Don’t Forsake Others with Differing Views   

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there were some people who expressed their pleasure over its occurrence, some even celebrating this tragic event. I noticed some of my Facebook friends who demanded that anyone who had reacted in that manner to immediately unfriend them. I also heard about a Christian singer who lost a significant number of supporters due to the sympathy he had expressed for the victim and his family. He responded by suggesting that he didn’t want those who felt differently to come to his concerts anyway – he only wanted likeminded Christians to attend.

As followers of Jesus, we need to be careful about how we react to these kinds of situations and to those whose responses differ from ours. We need to keep an eye on our own attitude and spirit. We may rightfully grieve for those hurting and feel anger toward those who not only perpetrate such violence but those who support it. However, does that mean that we should isolate ourselves from those people, cut them out of our lives, and remove them from the sphere of our influence?

That wasn’t how Jesus dealt with sinful people, not even those who so steadfastly opposed Him. He was criticized for His willingness to socialize with individuals who were considered to be immoral. His well-known response was: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). Jesus made it a point to be around the spiritually needy, so that He could help them and point them in the right direction.

Similarly, Jesus didn’t refuse to converse with the self-righteous religious leaders who were intent on destroying Him. He engaged in conversations with them. He rightfully condemned them at times. And He was willing to receive any of them who sincerely wanted to know the truth. If Jesus had cut Himself off from all the Pharisees, where would that have left someone like Nicodemus? No, Jesus was willing to meet with him and plant seeds of truth that apparently led to his eventually putting his faith in Jesus.

If those who think differently from us choose to cut ties with us, there isn’t much we can do about it. However, we should be careful about being the ones to initiate such action. We are called not just to bask in the light of other likeminded believers while here on this earth, but to be lights in the darkness. We may not agree with those people, but maybe we can still have a positive impact on them through our connection with them. You may not want to pay any attention to their posts on social media, but maybe they will pay attention to yours. Instead of giving up on them, let’s continue to look for ways to plant seeds of love and truth in their lives.

Yes, there are times when we need to “shake the dust off our feet” and leave people to deal with their wrong choices. However, the instances in which Jesus instructed His disciples to respond in that manner were when those followers were rejected. His followers didn’t initiate the act of separation. They were simply refusing to remain where it was clear they were no longer wanted.

There are situations in which it is appropriate to distance ourselves and to “come out from among them and be separate” (II Corinthians 6:17), especially from those who might negatively influence us. But let’s not make the mistake of isolating ourselves from those whom we can influence for good. We are called to be Jesus’ witnesses. You may not need those other people in your life, but they may need you in theirs.  

 

There Is Light in the Darkness 

Recently we have experienced some vivid reminders of the evil present in the world – not just that it is a reality, but also how dark it can really be. We have seen it surface in acts of violence that became headlines on our news feeds and the hot topic in social media. It showed up in the random murder of a young lady on a subway train, as well as in the targeted assassin of a political influencer who was also known for boldly sharing his faith in Jesus. These events took place even as we remembered the 9/11 attacks that occurred in our country twenty-four years earlier. In all of these, we have been disturbed by the brutality of the acts and the callousness that disregards the value of human lives. We have grieved for families left behind whose lives will never be the same.

However, we are also aware that such evil is not uncommon. Other violent acts take place on a daily basis where there are no videos taken or no prominent figure involved. Yet murders happen. Families grieve. And particularly in certain parts of the world, Christians are persecuted and killed specifically for their faith – people whom we can without hesitation refer to as Christian martyrs. The darkness is always there. Sometimes we simply get a more graphic or personal reminder of its presence and activity among us.

The presence of the darkness of evil should not surprise us. Neither should we be astonished by its reaction to light and truth. Jesus, the one true Light of the world, warned us about it. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). This attitude toward the light played out in the world’s treatment of Jesus. He was rejected. He was mischaracterized as being part of the darkness rather than the light. Those in darkness were not satisfied until they had done all they could to try to snuff out that light. And they thought they had accomplished their goal when He died on the cross. Thankfully, that wasn’t the end. The dark day of crucifixion gave way to the glorious light of a resurrection. And that light of truth has been carried into all the world by Jesus’ followers.

That is the good news. Although evil is present and active in the world, the light of Christ, the light of truth, is also here and is greater than the darkness. In John 1:5, we are told in reference to Christ that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not overcome it. What was true of Jesus as the Light also holds true for us today. Evil will continue to be part of our world. It will manifest itself at times as it resists the truth and as it strikes out at the light. However, it will not win. There may be days and even seasons when it seems to be winning the war. Nevertheless, any victories it gains are only short-lived. There is coming a day when the followers of Jesus will experience a place where there is no more darkness, but we will be living completely in the light of Christ and His glory.

In the meantime, let’s be the lights of the world Jesus has called us to be. Let’s overcome evil by sharing the truth and by living godly lives. Let’s overcome hatred by showing God’s love, even to our enemies. Let’s live out the admonition, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

 

Should You Follow Your Heart? 

It seems to be our culture’s go-to advice when it comes to seeking guidance about some matter, especially when it comes to relationships. When someone is struggling over choosing between possible suitors or between their dream job and their “dreamboat” or between other priorities in their life, they are often counseled, “Just follow your heart.” However, is that the best advice?

A verse in the book of Proverbs indicates otherwise. It says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26). Why is that the case? It is because our hearts are not reliable. As Jeremiah 17:9 points out, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Our hearts can deceive us. They can be so tainted by sin, selfishness, and wrong motives that they can steer us in the wrong direction. Additionally, we may not have all the information needed to make a wise decision. So, although meaning well, our hearts could still lead us astray.

So what is the better option when we are needing guidance? Proverbs 3:5 states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” There it is! Trust in the Lord, not in your own heart. Why is He more trustworthy than our hearts? It is because, unlike our hearts, He is not deceitful. What He says is right and true. And He is not tainted by sin – He is good and always wants what is good for us. On top of that, in contrast to our limited understanding, He knows everything. He sees the bigger picture. Therefore we can trust Him. We can be confident that the guidance He is giving us comes from the all-knowing God who is good, who loves us, and who will lead us in the best possible direction.

One of the resources God uses to give us guidance is His Word, the Bible. If what we feel our heart is telling us to do goes against a biblical command or a principle clearly taught in the Bible, then we should not listen to our heart. We need to listen to what God says in His Word and respond accordingly. In spite of what many people claim today, the Bible is trustworthy. It will guide us in the right direction. God has also given us His Holy Spirit as another source of guidance. If we are born-again followers of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Jesus said that He would be faithful to guide us into all truth. Neither will the Holy Spirit lead us to do anything that goes against the Word of God. We cannot rightfully claim to be led by His Spirit when what we are doing clearly goes against what the Bible says. The guidance of God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit will not contradict each other. If it seems like they are, then we are misunderstanding one or the other.

When Jesus called His disciples, He didn’t tell them, “Come and follow your heart.” No, He said, “Come and follow Me.” That is what we are called to do as those who are putting our faith in Christ – not to follow our hearts but to follow Jesus. We need to trust Him rather than our own understanding. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to help us know which way to go.

So if you are looking for guidance in some matter, don’t foolishly just follow your heart. It might or might not lead you in the right direction. Instead, follow the Lord. Trust Him. Do what His Word says. Prayerfully follow where His Spirit leads. Then you won’t go wrong.

 

Your Spiritual Walk Affects Others 

Recently I drove through part of a neighborhood I had not been in for a while. I was struck by how its appearance had deteriorated since the last time I had been there. There were severely overgrown yards. Some of the houses showed the need for major repairs as windows were missing or shutters were precariously hanging down. A couple of homes appeared to be abandoned. It was concerning to see a once-vibrant neighborhood sink into such a state of neglect.

The cause for such a negative transformation may vary. It may have begun with one homeowner’s carelessness or with someone experiencing a financial loss that resulted in the abandonment of their home. When one property goes downhill, others around it often tend to follow suit. It can serve as a good reminder to us that what we do, or fail to do, can have an impact on those around us. When I was invited to give the invocation at a recent county Board of Commissioners’ meeting, one request I felt led to pray was that the Lord would help us all to work together to make our community a better place to live, work, and raise our families. It takes all of us working together to make that happen. If any of us falter, it can adversely affect those around us.

The same holds true not just in taking care of our property but in how we live as followers of Jesus. If we start neglecting our relationship with the Lord, it is going to show up in various ways in our lives. If we get careless in maintaining some of the spiritual disciplines that help us maintain a close walk with the Lord, we will find deterioration setting in. If we let other activities crowd out the priorities of Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, Christian fellowship, and meaningful service, the results will become evident in our lives. Weeds of sin will become more prominent in our landscape, choking out the Christlike virtues. Our shelter from the dangers and evils in the world will spring leaks and fall apart, not providing the warmth and protection it once did. Additionally, as our own spiritual home deteriorates, we can have a negative influence on those around us. Jesus spoke about the positive impact we should have on our world as being light and salt. But He added that if the salt has lost its flavor, it is worthless. If we lose our spiritual saltiness or our light in Christ, we are worse than worthless. It is not simply that we fail to be a good influence or that we are irrelevant. We can have a bad effect on those around us. We can drag them down with us.

Your family can reap the rewards of your vital, growing relationship with Christ, or they can suffer the repercussions of your waning walk with Him. Your church can be infected with your fervor for Jesus, or your spiritual apathy can keep your church mired in meaningless rituals and tired worship. Your neighbors and community could be blessed as you seek to fervently serve the Lord and be a help to others, or they could suffer as you fail to answer God’s call to lovingly minister to a lost and hurting world.

Let’s not allow our relationship with Jesus to fall into disrepair. Such vigilance isn’t just for our sake. It is also for the good of our family, friends, neighbors, fellow believers, and community. The people around you need you to be faithful in following the Lord. You and your walk with Jesus are going to influence them one way or the other.

 

Surrender to God’s Call to Change 

You have probably heard about the recent controversy involving a well-known restaurant chain’s plan to rebrand itself. Among the changes in the works, until a later reversal was made, were a different logo and the remodeling of their facilities, including moving away to some degree from its old-fashioned, country style of décor. Many have spoken out in opposition to these plans. Some support their aversion to these changes by citing political motivations or even moral issues as being behind these modifications. Whether or not that is true, probably the overwhelming reason for people’s outrage about this issue is simply that they don’t like change. Sometimes we try to cover up our resistance to change by trying to make it political or moral. However, if we are honest with ourselves, often it is more a matter of personal preference and the fact that we just want things to stay the way they are or how we are accustomed to them.

While such an attitude toward change can affect many areas of our lives, we need to be especially careful of it when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. Why? Because following Jesus is going to inevitably involve change – changes in our lives, as well as changes in the very core of our being. If we don’t like change and resist it, we are not going to make the progress we should in becoming faithful and mature disciples of Jesus.

The basic message of Jesus, as well as the gospel as a whole, is the call to repent. Repentance by definition involves change – a change of mind and a change in direction. Many people walk away from that call because they are fearful of or resistant to the changes the Lord might want to make in their lives. They refuse to repent, not because of doubts or unbelief or other issues they might hide behind, but simply because they do not want to give up certain activities or change the way they live.

If we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior, it will change us. The Bible declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). Not only do we leave behind many former practices in our lives, but we ourselves are different. We are transformed. But it is a good change. As one old song testifies, “What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought, since Jesus came into my heart.”

As significant, and sometimes dramatic, as that initial change can be when we trust Jesus for salvation, change will continue to be a vital and ever-present factor in the life of a believer. God’s goal for us is to make us more like Jesus – “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). He wants us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). And growth requires change.

I am afraid that many of us aren’t progressing in our faith because of our resistance to change. We may try to blame it on other issues, but the bottom line is that we are afraid to change. We don’t like it. We are comfortable with where we are, with who we are, and with what we typically do. The real sticking point isn’t about believing in God, or in the resurrection of Jesus, or in the Bible as the infallible Word of God. It is about not wanting to let God change us.

Therefore some of us may need to recognize, admit, and repent of our resistance to change. Then we need to let God work in our hearts and lives. Change can be good, especially if the Lord is the One doing it.  

 

Celebrate Your Spiritual Victories 

My youngest grandson had been on the verge of transitioning from crawling to walking for several weeks. Appropriately enough, it was on the day of his first birthday that he took a combination of steps that could officially be considered his initial walk. He even chose a special location for the event. His family was visiting the Georgia Aquarium that day. So while standing in front of a big glass window with a plethora of beautiful fish in the background, our grandson accomplished his significant feat. Not only was his family cheering him on, but the crowd of other guests at that location realized what was going on and gave him a rousing ovation. I guess that reaction, along with the enthusiastic responses he received from subsequent walks, made an impression on him. Now when he walks, he claps his hands, recognizing that it is reason for celebration.

Milestones in life are worth celebrating, including the ones in our journey with the Lord. We are often quick to get down on ourselves or to become discouraged when we falter spiritually, get tripped up by some temptation, or fail to make as much progress as we had hoped in our quest to become a more mature follower of Jesus. And those incidents may indeed call us to repentance, to lean more heavily on the Lord, to be more disciplined, or to surrender more fully to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. However, let’s not get so bogged down in our shortcomings that we fail to recognize our victories and the progress we are making. Those spiritual milestones and victories are reason for celebration.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three related parables about the “lost” – a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. One of the common factors in those stories is that after what was lost was found, there was joy and a celebration. In applying the truths from those stories, Jesus declares that the milestone event of a lost sinner repenting is the cause for rejoicing in heaven. If the residents of heaven find reason to rejoice in such an important occurrence, shouldn’t we?

While that moment of salvation when one goes from being lost to being found is the most crucial of events to recognize and celebrate, there may be other significant victories in our journey we should rejoice over as well. Celebrate when you overcome that temptation rather than giving in to it. Rejoice when you are becoming more regular in your Bible reading and prayer times. Be thankful when you see Christlike qualities coming through more often in your life. Celebrate that you were a bold witness for Christ this time and didn’t let fear force you into silence. Rejoice that you were able to show love to that person you find hard to love. Notice the growth that you are experiencing and celebrate it.

While those spiritual milestones are worthy of celebrating, let’s not lose sight of one significant truth. My grandson is clapping when he walks now, clapping with others and clapping for himself. Likewise, we can clap when we make forward strides in our walk with the Lord. However, we shouldn’t be clapping mainly for ourselves. We couldn’t do any of this in our own strength. We need to be clapping for the Lord. Concerning that initial step of salvation and everything that follows leading us to maturity in Christ, it is all due to the grace, power, and help of the Lord. He is the One who deserves the praise, not us.

So celebrate those spiritual victories and the progress you are making in your journey with Jesus. Let’s just be sure to give all the glory for it to the Lord. Clap for Him.

 

Trust God in Difficult Times 

I was driving through downtown Atlanta on my way home after visiting my dad in the hospital. We had been experiencing a roller coaster ride of progress and setbacks over the previous ten days since my dad had broken his hip. That particular afternoon had been a very discouraging one due to my dad’s increased mental confusion that day. At one point on my drive, a vehicle from the next lane sharply cut over in front of me. It wasn’t a reckless or irritating maneuver as is sometimes the case, but simply one that caused me to pay greater attention to that car. As I did, I noticed two stickers on its back windows. One read “God is good.” The other one declared, “The Lord is my strength.” I immediately realized that those were truths I needed to be reminded of at that moment. I have never been one to put stickers on my car, but I am glad someone did. Neither am I claiming that an angel was driving that vehicle, but it certainly was a timely encounter. I continued to repeat those words to myself and find encouragement in them the remainder of my trip home.

When we are facing difficulties or going through other trying times in our lives, those are two truths we need to keep in mind. First of all, God is good. It doesn’t mean that whatever we are going through is good. However, it does serve as a reminder that God is not being mean to us, He is not getting any pleasure out of our sufferings, nor has He simply forgotten us or forsaken us. He is a good God who loves us and who cares about us. It is a part of His nature – it is who He is. Even when He doesn’t do what we might prefer to see happen in our situation, we can still trust that He is good and is working out what is best. We may not understand why, but we know we can trust our good God. Furthermore, we can stand on His well-known promise that He is working all things together for good to those who love Him (see Romans 8:28).

Likewise, in those times we need to remember that the Lord is our strength. Sometimes we feel like the trials are more than we can bear. Our hearts break and our physical strength is sapped from long hours of caregiving, daily drives through rush hour traffic, interruptions to our normal routines in life, uncertainties about the future, and all the emotional stresses that accompany such circumstances. We may try to make it through in our own strength, but we often find ourselves struggling to keep going. It can be exhausting physically, mentally, and spiritually. The good news is that we have Someone greater than ourselves on whom we can lean. The all-powerful God is holding us up. He can give us strength beyond our own capabilities. Another familiar promise lets us know that “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

When difficult times come your way, as they inevitably will, God may not send a car with stickers on its window to get your attention. Nevertheless, He wants us to remember these helpful truths. Don’t lose sight of His goodness, even when circumstances don’t look good. And don’t forget that your God is there to give you the strength you need to get through this. We can trust Him, and He can help us.