Category: Faith Fix

I know we are not to compare ourselves with other Christians, but how do you stop yourself from getting down on yourself when you feel others, even those who are newer to the faith, are walking God’s walk better than you are?

You can’t compare apples to oranges or cake to cookies. Let apples be apples and let the cake be the cake. What I mean by this is sometimes we look at someone else and try to compare ourselves to them,  but maybe you’re an apple and they’re an orange. Your walk with the Lord will always be individualized. This is not to say don’t press in more with God, or that you’re fine where you’re at, but rather to encourage you to stop looking around at others wondering why you’re not like them. Who cares?!

Believe it or not, we all go through this, even as pastors. I find that as a mom and the organizer of our lives, distraction with everyday life is HUGE. It might take me 10 times more to read the same scripture sometimes because I notice the dishes, someone asks me for something, or I’m trying to figure out that night’s dinner menu… all while wondering if the laundry is ready to be dried and this and that and this and that… you get what I’m saying. If we tried to compare ourselves with others through the lens of always feeling like we’re falling short, we’d never get anywhere. If we’d look clearly, we’d surely find we’ve all got different stuff and nobody has it all figured out. 

The Bible warns against coveting in both the Old and New Testament. (Deut. 5:21, Romans 7:7) I believe this incorporates even coveting other’s walk with the Lord. No relationship is going to be the same. That’s ok. What we need to focus on is seeking Him, with our eyes on Him, not others. Proverbs 8:17, “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.” If you want to walk more closely with God, it’s up to you. It doesn’t depend on others, or even on God, but it depends on your diligence to seek Him. 

That being said, as we grow with God it requires a lot more stirring ourselves up. (2 Tim. 1:6) We can equate it to a honeymoon stage of a relationship. It’s super exciting at first, but as time goes on, it’s more about a partnership than the thrill of it all.  If you’re married you understand this, a lot of days, life looks like you’re business partners or even prison marshals if your have teenagers! My husband and I make it a point to spend special alone time together, date each other and step away from the work of life in order to stay stirred in our love for one another. We know that relationships take effort and we put that effort in! With the Lord, it’s very similar. If we think walking as a Christian is always easy and always makes us feel excited, we’re mistaken. There’s a partnership involved that requires our effort. 

What does seeking Him look like? Well, it requires us to continually commit our hearts to His Word and Spirit. Come to church, take notes, reread those notes, ask questions. Read your Bible, ask questions. Surround yourself with godly friends who build you up in your faith and ask questions. Get the theme here? Look at Luke 11:9 in the Amplified Bible, “So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.” The deeper things with the Lord only come by continually seeking Him. Let that be your focus. Be continually stirring yourself in your love and desire for Him and pretty soon you won’t even be looking at that person sitting next to you. 

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée 

I’ve heard that some people can have a sort of “recruiting spirit”, where they are getting people saved; but they are led by the devil. I’m not sure where this is in scripture (I haven’t studied it out), so I wondered if it is truly possible for someone who’s winning people for the Lord to be working for the devil.

My short answer to this is no, someone winning people for the Lord is not working for the devil. However, that doesn’t mean that someone winning people to the Lord is never working for the devil either.

Let’s look at an often misunderstood scripture. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” I once heard a minister say that someone who was accusing him of being inspired by the devil once came to him demanding, “Say Jesus is Lord!” They we’re trying to prove this scripture out thinking that it would be impossible for him to say it if He was indeed acting inspired by the devil. To my amusement he said to them, “No, I won’t say it!” Now, let me put this in a little context. The people were trying to trap him with their misunderstanding of the Scripture and he wasn’t playing their game. I commend him for that. Certainly I have heard this minister declare over and and over the lordship of Jesus. 

What this scripture is really relating is the idea that the words a person uses, if inspired by the Holy Spirit, will always truly point to Jesus and His teachings. If they don’t they are not inspired. It’s actually the only way sometimes we can spot false teaching or bad doctrine. If it doesn’t line up with the Word (Jesus is the Word), then it can’t be Spirit inspired. I once had a man tell me confidently that the Holy Spirit told him to stop going to any church and just seek Him on his own. He was excited but he was also completely deceived! How do I know? It completely goes against the principles of the Word. 

Wait! Did Jesus ever say you have to go to church? Maybe not that specifically but the whole of scripture speaks to being “connected” to the Body. If you don’t go to church you aren’t serving your brothers and sisters in the Lord. God didn’t constantly bring His people together so they would be separate, and the miracles of the early church were found in the coming together of the Body.

As to this man, he was and I’m sure is a brother in Christ. I have no doubt he loves God and has a certain desire to follow him. However, in this case he was following the unction of an evil spirit, that was not exalting Christ! God gave humanity local churches and He gave them pastors. Without either, you simply cannot flourish in the Lord. You may think that is a bold claim but the truth is, that is God’s design not mine. I don’t always like it either, but I get my thinking in line because God does.

So to answer this question, I don’t think that someone inspired of the devil will be winning souls for Jesus. However people trying to win people for Jesus may do things that are inspired of the devil. An example of this is people that focus on judgement and hell never bringing the love of Christ into the picture. Yes it’s important to tell people the truth, but often times starting with you’re going to hell is not a great way to get someone to listen to you. I’m not saying it could never be, I’m just saying that if that’s the method you use you better be sure it’s God!

When I was on a mission trip in Europe, I heard in my spirit, “These people will not be won without relationship.” How true that statement is! Honestly, that applies everywhere you go. I am not saying there is no place for street preachers, I am saying that relationship is God’s desire. Some will be won that way but most will not. Romans 2:4 tells us, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Let me ask you, how many people have you ever seen won to a side of anything through arguing and yelling?

If you read about the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 you will see what’s lacking is negativity, anger, and the ability to win an argument. Furthermore, the Bible doesn’t tell us to condemn people in our speech but that, “…everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” (James 1:19) We are called to preach the good news to the world, that Jesus came to save people because God loved them. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict of sin (John 16:8). That is not to say that a pastor or minister should not teach on sin, they should, but the purpose is to help. We cannot, as good Christians, be motivated by sin. Our motivation always has to be love! 

In closing, there certainly can be “recruiting spirits” at work in people. I believe that the principle is solidly founded in scripture. The idea that they are winning people for Jesus I don’t think is scriptural at all. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 12:25-26, “And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them,’ Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?’” This was in reference to the people of accusing Him of exactly that.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

In Matthew 13:12 Jesus says “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” So what does that mean?

This is one of those scriptures easily misunderstood if just taken at face value. There are a lot of scriptures that when not accurately understood have been used to hurt people. This is not God’s design, but the devil will take opportunity. 

Whenever I read something in the Bible that’s hard to understand I always try to remember one of our “Bible interpretation” rules. Context, context, context! Read the other verses around the scripture in question, maybe even the whole chapter, and try and put yourself in the place of the writer and the readers. When you do this it can aid a lot in understanding what is being conveyed.

If we know God’s character, and then read something that seems to be opposite that character, we can have a good clue to the possibility we are missing something. So let’s consider the above scripture. Does it sound like a good father to look at their child whom they love that’s in need and say “I’m going to take even what you have and then give it to your brother who already has so much?” I think the answer is an obvious no! The Bible says in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” Clearly then we cannot interpret this scripture that way.

So what about some context? Jesus had just taught the parable of the sower who sows seed. He was equating that to those who are being taught the Word. We find a great clue to tying this all together in verse 9 when He says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” In other words, he who is determined to hear will hear the truth and understand. A few scriptures later in continuation of the explanation of why He speaks in parables we get our verse in question. What Jesus is saying by this is if someone is not willing to hear (does not have ears), they will have even what they have removed from them. They may sit in church and “listen” but since they are not determined to let the word spoken change them, even the amount they heard will be in effective. This is really summed up in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

God’s blessings, which are found in obedience to His word, don’t just happen. If you want change, you must listen and be determined to do. Many people think they do something great just because they showed up to church. Just showing up and praying once in a while doesn’t get you anywhere. People so often treat faith like a spectator sport. This thing was meant to be lived! A person unwilling to change at the hearing of God’s word is a person who never goes very far. Further more Jesus sums it all up in Matthew 13:15 quoting Old Testament scripture saying, “FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.”

God is not much interested in bystander Christians. He wants people all in. His system, how all things work for humans, is by their dedication to be transformed. Without this determination, all we do will be mostly ineffective. Have ears to hear! Be one that God wants to fill with His secrets. Then you will make your way prosperous and have good success (Joshua 1:8).

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

In I Timothy 4:15 it says, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” This doesn’t seem possible; how does one give themselves “entirely” to the study of the Word of God?

What does it mean to give yourself entirely to anything? Well, of course Paul was not instructing Timothy to study without eating, drinking, or breathing. Let me bring this up in another translation. 1 Timothy 4:15 in the NASB says, “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.” Something we are so blessed with in this day is the multitude of resources we have. More than any generation, we have more access to the Word of God and yet we are maybe one of the most faithless generations. 

For every Christian, their faith life and walk should be entirely, but what does this mean exactly? There’s another similar scripture that will help make it clear. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 instructs us to, “pray without ceasing.” Wait a minute! If I am to give myself entirely to study how would I possibly have time to pray without ceasing? Thanks for all the impossibilities God! These words are used to put emphasis on these things, not put us in monk like bondage. Have you ever heard a minister say, “This is what I do all the time” and yet know you could never live up to that standard? You get discouraged and almost quit. That’s because what is conviction for one, isn’t for the other. Reference the Faith Fix on religious bondage (Are We Free Or What?). 

In my walk with God I have learned some very important truths, ones that are sometimes so simple they couldn’t possibly be God, or are they? Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Also in 1 John 5:3 it says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” God’s way is not near as difficult as we make it!

So are you ready for these truths? Let’s start with this, God does not hate the natural world! Wait, what?!? That’s right, the earth and everything in it not only belongs to God but when He created it all He said it was good. When the Bible says to not love the world, it means the way of the world or the ways the world went. When the Bible says don’t live by the flesh it means dictated by the flesh not out of the flesh. God created your flesh, He loves it. After all, He made this His temple. God loves the natural world, He created it. When God gives us these wonderful instructions He is expecting that we apply them in life and in the world. We are the vessels by which He desires to bring Heaven to earth.

To give ourselves entirely to the Word or to pray without ceasing means that this is what our lives, in the flesh, in this world, are to be built on. When that is the case Heaven meets earth through humanity by the power of God. We are not to be self-absorbed but God-absorbed, saturated with His goodness! This is how a Christian lives a victorious life. As you go about life you can pray. As you work your job you can meditate on His word. It should come up in conversation, in thought, in this life!

These scriptures may apply more to this generation than ever. All we have is distraction and it is increasing. It increases because people, God’s people, give themselves entirely to everything else. When presented with this fact, instead of praying for help and making change, they justify why they can’t. Did you know that self-justification of any kind is always pride? This is why it says that Jesus “answered not a word.”  Romans 8:33 says, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” The devil’s sin was pride, Jesus wasn’t going to be caught in it. He knew what He had to do, and gave Himself wholly to it!

It’s not hard to be absorbed with God, you just endeavor to and then start on that road. You surround yourself with people who want to do the same. When people throw themselves all into God, He throws Himself wholly into them. Be consumed with God and you will be surprised at just how effective you get in natural things. Being consumed with Him makes you overcome all that isn’t, and that’s not a bad place to live!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

How do we get into religious bondage?

An example of religious bondage is when someone takes something that is technically a good thing from scripture and uses it for the wrong purposes. Another form of it is when someone has a personal conviction and tries to impose it on others. Though it may be good for one person, it may not be for everyone.

Before I go too far I want to say that this is an issue that all humans deal with. The mature Christian learns to sort this out and realizes that though God may deal with one person on a particular thing, He may not with someone else. There could be a number of reasons for this but as it says Romans 14:5, “…Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” I also want to add that personal conviction does not apply to specific scriptural instruction. When we have instruction on either what to do or what not to do it, we are expected to follow it.

Here however is where another form of religious bondage sets in. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, (1 Timothy 1:8) “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully.” Jesus spoke (Matthew 23:23) saying, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” They focused on an aspect of the Law but not the heart of it.

So how does one use the Law lawfully as Paul instructed? In order to do this we must understand why the Law exists. First, we often look at God’s Law as His rules and to a degree this is true. God’s law can be understood best as His words of knowledge and instruction and in a broad sense as the Bible. Specifically, when speaking about God’s law as the rules to follow, they were given in order to show us what sin is. It was to reveal what separates us from God. It was to point us into the direction of salvation by first showing us that we needed a savior.

Salvation is the freedom that the Bible talks about. Religious bondage is an attitude or promotion of ideas that keeps people in the bondage that God’s salvation frees them from and often times uses God’s law to do it. Let me give a few examples and see if they feel familiar. You must wear your hair or clothes a certain way to be accepted. You can’t or must eat certain foods. You have to be part of a certain denomination to be right with God. You can only get to God if you go here or there. You have to read a certain version of the Bible. See, some of these things may have started in some truth but they always lead to something extreme that God never inhabits. There may be elements of good in them, but taken too far simply bind people.

So how do we know? If the Bible doesn’t say specifically and clearly then it is subject to conviction. If you notice, with things that people commonly have issues with in religion, they aren’t typically clear scripturally. Take prayer for example. The Bible say a lot about prayer in the sense of it needs to be done and even outlines things to pray for, but there isn’t specific instruction on what exactly it looks like. That’s because prayer is about relationship and not rule and if it becomes rule it ceases to be relationship. Now, as I said there is plenty about prayer, but not typically in the areas most focus on. Do it often, do it boldly in faith, do it to God, but don’t do it religiously. You don’t have to pray in a closet, in a group, with certain words or for specific amounts of time.

I want to emphasize, refusing religious bondage is not the same as a spiritual free for all. The Bible certainly gives us rules and guidelines, but those are intended to bring true freedom. Galatians 5:13 says, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” 1 Peter 2:16 says, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” Freedom in the bounds of what is clearly taught in scripture is freedom indeed. Anything else is simply distraction from the truth.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

What does Isaiah 45:7 mean?

Isaiah 45:7 (KJV)

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

This is not an uncommon question, and when I read it I had a bit of chuckle. Not because of the one asking but because of the question itself and also not because it’s a bad question. This is truly one of those scriptures that when read casually, tends to stump believers. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NASB) proves itself valuable yet again! “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.” So then, does God create evil?

I’m not sure if you noticed, but the version of scripture I used here was from the King James Version of the Bible. I will stress here again it is not wrong to use this translation, however one must understand that it can be confusing because it is written in an archaic language. The reason I picked to use this version is because this is often the one that causes the question. Even if it is not the reason in this case, by the time we are done, the reader should have a pretty good take on what is meant here.

Let’s look at this scripture in a more modern translation. Isaiah 45:7 in the New American Standard Bible says, “The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.” You can see already that this sounds different but it’s still not totally clear on the surface in what it means. I’m going to suggest that we do something here that I usually do, let’s put this verse in context. If you look back to verse 1 , you see God is instructing a man named Cyrus. Cyrus was a king whom God was raising up to fight Israel’s enemies. The word the KJV calls evil is better today translated calamity and is not talking about moral evil such as sin. The word evil in old times didn’t just mean sin, but could also refer to something undesirable that would come upon someone.

Here specifically God is talking about creating calamity for Israel’s, and thus His enemies. Some people like to use this scripture (I’m not implying the one who asked the question) to point to the idea that bad things happen even to good people because God causes them. This line of reasoning simply doesn’t hold up to sound biblical doctrine. Only misunderstanding or taking scripture out of context can you come to this conclusion. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 (NASB) gives us some good truth, “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you.” This is our God, who brings trouble on those who cause His people trouble.

To further drive this point home, look at James 1:13-14 (NASB). “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” We know scripturally God brings good. James further tells us in verses 1:16-17 (NASB), “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” But the question arises, does God then allow temptation on His people?

We must understand that God created a world that continues by certain processes. One of the greatest of these is that of human free will. In order for God to allow free will He has to allow for that free will to choose moral failure. As we all should know, moral failure rarely affects only the one who failed but usually those around them. God does allow for this for a time in order to bring about greater good. His way will always bring about the best possible outcome in an impossibly  evil world. Thus we can understand why people suffer. What God has done is not promised people wouldn’t suffer, He promised He would make it right if you put your trust in Him. The only way He could completely eliminate suffering in this type of world system is to simply destroy it. This however would result in billions of people going to hell that otherwise, given enough time, would make it to Heaven.

God is not a gambler. He knows a million ways to the best affect an outcome. He would win the lottery every single time! God’s plan is based on His foreknowledge of what He already knows will happen. This does not mean that He makes things happen a certain way, but He has provided the multiple paths to ensure the best things will. If we would just realize this in the midst of the next trial we face, we would face it with real faith!

You can rest assured God is on your side no matter what is happening in your life. Trouble may not come upon the one that troubles you the day they do, but God will make sure you are vindicated. God tells us to forgive and be patient. I have had people trouble me excessively and wondered where God was the whole time, only to find out that they later got saved and now serve God! I am so glad He didn’t just wipe them out! God knows I did some awful things before I served Him. I’m thankful if I hurt any of God’s people (which I’m sure I did) He found a way to me instead of just destroying me. Where would we be if God wasn’t merciful?

I encourage you, when troubled not to seek the destruction of people, seek His help and restoration. This is why Jesus instructed us to pray for our enemies. It takes a bigger person to not just take what’s due them. This kind of faith truly pleases the Lord and He will bless you for it! 

Matthew 5:44-45 (NASB)

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff