Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God

Author Archives: Giles


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1 Living a lifestyle of love

John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.”

May Christians say that they want to know God’s Will for their lives but once they do will they be obedient to it? Do we really want to know His Will so we can please Him, or is it more a case of wanting to know His Will so we can determine if it fits our wants and then decide if we will follow? In John 14 we find Jesus preparing His disciples for His departure, and as He does He not only reveals God’s Will to be a lifestyle of obedience, but models it in His own walk. Jesus was “obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). It is here that we who claim to be followers of Christ also come face to face with the call of every Christian, to follow His commands.  God’s Will is not is not about some specific place it’s a practice called obedience. It’s not some hard to grasp concept it is simply choosing to obey His commands. Today we tend to shy away from talking about obedience because we live in a society that is tuned to self not sacrifice, but the Bible has much to say about obedience. For Christians, the very act of taking up our cross and following Him requires a life of obedience. Obedience is careful compliance to the commands of Christ, it is at the very heart of our relationship with God. We can’t have a healthy connection to our Father if we have a disobedient life. Obedience comes from a heart that is at home with Him being in charge. But this is not just a matter of outward compliance to His Will, it involves our hearts not just our heads. It’s not just outward conformity to commands but inward change, the driving force behind our obedience is love not the law. Today we see obedience as obligation, all we see is restrictive rules and so we miss the relationship. It is here that Jesus also reminds us that our love for Him is not just a matter of words but action. So let me ask you do you Love Jesus? Before you answer that first answer take the time to answer these questions:

Does your life show that you love Jesus?

Do your actions prove your love for Jesus?

Are the choices that you make based on your love for Jesus?

Would others testify of your love for Jesus?

It is in this simple verse that we see:

  • The Evidence of our love for Jesus

Jesus begins His statement with the word “IF” because He knew that not everyone who had said that they loved Him did. One of His own disciples, Judas, had already left to betray him for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a Hebrew salve (Exodus 21:32). That’s how much value religion places on the Redeemer, they see the Savior as nothing more than a slave there to do their bidding. Jesus makes it clear that if we really love Him then there will be evidence and that evidence is obedience. What about the life that you are living, are you living in complete obedience to Jesus? Can others see what it looks like to be Christian by watching your daily life? Today there are many who claim to love Jesus yet continue to live life their way. The truth is that their lives do not conform to God’s commands because they are caught up in their own cares. Vance Havner said, “You have not really learned a commandment until you have obeyed it.… The church suffers today from Christians who know volumes more than they practice.” Anyone can say they love God, but the proof is in obeying Him. Following Christ involves conforming every area of our life to him. It requires submitting every relationship, every attitude, every word, every thought, and every action to Him. It involves our whole lives, not just a few specific things that we do or don’t do. Today we practice compartmentalized Christianity, where we choose which of His commands we want to follow. When we see obedience as optional instead of being conformed to Christ we live compromised and carless lives. Listen to what Peter said : “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16.  We are called to be obedient “In all that we do” not in some of what we do. There are many things vying for control of your life like magnets pulling you in different directions. But true freedom comes when we are conformed to God’s Will, when we choose to follow His commands. A compass works, not when the needle does what it wants, but when it is directed to true north. The alternative to obeying God is not freedom, but obeying another authority.  We either surrender our lives to the Savior or we live lives as slaves. If the evidence of our love for Jesus is obedience, then we must examine our lives because looking for the evidence requires:

  • The Examination of our love for Jesus

In Matthew 22 we read that after Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees came and questioned Him, one of the experts in the religious law tried to trick and trap Him: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law?” In verse 37 Jesus replied “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.” It is here that Jesus summed up the entire law for He said in verse 40 “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” If you want to know whether you really love Jesus then measure your life, your attitudes and actions against these verses. What about you, do you obey the first commandment, do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind? Many of us claim that God is first yet we place everyone and everything else before Him. So what place does Jesus have in your life? If we truly love the Lord, He will have preeminence in every area of our life. Look at the Ten Commandments that Jesus summed up. 1. ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ 2. ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’ 3. ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’ 4. ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ If we really love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind then we will not have any other Gods, we will not create idols, disgrace His name or dismiss His day. But how many today who claim to be Christians don’t pray, don’t worship and don’t read the Bible? We say that we love Jesus but we don’t even talk to Him. What if I told you that I loved my wife but I never talked to her, what would you say about my love? Today we claim that we love God but we don’t even talk to Him. I do love my wife and one of the evidences of my love is that I communicate with her regularly. Now some of us may be feeling good right now because we do communicate with Christ, but only when there is in a crisis. What if the only time I talked to my wife was when I was complaining or when I needed her to do something, do you think she would view that as love? In Philippians 4:6 Paul says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” When was the last time you called on Christ just to say thanks for who He is and what He has done? When was the last time you appreciated His mercy, grace, love, and salvation?  Today most of our communication with Christ revolves around our current crisis, because we are no longer consumed with Christ and His Will but the cares of this world. We say that we love the Lord but when was the last time you listened to the Lord? Do you allow Him to speak to you through scripture? Today most of the people who claim to be believers don’t even read their bible. There are some who argue over which translation of the Bible to use yet in truth they never even read the one they say is right. If the Bible is God’s infallible, inerrant and inspired Holy Word then why would we leave it sitting on a shelf? The Psalmist said in Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” While prayer provides a way for us to speak the Bible is God’s way of speaking to us, but how many of us are having one way conversations with the Creator? Does your love for Him cause you to listen, do you love His Word? Which did you spend more time on last week, studying God’s Word or scrolling through your Facebook feed? What is more important to you His truth or was is trending on TV and Twitter? When was the last time you lingered over the living Word and let God to speak to you about, His work in creation, His perfect plan that resulted in the sacrifice of His Son for your sins? When was the last time you listened to what He has in store for you when this life is over? Or what He calls His children to accomplish and avoid? We are privileged to possess a copy of God’s Word, it’s in our homes and even on our phones yet do we read it? Obedience is not a matter of rules it revolves around relationship. So how about you, after all the examination is there any evidence that you love Jesus?


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30 The pollution of peace

Genesis 3:1-3:24

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. 15  And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” 17 And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 19 By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust,    and to dust you will return.” 20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings[e] have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

No matter when you turn on the news there is always some story of pain and suffering. Our world is filled with reports of people hurting each other and the awful way in which we tend to treat others. You don’t have to go far to find evidence of evil in this world. When we hear about these hideous stories we are tempted to ask, “How could people do such a thing?” and we could ask “Why?” a thousand times, “Why would they harm an innocent child?” “Why would a parent abandon their kids?” Why would a man walk out and leave his family?” “Why would they blow up a building and kill children and babies?” “Why do the innocent have to suffer?” Why, why, why? It is in Genesis 3 that we see the beginning of every bad thing that ever happens in this world, whether it is disease, death, divorce, depression, or destitution it is tied to the fall of man, when sin entered the human heart. It is here in Genesis 3 that we see:

  • The deceptive character of sin – Verses 1-6

The serpent was far from a slithering and frightful snake, when Eve saw him she didn’t run away screaming but instead appears to be drawn in. Throughout scripture the bible reveals the crafty character of the serpent and his sly nature. Revelation 12:9 “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Matthew 4:3 “Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” As a deceiver the Devil draws us in, luring us with his lies. Satan is the malevolent monster who dominates and controls the thinking of this world, in John 12:31 Jesus called him “The ruler of this world” and Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 called him, “The god of the world”. Not only does Satan dominate worldly thinking but he drives its philosophy, whispering subtle but outrageous claims that captivate the carnal mind and make men drool with desire.  As you look at his process of deceiving, first you see him questioning the Word of God with the goal of creating doubt and causing us to join him in questioning God. When he did this Satan caused Eve to focuses on the one boundary rather than all the freedom she had. She missed all of the blessings of God, His abundant provision and care. Why did Eve even give Satan an audience, why would we? Why do we listen to his lies and entertain his deceptive doubt? He doesn’t just question and create doubt, he openly denies God’s Word, “you shall will not surely die” Added to this Satan now questions God’s motives, claiming that God is trying to keep something good from us. His plan is simple, inject doubt, deny and create distrust with God. The end result of temptation is that it creates lustful desires, instead of contentment there are only cravings, instead of satisfaction there is only sin. I John 2:16 says: “For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.” Who are you listening to and believing, the Lord or the lies? Next we see:

  • The destructive consequences of sin – Verses 7-24

Temptation is always a con-job, because the payoff of sin never produces what it promises. Sin always seduces and draws us in, giving us a guarantee of untold riches only to rob us blind. Instead of satisfying, sin strips us, leaving us not only destitute of dignity but dealing with the ugly reality of death. James 1:14-15 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. If you want to see what sin can do to human life go visit a hospital, graveyards or courtroom. Sin destroys our innocence, and just like Adam and Eve we experience shame and guilt. It destroys our relationships, first with God, then others and finally with ourselves. It destroys our sense of responsibility, Adam blamed God and then Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. Instead of taking personal responsibility they passed the buck. Sin also destroys God’s plan for peace and prosperity in our lives. God’s plan for Adam and Eve was paradise not the parasite of sin, but when sin entered in both man and creation paid the price. The judgment for the woman was both pain in childbirth as well as subjection to her husband. The man now had to work in a cursed environment and both had to deal with death. The consequences of sin affect our entire being, body, soul, emotions, character, will and spirit. Yet in the midst of the deceptive and destructive consequences of sin we see:

  • The divine covering for sin – Verse 21

Adam and Eves first reaction to sin was to try and cover themselves, and ever since Adam and Eve we have been hard at work following in their first footsteps, trying to cover sin ourselves. Today some react by trying to cover their sin with religion, good works, or even denying in as sin. But only God has the power to deal with your sin, verse 21 says: “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” They had tried to cover their shame with fig leaves but it didn’t work, only God could do that, for it required a sacrifice and the shedding of blood. This was a defining sacrifice, a sign that pointed to the promise of the coming Lamb of God who would shed His blood for all sinners so that their sin and shame would not just be covered but conquered. Like Adam and Eve we too have fallen prey to the prowling lion who roams around roaring and looking for those he can devour and destroy. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the consequences of sin is why life is so hard and harsh. Yet God sent His Lamb to the altar so that we could be bought by the precious blood. Have you experienced the purifying power of His blood? Have you responded in faith to the Fathers forgiveness? It is in Genesis 3 that we see in the midst of the miserable consequences Adam reveal his belief in God’s promise in the way he responds to Gods Word. In verse 19 we see the climax of the curse on man, death, and we might expect Adams respond to be one of self-pity: “Why me, it’s not fair” such is the despair of unbelief. Yet Adam looks past his pain to God’s promise, for it is here that he names his wife, “Eve,” which means, “Life” because she would be the mother of all who live. Adam doesn’t deny that he will die, but he acknowledges and focuses on faith not failure. He recognizes the curse, that his work will be toilsome, but he looks to the promise that from their offspring will come One who will crush the curse. Not just to bruise but to break the head of the serpent. So because of his believe in God’s Word he named his wife, ‘Living’ faith always moves us from attitude to action, words to works. What an amazing act of faith, faced with the finality of his own death, Adam looks at his wife and says, “Despite the curse you are, ‘Life’ because our God has promised to bring life out of death.” What about you are you responding to and receiving God’s promises by faith? Do you trust in His conquering promise and provision or are you still trying to cover things yourself? Are you living out and proclaiming the power of His promise not just in word but in deed? How are you dealing with the destructive consequences of sin are you whining or winning? Are you living life alert to the deceptive character of sin or are you disregarding its dangers? Even in the midst of the pollution of peace God had a plan and promised to send His provision, His One and only Son Jesus Christ to come and to die in our place so that we could have life. Have you placed you faith in His provision? Just as 1 John 5:11-12 promises  “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” Do you have the Lord of life or are you still caught in the lie?