faith

Log-in, Log-out

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7: 1-5

An amazing fact that happens when someone mentions following Jesus to Christians, the first thought often is on how other people don’t. We look at “all their sin” and bad actions, attitudes, and problems, then start judging them. You will notice that in the above verses, which by the way are preceded by Jesus telling the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount (including all his disciples and followers): “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The “who” he is speaking to here—beyond everybody else—is you and me! He wants us not to judge others and specifically came up with a truly clear and understandable, no-excuses sort of analogy. Log in the eye; speck in the eye.

I have heard this explained like this: a speck in your own eye will make you see specks everywhere.

Jesus wants us to apply His words to ourselves. Yes, He does make the point that we are then to help others with the specks in their eyes, but how many of us simply brush off that point? It is very easy to think to oneself, “Yes, I have looked at my life already and know myself quite well. I don’t really have any logs there. I would know it.” A thought like that is the core of what makes up our blind spots in life.

We all know what a blind spot is when driving alongside a semi-truck, right? There are certain spots alongside a truck that will hide your car from the truck driver’s mirrors. This is why they have special mirrors to help them see everything on the side, including your car. They are called among other things, “Blind spot convex safety mirrors” which you have to add on extra to your truck or car to see the blind spots. I think Jesus is adding here such an accessory for us to use to see our own blind spots.

Jesus says that the measure we use to judge others is the measure that will be used to judge us. Perhaps a useful tool here would be to keep track and attentive to ways that you yourself respond in judgement of others around you, both the non-Christians and Christians, so that you can firstly see how (i.e., “how” not “if”) you are being like that yourself. Applying the Word to ourselves is likely to keep us so busy we will not have as much time to be judgmental to others.

Perhaps we will then have more time to pray, have compassion, and do, think, and speak like Jesus did, in a world that definitely needs more WWJD.

What’s the Context?

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

Although the “Whatever Happened to WWJD?” FB page posts one or two verses every M-F, it is very important for us to look at the verse’s context, in other words, the rest of what is said surrounding a particular verse as well as the whole book and Bible. Obviously, a simple blue square can only hold so much text that can be seen and read by you! Reading, studying, and memorizing single verses is a great practice and really helps the words of Jesus stick in our memory to be used by the Holy Spirit as needed to speak to our innermost thoughts—or to be spoken to someone else.

Nevertheless, when you only look at one verse at a time, separated from the context of the rest of the chapter, you might miss some important issues or even misunderstand the verse itself. A case in point was one of the verses that was shared this last week, Revelation 3:20. Probably all of us have heard that verse before used to speak to people who are not yet Christians to encourage them to come to Christ. However, the context of the verse is much different than that. (Not to say it is wrong to use it to encourage people to come to Christ, because the verse is true for everyone.) Revelations 3:20 is the warning/promise part of the angel’s letter to the 7th church, Laodicea, starting with verse 3:14 

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3: 14-22

The seven letters in Revelation are from God to seven churches that an angel brought to the Apostle John while he was exiled to the island of Patmos. The churches are local congregations in far western Turkey, relatively nearby to where John was. 

Everyone wants to be thought of as being in the Church of Philadelphia, where the congregation is commended for being patient, enduring tribulation, and completely faithful, with nothing to rebuke. However, the verses of 3:20 are part of the letter to the church that is called “lukewarm, wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Yet, that church was told to “buy gold refined from fire” and to “cover their shameful nakedness” and to buy salve for their unseeing eyes. Even that church was offered the “knock on their door” to come in and sup with the Lord. It seems that they have a choice to change and the offer is there for them.

As is often noted, in the famous picture by William Holman Hunt of this verse, the doorknob is on the inside of that door, waiting to be turned by those inside. Christ doesn’t force His way in, He knocks and asks. What will we do? Those who want to walk the way that Jesus would have them, will do as the letter to the angel of Laedicia says, “Be earnest and repent.”

Mirror

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

When you first wake up in the morning, you glance at yourself in the bathroom mirror on your way to do “other things” and maybe don’t look at yourself too hard. Maybe you aren’t even wearing your glasses yet and can’t see yourself very well. By the time you are getting ready for work, school, or your day-to-day stuff, however, you look more closely. It’s time to put on your contacts, brush your teeth, deal with the mess of your hair, button that shirt, tie that tie. Mirrors are how we see where the lost contact lens went, whether our faces are clean or not, whether our part is crooked, whether we have missed a button or our zip is undone. Mirrors—very important!

Reading the Bible and applying what we read is the mirror for our soul. No matter how many times you have heard or read James 1: 23-24, if you don’t pay attention to what it says, you are still not applying it.

“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

James 1: 23-24

There is a way in which we fool ourselves—or to be kind, we are fooled by familiarity—into thinking, “Oh, I know that verse about mirrors and I have that down. I am a good Christian who knows that verse and lots of verses, so I don’t need to think about that.” That sort of thinking (or non-thinking) goes on all the time and is why we often appear hypocritical to people around us, maybe our children, our parents, neighbors, co-workers, friends, fellow church friends, strangers. We can think we are one way, but those who look at us see us differently—the way we really are.

It certainly can be scary to be willing to take a look at ourselves the way other people see us, but isn’t it for the best? It certainly is Jesus’ best for us. Which is why this verse appears in James, who by the way, tradition tells us, was Jesus’ brother from none other than the family of Joseph and Mary. Just think of that! The man who lived and grew up in the same home as Jesus, wrote this about self-examination through the word of God. Examine yourselves and apply His words to your life! I wonder what that meant to James, who would have grown up hearing Jesus’ words. Even James, Jesus’ brother, had to deal with the idea that we often think we are applying the words of Jesus, but aren’t. Doesn’t that make it clear how important it is for us, we who didn’t have that experience of personally hearing those words, to take the care and time to apply them to our lives?

It’s back to our Hear. Read. Study. Meditate. Memorize. Apply.

Pass it On

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Phil. 4:9

This verse is about the need for passing on the kingdom life and truths of Jesus’ words to others, specifically, to the next generation of believers. Paul has stated here that watching and listening to his words and life are the ways for fellow Christ-followers and disciples to learn the way they should go and how they should live. What makes Paul so bold to say this? He knows that is the way that Jesus taught His followers. Paul knew that this was Jesus’ plan for spreading His kingdom and bringing maturity and discipleship to Christ-followers.

This verse, Philippians 4:9, doesn’t stand in isolation. Importantly, the earlier part of chapter four—indeed, the whole book of Philippians and as well, all of Paul’s writings—flesh out how the disciple of Jesus, the Christ-follower, is to live. Take for example, going backward in the earlier part of Philippians 4.

Verse 8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Verses 4-7: ” 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Here, the peace of God, which is referenced in verse 9, is described in more detail.

Philippians 4: 4-8 ESV

Paul is stating some critical points for us to ponder about what messages we are sending to those who come after us. We need to study and apply this more thoroughly as Christ-followers.

Pass it on when you have others who need to hear the words of Jesus.

The Wise Builder

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

Jesus pointed out several ways to discern if we are actually applying His word to our lives or not.

Here we see His test for the outcome of putting His word into practice versus the outcome of only fooling ourselves. The difference is clearly shown by His example of the Wise and Foolish Builders in Matthew 7: 24-27. The “Therefore” here (which we want to make a practice of looking for why the “there” is there, whenever Jesus says “Therefore”) refers to the previous chapters, Matthew chapters 5-7.

These are the concluding verses to the Sermon of the Mount:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 7: 24-27

You will notice that both types of people—those who build their lives on His word solidly and those who do not—will face the same dangers, difficulties, and decisions. The storms, winds, and waters will be there for everyone. However, Jesus points out that in this life, those who put His words into practice and are consistent and serious about it (in other words, you have to actually build your house on the rock, not just go for a visit to look at the scenery), will be wise and have a house that doesn’t fall.

These verses are about how we live out the Kingdom life and live out WWJD every day in our lives here on this planet where Jesus walked.

Wise builders versus those who build on the sand. These houses collapsed against the winds and storms of the sand.

What is a human being?

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

Psalm 8: 1, 3-4

“O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?”

In this Psalm, David asks the question: Who is a human being, that the great Creator God would take notice? Why is mankind important in the great wide universe?

We see here that we are made by God, that we are a certain kind of being. We have gifts and responsibilities. Our actions have consequences. Our choices matter. Let us make the choices that bring us into alignment with this great God and get to know Him through the revelation of His son, Jesus. That is what being a Christ-follower is all about. That is why it matters that we know what Jesus would do today.

Hear, read, study, meditate, memorize His word to become more like Him.

Become more and more like Him!

Peace

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

Look around and be distressed,

Look within and be depressed,

Look to Jesus and be at rest

– Corrie Ten Boom

In this day and age we can find lots to be distressed about. However, that has always been true. Certainly, it was true in the days when Jesus walked the earth. There was hunger and disease, poverty, violence, war. An evil empire in the government. Same as today, just worse.

But what did Jesus tell His disciples? “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1

And further on in vs 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Why do we look to earthly peace, earthly governments, men’s plans, politics, and other worldly efforts to bring ourselves comfort in these times? Be a good influence for those around you, of course, if what you are doing is bringing people closer to Jesus. But to trust in those things for peace and comfort? That is not Jesus’ way.

Don’t let fear guide your path or decision-making. Look to Jesus and trust Him only. That is where true peace is and where to find the help that all of us need in this and every age.

Pray, “Jesus, show me how I can trust you more. Show me how I have trusted in myself, in men, in politics, in earthly efforts, instead of You. Show me how to change and be a Christ-follower again. Amen”

The Incarnation

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14

When we think about the coming of the baby Jesus to earth, too often we are thinking only of the cute little baby, the gentle mother Mary, the faithful father Joseph, the animals in the barn, the hay, the star, the angels. But do we think about it as the incarnation, the coming of God into the physical realm of the body and the earth, to bring His deity into a place and time, to walk among them as they walk in history, sharing the physical world with the very creatures He had made?

That angel choir at Jesus’ birth sang one performance in all the history of the earth, and who was the audience? Sheep and simple shepherds, not musical elites. God’s highest values are to the lowly and humble, and He paid attention to the individuals of that particular moment in space and time. This shows God’s sense of values and His character more than we like to think.

Through the specifics of the incarnation, we can feel invited in, from our own specifics and our own locality, into the flesh and blood specifics and the locality of the manger of Bethlehem. God started His walk on earth as a man, in a place that was not one of perfect genetical ancestors, nor godly governmental institutions, nor perfect circumstances, according to anyone’s ideas of what that might mean. The DNA of Jesus’ genealogy was full of badly behaving and weak people, just as much as it was full of kings and leaders. Yet, the God of the universe chose to become man in that DNA, in that family, in that place in time. Despite that humble beginning—or because of it—He accomplished His purposes.

From all of this we can be sure that as we walk out our lives on the earth in our space and time, we can follow Jesus, the God who went before us. In following Him, we can walk like He walked, do what He would have us do, speak and think as He did. Why can I say that?

Because He came and put aside His riches of glory and walked in the most humble and not-perfect of circumstances, in a specific locality in space and time—a real place, with real people. Childhood playmates, family, friends, tasks. Someone sat in chair he made as “the carpenter’s son.” He ate food: some He liked, some He did not. Some of the girls He grew up with probably hoped that someday they might become Mrs Jesus.

He lived out a life for 30 years in a body that was just like ours, but He had a divine purpose for doing it. The wonder of it, is that God wanted to come and be like us in our weakness so that He could serve our sentence for us before the justice of God.

Live the Walk

/ Susan W. LaVelle / Leave a comment

Have you ever heard the statement, “Preach the gospel all the time and if needed, use words”?

There are two things to remember about this: 1) St. Francis of Assisi never said it, even though he is often claimed to have; and 2) the main point of the statement is that too often we only talk about the gospel, but don’t live the gospel.

No one will ever be able to know about Jesus and the good news of His saving work on the cross without us telling them in words about it. We need to use salt and grace to always be able to speak the good news to others; we also need to listen to what they have to say and in love and conviction tell them about Jesus. Jesus offers forgiveness of sin to redeem our lives in the here and now, as well as to provide for our future resurrection life in heaven with Him. As Paul wrote using words in his Letter to the Romans, 10:14: “How can they believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear unless someone proclaims him? And who will go to tell them unless he is sent?” We must be able to use words to explain the gospel (and listen to the words of those to whom we are explaining it).

But a very clear point of the misquoted statement above is that we must not only speak and tell with words but must live it out through our deeds and lives. This is very clear throughout the New Testament, James makes this very clear and succinct:

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Living out Jesus’ Kingdom every day and in every way is what this is all about. The statement we started with resonates to us and it’s worth seeing how this applies to the way we all each live out our faith.

Do we merely tell or talk—or do we live and walk?

Meditate on the Word—Psalm 1: 2-3

/ Susan W. LaVelle / 1 Comment

The last in this series of “Five ways to get the Bible into your heart and life” to discuss is “Meditate.” “Meditate” in this sense does not mean “a mind-body, deep state of relaxation” but rather “to think deeply or carefully, to consider, focus.” The highlighted verses from Psalms 1 show the focus of the chapter is not really on those who do not walk in the way of the Lord, but rather, on those who do and how that happens. Therefore this holds an important clue in how to more closely follow Jesus’ teaching on how to live as a Christian with the Bible genuinely in the heart and life.

“Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

For one thing, taking delight in the Lord and meditating on His words brings fruitfulness.

Another thing to notice here is the contrast between absorbing and meditating on the ways and thoughts and words of the world—walking in the steps of the wicked, standing in the place of the sinners, sitting in the seat of the mockers, scoffers—versus taking delight in and meditating on the words of the Lord. The contrast here is between people who absorb or are fed by the world around them, and of those being fed by the words of the Lord: which way is actually feeding the soul of the person? Which one prospers the person? Which way brings fruitfulness and life? Meditating on the word of God.

Jesus said to His disciples: “I have food to eat that you do not know about” (John 4:32). After being asked by the disciples what food that was, Jesus replied,“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” This is Jesus speaking about being nourished by the word of God and by His relationship with the Father through prayer. This nourishment from the Word and prayer is how He was able to know and do the will of the Father. Don’t forget, that when Jesus walked the earth, although He was God and came from heaven, He had set aside His Godhood and lived as a man, needing to pray and hear from the Holy Spirit and live out what He read and meditated on in the Scriptures, just as we are to do today. (Phil 2:6-8)

He modeled that for us and that is what we must do.

We live in a world in step with the wicked and filled with mockers and scoffers, all of which are calling out loudly for us to join in with them. Instead, to follow Jesus better we need to “delight” in the word of the Lord and meditate on it, day and night.

Even if we don’t actually know what all is meant in Phil 2 when Paul writes that Jesus “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself,” we do know that the section starts out with the instruction that we “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus “ (Phil. 2:5). Let us follow that model we find in Jesus of being filled and nourished by the Word and taking delight there, rather than taking delight and nourishment from the world system and its ways.