The Phil Files

In my Heartlight.org article today, I talk about Jesus knowing us personally and speaking to us. Here are some questions to go with the article that I’d love your feedback on as well as your input into the whole idea.

So if God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — are involved in our lives, and if the Lord speaks to us, then how does He do it and how can we can be sure it is really God and not some selfish desire or some worldly wisdom or some evil spirit trying to deceive us?

Ah! Two good questions. I’ll give you a response, but leave it to you to do some digging in Scripture to deepen your understanding and to discover God’s truth for yourself. (Try these ideas out and work through the Scripture references!)

How does Jesus speak to us today?

• While we sleep! (The Bible talks about God ministering to us while we sleep. I encourage you to read the article, While We Sleep.)
• During our times with our church family! We forget that church is more than filling pews and following a worship order. Jesus is present (Matthew 18:20) and through the power of the Holy Spirit, our worship becomes more than a sharing of words (1 Corinthians 5:4). Our songs are Spirit-filled messages where we speak to each other (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:17-19). Those who speak are to do so as speaking the very words of God (1 Peter 4:11). So what is preached, what is said to encourage us by friends, the loving confrontations we help each other face in Bible study, and the messages we sing to each other are one way Jesus speaks truth and hope into our hearts!
• During our everyday life experiences. God is at work in us, speaking to us when we read His word, when we hear repeated thoughts from multiple sources, and through the well-timed note, phone call, or card we receive from a friend (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:28).

What are some other ways you think the Lord may have spoken truth into your life?

But how can we know it is really from the Lord and not from some other source? Aren’t we taught to “test the spirits” to see if what is being said is true? (1 John 4:1-6)

Here are some ways to test to see if what we hear the Lord communicating is really from Him:

Know Jesus. Get into the Jesus story and recognize what has the ring of truth from knowing what the Lord said and how He lived (John 10:1-4; John 10:27; read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in knowing what is truth and knowing Jesus’ will. The Holy Spirit is given to us to help us know the truth from error and to recognize what is from God and from some other source (1 John 2:20-27;  1 John 3:23-24;  1 John 4:1-6; John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:12-15).

Do what Jesus says to do. Not only is Jesus’ truth self-validating when it is lived by His disciples (John 8:31-32), but Jesus promises to reveal Himself to us and come make His home with each of us (John 14:19-23).

What are other ways that you believe we can discern what is truly from Jesus and what is from some other source?

Been reading a fascinating book by Euguene Peterson: The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way. In one chapter, he talks about two powerful metaphors for the failed ways religion has tried to change people: professor and policeman. The first tries to educate people out of our sinful ways and the other tries to enforce the rules or punish people out of our sinful ways.

It occurred to me — just further proof of my warped perspective, maybe — that there is another metaphor that might be helpful here: plumber. A plumber is someone who sees our worst messes and works on the things that are absolutely necessary, but which are usually unseen systems. A plumber works to set those internal systems right so life can function properly. In many ways, that is a more fitting metaphor of what God did for us in Jesus than professor or policeman, but clearly it is not as glamorous. Plus, plumber is a metaphor that reminds us that God was willing to get his hands dirty in the mess of our world.

I know this isn’t earthshakingly theological or significant, but I wonder if it might give us a point of reference to think through Jesus in terms that are not neat and tidy, and put a little more of a “manly” face on Him than the movies and artist renditions do. And before you get all bent out of shape about me comparing Jesus to a plumber, let me just remind you of some of the Lord’s own words:

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,  “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” …

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into your mouth does not defile you, but what comes out of your mouth, that is what defiles you.”

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.d If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile you. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile you; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile you.” (Matthew 15:1-2, 10-20 tniv emphasis mine)

What? Yep, they are called the eleven!

Doesn’t sound right does it? We’ve heard of a baker’s dozen (13) and we’ve heard of the twelve (apostles), but what in the world we do with the eleven?

Twice in Luke 24, as he is sharing the story of Jesus resurrection, Luke refers to the apostles as the eleven (Luke 24:9 & Luke 24:33). Ouch! We feel the deep wound in even saying the number 11. This number is a reminder of the night of failure –  the night that Jesus’ closest three friends couldn’t stay awake with him in prayer (Peter, James, & John in Gethsemane), and  Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied the him three times, and the rest of the twelve abandoned him to die alone. It is most clearly a reminder of Judas, the betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and the suicide in sorry for what he had done and how the apostles were left incomplete after the horrors of it all.

The term 11 reminds us of the flawed nature of our best intentions to never forsake the Lord. The number 11 is a reminder of our brokenness and incompleteness and failure. Even the mere thought of the number 11 is the jarring number reminder to us of the wounds in Jesus’ side and even deeper wounds in his heart. And, 11 reminds us that the account of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection does not sugar coat the unfaithfulness of the early church’s greatest heroes. So 11 reminds us to be humble about our biggest promises to the Lord.

The Bible is filled with all sorts of great numbers:

• 3 for divinity
• 4 for creation
• 7 for perfection
• 10 for greatness
• 12 for the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of God, and the apostles
• 40 years for the lifetime of a generation
• 1,000 for an exceedingly long time or large amount of something

But 11 is the perfect number for us.

• Flawed people , but remade by God’s grace
• Disciples carrying the scars of our own failures, but made whole by Jesus’ sacrifice
• Followers who are broken, but forgiven and called back to service
• Worshipers who are wounded, but being healed by the Savior’s touch
• People who can be crushed on their darkest Fridays, but for whom Sunday is coming

11!

NUTS! Yes, the weather is officially off it’s rocker here in Abilene. Of course we can have weird weather in the spring. Yes, we can have a cold spell. But come on … 90’s yesterday, blizzard warnings today … now it’s sunshine but windy enough to blow the paint off our cars. I just saw a weather warning: “The National Weather Service has issued a severe winter storm warning to all pet owners: keep cats and small dogs inside today or else they will blow to Brownsville.”

Weather has always been hard to figure out for us mere mortals. I guess that is why I love Nahum 1:3 and the images it evokes. I felt like it was an idea to pursue with a Scripture graphic. The image and message seemed to go with where a whole lot of us are, caught up the whirlwind of uncertainty about the road ahead. So, hope you are blessed by the image and the thought. Oh, and don’t go outside with your cat today!

You can get free 1024 X 768 versions of this image and two related ones for free download from Heartlight.org:

Full Version (as above)

Title Only

Text Only

You can find thousands of other free Scripture graphic backgrounds and a search tool to find color, theme, or Scripture reference at Heartlight Backgrounds.

We live in a time of growing hostility to the Gospel of Jesus — pending U.N. resolutions to make sharing our faith illegal in any country in the world, legislation in the USA hostile to churches and religious non-profits, a hostile press, growing world persecution of believers, and a wave of public sentiment against Christianity in the culture. (The following discussion comes from my Heartlight.org article for this Monday.)

So how are followers of Jesus going to live in such times?

Can we find something to do besides whining and combatant hostility?

Look at the following Scriptures and then make a short summary statement of your convictions on how you are going to live!

Principle One: We live before five audiences and I have a responsibility to live with purpose before each audience! (John 13:34-35;  1 Corinthians 14:23-26;  1 Thessalonians 4:12;  1 John 3:13)

1. Believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ, whom we are to love.
2. Inquirers, those who are seeking to learn more about Jesus, but are not yet disciples. These we are to lead to worship and honor God.
3. Unbelievers or outsiders, those who do not believe, but who are willing to listen and visit with us. These we are to help to know our hope in Christ and live in such a way they can see Christ in us.
4. Enemies, meaning those who count us as enemies. We are to pray for them and live before them in such a way they can see our good and godly behavior.
5. God himself, our Father in heaven. We are to live to honor him and reflect his character and compassion.

How to live before a growingly hostile world is an issue addressed repeatedly in the New Testament. I would encourage you to read through the book of 1 Peter, but the following principles are taken from one central passage in this letter (1 Peter 3:9-16). In a hostile environment where our faith is not appreciated, Peter outlines several guidelines consistent with the rest of his letter:

• Honor God while loving your brothers and sisters.
• Live to be a blessing to others, because we will be blessed by God.
• Do good to others, even if they do evil to you.
• Seek peace with others without being afraid of those who would harm you.
• Always be ready to share the reason for your hope, and do this with gentleness and respect.

So what does that say about how you need to live?

Where do you need to change your focus, your lifestyle to impact those who do not know Christ and especially those who oppose Christians?

How can we help each other live without fear and with the integrity needed to display God’s character and compassion?

I love the following Scripture graphic for Perseverance. The Scripture is from Romans 5:3-4 and the image is right out of a rock climber’s dream. You can download larger versions of this image free:

Keep Reaching Higher

Free download of 1024 x 768 versions of this image from Heartlight.org

Full |  Title

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4 tniv)

Sometimes images say it better for me than trying to explain things. The biblical truth is powerful and with the image, I hope it is inspirational for you.