“ELF-LIKE ENTHUSIASM” – Dec 27

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”  Matthew 7:21-23

My family and I fulfilled what has become one of our Christmas traditions.  We watched “Elf”.  One of our favorite scenes is when Buddy learns that Santa will be coming to the Gimbel’s department store.  Buddy’s pure enthusiasm upon hearing of Santa’s pending arrive is contagious.

Elf the movie:  Santa Announcement

The divergent realms of religion and spirituality all proclaim to know God with as much enthusiasm and confidence as Buddy the Elf.  They shout out with certainty that they know God.  Their great works are provided as proof that they really do know and have experienced God.  However, Jesus tells us that they will be proven as false as a Santa that smells like meat and cheese.

Jesus teaches us that we must know Him and also be known by Him.

There are many voices who encourage us to explore the spiritual.  Some deem all spiritual experiences equal.  Others preach a religion devoid of Christ.  Others have cast Christ as a good teacher, a prophet, the brother of Satan, or a mere created mortal.  Yet, they all claim to know God.

Enthusiasm does not make us known by God.
Extreme devotion to a belief does not merit recognition by God.
Even an intellectual knowledge of Jesus does not obligate acknowledgement by God.

There are few things more tragic than a life led in devotion to a false belief.  We are told that there will be many devoutly spiritual people, even professing Christians, who will be rejected because they are not known by Christ.  They were never one of His.

Jesus knows who are His own.  He is the good shepherd – He knows His sheep.

I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.  (John 10:14-15)

Reza Vaziri / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Jesus calls out to His sheep.  His sheep are the ones who know His voice and follow Him.  They are the ones who believe that He is the one Shepherd who laid down His life for them.  They are the individuals who trust His leading as the Shepherd of the one true flock.

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  (John 10:3-4)

The ones, who change the gospel of Jesus Christ, proves that they are not one of His sheep because they don’t know His voice.  They don’t believe that He is the one shepherd.  They don’t believe in the one flock of God as revealed in the Bible.

We must be very careful of the voices that we listen to in this confused and deceitful world.  There are many voices shouting, with great enthusiasm, a false spirituality that will only lead to rejection by the one true God.

We can easily recognize these false voices because they lie about who the one Shepherd is and what He did for us.  Don’t be led astray by enthusiasm or miraculous works.  We all need to listen to the voice of the one Shepherd and follow Him alone regardless of all the noise going on around us.

PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for calling out to me.  Thank you for drawing me to yourself.  Thank you for being a shepherd to me.  Father, attune my ears to your voice.  Help me to discern your leading from all the false teachings vying for my attention.  Teach me to set my eyes upon You, my one Shepherd.  Enable me to trust your leading and create in me a desire to follow You wherever You may lead.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

“HORROR OF THE GOSPEL” – Dec 10

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”  Revelation 21:10-11

I ran across a website the other day that uses a statistical analysis tool to analyze your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.  It then tells you the famous writer you write like. (I Write Like)  I was intrigued to discover what famous writer had seeped into my psyche to influence my writing.  I read my writing and am without any reasonable explanation as to the influence in the style and words I use.

I cut and pasted the text from my last blog post, Spiritual Thermodynamics, into the analysis tool on the website.  As I completed the menial task, I imagined which names might emerge from the analysis.

C.S. Lewis … John Steinbeck … Nathaniel Hawthorne … J.R.R. Tolkien…
Robert Frost … Daniel Silva … Mark Buchanan … Edmund Morris…
David McCullough … Louis L’Amour… John Piper…
Tom Clancy … Jerry Bridges … Joel Rosenberg…

I have read multiple books by these authors.  Surely, their style has crept into how I put words to computer screen.

I finished the cutting and pasting of the text of my writing and with anticipation clicked the Analyze button.  I had wanted the program to take some time in processing its work but it immediately provided its analysis:

H. P. Lovecraft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

H. P. Lovecraft

Yeah!???

I had no idea who H. P. Lovecraft was.  Therefore, I did what every modern scholar does.  I Googled him.  According to H.P Lovecraft Archieves, “HOWARD PHILLIPS LOVECRAFT (20 August 1890–15 March 1937) is probably best known as a writer of weird fiction…”.  He is universally consider the father of modern horror and the inspiration for modern-day stories of success such as Stephen King (“The Shining”), John Carpenter (“In the Mouth of Madness”), Robert Bloch (“Psycho”), Clive Barker (“Hellraiser”) and Anne Rice (“Interview with the Vampire”).  (H.P. Lovecraft – Biography)

This was not the famous writer that I thought might be lurking in my style, particularly since I have never read any of his writing.

I realize that there is a difference between writing style and genre.  However, it strikes me as a little strange that a horror writer and a devotional writer would have the same writing style.  Although, the similarities of our writing may actually extend beyond mere word choice and style.

I write short devotionals based upon my morning Bible reading.  To me, I am not writing horror stories but consider the message to those who reject my faith and beliefs.  I have once again finished reading through the entire Bible.  I love the completeness of scripture.  I love the fact that God’s redemptive plan can be seen in Genesis.  I love that the pattern for the forgiveness of sin is laid out in the Law of Moses.  I am comforted by God’s longsuffering patience with a rebellious people.   I am astounded by His abounding love in sending His Son as the lamb for propitiation of a sinful people.  I am speechlessly grateful for His grace and mercy in the creation of new life in those who are born again.  I am dumbfounded by the mysteries of sanctification.  I am fearful of His justice.

I am in awe of my God who has revealed Himself through this Word that I call the Bible.

I absolutely love Chapter 22 of Revelations because it is such a fitting manner to conclude the inspired words of Moses, the prophets, disciples and apostles.  All of scripture comes to a crescendo in what was shown to John:

…the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; … No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more.  They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  (Revelations 22:1-5)

Brent Nelson / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

That is a message of hope for me, but it is not a universal message of hope for all people.

I read Revelation 21:6 and am encouraged:

And He said to me, “It is done!  I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Stuck in Customs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

To those who reject Christ, they read Revelation 21:7:

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexual immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. 

That truly is a horror story.  The message of the gospel to me is eternal life with the God of love and mercy.  The message of the gospel is foolishness to those who stumble over God’s judgment as a horror story too harsh to believe.  They read Jonathan Edwards‘ sermon, Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, and reject that God as a relic of a superstitious age.

Yet, there are real horror stories in this world.  The greatest horror story is the just punishment of those who reject the Son of God and the redemption from their sin.  We should never soften the reality of the horror of this fallen world.  Jonathan Edwards’ sermon was an instrumental spark for the Great Awakening.  The message of the Bible is “come”.  Come to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh for your sin and my sin, to condemn sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:3).  No one needs to “come” if there is no horror to escape.  The good news remains that God has provided a way from all who come to Him to escape the horror of judgment.

Don’t stumble over the message of Jesus Christ.  Hear His words and respond:

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”  And let the one who hears say, “Come.”  And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.  (Revelation 22:17).

PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to the good news of the Gospel.  Thank you for saving me from the horror of suffering the punishment that I have earned from my sin.  Jesus, I long for the day of your return.  May the day that you establish your kingdom here on earth come quickly.  Lord, thank you for your patience.  Thank you for granting more time for the lost to be drawn to you.  Father, call your children home; move them to respond to your voice and to come.   I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.