The smoke screen of a know-it-all

I really enjoy my “news reader” on the internet. I keep up with 100’s of stuff (feeds) a day. I am on Facebook, Twitter, Yammer, LinkedIn, email, etc. I am hyper-connected. Others follow the news on TV or radio all the time. We all have our versions of how we keep up. We can be up to date in real time. “Breaking news”!! We can know so much. If we think that makes us wise, we are in for a rude awakening. Such thinking is actually foolish. God’s ways are different.

How much time do we spend connected to Him and what He is thinking? Really, compared to our connections to this world, how much time do we spend connected to His world?

Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God’s fool—that’s the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It’s written in Scripture, He exposes the chicanery of the chic.  The Master sees through the smoke screens of the know-it-alls. 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

May I connect with God and know what He is thinking.

It is all about relationships

It is all about relationships. Our relationship with God. Our relationship with all those we know or even don’t know but come in contact because God has something in mind. Am I willing to humble myself? Can I give everything I have for what God wants me do in love of others? I can with His gift of Power of the Holy Spirit. That is His promise. That is the benefit of His new agreement based on love.

And in relationships, we should have the same attitude of mind that Jesus had. He lived in the moment. He did what He saw His Father doing. He came to serve, to love, to give, to do the “tough” things. He was obedient. He didn’t dodge what His Father sent Him here to do. He gave Himself to it.

In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind the Messiah Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death–even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Philippians 2:5-10 TNIV

Will I choose God?

We get to choose who we will serve. If it isn’t the living God, we get what we want. God doesn’t make us worship him. He wants our love and adoration freely. It has been that way from the beginning. It still is today.

So today we get to choose.

May I choose wisely.

“So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” ~~Apostle Paul (Romans 1:24 The Message)

Do I believe Jesus could come back today?

Paul lived as if Jesus could show up any minute. He believed it in his core. His passion, every minute, was about Jesus.

Paul challenges us to live the same way. Do we believe Jesus could show up any minute now? Will it make a difference in what we do today?

May I have the passion for my Jesus that I live like today is the day He will physically come back to reign on earth.

“He could show up any minute!” ~~Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:5 The Message)

What kind of insight to we have?

We have God’s wisdom in our life. The amazing Spirit of God leads us. That is amazing. While we don’t always understand everything, we have a leg up on gaining insight into how God works than the average Joe.

It is interesting that the world we live in doesn’t see this.

“But you’ve seen and heard God’s wisdom because God, by his Spirit, has brought it all out into the open before you.” ~~ Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2:9 The Message)

What is worth reporting on?

What is worth reporting on, in Paul’s opinion? It is all about the love we show to others. That is it. There is nothing else.

It isn’t the new church building. It is not how moving the Worship Team sang the new song. It isn’t new car we just bought.

There are only two ways to get God’s attention. Love Him and love everyone we know and meet. That is how our faith in Jesus is demonstrated.

“We keep getting reports on your steady faith in the Messiah Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians.” ~Apostle Paul (Colossians 1:4 The Message)

What message am I embracing?

We don’t like to think about it but there are a number of messages delivered by men of God that aren’t good news. There are many that are at odds with the gift of grace that the Messiah Jesus has bestowed on us. It happens easily. It only shows our fickleness.

We need to know what the message of good news is. We need to stick with it. We must reject anything else. May we stand firm today.

“I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message!” ~~Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:6 The Message)

What is the signet that we have?

God has given us the Holy Spirit. That is a sign of His authority in our life. He has left us with power, His power. That is an amazing thing. What a great God we have.

And, that is not all. The Holy Spirit in our life is only the beginning. God has so many wonderful things in store for us. And we will receive them all. Not a one will be withheld from us. The Holy Spirit in our life is the sign of all the glory to come.

“This signet (the Holy Spirit) from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.” ~Apostle Paul (Ephesians 1:14 The Message)

Have we taken the time to write?

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was very direct. He was concerned about what was hearing. Sometimes a clearly written message can be more effective than a visit. Plus, it can be reread many, many times when the spoken word cannot.

Are we concerned about something? Have we spent months writing a clear and compelling message? Even if it isn’t sent, do we care enough to get that clear?

“That was my reason for writing a letter instead of coming—so I wouldn’t have to spend a miserable time disappointing the very friends I had looked forward to cheering me up. ” ~~Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 2:3 The Message)

Does it make a difference to be religious?

It isn’t about who was raised in the church and has a religious background. Paul is clear on that. If the training leads to following our Master Jesus, the Messiah, that is great. It is not about the training. It is about doing what God wants. Every day!!

The mistake the religious make is to believe it is simply about showing up. It is not about going to church. It is about having a passion for Jesus and doing what He wants us to. It is about obedience. It is about having a heart for God. It is about living a free life basking in how good God is.

“So what difference does it make who’s religious and who isn’t, who has been trained in God’s ways and who hasn’t? As it turns out, it makes a lot of difference—but not the difference so many have assumed.!” ~~Apostle Paul (Romans 3:1)

Is Jesus about to arrive?

Paul is clear. Jesus is about to arrive.

Jesus was also clear. No one knows the time that will happen. That is God’s business.

Is this a conflict?

I don’t think so. This is the way we should live. What if Jesus does come back soon? Are we living the way He wants us to?

Should we live like it won’t be soon? Not hardly.

“Help them see that the Master is about to arrive.” ~~Apostle Paul  (Philippians 4:5 The Message) 

Is it plain and simple?

It is so easy to get carried away. Paul had tried polished speeches before. Not much happened (this is detailed in the book of Acts). Am I depending on my cleverness or God’s power?

In His new plan, the order of the day is to depend on him. Plain and simple makes way for Him to do His work in people.

May we keep it plain. May we keep it simple. God will make it effective. That is His job.

You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

Would we have killed Jesus?

We have lots of experts. And that is sometimes a good thing. The problem is that most experts don’t have a clue about what God’s eternal plan is. And we shouldn’t expect them to but we do exalt their opinion beyond what we should. These experts existed when Jesus was here on earth. The didn’t have a clue then either.

It would have been impossible to kill Jesus if we understood what God intends. But we have all missed God’s goal for our life. We would have killed him as well. No point blaming others. Jesus was the master of the life that God designed for us. And he was killed on a cross so that we could live that same way He did. Imagine that.

“If they had a clue about God’s eternal plan, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross.” ~~ Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2:9 The Message)

Should you quit thanking God?

We have a job to do. We must continue and continue to thank God for those we have relationships with. We must not quit.

Being thankful forces us to see and love our friends and family in a different way. Thankfulness is at the heart of relationships.

And taking it further, have we told everyone why we are thankful for them? Do they know why?

“We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you!” ~Apostle Paul (Colossians 1:3 The Message)

Have we been rescued?

Jesus has rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our missing God’s goal for our life. That is good news.

That is the kind of news that a loving Father can deliver. And that is the kind of Father we have. We have been rescued. Jesus did it for us.

We all need to have that experience. We need it every day.

“God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.” ~~Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:4 The Message)

Do we see that we have finished the most difficult part?

Do we see that we have finished the most difficult part? In the salvation that Jesus offers us, we aren’t quite there yet but we are home free. The hard part is behind us. We have the Holy Spirit now and we are on our way to maturity in God.

What brings this about? We have heard the truth. That is the starting point. And, having heard it, we believe the good news. We no longer listen to our enemy. We know that Jesus has saved us from missing God’s goal for us.

We are home free.

“It’s in the Messiah that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of  good news of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.” ~Apostle Paul (Ephesians 1:13 The Message) 

Will I be proud when I stand before Jesus?

Will I be proud when I stand before Jesus?

That is a stunning question. Think about it. Will I?

Do I live in His love or ashamed, in condemnation, because of my enemy?

May I live in His love. May I know how proud He is of me. May I know it in my soul.

“We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.” ~~Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:14 The Message)

Are you worshiping the wrong thing?

We worship everything but God. And when you think about it, what sense does it make? How can you compare, for example, the creator of the universe with some cheap imitation?

We know, at our core, who to worship. The enemy seduces us into not paying attention and worshiping something else.

May I know who God is. May I worship Him and not some cheap imitation.

“They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.” ~~Apostle Paul (Romans 1:23The Message)

Am I on your side?

This is a stunning way to approach relationships. Do they know I am on their side?

It is simple but I am guessing not everyone I know gets that. And … it is not their fault if they don’t. God forbid they think I am against them. I’m sure, to my embarrassment, that it happens.

May I show my love by being on the side of my friends and family.

“Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them.” ~~Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:4 The Message)