Category Archives: Sanctification

Clean Hands, Dirty Heart

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Where was this Bible verse when I was growing up?

“to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”  (Matthew 15:20b)

If I had only known.  Jesus said it; it must be true.  Gospel truth, no less.  I could have had that verse memorized and ready to quote at opportune moments.  Alas…   Of course, now I know better.  Jesus wasn’t giving hygiene instructions for little boys.  He was challenging hypocritical religious leaders, the ones who wanted to control others with nit-picky rules.  Jesus’ point was that righteousness (or the lack thereof) is determined by what is in our hearts and not by what may be smudging our hands.

“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:17-20)

Wash all you want and you cannot cleanse corruption of the heart.  Only the Holy Spirit, living within can pull that off.  Happily, that is exactly what God promises to do.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.

(Isaiah 1:18)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9)

For Roger, Too

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Maybe you’ve seen the quotes from the Baptist pastor, Roger Jimenez, who seemed glad about the shootings in Orlando.  He claims to represent Jesus and preaches in a church named “Verity” that claims to stand for truth.  Neither claim is in line with Jesus’ teachings.  It is true the Bible teaches homosexual practice is out of sync with God’s design.  But so is heterosexual lust for someone not your spouse.  And greed, gossip, and coveting something not your own.  Jesus taught the inclination of our hearts in the wrong direction is just as serious as the worst act of that inclination.  For example, anger against your brother is akin to murder, He said, and just as bad.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.  (Matthew 5:21-22)

Every one  of us is equally guilty in the eyes of God when it comes to doing, or even thinking about doing, things out of sync with His design.  To point fingers with a judgmental, holier-than-thou attitude is as serious before God as pulling the trigger.  Roger Jimenez should have known that.  He also should know Jesus did not come for those who considered themselves to be morally pure.  He came for those who know they are not.

And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  (Matthew 9:11-13)

Fact is, God loves the Orlando victims and sent His Son, Jesus to save them.  He came for Roger, too, if he can get over himself and see it…

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  (John 3:17)

Like Peter’s Mom

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And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. (Matthew 8:14-15)

I wonder if Peter’s mother instantly felt 100%.  Maybe, after Jesus healed her fever, she still had lingering side effects.  If so, maybe, taking Him at His word, she began to act with full assurance those lingering side effects would go away.  If that was the case, she is a model for us.

Since I trusted Jesus, even though I experience the amazing rush of new life, there are still lingering side effects of my old, dead style of existence.  You too?  Probably.  Jesus intends for us to imitate Peter’s mom, trusting Him for the full fix in due time. Get up and serve Him now.

All the Difference

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Nobody told us. Five minutes later and the hospital would not have billed us for that whole day. But saving money was the furthest thing from our minds as we prepared for the birth of our first child. When our daughter was born, nothing could have diminished our joy and thankfulness, not even being billed a whole day for 5 minutes. There was new life in our family and new hope.

Thankfulness changes the game. Instead of focusing on the bad stuff, your thoughts are filtered through appreciation for what’s good. It’s the old “half-full” instead of “half-empty” attitude.

For those who follow Jesus, it is no mere mental trick. Our thankfulness is grounded in the new life born in us, the very life of Jesus.  New life comes with absolute confidence for the long haul.  Our cups, more than half-full, run over!

Here’s the whole quote we have considered in three posts. God’s desire is for you to enjoy each of these.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Let it Flow

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Turned on the hot water for a shower and just a trickle came out.  Rats!  When I tried one of those new, low pressure shower heads but hardly a dribble came out.  Finally, I’d had enough. I shut off the main valve to the house and tore the shower control apart.  Surprisingly, everything seemed to be in good shape.

But then I discovered the problem.  Shining a light into the pipe, I discovered old deposits of groodah (that’s a term professionals use), clogging up the hot water pipe.  It wasn’t easy to remove that stuff; it had built up over time and was hardened onto the pipe.  Little by little, I loosened it up, but I’m sure there’s more to be done.  But now the shower works better.

When people sing and pray to be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” I suspect “filling” isn’t the problem.  After all, Jesus said:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  –  (John 14:16-17)

The apostle Peter reminded fellow believers, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…”  (2 Peter 1:3a)

My shower problem was not caused by a lack of water pressure, but by old crusty deposits in my pipes.  It had lots of water and plenty of pressure, but didn’t let the water flow through.  We can be “filled” with the Spirit but still not work right.  The Spirit is given to us to flow through us, transforming how we act in the world.  Sometimes, instead of asking God to fill us, we might better spend some time scraping away the groodah inside our pipes.

Showing More than Pledging Allegiance

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Some called foul when the government took out Anwar Al-Awlaki with a drone.  They said, “It isn’t right for the US government to summarily execute one of its own citizens.  The thing is, when someone works against the interests of the country, as AAA did, inciting terrorist acts, he is no longer living as a citizen. He loses the right to the benefits of citizenship.

That’s the principle in play in this quote from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Phi 3:17 — Phi 3:21
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

In a perfect situation a citizen can expect his ‘country’ to watch his back, to send rescue. But it would be a mistake to feel entitled to such a rescue if your actions do not match your pledge of allegiance.

Turned Heads and Hearts

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Come Sunday, it will have been a year, a tough year.  A year ago today, my wife, Ann Maree, was taken by ambulance to Hospice for her final struggle.  Understandably, I spend a lot of time thinking back.  Our 50 plus years of courtship and marriage were way too short.  We had some wonderful times.  We also went through some pretty big changes.

The best and most powerful change came as we individually discovered the truth about Jesus and welcomed His Spirit into our souls.  At first, the changes were fresh and exhilarating.  Gradually that excitement evened out into a satisfying and fulfilling joy.  Worry was exchanged for contentment.  There was a dramatic shift in how we saw life in this world.

As an example, Annie was good lookin’.  Yes indeed, she turned heads.  But strangely, that physical beauty was, for her, a source of insecurity.  Maybe you can relate.  But when Jesus showed her how much God loved her, that anxiety was gradually laid to rest.  It was transformed into a thorough sense of inner beauty and inner peace.  Heads still turned, but that wasn’t of as much importance.  Recently, I came across this, underlined in her Bible:

Your beauty … should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  (1 Peter 3:3a & 4b)

When folks remember Ann Maree, most of the time they talk about how she had “…the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit…”

Yes indeed.

Slaves and Sons

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How could God treat His people so differently in Old Testament times as compared to the New?  The Old Testament is full of long lists of rules and regs, along with severe penalties to be exacted upon those who break them.  The New Testament is all about grace and tells those in Christ they are free of the law.  What gives?

This is no big mystery.  The first part of the Old Testament was written for people who, for more than 10 generations, had lived as slaves.  After God sent Moses and arranged for their freedom, they obviously needed a bit of clearly defined structure.  The New Testament is about Jesus inviting us to become sons and daughters in God’s family.  For those who accept, He gives His Spirit as an internal guide, making rules irrelevant.

Ask yourself this question: Did you treat your two year old in the same way when he or she became 32?  I would imagine you began with rules, such as, “We never cross the street by ourselves.”  Later on, that rule changed to, “Always look both ways before you cross the street.”  And then, “‘Bye; Have a nice time!”

Here’s a great explanation of how God’s approach changed and why, taken from the New Testament:

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  (Galatians 4:1-7  NIV)

Swooping or Lurching?

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“I’m doing it! I’m doing it!”  The child sits atop his first bike, exploding with joy and excitement.  No more trike for this guy; he’s graduated into the “big kid,” two-wheeler world.  Except, he really hasn’t.  There’s training wheels back there, firmly holding him upright.  He may think he’s “doing it” but he really isn’t.  He’ll find that out when he tries to take a corner at speed and topples over.  Training wheels are poorly named.  They give a false sense of security and make learning to really ride impossible.  Really riding requires learning to develop and control a sense of balance.  Really riding means gracefully swooping through the curves, not lurching back and forth from one training wheel to the other.

Like the kid who thinks sitting on a bike with training wheels is riding, are those who think being a Christian means being held upright by a strict set of rules.  But that isn’t it at all.  Rules give a false sense of security that fails when you hit the tight curves at speed. Real “riding” with Christ is about gracefully swooping through the curves, leaning on faith, not lurching back and forth from one “thou shalt not” to another.  That common misperception causes some to reject Christianity as restrictive and boring. It causes others to think “I’m doing it” when in fact they are not. 

The analogy breaks down here because, when someone places their faith in Jesus, a mysterious and powerful change happens.   The Holy Spirit comes alive within their soul. A living Presence, He gives guidance and strength.  The initial act of faith in Jesus becomes a dynamic, continual process of trusting and following His Spirit.  It’s a learning process, one which may be a bit tentative and jerky at first.  Swooping comes with practice. But, just like learning to ride a bike, it does come.

That is, if you don’t put those training wheels back on. That’s why this reminder is given in the “handbook:”

Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh [That is, by following the “training wheel” rules]? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ( Galatians 3:3-5 – with my explanation in brackets)

More Than Simply Wine

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Why did Jesus turn water into wine?  There was deep symbolism in what He did.  Can you see it?  First read it:

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom  (John 2:6—9)

OK – to figure this out, answer these questions:

1. What were the water jars used for?
2. Do religious rites of purification, the ceremony of washing really purify a person? 
3. When you wash with soap and water, is that done on the outside or the inside? (I know, dumb question, but it will make sense when you read the next one…)
4. Is wine taken inside or used outside a person’s body?
5. When used properly, what is the effect of wine?  Is it the outward appearance of cleanliness or the inward experience of joy?

Jesus met a real need; the wine had run out and He supplied more.  But He also gave a big, symbolic hint about what He had come to do.