Pack Up and Go

 

…that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

You receive a registered letter stating that you have been given your dream job in Maui. It comes with a free condo, car, living expenses, and a maid. The only requirement is that you must move right away to take possession. You make some calls and learn that it is legit! You call all your friends to tell them your good news, and keep the letter with you at all times, showing it to other people. Six months later, a friend calls to ask how you like Maui. “Oh, I bet it’s great!” you answer. “I haven’t gone yet. But it’s mine. I believe it. I’ve still got the letter.” Your friend is shocked. “You haven’t gone? Why?”  You look around at your shabby living room and shrug. “I’dunno. I love the idea of Maui, but I’d have to leave Claremore. I carry the letter with me everywhere and think about it all the time, but I don’t want to leave where I am.”

When Jesus says we must believe, He means that we must be willing leave where we are. We cannot accept His offer of new life if we won’t let go of the old one. Many people assume that to “believe” means we mentally agree with truth, but that can’t be correct because even the devil knows it is true. The kind of belief that saves us is the kind that changes us. To believe in Jesus is to place our whole lives in His hands. He becomes our undisputed Boss. We believe that He is God, that He has the right to tell us what to do, and that only He can provide what we need in this life and in the next.

Have you tried to “believe” without leaving where you are?
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Choose Your Plan

A trip to the phone store can be a daunting experience. So many plans. So many options and tracks you can take, depending upon what you want to spend and the benefits of spending it.

Some Bible teachers present Christianity that way. You can choose Plan A-- Regular Christian, or Plan B--Disciple of Christ. Some teach that you can be a Christian without being a disciple. Is this what Jesus taught? Does the Bible present two options for those who would call themselves Christians?
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Consider the ramifications. With Plan A, you simply believe, ask Jesus into your heart, and then go about your regular life with only a few minor adjustments, like some church attendance or cleaning up your language. Just enough to look Christian. With this plan you get pardon from the Father, Jesus as your friend, and the Holy Spirit as your Comforter. On top of that you can look forward to eternal life in heaven. Ignoring Romans 6 won't be difficult because you don't really need to read the Bible anyway. Bible Verse snippets texted from Plan B Christians to your phone is all the spiritual food you really need. You can continue like this your entire life, and expect heaven as your reward for simply believing.
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Plan B, discipleship, offers all the benefits of Plan A, however it requires that you go through a sometimes painful new birth process that will result in dying to your sin, enduring hardship, expecting suffering, practicing self-denial, and loving Jesus more than anything else. Your chief desire will be holiness, which means you follow Jesus even when it hurts. In addition to heaven, you are promised some ambiguous rewards that you hang on to for a few minutes before casting them at Jesus' feet, and then everyone is even. Heaven is presented as an equal opportunity destination.
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Now, who in their right mind would choose Plan B? 
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Did Jesus present it that way? In Acts 11:26, the two plans combine. It says, "The disciples were first called Christians." They were called "little Christs" as a form of ridicule. The word Christian originated as a taunt from unbelievers as a way to mock followers of Christ who were trying to live like Jesus. But since then, we have so misconstrued the term that it has lost original meaning. In our world, Christian no longer means "little Christs." It often stands for religious bigoted hypocrites who hide their secret sins while loudly decrying the open ones of others. Or it implies Bible-tainted worldliness. Neither fits the original definition. Nor is either offered by God as an option for those who would inherit eternal life.
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We can isolate a few verses that say all we need to do is "believe." But if we take the whole counsel of God, all Jesus' words in their entirety, and consider what it takes to gain eternal life, the message seems clear.  It is the same answer Jesus gave the rich young ruler: "Sell all you have and come follow me." The pious young lawyer already believed, but he wasn't willing to be a disciple. At no point did Jesus offer him Plan A.

The young man went away sad. (Mark 10:21-22)

I think that says it all.
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And Special Thanks Goes To...

The crowd was on its feet as the hero entered the winner's circle. After thanking the usual friends, he offered his most heartfelt appreciation for the ones who "believed in me." What did he mean by that?

Many had believed in him. They had believed he would most likely do it. They thought he was the greatest, read all about him, and had a generally positive impression. They may have placed bets, challenged others, and had a restless night worrying about it whether or not he would win. So was it all of them the hero was thanking? What made the difference between believing about him and believing IN him? 

The ones who had "believed in him" had invested themselves in him. They had trusted that he would do what he said he would do when nobody else knew his name. They had seen in him something they chose to hold on to, regardless of personal sacrifice. They may have given up money, time, emotional energy, or more to show their hero they were in it with him. They refused to give up even when it seemed they had reason to do so. There is a vast difference between believing about someone and believing IN someone.

Jesus talked a lot about believing in Him. John 3:16 says that "whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." But many people simply believe ABOUT Him. They are part of the crowd that cheers the hero but has never undergone personal sacrifice for him. They like what they see, enjoy much of what they hear, and toss a few wagers His way. But they don't really believe IN Him.

Those promised eternal life are those who are all in. They trust Him even when no one else does. They believe He will do what He said He will do and hang on until they see it happen. They face obstacles and offer personal sacrifice for their Hero. And He reserves His special thanks for them.

Are you part of the cheering crowd? Or are you in the inner circle? When you face Jesus at the Judgement Seat, will He offer special thanks to you? 

Or will you be one of the throng who believed about Him but never really believed IN Him?

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Faith or Trust

Is there a difference between faith and trust?

A friend posed this question last week, which resulted in a lively discussion. As I pondered it more, the word "faith" echoed in my mind from Hebrews 11, the "Hall of Faith." Many verses begin, "By faith Abraham...or Moses...or Elijah..." and then go on to detail their heroic acts. 

But verse 13 jerks you to a stop. "All these died in faith, never having received the promises..." It seems a rather rude interruption to the glowing accolades and you wonder for a moment if their faith was misplaced.

The subtle difference is best illustrated in the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel 3. Faith gave them boldness to declare, "Our God is able to deliver us from your fiery furnace, O King." You can tell by the statement that they had no doubts about that. But they don't stop there. Trust provoked them to add the key words, "But if not..."

 Faith believes boldly in the power and ability of God. But trust rests calmly on the character of God 

and says with Job, "Though he slay me, 

yet will I trust him."

 Too many people have one without the other and get off balance. The "faith" people proclaim confidently that what they want and have prayed for is a reality--even though it's not and never comes. 

"Trust-only" people refuse to exercise the faith that pleases God. They fear going out on a limb and actually believing God for what he has shown them is his will. 

Either one by itself is not sufficient. To remain overcomers in this world, we must have both.

 

Are You in the Black?

I accidentally overpaid my A.T.&T. bill. Don't ask me how. So this month, the nice company sent me a bill with a credit and instructions: Do Not Pay!

Not only did I owe them nothing, but they owed me!

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Nothing makes your day like learning you have a credit to your account. You're paid up into the future. You can breathe a little easier, even forget about it for a while. You're "in the black."

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Imagine knowing your life balance was "in the black." All your failures, your mistakes, your outright rebellion, all those debits had been balanced by the staggering figure on the credit side. You are paid up into the future.

Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. The power of this sentence lies in that little word "credited." In Hebrew, the word is chashab. In the Greek it is logizomia. Sometimes translated "reckoned" or "imputed," it is an accounting term implying that a balance is "in the black."

Think about that a minute.

It says nothing about the good works Abraham did, the money he donated, or the nation he started. It also does not mention the lies he told, the adultery he participated in, or the zillions of little sins he committed all his life just because he was human. He was considered righteous by God because he believed.

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Our lives are like an accounting ledger. The debits go on down the page, line after red line. Debt after debt, cost after cost, our deeds pile up. The good works we manage every now and then don't seem to make a dent on the black side. We become painfully aware that nothing we can do will even it up. We just seem to make things worse.

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God is painfully aware of our ledger sheet as well. And he agrees with us. There is nothing we can do to even things up.

So he started giving extra credit.

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Jesus said, "Whoever believes in Me will have eternal life."(John 3:15)

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"I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. (John 12:46)
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The mistake many people make is in thinking that this is easy credit. Our government is learning the hard way that there is no such thing as "easy credit." It may seem easy to obtain, but someone has to pay.
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The kind of "believing" Abraham did is an action word. Abraham did not just nod in agreement with God's idea, he packed up and moved.

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And if we want to accept God's offer to credit our account by simply believing, we too must pack up and move. We move from our position of self-reliance, self-admiration, and self-seeking and follow God's plan for our lives.
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And that's it.
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The long list of red entries is suddenly balanced by a thick black entry on the Credit side. We are paid up into the future.
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When we show up with checkbook in hand, God will say, "You can't possibly pay this, but your debt is canceled. I've already credited your account."
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When we mention our long list of red entries, He simply rips them up and points to the lone entry on the credit side: You believed in Me.
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Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? It had to be. We would never have made it on our own.
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So what items still glare at you from your life's balance sheet? Do they seem overwhelming? No way to pay them off?
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Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. God is waiting to do the same thing for you.
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Don't believe me? Just ask Him.
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