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Passing the Test

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

Scripture calls us to examine ourselves. For what purpose? To make sure our faith is genuine.

I don’t know about you, but I find that thought pretty sobering. After all, faith saves us and ushers us into the kingdom of God. If our faith isn’t genuine, dear one, we can’t claim the promises that come through it.

Heaviness grips my heart for the body of Christ. Half-truths and deceptions have woven their way into our theology. If we allow them to remain, beloved, I fear it will cost us dearly.

Take a moment to ponder Jesus’ words from Matthew 7:13-14.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Jesus said the way that leads to life is hard, and few actually find it.

Yet the message often heard from our pulpits suggests something else. “It’s easy to come to Jesus. You just have to pray a simple prayer inviting Him into your heart, and it’s done.”

I wonder, dear one. Why would Jesus tell us it’s hard if it’s so easy?

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that anything other than faith in Jesus Christ ushers us into eternal life with the Father. I’m suggesting that you and I ought to be certain we know what that means.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.

You and I need to know, dear one. Is the faith we profess to have truly saving faith? Or when examined against the entirety of the Word of God, will we find that it falls short?

Jesus said some things that we find a little too easy to ignore.

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

You and I certainly want to follow Jesus into heaven. But are we willing to do what He says is required to do so? Will we lose our worldly lives for His sake? Or are we trying to use Him to achieve the life in this world we desire?

On another occasion Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).”

Scripture offers several warnings about the dangers of “looking back.” Yet that’s our tendency. We often look back with longing on the life Jesus seeks to rescue us from.

That’s what happened to Lot’s wife. God chose her for deliverance from the punishment about to descend on the immoral. Yet as He was leading her away to safety, she looked back with longing on the life she was leaving and became a pillar of salt.

She missed the deliverance God intended for her because her heart had grown attached to the world she was living in, defiled though it was. She loved the things of the world more than she loved God, and it became her downfall.

Jesus said in Luke 17:32-33.

Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

Jesus calls us out of a world defiled by immorality. That’s the point of the redemption poured out on the cross. He offers the power to free us from our attachment to sin and worldly philosophies so that we can know Him and walk in His righteousness.

Do you desire to be rescued from the world, beloved? Or do you find that your heart longs for what it offers?

If your heart longs more for the things of the world, you may be standing on dangerous ground.

. . . Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4

You see, saving faith in Jesus Christ can’t occur without repentance. We must desire to leave behind our life of sin and embrace God’s righteousness. And we must believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross offers the means to accomplish it.

And that’s the most beautiful part, dear one. Becoming righteous has nothing to do with our efforts to clean ourselves up. It’s about believing and receiving what Christ did. And as we spend time with the Lord we profess, our belief in His Word changes our thoughts and attitudes to make us like Him.

Behold, He is coming soon. Take hold of Jesus’ words, dear one.

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36

 

 

 

The Heart of a Betrayer

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16 NIV

Never forget, dear one. No one took Jesus’ life from Him. He laid it down. Evil men may have plotted and schemed, but they held no power over God’s Son. Everything He suffered, He allowed.

The perfect, sinless, Son endured so much for you and me. He faced rejection, ridicule, beatings and flogging. Nails pierced His hands and feet, fastening Him to the cross of our shame. Jesus became the very curse He would conquer, all for one very specific purpose.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Beloved, Jesus became sin so that you and I could become righteousness.

I hope you haven’t missed that part.

Jesus didn’t surrender Himself to the cross just to keep you out of hell, dear one. He gave up His life so He could get hell out of you. He purposed to redeem your character from the enemy’s influence and recreate you into the image of God.

Do you bear God’s image, dear one? Do you love compassionately, compelled to give of yourself? Or are you more like the prince of this world, driven to take for yourself?

We’d be wise to consider the question carefully. You see, we can do our best to look like God from the outside, but if our heart doesn’t resemble His, eventually we’ll self-destruct.

Judas learned that lesson the hard way. Let’s take a look at the event that sent him to the chief priests to betray Jesus.

And while he [Jesus] was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. Mark 14:3-5

Don’t miss the fact that some watching believed the ointment was wasted on Jesus.

I wonder how many times you and I have entertained similar thoughts upon witnessing a radical demonstration of love for our Savior.

He’s not worth that.

Verse 5 reveals that Mary’s gift had a value of more than 300 denarii, the equivalent of almost a year’s wages. Let’s get a bit of perspective, shall we?

In 2012 the median wage in the US per person was $26,695. What would you do with a possession worth that much? Would you be willing to pour it out for another? Or could you only see its potential to do amazing things for you?

Scholars agree that the flask of expensive perfume was likely Mary’s dowry, a treasure kept to ensure her future. Her bride price. When Mary broke it in an act of worship, she laid down her opportunity for a husband. Her future children. She poured out everything that gave her value in her culture, offering them to Jesus in an act of love.

I can’t help thinking of Matthew 16:24-25.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Mary was willing to lose her life for Jesus sake. And she found real life in the loving arms of her Savior.

Our friend Judas, however, had an interesting response to what he witnessed.

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. Mark 14:10

What about this particular event triggered Judas to sell his friend and master for 30 pieces of silver?

John 12:5-6 sheds some light on Judas’ intentions.

“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Consider this carefully, dear one. Judas was only with Jesus for what he thought he could get from Him. He was willing to steal from Him to have his own dream. Although he served the poor alongside Jesus, he didn’t really care about them. He stole from them to line his own pockets.

And when he witnessed Mary’s extravagant gift, money he believed should’ve been his wasted on Jesus, he took offense. That offense sent him straight to the chief priests.

We need to understand something about Judas, dear one. He was no more evil than you or me. He wasn’t a malicious man at heart. He served in the community helping people.

Judas was simply self-centered. And he loved money more than he loved Jesus.

No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 6:24,

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Judas’ love of money caused him to despise God—at least momentarily—and it cost him everything. He immediately regretted his decision, but he couldn’t undo what he had done.

Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:3-5

Beloved, Jesus chose to suffer the cross to free us from the wretchedness within us. It’s our own self-centeredness that makes us most like Satan, that drives us to take instead of give. Will you let the Spirit of God recreate you in His image? Will you surrender your heart to be sifted and changed so it can beat with His love?

Life hinges on your decision, dear one. Choose to lay down your life and live.