding, defusing and disarming process in motion by giving his own perfect and loving soul on the cross to gain legal, spiritual entrance into all human souls. At Calvary Jesus gained the authority to find, defuse and disarm our destructive souls. Our souls which so easily destroy love are pointed straight at the heart of God because God is love.
God through Christ is willing to disarm my personal WMD, my soul, when I personally repent, surrender and invite Him into my inner life to defuse and disarm me. Through His church and by His Spirit Jesus right now is finding, defusing and disarming human souls one by one, carefully.
When Jesus disarms my WMD He abides in my inner life to keep me disarmed and carefully transforms my soul into a RLW—a River of Living Water. He restores the gift of my soul back to what it was originally intended to be-the delivery system of love. Christians call this regeneration or a re-genesis. A bomb becomes a blessing.
Perhaps we think that our souls are not all that dangerous. Certainly human history tells another story and our own inner thoughts tell a story of what we are capable of if the right buttons were pushed. Given the right circumstances any human soul can wreck havoc where it should deliver love. We may never do all the damage we could do and we may do less damage than most, but we are still just as dangerous as all other WMDs when it comes to destroying love.
Christians believe that this process of disarming WMDs hidden in human souls is the most important thing going on in the world. Even in heaven there is a celebration every time a sinner repents and a WMD becomes a RLW.
That gentle knock on the door of your heart is the invading Jesus. He doesn’t invade you with force. He knocks. Let Him in and He will defuse and disarm you. You really don’t want to see what your soul could do if it really went off, do you? That would be hell.
John 7:37-38
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
SOS--Soft On Sin
Jesus' death was approved and applauded by the legalistic sect of His day called the Pharisees. Why? They did not believe Jesus took sin seriously enough. To them, Jesus was soft on sin and, therefore, an enemy of God deserving of death. To legalists being soft on sin is always an emergency calling for drastic action.
As hard as this characterization of Jesus is to believe for those of us who know that He "became sin for us who knew no sin...", the legalists of Jesus' day thought He was soft on sin and deserved to die for being soft. If one believes as legalists do that we exist as humans to do battle with sin in God's name, we could easily think like Pharisees and legalists always think. To them, being soft on sin makes us unworthy of the space we occupy in the world.
Legalists are deadly serious about sin. They focus on sin constantly and they fight it as if their lives depended on the intensity of their fight against it. To the Pharisees Jesus did not focus on sin and He did not fight it. He deserved to die because God is against sin and He did not appear to be with God because He wasn't with them.
Jesus said in John 15" 18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me."
Their are many manifestations of legalism's fight against sin in our world today. None, however, is as powerful and committed to eradicating sin as is radical Islam. They are taking the fight against sin so seriously that they have given the war against sin a special name--Jihad. They have also given all who are soft on sin a special name-Infidel.
Radical Islamists call America and all the western world "The Great Satan." Why? Because no creature ever created is softer on sin than Satan. To today's radical legaists no culture or country takes sin less seriously than the USA and her allies. A casual look at western culture would seem to prove their point.
Are they wrong about the western world being soft on sin? No, the western world does not take sin seriously any more. Are they right that true followers of Jesus are soft on sin? No, true Christians abhor sin but have chosen love over a sword to fight it. Are they right to see western society as Christian? No. Are they right to expect Christians to be hard on sin? Yes, but not hard in their way of being hard.
Legalists are blind to the heart of a person. They never saw Jesus correctly. Legalists can never see the heart because they are too focused on who is or is not bowing to their laws for war against sin. They can only see who agrees with their particular strategy for the war on sin. Death is always very present where legalists rule. When they have dealt with those who really seem softest on sin, like Jesus, they will turn on each other.
The radical legalists of any age will find and ostracize those who don't take sin seriously enough. Eventually they will come with their stones, swords and bombs to destroy them in God's name. Legalists must fight sin or God will consider them soft on sin and that means hell to pay. In their view, Hell is for all who were soft on sin.
I doubt that there has ever been a more committed, worldwide legalism greater than radical Islam. Even so, they are no more than near relatives of the Pharisees who called for Jesus' death 2000 years ago for being too soft on sin.
What can followers of Jesus do in the face of an accusation that says we are too soft on sin? We must listen to Jesus in Matthew 5: 17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus was not soft on sin. He was committed to its destruction by continuous love.
Pharisees always have hundreds of laws that they label as the right way to be hard on and eventually destroy sin. For radical Islamists the law for sin destruction is called "Shariah".
This is nothing new. The rigid external laws make it easy to spot and isolate those who are obviously soft on sin. All those who ignore the laws are soft on sin and deserve to die at the hand of the righteous who are tough on sin. The rigid external laws make isolating the guilty easier and it makes the legalistic leaders proud of their righteous fight against sin. To legalists, anything done to fight sin is good. There is only one rule for the legalist--Fight sin.
Jesus' way of dealing with sin is different. He fought it and destroyed it by fulfilling the law. The fulfilling of the law is perfect love. He defeated sin by continuously loving God and His neighbor. By continuously loving as He lived and continuously loving the world at Calvary as He died he defeated and destroyed sin and death once and for all. He chose to be hard on Himself so He could be effectively hard on sin not us.
Jesus' calls us to follow Him in this way of dealing with sin. Jesus calls us to carry our cross. Jesus calls us to love instead of justifying the death of those who are soft on sin. If we do this Jesus' way, we, too, will be called "soft on sin" by legalists.
When the legalists come, and they always do, don't grab your sword to be hard on them. Grab Jesus' love that abides in you. Carry your cross and you will be truly hard on sin.
A sword is in reality too soft on sin. Staying bowed in submission to Jesus and His love will strike a blow against sin that will outlive your own temporary suffering. By doing this you will let the world see the way, the truth and the life is Jesus. Jesus always has been and always will be the only way to be truly tough on sin.
The legalists always come, but love is greater than their blindness and rage. There will be a resurrection for all who are hard on sin as Jesus was.
It is time for Christians to be tough on sin--Love like Jesus did.
As hard as this characterization of Jesus is to believe for those of us who know that He "became sin for us who knew no sin...", the legalists of Jesus' day thought He was soft on sin and deserved to die for being soft. If one believes as legalists do that we exist as humans to do battle with sin in God's name, we could easily think like Pharisees and legalists always think. To them, being soft on sin makes us unworthy of the space we occupy in the world.
Legalists are deadly serious about sin. They focus on sin constantly and they fight it as if their lives depended on the intensity of their fight against it. To the Pharisees Jesus did not focus on sin and He did not fight it. He deserved to die because God is against sin and He did not appear to be with God because He wasn't with them.
Jesus said in John 15" 18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me."
Their are many manifestations of legalism's fight against sin in our world today. None, however, is as powerful and committed to eradicating sin as is radical Islam. They are taking the fight against sin so seriously that they have given the war against sin a special name--Jihad. They have also given all who are soft on sin a special name-Infidel.
Radical Islamists call America and all the western world "The Great Satan." Why? Because no creature ever created is softer on sin than Satan. To today's radical legaists no culture or country takes sin less seriously than the USA and her allies. A casual look at western culture would seem to prove their point.
Are they wrong about the western world being soft on sin? No, the western world does not take sin seriously any more. Are they right that true followers of Jesus are soft on sin? No, true Christians abhor sin but have chosen love over a sword to fight it. Are they right to see western society as Christian? No. Are they right to expect Christians to be hard on sin? Yes, but not hard in their way of being hard.
Legalists are blind to the heart of a person. They never saw Jesus correctly. Legalists can never see the heart because they are too focused on who is or is not bowing to their laws for war against sin. They can only see who agrees with their particular strategy for the war on sin. Death is always very present where legalists rule. When they have dealt with those who really seem softest on sin, like Jesus, they will turn on each other.
The radical legalists of any age will find and ostracize those who don't take sin seriously enough. Eventually they will come with their stones, swords and bombs to destroy them in God's name. Legalists must fight sin or God will consider them soft on sin and that means hell to pay. In their view, Hell is for all who were soft on sin.
I doubt that there has ever been a more committed, worldwide legalism greater than radical Islam. Even so, they are no more than near relatives of the Pharisees who called for Jesus' death 2000 years ago for being too soft on sin.
What can followers of Jesus do in the face of an accusation that says we are too soft on sin? We must listen to Jesus in Matthew 5: 17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus was not soft on sin. He was committed to its destruction by continuous love.
Pharisees always have hundreds of laws that they label as the right way to be hard on and eventually destroy sin. For radical Islamists the law for sin destruction is called "Shariah".
This is nothing new. The rigid external laws make it easy to spot and isolate those who are obviously soft on sin. All those who ignore the laws are soft on sin and deserve to die at the hand of the righteous who are tough on sin. The rigid external laws make isolating the guilty easier and it makes the legalistic leaders proud of their righteous fight against sin. To legalists, anything done to fight sin is good. There is only one rule for the legalist--Fight sin.
Jesus' way of dealing with sin is different. He fought it and destroyed it by fulfilling the law. The fulfilling of the law is perfect love. He defeated sin by continuously loving God and His neighbor. By continuously loving as He lived and continuously loving the world at Calvary as He died he defeated and destroyed sin and death once and for all. He chose to be hard on Himself so He could be effectively hard on sin not us.
Jesus' calls us to follow Him in this way of dealing with sin. Jesus calls us to carry our cross. Jesus calls us to love instead of justifying the death of those who are soft on sin. If we do this Jesus' way, we, too, will be called "soft on sin" by legalists.
When the legalists come, and they always do, don't grab your sword to be hard on them. Grab Jesus' love that abides in you. Carry your cross and you will be truly hard on sin.
A sword is in reality too soft on sin. Staying bowed in submission to Jesus and His love will strike a blow against sin that will outlive your own temporary suffering. By doing this you will let the world see the way, the truth and the life is Jesus. Jesus always has been and always will be the only way to be truly tough on sin.
The legalists always come, but love is greater than their blindness and rage. There will be a resurrection for all who are hard on sin as Jesus was.
It is time for Christians to be tough on sin--Love like Jesus did.
Monday, February 07, 2011
First Thought: Christ in You
First Thought
Christ in You
"Christ is all and is in all.” Col. 3:11
When you awaken each day remember that Jesus abides in you. Verbally affirm His presence as your entire Christian life. Tell Him you are thrilled He abides in you. Never start a day from what you lack.
Listen to how Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola describe Jesus in their wonderful book Jesus Manifesto.
Jesus is…
Your Shepherd, your Advocate, your Mediator, your Bridegroom, your Lion, your Lamb, your sacrifice, your manna, your smitten Rock, your living water, your food, your drink, your good and abundant land, your dwelling place, your Sabbath, your new moon, your Jubilee, your new wine, your feast, your aroma, your anchor, your wisdom, your peace, your comfort, your Healer, your joy, your glory, your power, your strength, your wealth, your victory, your redemption, your Prophet, your Priest, your kinsmen redeemer, your teacher, your guide, your liberator, your deliverer, your Prince, your Captain, your vision, your sight, your beloved, your way, your truth, your life, your author, your finisher, your beginning, your end, your age, your eternity — your all and all.
May the perfect and positive presence of Jesus be your first thought not your last.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Christ in You
"Christ is all and is in all.” Col. 3:11
When you awaken each day remember that Jesus abides in you. Verbally affirm His presence as your entire Christian life. Tell Him you are thrilled He abides in you. Never start a day from what you lack.
Listen to how Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola describe Jesus in their wonderful book Jesus Manifesto.
Jesus is…
Your Shepherd, your Advocate, your Mediator, your Bridegroom, your Lion, your Lamb, your sacrifice, your manna, your smitten Rock, your living water, your food, your drink, your good and abundant land, your dwelling place, your Sabbath, your new moon, your Jubilee, your new wine, your feast, your aroma, your anchor, your wisdom, your peace, your comfort, your Healer, your joy, your glory, your power, your strength, your wealth, your victory, your redemption, your Prophet, your Priest, your kinsmen redeemer, your teacher, your guide, your liberator, your deliverer, your Prince, your Captain, your vision, your sight, your beloved, your way, your truth, your life, your author, your finisher, your beginning, your end, your age, your eternity — your all and all.
May the perfect and positive presence of Jesus be your first thought not your last.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Friday, January 28, 2011
Good Works
“Good works are simply fruit falling off a tree. If you sink your roots deep in Christ, who is your life, you not be able to stop the fruit from coming forth.” Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola The Jesus Manifesto
Trees never eat their own fruit. The fruit is simply the visible proof that the tree has internally found its natural source of food and satisfaction. The tree will not eat its fruit because it is already well fed. Farmers focus on the well-being of the tree and they confidently wait for the fruit to appear. Visible fruit means the internal system is work is working.
Near the end of His ministry Jesus cursed a tree because it had no fruit. That tree represented the people of God in Israel who had not cooperated with God’s perfect care and provision. They were cursed because they existed to bear the fruit of God’s care and provision and they were useless as a plant without bearing fruit. Their failure was without excuse.
Christ in us, who is our life, provides for every believer the exact care and provision for the fruit of the Spirit to emerge naturally from our lives. Instead of cooperating with the perfect, inner presence of Jesus, we insist on trying to bear our own fruit. We try. That is our problem. Trying is not our job. Our job is to believe. Believing that this fruit will come from God through Christ in us is our work.
“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” John 6: 28-29
Human wisdom puts great faith in trying. God’s wisdom says we should rest and receive from Jesus in us by His Spirit.
If you are in the habit of really trying hard to be a good Christian, stop immediately. Instead, rest in Jesus, receive from Jesus and rejoice in Jesus. When you do, the fruit will come.
Receiving directly from Jesus in us is the source of all fruit God will claim as His.
Trees never eat their own fruit. The fruit is simply the visible proof that the tree has internally found its natural source of food and satisfaction. The tree will not eat its fruit because it is already well fed. Farmers focus on the well-being of the tree and they confidently wait for the fruit to appear. Visible fruit means the internal system is work is working.
Near the end of His ministry Jesus cursed a tree because it had no fruit. That tree represented the people of God in Israel who had not cooperated with God’s perfect care and provision. They were cursed because they existed to bear the fruit of God’s care and provision and they were useless as a plant without bearing fruit. Their failure was without excuse.
Christ in us, who is our life, provides for every believer the exact care and provision for the fruit of the Spirit to emerge naturally from our lives. Instead of cooperating with the perfect, inner presence of Jesus, we insist on trying to bear our own fruit. We try. That is our problem. Trying is not our job. Our job is to believe. Believing that this fruit will come from God through Christ in us is our work.
“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” John 6: 28-29
Human wisdom puts great faith in trying. God’s wisdom says we should rest and receive from Jesus in us by His Spirit.
If you are in the habit of really trying hard to be a good Christian, stop immediately. Instead, rest in Jesus, receive from Jesus and rejoice in Jesus. When you do, the fruit will come.
Receiving directly from Jesus in us is the source of all fruit God will claim as His.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Jesus Test
“Did something similar happen to Jesus that is now happening to me?”
Jesus sets the pattern for how life will be for all of His followers as they deliver God’s love. If something was true for Jesus as He delivered love, it can and should be true for us as we deliver His love. If it happened to Him it will happen to us.
Oswald Chambers said: “We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our Lord Himself was in.” (Reading for Jan. 11 “My Utmost for His Highest”)
When we find ourselves in any situation we should look it and see if it passes “The Jesus Test.” Did anything similar happen to Jesus as He was obeying His Father and delivering love? If it did, then when the same thing is happening to us it should be seen as a normal Christian life.
Here are some examples of things that happen to us that should be taken through “The Jesus Test.”
1. Having only enough materially to love those we need to love.
2. Seeing doors of opportunity to love continuously open before us as we knock on them.
3. Seeing others suffer because we obeyed God.
4. Being accused of what we have not done.
5. Asking for wisdom and receiving it immediately.
6. Being accused of being what we are not.
7. Having someone betray us that we have loved.
8. Overcoming our fears.
9. Being hated even though we have only loved.
10. Seeing “mountains” move out of our way.
11. Looking like a failure in the eyes of men.
The life of Jesus is the test of how God can and must treat those He loves as they deliver love to those who need it most. If you use any other formula than Jesus' life to try and make sense of your discipleship on earth, you will be unable to make it all add up. Things that happen to us only add up when Jesus is our starting point and the goal.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.” Matthew 10:24-25
When we all stand before God it will the “The Jesus Test” that will be used to evaluate our lives. We should get used to taking this test day by day because “Christ is all, and is in all.” Col. 3:11
Jesus sets the pattern for how life will be for all of His followers as they deliver God’s love. If something was true for Jesus as He delivered love, it can and should be true for us as we deliver His love. If it happened to Him it will happen to us.
Oswald Chambers said: “We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our Lord Himself was in.” (Reading for Jan. 11 “My Utmost for His Highest”)
When we find ourselves in any situation we should look it and see if it passes “The Jesus Test.” Did anything similar happen to Jesus as He was obeying His Father and delivering love? If it did, then when the same thing is happening to us it should be seen as a normal Christian life.
Here are some examples of things that happen to us that should be taken through “The Jesus Test.”
1. Having only enough materially to love those we need to love.
2. Seeing doors of opportunity to love continuously open before us as we knock on them.
3. Seeing others suffer because we obeyed God.
4. Being accused of what we have not done.
5. Asking for wisdom and receiving it immediately.
6. Being accused of being what we are not.
7. Having someone betray us that we have loved.
8. Overcoming our fears.
9. Being hated even though we have only loved.
10. Seeing “mountains” move out of our way.
11. Looking like a failure in the eyes of men.
The life of Jesus is the test of how God can and must treat those He loves as they deliver love to those who need it most. If you use any other formula than Jesus' life to try and make sense of your discipleship on earth, you will be unable to make it all add up. Things that happen to us only add up when Jesus is our starting point and the goal.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.” Matthew 10:24-25
When we all stand before God it will the “The Jesus Test” that will be used to evaluate our lives. We should get used to taking this test day by day because “Christ is all, and is in all.” Col. 3:11
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
My Potential
“Live up to your potential.” This is the mantra of all self-help seminars and courses. It is a powerful and attractive statement for self-improvement. It makes millions of dollars for those who use it effectively. This statement is, however, a useless statement for discipleship and spiritual formation.
Discipleship and spiritual formation are about living up to Jesus’ potential not living up to our potential. As wonderful as focusing on our potential sounds, it is deadly to learning to live from Jesus as our only source. Disciples must abandon the idea of developing their personal potential.
Jesus says to the development of my potential: “Without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 I need to say the same thing to my personal potential every day.
The first use of the concept of “Live up to your potential” was in the garden of Eden. A very persuasive voice led humanity to think they could do better than living from the fruit of God’s potential. The impact of that self-help attempt is well documented in the Scriptures.
A dear friend of mine who survived the Holocaust once told me that the name Jehovah means “Source of Source.” I love that! God is the potential of all potential.
Poverty of Spirit is to abandon once and for all my potential apart from God. Faith is receiving God’s potential as my only potential. Abiding is to live from the perfect potential of the true Vine.
Jesus is the believer’s potential. We can be what He allows us to be and that is far more than we could ever be apart from Him. Forget developing your own potential. Live Jesus’ potential. Abide!
Bud McCord
Abide International
Discipleship and spiritual formation are about living up to Jesus’ potential not living up to our potential. As wonderful as focusing on our potential sounds, it is deadly to learning to live from Jesus as our only source. Disciples must abandon the idea of developing their personal potential.
Jesus says to the development of my potential: “Without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 I need to say the same thing to my personal potential every day.
The first use of the concept of “Live up to your potential” was in the garden of Eden. A very persuasive voice led humanity to think they could do better than living from the fruit of God’s potential. The impact of that self-help attempt is well documented in the Scriptures.
A dear friend of mine who survived the Holocaust once told me that the name Jehovah means “Source of Source.” I love that! God is the potential of all potential.
Poverty of Spirit is to abandon once and for all my potential apart from God. Faith is receiving God’s potential as my only potential. Abiding is to live from the perfect potential of the true Vine.
Jesus is the believer’s potential. We can be what He allows us to be and that is far more than we could ever be apart from Him. Forget developing your own potential. Live Jesus’ potential. Abide!
Bud McCord
Abide International
Monday, December 27, 2010
An Amazing Promise
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
There is a way for every disciple of Jesus to experience sustained victory over their flesh. There is a way for every Christian to be free from every habit pattern we developed to manage our own lives apart from God.
The Apostle Paul described this way of overcome the flesh as walking in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to be habitually inspired by God’s perfect presence in us instead of being habitually inspired by our own understanding of ourselves and our personal plans for survival.
Every day you can observe what continuous inspiration by God looks like by observing the habitual behavior of birds. Birds begin each day inspired by the creative inspiration God placed in their nature. They simply awaken and begin moving about receiving from God’s generosity what they need for that day.
“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? Matthew 6:25-27
At the end of each day you will see the birds calmly ending their day by finding a place to rest for the night. They show no fear, anxiety or frustration. They slow down to a complete stop and wait for the generosity of the next day.
The economy of the birds is amazing. They find what they need by simply being what birds are inspired to be by the Creator. The key to their lives is not how hard they work. They are living from the Source that created them in the beginning. Birds are successful because they are inspired by God.
To walk in the Spirit as a Christian is to learn to live from the original Source of human inspiration—The Holy Spirit of God. To walk in the Spirit is to return to paradise—to Genesis. To walk in the Spirit is to renounce your own inspiration and receive His.
The key to the victory over the flesh is not effort. The key is inspiration. Walk in the inspiration only God can provide. What an amazing promise an inspired human being can be.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Saturday, December 25, 2010
The Power of a Single Thought
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
Psalm 23:1
Among all of the statements in the Old Testament, this one is perhaps the best known and remembered. It is also one of the most powerful thoughts ever spoken by a person of faith.
To have come to this statement David had to have seen God in a way that few men ever do. Someone once said: “No man can see God and live---live as he once lived.” David had seen God and he never lived the same way as before.
This single thought concerning God’s constant generosity had changed David. This single thought changes all who can say it with real faith.
This single thought changes everything about the universe in which we live day by day.
Men and women are not born believing that God is continuously generous with mankind. All men and women are born afflicted with the fear of lacking what is needed to live. This thought about never “wanting” for what we need must be given to us from God’s own generosity and patience.
We may hear a thousand sermons and be unchanged. We may read our Bibles time and time again and nothing changes. It takes a thought like David’s thought to become truly ours for our lives to change forever.
When such a thought comes from God to us, we are changed. Pray for this single thought to be yours right now. When this thought is truly yours, your soul will rest and you will be changed to live as you have never lived.
Then pray that the rest of Psalm 23 will come to you one powerful thought at a time.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Psalm 23:1
Among all of the statements in the Old Testament, this one is perhaps the best known and remembered. It is also one of the most powerful thoughts ever spoken by a person of faith.
To have come to this statement David had to have seen God in a way that few men ever do. Someone once said: “No man can see God and live---live as he once lived.” David had seen God and he never lived the same way as before.
This single thought concerning God’s constant generosity had changed David. This single thought changes all who can say it with real faith.
This single thought changes everything about the universe in which we live day by day.
Men and women are not born believing that God is continuously generous with mankind. All men and women are born afflicted with the fear of lacking what is needed to live. This thought about never “wanting” for what we need must be given to us from God’s own generosity and patience.
We may hear a thousand sermons and be unchanged. We may read our Bibles time and time again and nothing changes. It takes a thought like David’s thought to become truly ours for our lives to change forever.
When such a thought comes from God to us, we are changed. Pray for this single thought to be yours right now. When this thought is truly yours, your soul will rest and you will be changed to live as you have never lived.
Then pray that the rest of Psalm 23 will come to you one powerful thought at a time.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Further Instructions
The story is told of a missionary in New Zealand who had a bold approach to planting churches. He would go from village to village, locate the local bar where the roughest men gathered and begin his ministry right next to the bar. The missionary was fearless and knew from personal experience that God could reach those that seemed unreachable.
One day a very rough and tough drunk from the local bar confronted the missionary with a Bible question. He asked the missionary if it was true that Jesus had said when someone hit a Christian the Christian was required to turn the other cheek. When the missionary agreed that Jesus had taught such a thing, the drunk immediately struck the missionary in the face knocking him to the ground.
The missionary got up and turned the other cheek to the drunk. He was struck again on the other cheek and once again fell to the ground. When he got up the second time, he hit the drunk with a powerful blow and knocked him unconscious.
When the drunk awakened he asked the missionary why he had hit him. He said it was because the instructions of Jesus only covered the first two blows to the face. After that there were no further instructions.
I like this story. It appeals to my desire to finally be able to strike the last blow in God’s name. It appeals to my human, fleshly spirit and my respect for human discipline.
The problem is that there are further instructions.
Matthew 5:10-11 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
The further instructions for persecution are “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad….”
That does not sound like a great plan to my fleshly spirit because rejoicing in the face of persecution is a reaction born of the Spirit of Jesus and not the spirit of man. Jesus’ teaching and behavior only make sense when we begin at the level of His Spirit and not at the level of the human spirit and self control.
To truly understand and obey Jesus’ teaching we must move beyond the letter of human control and live inspired by the Spirit of Jesus. We need inspiration not personal self- control. There is an enormous difference between the two.
Only by abiding in Jesus, the True Vine, can such an inspired shift in human behavior occur. Jesus doesn’t call us just to turn the other cheek. He calls us to let the Spirit that inspired Him all the way to Calvary inspire us all the way to rejoicing and being exceedingly glad when persecuted.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Be sure to read all the inspired instructions of Jesus no matter how good it may feel to have the last blow be yours. Selective obedience is not inspiration.
Bud McCord
Abide International
One day a very rough and tough drunk from the local bar confronted the missionary with a Bible question. He asked the missionary if it was true that Jesus had said when someone hit a Christian the Christian was required to turn the other cheek. When the missionary agreed that Jesus had taught such a thing, the drunk immediately struck the missionary in the face knocking him to the ground.
The missionary got up and turned the other cheek to the drunk. He was struck again on the other cheek and once again fell to the ground. When he got up the second time, he hit the drunk with a powerful blow and knocked him unconscious.
When the drunk awakened he asked the missionary why he had hit him. He said it was because the instructions of Jesus only covered the first two blows to the face. After that there were no further instructions.
I like this story. It appeals to my desire to finally be able to strike the last blow in God’s name. It appeals to my human, fleshly spirit and my respect for human discipline.
The problem is that there are further instructions.
Matthew 5:10-11 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
The further instructions for persecution are “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad….”
That does not sound like a great plan to my fleshly spirit because rejoicing in the face of persecution is a reaction born of the Spirit of Jesus and not the spirit of man. Jesus’ teaching and behavior only make sense when we begin at the level of His Spirit and not at the level of the human spirit and self control.
To truly understand and obey Jesus’ teaching we must move beyond the letter of human control and live inspired by the Spirit of Jesus. We need inspiration not personal self- control. There is an enormous difference between the two.
Only by abiding in Jesus, the True Vine, can such an inspired shift in human behavior occur. Jesus doesn’t call us just to turn the other cheek. He calls us to let the Spirit that inspired Him all the way to Calvary inspire us all the way to rejoicing and being exceedingly glad when persecuted.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Be sure to read all the inspired instructions of Jesus no matter how good it may feel to have the last blow be yours. Selective obedience is not inspiration.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Monday, December 06, 2010
Forgiven, At Peace and Healed
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
For those who know Jesus as the Messiah, this is one of the most beloved verses in the Old Testament. I love these words!
The focus on forgiveness is crystal clear. The offer of peace is powerful and perfect. Healing is guaranteed.
Unfortunately the words “And by His stripes we are healed.” have been a place of great debate among the disciples of Jesus.
Do the words “By His stripes we are healed” mean that I can claim physical healing for my body on the same level that I claim my forgiveness and peace with God? Should I awaken every day as sure of being healed of every physical sickness as I awaken assured of my perfect peace with God and my perfect freedom from condemnation?
What does a human being who is “cured by Jesus’ stripes” look like and behave like in this world?
I have personally seen God cure people of all kinds of illnesses. I have seen the joy in a church when a physical healing is announced. I have participated in that joy. I hope I see this kind of healing many more times. I have also done funerals for people I once saw healed.
What I know is that no cure of our physical bodies here on earth can reverse the fact that these bodies of ours are temporary and will eventually give in to their inevitable decline and death. There will come a day when the permanent cure of our bodies will be to die. For Christians that is not something to fear!
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Cor. 4.16-18
A pastor suffering from cancer here in Brazil said to his church, ‘If I am cured you will see the glory of God. If I am not cured I will see the glory of God.”
Could his words be the true meaning of the words “By His stripes we are healed” ? Could this pastor’s fearlessness, complete confidence God could heal him and His desire that others would see God be the cure of Jesus’ stripes being manifested?
I have seen people use the words “By His stripes we are healed” to put enormous pressure on believers who cannot seem to receive their cure from serious illness. Those who see this verse as a guarantee of healing for those with enough faith often leave those who are sick with the distinct impression that to be sick and remain sick is to be lacking faith and a failure to receive all that is ours in Jesus.
Here is what I know. Regardless of what is happening to me, I am healed by His stripes. My healing means that the glory of God can and will be seen in my situation no matter which way it goes. A human being who can glorify God in any circumstance in this fallen world is a person Jesus has healed by His stripes.
Illness can no longer claim the victory over us just as surely as death can no longer claim victory over us. Illness can no longer claim the victory over us just as surely as we are all now at peace with God. No physical cross or illness can ever again destroy our ability to glorify God. Jesus has seen to our healing once and for all by His stripes which revealed the glory of God when He died and will continue to reveal His glory in us.
His stripes have healed us. We are cured to glorify God in all things.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
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
For those who know Jesus as the Messiah, this is one of the most beloved verses in the Old Testament. I love these words!
The focus on forgiveness is crystal clear. The offer of peace is powerful and perfect. Healing is guaranteed.
Unfortunately the words “And by His stripes we are healed.” have been a place of great debate among the disciples of Jesus.
Do the words “By His stripes we are healed” mean that I can claim physical healing for my body on the same level that I claim my forgiveness and peace with God? Should I awaken every day as sure of being healed of every physical sickness as I awaken assured of my perfect peace with God and my perfect freedom from condemnation?
What does a human being who is “cured by Jesus’ stripes” look like and behave like in this world?
I have personally seen God cure people of all kinds of illnesses. I have seen the joy in a church when a physical healing is announced. I have participated in that joy. I hope I see this kind of healing many more times. I have also done funerals for people I once saw healed.
What I know is that no cure of our physical bodies here on earth can reverse the fact that these bodies of ours are temporary and will eventually give in to their inevitable decline and death. There will come a day when the permanent cure of our bodies will be to die. For Christians that is not something to fear!
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Cor. 4.16-18
A pastor suffering from cancer here in Brazil said to his church, ‘If I am cured you will see the glory of God. If I am not cured I will see the glory of God.”
Could his words be the true meaning of the words “By His stripes we are healed” ? Could this pastor’s fearlessness, complete confidence God could heal him and His desire that others would see God be the cure of Jesus’ stripes being manifested?
I have seen people use the words “By His stripes we are healed” to put enormous pressure on believers who cannot seem to receive their cure from serious illness. Those who see this verse as a guarantee of healing for those with enough faith often leave those who are sick with the distinct impression that to be sick and remain sick is to be lacking faith and a failure to receive all that is ours in Jesus.
Here is what I know. Regardless of what is happening to me, I am healed by His stripes. My healing means that the glory of God can and will be seen in my situation no matter which way it goes. A human being who can glorify God in any circumstance in this fallen world is a person Jesus has healed by His stripes.
Illness can no longer claim the victory over us just as surely as death can no longer claim victory over us. Illness can no longer claim the victory over us just as surely as we are all now at peace with God. No physical cross or illness can ever again destroy our ability to glorify God. Jesus has seen to our healing once and for all by His stripes which revealed the glory of God when He died and will continue to reveal His glory in us.
His stripes have healed us. We are cured to glorify God in all things.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
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
2010 Retreat Season
Our 2010 retreat season finished on the weekend of December 4-5 in Campos do Jordão. Planning, promoting and executing 9 retreats in 9 months is a challenge, but the joy of seeing people learn to rest in Christ in order to release His love is worth it.
Each group is a unique collection of disciples who experience the oneness Jesus promised to all who will start everything from His perfect presence.
A special thanks to all who have supported the Abide International ministries this year! We make a great team!
Bud and Pam
Monday, November 29, 2010
Customized Cross and Customized Prosperity
Customized Cross and Customized Prosperity
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33
These are Jesus’ words concerning God’s provision and Christian prosperity. We should listen carefully to these words. They answer some questions Christians around the world are asking.
Just how rich should great faith make us? Should there be a direct link between what we have in our bank account and the quality of our faith? Should Christians pursue growing wealth as a sign of growing faith?
Around the world among evangelical Christians there is an intense interest in making faith work for making one’s financial life better. Entire denominations are built on the idea that faith is the path to great prosperity.
As with everything any church promotes as the way, the truth and the life, all such ideas need to pass the Jesus test. The Jesus test is: Is that how it worked for Jesus? If it did not, it is not the right view of how it will be for us.
Jesus is the final test of all teaching. Jesus’ life and the life of His first disciples, the Apostles, show us the way, the truth and the life in action concerning prosperity.
Looking closely at Jesus and at the Apostles it is impossible to see faith being used as a tool to avoid pain or accumulate riches. Looking at Jesus and the Apostles it is clear that their faith was for the delivery and sustaining of God’s love.
Faith does impact one’s prosperity. Faith allows us to have our prosperity customized to fit our customized cross.
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27
The cross we carry is not Jesus’ cross. His was customized just for Him. The cross we carry is our customized cross. Our cross is the exact amount of Divine love we are expected to deliver into this world as the result of seeking first the Kingdom.
When we deliver God’s love, God pays the bills. He customizes our prosperity to fit our task of carrying our customized cross. Just as no two crosses are identical, no two financial realities will be identical.
Jesus’ prosperity was a perfect, customized fit for His mission to die for the sins of the world. Jesus was exactly as rich as He needed to be. Clearly Jesus’ cross carrying needed little or no material support!
The Apostle’s prosperity was a perfect, customized fit for their mission to be the foundation of the New Testament Church. The Apostles were as rich as they needed to be. Again, they had little, but they had what they needed.
Our prosperity will be perfectly customized for us, too, when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by carrying our customized crosses.
There is no “one size fits all” prosperity formula in the New Testament. As we live by faith, we will have the prosperity we need and ask for to deliver customized love to those God has chosen for us to love.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
Customized is always a perfect fit.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33
These are Jesus’ words concerning God’s provision and Christian prosperity. We should listen carefully to these words. They answer some questions Christians around the world are asking.
Just how rich should great faith make us? Should there be a direct link between what we have in our bank account and the quality of our faith? Should Christians pursue growing wealth as a sign of growing faith?
Around the world among evangelical Christians there is an intense interest in making faith work for making one’s financial life better. Entire denominations are built on the idea that faith is the path to great prosperity.
As with everything any church promotes as the way, the truth and the life, all such ideas need to pass the Jesus test. The Jesus test is: Is that how it worked for Jesus? If it did not, it is not the right view of how it will be for us.
Jesus is the final test of all teaching. Jesus’ life and the life of His first disciples, the Apostles, show us the way, the truth and the life in action concerning prosperity.
Looking closely at Jesus and at the Apostles it is impossible to see faith being used as a tool to avoid pain or accumulate riches. Looking at Jesus and the Apostles it is clear that their faith was for the delivery and sustaining of God’s love.
Faith does impact one’s prosperity. Faith allows us to have our prosperity customized to fit our customized cross.
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27
The cross we carry is not Jesus’ cross. His was customized just for Him. The cross we carry is our customized cross. Our cross is the exact amount of Divine love we are expected to deliver into this world as the result of seeking first the Kingdom.
When we deliver God’s love, God pays the bills. He customizes our prosperity to fit our task of carrying our customized cross. Just as no two crosses are identical, no two financial realities will be identical.
Jesus’ prosperity was a perfect, customized fit for His mission to die for the sins of the world. Jesus was exactly as rich as He needed to be. Clearly Jesus’ cross carrying needed little or no material support!
The Apostle’s prosperity was a perfect, customized fit for their mission to be the foundation of the New Testament Church. The Apostles were as rich as they needed to be. Again, they had little, but they had what they needed.
Our prosperity will be perfectly customized for us, too, when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by carrying our customized crosses.
There is no “one size fits all” prosperity formula in the New Testament. As we live by faith, we will have the prosperity we need and ask for to deliver customized love to those God has chosen for us to love.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
Customized is always a perfect fit.
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