Tag: Bible

First, You Die

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” 

John 12:24-25, NLT

flourish1

We kick it off with a basic knowledge of farming.  Not every farmer knows this, but all his seed sown in the ground will die.  Now it is possible this fact may discourage some, but the wise farmer accepts the dead seed, knowing that green growth will sprout from this death into a harvest of 1000x times or more for every dead seed.

“He that loves his life will lose it”.  This is one of the first ‘laws of the spirit’ we must learn.  It is the basis of so much that we have to know.  For years I have preached this message just before Easter Sunday.  “There can be no resurrection without a crucifixion.  There is simply no resurrection power without crucifixion weakness”.

Alas, we must die before we can live.  There is no way around this, and no waiver can be given to avoid this truth.  You have to die, it is a profound necessity.  But often we become adept at ‘life support’ systems.  Doing what we can do to keep the ‘old man’ alive.  So much of what we find in religion is nothing more than a way to put the ‘old man’ on life support.

Unless we die, we will never, ever live.  If we try to save our life, we will die.  Choosing then to die is really your best option.  But what does that entail?  Every Christian is to submit to carrying his/her cross daily.  That cross is intended, not for a showy display, but to die upon.  Our self-life must choose to die, when we are ‘crossed’ by someone else.  Someone insinuates that something is wrong with us, and we die when we just humbly accept it without rancor or anger.

Resurrection life is what happens when we finally decide to die.  Doing so, we become incredibly fruitful for one.  We start to live the life Jesus had intended for us.  You will start to make the connections that were not possible before, you become spiritually diversified, reaching a very broad spectrum of people.

But most of all, the most of everything, you will connect with others on this fresh level.  Your spirituality will not become a hindrance to others.  In a very real way you’ll become like Jesus.  And that can’t be at all bad.

1brobry-sig

***

Related articles

Joy is Not Optional

“The test of Christian character should be that a man is a joy-bearing agent to the world.”   –Henry Ward Beecher

The last several days have been quite difficult.  I have lived in a separated state with the Lord and that is not anything that I can long tolerate or endure.  I have gone into this period of self-hatred with eyes wide shut and quite ashamed with my own stupidity.  I am not a saint, I am a 100% sinner, through and through.

I have come to see Nehemiah‘s ministry was only superficially building up the walls of Jerusalem.  Rebuilding the walls was just a pretext to rebuilding a people.  They were defeated and overwhelmed.  Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:10).

13 Things About What the Bible Says About Joy:

  1. Jesus’ aim in all He taught was the joy of His people (Jn. 15:11).
  2. Joy is what God fills us with when we trust in Christ (Rom. 15:13).
  3. The kingdom of God is joy (Rom. 14:17).
  4. Joy is the fruit of God’s Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22).
  5. Joy is the aim of everything the apostles did and wrote (2 Cor. 1:24).
  6. Becoming a Christian is finding a joy that makes you willing to forsake everything (Mat. 13:44).
  7. Joy is nourished and sustained by the word of God in the Bible (Ps. 19:8).
  8. Joy will overtake all sorrow for those who trust Christ (Ps. 126:5; 30:5)
  9. God Himself is our joy (Psm. 43:4; 16:11). Joy in God outstrips all earthly joy (Ps. 4:7)
  10. If your joy is in God, no one can take your joy from you (Jn. 16:22).
  11. God calls all nations and peoples to join in the joy He offers to all who believe. No racism. No ethnocentrism (Ps. 67:4; Ps. 66:1).
  12.  The whole Christian message from beginning to end is good news of great joy (Lk. 2:10; Isa. 51:11).
  13. When we meet Christ at His second coming we will enter into his indestructible joy (Mt. 25:23).

 List by John Piper

I believe that  joy should mark a person of spiritual health.  Joy is to be embedded into our character for all to see.  Without joy we no longer can rebuild our walls, and we toss aside our tools.  The work of restoration is intense, and unless we take joy in the Lord we will falter and fail.

“God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.” –Jeremy Taylor

aabryplain

Related articles

Brutal Honesty: Self-Control

broken-walls

“A person without self-control
    is like a city with broken-down walls.”

Proverbs 25:28

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

There is no harder subject for me to broach than this one. It splits wide open a Number 10 “can of worms.” The issue is this: what is my mental illness, and what is my “flesh?” I suffer from Bipolar Disorder (and a mild form of epilepsy). But I am also an evangelical Christian believer.

So what is what? If this BP is causing extreme behavior, am I somehow exempt from the control of the Holy Spirit in my life? (Now this maybe easy for some of you to figure out, but I’m still contemplating here. Please bear with me on this.) I like things explained to me.

People are very complicated, and there are seldom any lines drawn between emotion/spirit/body. At any given time we all operate on different levels. For instance, my body maybe cold; but I’m praying quite fervently in the spirit. I can have a toothache and be really angry at Lynn (my wife). I never feel the need to analyze these actions.

Having zilch self-control is one of many bipolar symptoms. Believe me, my life has been completely devastated by snap decisions that carry terrible implications. I also habitually excuse my impulsive behavior by…

  • compartmentalizing, (categorizing everything as different)
  • rationalizing, (reasons behind ‘bad’ behavior)
  • and justifying my bad choices, (The devil made me do it).

My Bible tells me that the Holy Spirit is present to give me self-control. I believe this truly. But way too often (actually, most of the time) I’m focusing on trying to eliminate the negatives like bingeing, isolating, obsessing or plotting. I completely ignore the positives, like worshipping, praying, reading devotionally, or fellowshipping.

The vaunted “fruit of the Spirit” cannot be found in my carnal life. (If I may, allow me to change metaphors on you.) Suppose you had a real nice car sitting in your drive-way. It’s a real beaut. But since you don’t have the key, you must push it to make it go. It’s really tiring and you feel like giving it up all the time. (A trip to the store takes hours and hours.)

Silly you say? Yes. But no sillier than trying to live a Christian  life without the Holy Spirit. You see its his presence that allows you to live an impossible Christian life. My mental illness causes me a lot of grief. It affects me tremendously, as well as my friends and family. I must take meds to ease the worst of its disturbing symptoms. But there is supernatural help.

16 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

Galatians 5:16-17, NLT

To be guided into the “fruits of the Spirit” is imperative (see Gal. 5:22-23). We’ve a tendency to accentuate the “deeds of the flesh” to our own detriment. As mentally ill people we must turn this on its head and invite the Holy Spirit to energize us.

My BP symptoms are no match for His presence. If anything they force me to helplessly call out to Him. This is a supernatural transaction that is mandatory to becoming Christlike. My physical weakness can be the backdrop for walking out convincing discipleship. Trust me, to live like a “receiver” is far better than trying to live like a “generator.” (But you  probably already knew that.)

aabryscript

Be Alert– Very Alert!

Be-Alert-Sign

“He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One.”

Daniel 7:25, NASB

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”

Matthew 24:12, NIV

Sometimes, we think it would be a fine thing to be able to tell the future. We could gaze into a crystal ball, and see exactly what is going to happen next. We would just love to tell this to our family and friends.

In a sense, the Holy Spirit has already shared the experience of believers in the modern church. And we have been told repeatedly not to consult the occult. It is forbidden– plain and simple. It’s not for us.

Once I was preaching on street corner on Telegraph Ave., in Berkeley, California. There I encountered a tarot card reader. People were everywhere. She was telling everyone’s future from a card table. Provoked by the Lord’s Spirit she went “gonzo.” She picked up her metal chair and began to smash it repeatedly against a big garbage can. It was a scene and a half! But it taught me the true nature of demon activity.

The future has been clearly predicted to us. We will enter a time of extreme difficulty. Daniel speaks of believers being “worn down.” Christians will start to crumble and erode away. It appears that this satanic assault will take apart the lives of most believers, leaving them in a compromised heap on the kitchen floor.

Jesus declares the future as well. He says that in our future we will see the love of many to grow cold. These ‘frigid believers’ will be troubled by sin and darkness. Evil will be more common, and saturate everything. The coldness will creep in.

In 1983 I was hitch hiking in Alaska. My heart was not in a good place. (I had just graduated from Bible school and I felt I had given God enough.) As I walked I saw a red piece of paper in the ditch. Retrieving it I opened it up to read simply, “Be Alert.” I felt a distinct connection to His presence. Walking another 30 yards or so, I spotted another red note. Again, “Be Alert.” I had no doubt God was speaking. When I finally got to my cabin, a call came. It was my mom who just got back from the doctor who had given her a diagnosis of cancer. I was heart-broken, but not ready to pray.

This morning I wish for you the discernment to see what is happening all around. In so many ways, the church is like the prophet Eli. We have lost our sight, and most of our discernment. (1 Samuel 2). I certainly mean no harm by this post. All I have wanted to do is give you a “heads up.” I don’t know what situation you are in at this time. But, Be Alert!

God loves those who struggle. It seems they are in a continual trouble, but the Father’s love will hold them. Their sin will remain, but they’ll be forgiven.

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.”

Jude 20-21

aabryplain

Related articles