Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth will continually preserve me.

Psalm 40: 11

Over the last few years I’ve notice that throughout the Bible there is this constant pairing of lovingkindness and truth.

Getting a good grasp of both lovingkindness and truth seems to be a hard thing for us. Like most things that require balance, we tend to lean farther on one side or the other.

Church culture today reflects the balance battle between lovingkindness and truth. You have one side that shouts about love, grace, and anti-religion while never giving any understanding or definition to what these words mean. Then you have the other side that wallows in understanding and definition while forgetting to put into practice the things they define.

Two extremes, and everyone is caught somewhere in the middle. Anger is stirred and error occurs when we begin to think that one side is more like Jesus than the other.

Lovingkindness and truth are equally important because they are equal qualities found in perfection, found in wisdom, and found in Christ. They are also equally wrong and sinful when one is present without the other.

Thinking about the greatness of God’s lovingkindness and truth is what made this verse resonate with joy in my heart. The perfect balance of both His shown lovingkindness and His dealings with me in truth is what preserves me.

In Christ, God has shown me His lovingkindness. God sent His only Son to die on my behalf so that I could be back in right relationship with Him again. Also in Christ, I am forced to face the truth of my sinfulness. I forced to face the truth of God’s anger at my sin and the need for wrongs to be righted. I forced to face the truth that giving real love isn’t like giving out candy…love is costly.

Walking in God’s lovingkindness and truth I am preserved. I am constantly receiving this gift of His unconditional love and forgiveness….and yet I can’t truly receive His gift of love unless I operate in the truth of WHY I need to receive it. When I know WHY Christ had to die and then I receive His undeserved death as the substitute for my deserved death…I rejoice, celebrate, and delight in the beauty of His lovingkindness and truth!

To be like Christ is to strive to balance both lovingkindness and truth in our lives. To accurately display Christ we must display both lovingkindness and truth.

To be practical, we can’t talk about God’s love as if it cost Him nothing. We can’t ignore the terrible role our sin plays in the Gospel. At the same time we also can’t harp on the role of our sin. We need to show and tell the world that…

 “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. What the Law could not do, weak as it was in the flesh; God did; sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin.”

(Romans 8:2 emphasis added).

We can’t save or change ourselves by knowing the truth and trying to abide by the Law. We must humbly receive God’s gift and abide in His love. We must humbly present this gift to the world knowing that none of us deserve it. We must display the truth of costly love by giving our lives away to those around us.

Balance. We need a balance of lovingkindness and truth. But as we are figuring things out; we can rest assured that we are preserved by the perfect balance of God’s lovingkindness and truth.

He who believes in Him is not judged, he who does not believe in Him is judged already, because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deed were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds may be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that His deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

John 3: 18-21

There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way

C.S. Lewis

The Holy Spirit keeps bringing me back to Genesis 3 over this past year and a half…and you know what I noticed this time around?

No repentance. Adam and Eve never repented. Well, at least, it’s not recored.

So, what did Adam do? He hid. (And in more ways than one)

There are many people that struggle with ideas of God’s judgment and wrath, but looking at how God’s judgement and wrath plays out against Adam helps give me better understanding. The same part of humanity that has issues with a God that condemns people to Hell is the same part of humanity that has issues with a God that kicks Adam and Eve out of the Garden. Actually, they are very similar because the worst of both is separation from God.

I think the combination of John 3 and the Lewis quote comes in handy here so you should go back up and look at those.

You see, Adam and Eve didn’t really just screw up in eating the fruit from the tree…they also hid from God. I’m even starting to think that this hiding from God might have been the bigger of the two mistakes.

Their act of hiding was telling and condemning. Innocent people don’t hide. God didn’t even need to judge them, because like it says in John 3, they were judged already…by themselves! They hid from God because they knew they had done wrong against Him. The truth was evident within themselves.

Also, God didn’t have to condemn Adam and Eve to separation from Himself because they had already begun to separate from Him! They had already attempted to both physically separate themselves from God (by physically hiding and clothing themselves) and they were spiritually separating themselves from God with their excuses and lack of repentance. Their hiding was their own judgement and condemnation.

I think that Lewis is right about the two different kinds of people in the end. The Word talks about God’s wrath, but on a few occasions we are taught that much of God’s harshest wrath is displayed by Him simply giving us over to ourselves.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…Therefore God gave them over in the lust of the hearts to impurity, so their bodies would be dishonored among them…For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions…And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind…

Romans 1:18-31

Just as God gave Adam and Eve the separation they already initiated…there will be a day for those who chose not put their faith in Jesus when God will give them over to themselves. Many people spend their lives hiding from God…hiding from the Light. They deny God not just because they don’t think He’s there, but because they want to be left alone and would rather Him not be there for fear that they might have to acknowledge, repent, and change their ways.

The saddest part is that Jesus already took on the full wrath of God on our behalf…and so there is no reason for us to have to endure the wrath of God. Those that endure the wrath of God have chosen it for themselves. They have chosen to live in separation from God…and God will give them over to that separation eternally.

The unbeliever has preferred to be by himself, without God, defying God, having God against him, and he shall have his preference. Nobody stands under the wrath of God except those who have chosen to do so. The essence of God’s action in wrath is to give men what they choose…

J.I. Packer

It’s a sad and somewhat silly end of the road for those that end up eternally separated from God. All it takes is for us to no longer hide from God. All it takes is for us to no longer run from the Father in attempts to protect ourselves. Quit hiding and be honest with yourself and God. Acknowledge that you have committed wrong against God and your neighbors and repent. Just genuinely and humbly say you’re sorry to the Father! In that moment, believe that Christ took the wrath of God for you already. You no longer have to worry about being separated from the Father. You are forgiven! No more hiding.

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

1 John 3:12

I’m going to go ahead and admit that I don’t know a whole lot about Tim Tebow. However, I have been intrigued by the controversy and media upset that Tebow’s faith has caused.

The Holy Spirit used Tebow to show me the truth of the passage here in 1 John. You have to ask yourself…why do people hate Tim Tebow? Why are people so offended by Tim Tebow? Because he has faith? Because he expressed and lives out his faith?

Why does the world mock those that are “too good” simply for being “too good.” If you think about it…it doesn’t really make any sense.

The world can’t stand symbols (and people) of innocence and righteousness. They crave to see these symbols and people fall. Why? Why do we want to see things that are good and right turn bad? Why does the world scoff and reject things that are pure?

It’s because things are as they have always been. Cain hated Abel simply because he did what was right and good. Abel didn’t even have to call out the sin of Cain in order to illicit Cain’s hate…Abel’s dedication to what was good and right did two things:

1. It exposed and shed light on Cain’s selfish heart
2. It stirred up jealousy, because deep down, Cain also wanted the Father to be pleased with Him. Cain wanted to be near the Father.

I think this is still the effect that righteousness has on the unrighteous. Things that are good and right expose the things which are not good and right. Also, and more importantly, I think that every single person still wants to their Father to be pleased with them. They might not acknowledge it or even know it for themselves, but deep down, they want the approval of their Father. Sin has turned our hearts into skeptics and critics thinking that since we are inclined to evil; true, pure and perfect good doesn’t really exist. But, it does. Those that practice unrighteousness can’t stand the faith of the righteous, because if true, pure and perfect good does exist…then in light of that Good who can stand? Men of darkness are afraid to be exposed by the light, so they hate the light for being light. Just as Cain killed his brother Abel for being light, so the world will always use whatever means it has to turn off the light.

The world hates Tim Tebow because they can’t accuse him of anything other than that he believes too much. His believe is offensive because it exposes their unbelief. To me, Tebow just seems like a good guy that loves God, loves people, and is trying to be obedient to what he thinks is right.

God responded to Cain’s frustration with Abel by saying this,

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.

Genesis 4:7

Jesus gives us a way to not be mastered by sin any longer but to become fully satisfied slaves to righteousness. Slaves to doing what is good and right. We no longer need to hate what is good, because we now have a way to participants in the greatest Good.

And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon  answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets” And when they had done this they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break.

Luke 5:4-6

I love that this story doesn’t really have anything to do with fish. This particular story really resonates with me at this point in my life because the Lord has been teaching me a lot about sweet exercise of faith in prayer.  It also resonates with me because I’ve been in a season in which I’ve seen the Lord provide a lot of “fish.”

For example, some friends of mine have been trying to have baby for 12 years. They even tried in vitro three times with no success. After having given in to the fact that they probably just weren’t going to have children, I went to their house over Christmas to find out that they are pregnant…and naturally! Amazing!

Another example, since the members of Mosaic are self employed and since Mosaic is a ministry, we have financial seasons of enough and seasons of struggle. I handle a lot of the business stuff for Mosaic and so it’s easier for me to wrestle with worry over finances. But just when I’m sure we aren’t going to make what we need be being obedient in going to this gig or that…the Lord provides “fish.”

I resonate with the response of Peter:

But when Simon Peter saw [the fish], he fell down at Jesus’ feet saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish…

Luke 5:8

You see, Jesus wasn’t just giving Peter fish, Jesus was giving Peter faith. This gift is so much greater than all the fish in the sea. The riches of faith in Christ are so great that when we receive faith it causes us to count all that we were seeking (aka the fish) as nothing in comparison. That is why by the time we reach verse 11 we see that as soon as they brought their boats to land the fisherman “left everything and followed Him.” What happened to the fish?! Fish wasn’t the gift…they had received something far greater.

While I’m thankful for the “fish,” I can honestly say that I’m even more thankful for the faith that Jesus has been building within me. What an awesome relational gift to see our Father give and provide! Faith is one of the greatest and sweetest gifts. Thank you Lord for giving us faith!

Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy, but who are you who judge your neighbor?

James 4:11-12

The last couple of years have been really hard in regards to dealing with exposed and obvious sin in my own life, but it’s been an especially hard struggle to know how to deal with exposed sin in the lives of those I love and are close to me.

It’s awkward and painful to really know what we are supposed to do when sin rears it’s ugly head and begins to demolish and wound…especially when it’s not OUR sin. Unless you are a “church leader,” it seems that the tendency among normal folk like me is to ignore the sin…because not ignoring the sin is so painful and terrible that the most loving thing (translation: the most comfortable thing) must to be to just ignore and endure it.

On top of the terribleness of dealing with sin, often when you are addressing sin in someone else’s life there is this fun little statement:  ”you’re judging me.”

I’ve had a hard time knowing what to do with this statement because:

1.) It just doesn’t sound right in particular situations. It sounds like a way to escape and not an accurate assessment of what is happening because in my heart I haven’t felt judgmental.

2.) This statement has caused me pause because I want to take being judgmental seriously because I want to please God with my life and His Word (as seen above) is very adamant about not judging one another.

I feel like the Lord, through His Word, has given me some clarity recently  on what being judgmental is and what it isn’t.

You see, it’s very interesting to me that James of all the authors is the one making the statement above about not judging your brother because a chapter earlier James is passionately talking about the importance of works in our lives. Obviously, there is some controversy about exactly what James is saying…but either way you slice it, it’s obvious that James is saying that what we do with our lives matters. So here you have a guy saying “act right” and then saying “don’t judge.” It makes me think that maybe our definition of “judging” one another is off at times.

That is when the Lord highlighted for me the part that talks about Him being the ONLY Lawgiver and Judge. I pondered on that for a minute as my heart soaked in it’s truth.

The thing is…God has already judged some things as not being right and good. He has already judged some actions, some behaviors, some ways of thinking, and some states of the heart as being sinful. As one who is not the judge, I must submit and agree with His judgment on things He has already judged. This is why it is not “judgmental” to call sin in our lives sin…because God has already called it sin. In fact, I am making myself the judge if I don’t agree with God on what He has already judged.

To be judgmental (which is actually just an illusion, because we have no real judgement on anything), is to judge what God hasn’t yet judged…or the things on which He hasn’t yet reveal His judgment. This is why I can’t “write somebody off.” I can’t condemn them in my heart because God’s judgment on that person isn’t known yet.

In short, I can agree with the judgments of God but I can’t judge the things He has yet to judge.

That is why I feel compelled to be both persistent in being unafraid to call out and deal with sin, while also being persistent and diligent to pray, hope, fight for, and believe the best for that person.

Sin doesn’t want to be exposed. Sin is destructive and so if we love each other it is most loving thing for us to continue to help each other get rid of the sin in our lives with gentleness, kindness, and compassion but also while not shying away from the truth. It’s hard. To our shame, we all put up a fight when the Lord is weeding out sin in our lives…and we especially fight those the Lord is using to get the sin out of our lives…and it hurts everyone involved.

Press on. Don’t listen to the accuser who tries to paralyze you with false accusations. Fight for the best in each other. Pray for one another.

The judgements of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is a great reward.

Who can dicers his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

Also keep Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless, and I will be acquitted of great transgression.

Psalm 19:9-13

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy Hill?

He who walks with integrity and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.

He does not slander with His tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend.

Psalm 15:1-3

I was reading this Psalm today and my heart echoed it in prayer as I started asking God who is able to live and abide with Him? The answer here in the Psalm is a little disheartening. The person that may abide with God is the one who is wholly righteous, blameless, and holy. The one who may abide with God is the one who keeps the law of God. That person is not me. That person is not you…

But that person is Jesus. He was and is perfectly righteous and blameless. He is the one that may abide and live with God.

As I thought about this, I was realizing that if you stop there it still leaves you and I ‘”out of the tent” so to speak.

The invitation of Jesus in John 15 is so wonderful and beautiful when paired with this Psalm:

Abide in me, and I in you…

John 15:4

Here is what the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and mind as I reflected on these things;

I know that you can’t abide and live with God because of your unrighteousness, but because of my righteousness, I can. I can dwell with God…come abide IN me. Let me abide IN you. Then together we will dwell with the Father. I have made a way for you to dwell with the Father again…but you have to abide IN me to be WITH the Father. I truly am the only way for you to be reconciled back to Him…

Nothing new, but for me at least, it was a powerful and sweet reminder of the truth of the Gospel. Jesus’s invitation is overwhelmingly good…especially considering I really have nothing to offer in return.

Praise to Him who has made a way for us!

But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

James 1:19-24

Yesterday Mosaic had the opportunity to play at an awesome smaller church in Louisville Kentucky called Grace Crossing Church. We loved getting to know the leadership of the church there and I personally was very encouraged both by the fellowship and the sermon.

Jeremy, the pastor, preached on the passage above in James and though I’ve read and heard this passage many times, I have never looked at it in the way in which Jeremy presented it. Most of the time we look at verses 19&20 as being passages that concern our relationships, but in context it seems that this passage is really speaking on our relationship with God and His Word.

James is exhorting us to be slow to speak and quick to hear what God is saying to us through His Word. But more startling is the fact that James then quickly says to be slow to anger…and then James goes on to talk about the Word of God acting like a mirror in which we see our own reflection.

It struck me as true that when we are exposed to the truth about ourselves, whether it be in the Word or through our relationships with others, we often times can get angry because of our pride. We get angry with the mirror, when really the problem is with us and we just don’t like the reflection.

The Holy Spirt was confirming this in my heart as I thought about the resistance in my own heart and the resistance I have seen in the hearts of others in my life to the mirror reflecting truth of God’s Word.

The passage in James continues on about being doers of the Word and not merely hearers…and that by being doers we prove that we are not merely deluding ourselves…the Holy Spirit led my thoughts to a passage in Ephesians 5:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church, is body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also should wives submit in everything to their husbands.

Ephesians 5:22-24

Marriage is awesome mainly because it reflects the relationship of Christ with the Church. As newlyweds, Emily and I have learned a lot about our God given roles of headship and submission. Christ’s leadership is servant leadership as should be mine as I strive to give up everything for Emily as Christ gave up everything for the Church. In return, wives sacrifice their own will in submission to the husbands because they believe and trust the husband is a good leader that has and is striving to give up everything for them. That’s how it’s supposed to work anyway.

When I flip that back around and apply the principle of submission to the Church, to the people who are Christ followers, what James is saying seems connect with the principle of submission. If we are Christ’s Bride, then we will have a spirit of submission to His Word and will. His Spirit will continue to work out the pride induced resistance and anger that forms in us as we see and hear the Truth. We will be broken and healed by it, rather than angered, as we sacrificially submit even when we don’t understand or simply don’t want to.

Be doers of His Word and not merely those that hear. In doing so, you show that you are His Bride. Jesus says in John 15 that if you love Him you do what He commands. This would sound dictatorial if Jesus hadn’t already given up everything in order to rescue and save you…but He has given everything up for you and He has given everything to you. He is a good leader with your best in mind.

Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.

So…didn’t really mean to say all that in this post…but there you go…:)

Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to share with you an experience I had earlier this week at one of our shows. My good bud Patrick wrote this awesome song called “Don’t Lose Heart” and before singing it he shares about what happened in his heart when he found out a couple years ago that he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He normally shares about how God revealed to him this tendency to be self-reliant and how that is a sin in our lives. In His mercy, Patrick says that God allowed Him to go through this trial of MS in order to teach Him to rely on God. I normally follow that up with a song and teaching about pride and self-concern and how it has been destructive for man-kind from the very beginning…but how Jesus leads us down a road of humility and death to self so that we can have true life again.

Afterwards, I had a college professor come up to me at our table. He said that we did a good job, but He had a problem with one of our philosophies. He was very nice about it, but he voiced his concern about us calling self-reliance a sin. I was actually really appreciative because we want to make sure that we are thinking through what we are saying and teaching in order to be accurate and clear. It’s important that we don’t teach something false.

Anyway, as a college professor, his concern was that to say self-reliance was a sin and thus “a bad thing,” meant that someone could be led to think that “self-confidence” or “drive” or “hard work” were “bad things.” He mentioned how the pilgrims, our founding Fathers, had to be self-reliant to build our nation. He mentioned how as parents you want your kids to grow up to be self-reliant. He even pointed out that as a group we showed up and relied on our gifting and talents in order to perform that night.

At first, I was genuinely trying to evaluate if we needed to start rephrasing or clarifying what we were teaching…but the more we talked the more I became convinced of the importance of viewing self-reliance as a sin. Here is why:

1.) Hard work is important. The Word of God talks often about the importance of work and not being lazy. (Proverbs 13:4) But we still can’t truly rely on our work. Our founding fathers weren’t self-reliant….they worked hard just as farmers work hard…but God is the one that causes growth.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so the he may bring forth food from the earth.

Psalm 104:14

I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

1 Corinthians 3:6

Both physically and spiritually we can work with all our might, but ultimately we rely on God to cause growth. Even if we don’t realize that we are relying on God…we are relying on God for everything. Self-reliance is a sin because it is faulty thinking. Sin is destructive in our lives and causes separating between us and God. Self-reliance is destructive thinking because it doesn’t reflect the reality of life. We are reliant on God for every breath. For every heartbeat. It’s best that our thinking aligns with the reality because knowing the truth brings rest and freedom to our hearts.

2.) God has given us gifts and talents that we are called to use…but just like with work…they are put to the best use when we truly remember that they are gifts. Sometimes, we get carried away with our own abilities that we get prideful in our hearts because we think that we can rely on ourselves. The tower of Babel is a great example. They thought they could reach God by their own abilities. Patrick and Emily in our group are also great examples of this. For a time, the Lord caused Emily to lose her voice due to vocal damage. Emily has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard! Why did that happen? Well, during that time, Emily realized just how much she couldn’t rely on herself. Her voice is a gift from God. Emily didn’t create her vocal chords, God created them. He gives and takes away. Both are done in His mercy. Patrick has little control over his health and his body. Though God gave them to Patrick, God is still the one in control of Patrick’s body. It’s best for Emily, Patrick, and all of us to remember to rely on God…because we can have confidence and rest in Him. He raises people from the dead. He heals. Who else has that kind of control and power? My God does, and He loves me. I know that He will work all things (even the bad) for my good. I will rely on Him.

3.) I’m tempted to say that self-reliance is a cultural thing for us. As Americans, self-reliance is a part of our culture. It seems really offensive then to call self-reliance a bad thing. However, the more I think about it the more I realize that I don’t necessarily think that it is a cultural thing as much as it is a human nature thing. The Word of God  and history both document the many people groups that grew and took pride in the work of their owns only for it to become their own demise. Israel, God’s chosen people was often found guilty, as a people, for relying on themselves and forgetting to rely on God though He provided for them over and over. He parted the sea for them, He gave them manna and quail, He lead them by cloud and fire…and still Israel struggled with not fully relying on God, but relying on themselves. As Americans, it is a radical, crazy, weird thing to truly and fully rely on God. It seems foolish…but in reality it’s foolish to rely on ourselves. He is constantly putting His people in positions in which they need to rely on Him…and when they do rely on Him…He always proves Himself faithful. Think of Gideon. God taught Gideon and the people of Israel not to rely on the might and strength of  great army…but to rely on the strength and might of God. He will fight for us. He will provide for us. He will deliver us.

The college professor and I had a great talk and he is in no way my enemy and I’m not his enemy. We provided food for thought for each other, and as brothers in Christ, iron to iron, I think we sharpened one another (I feel sharpened!). As we talked we gained more and more understanding of each other, and in many ways we ended up on the same page. He was concerned mostly that to not be self-reliant meant that we lose our confidence and belief in our ability. However, I believe based on the Word of God and my own experience, that relying on God gives us greater confidence and belief in our ability…it’s just that you have to remember the source. All things (besides God) have a source. I am not the source of myself. All life, breath, energy, and goodness flows from God who is the Author, Creator, and Sustainer of all things.

I know this has been long…but I hope that it gives you a lot of reasons to realize your need to rely on God and not yourself. I’m purely talking about your attitude and mindset…because in reality you already DO rely on God. It’s just better for you and I if we live in reality.

I believe self-reliance to be a sin because I believe that our true enemy, the deceiver wants to fool us into trusting in ourselves more than we trust in God. I believe he deceives us in this way because He is trying to destroy us. It isn’t right or good for us to trust in ourselves or rely on ourselves…but in all things to rely on God, to remember God as the source, and to thank and praise Him for being the source and foundation of all life, including ours.

Abide in Me, and I in You. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5

When I get the chance to be home, I work with a small group of kids at my church on Wednesday nights. This past Wednesday I was asked to teach and I decided to do a lesson on the first part of John 15. As a group, we read through the whole passage that I wanted to look at, and then we went back through the whole thing in pieces so that we could talk about it and dive into the passage.

We got to verses 4 & 5, read them again, and I asked the group “What can we do on our own?” Being the good church kids that they are, several mumbled “nothing.” I nodded my head and said, “Okay, why?” One of my kids, 12-13, short, freckly, with dark hair, who is slightly academic but also extremely extroverted,  shot his hand in the air and bobbed up and down. Half expecting a silly or non-text related answer from this middle-schooler, I looked at him and nodded signaling permission for him to answer. With big gestures the boy answered my question in his most serious and loud voice with a slight tone of “duh!“;

“Well! We can’t do anything apart from Christ because it’s not like you can just find floating branches with fruit on them!”

I was floored. And it took me a minute to process and digest what he said. With all my planning and studying and past experiences with this passage, I had never thought of what Jesus was saying in this way. It seems like common sense…and my kid said it as if it were common sense…and yet I realized in that moment that his statement not only reflected the truth of the passage, but also reflected the truth of our hearts.

We do expect to see floating branches bearing fruit. Or, well, maybe we don’t expect them to float…but it’s equally as silly to see a branch broken from a tree, laying on the ground, and expect it to be filled with life and bear fruit. The branch has to be connected to a life source. No matter how much the branch tries on it’s own, it cannot bear fruit. It cannot be filled with life. The branch has to abide in the tree…and as it simply rests there, the tree’s life abides in the branch and gives it the ability to bear fruit. It’s amazing how God has orchestrated the truth to be evident all around us.

Jesus tells us to abide and rest in Him…He even gives us this great metaphor to show us just how silly it really is for His followers NOT to abide in Him…and yet we still expect that we might bear fruit even if we don’t abide. We think that if we just try hard enough maybe we will bear fruit for God. Fruit is evidence of abiding not striving. Fruit gives glory to the life source, not the bearer.

Abiding is a resting action verb…like trusting…leaning on…or believing. The command here is not to bear fruit; the command is to abide. To be connected to Jesus. To know Jesus. We know him by talking to Him and by reading His Word which is how He will often speak to us. God is interested in us bearing fruit, which means that He is interested in our character…in producing within us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We can’t bear this fruit on our own, but when we abide in Him it’s amazing to see these changes sprout and grow in ourselves and in those around us who are also abiding.

Don’t be a branch separated from the vine…those branches are dead or dying. Connect yourself to the life source and be filled with life. You will also find joy because your purpose will be fulfilled. You are like a branch, your purpose is to connect to the vine and bear much fruit.

The wages of the righteous is life,

The income of the wicked is punishment.

Proverbs 10:16

I know that the topic of hell is kinda fiery these days (no pun intended)…I’ve conversed about it with some friends, but for the most part I have kept my distance from this debate so far. I haven’t read the Rob Bell book and I haven’t read the many other new books on hell from Chan, Keller and others…though, I would eventually like to read a little about it.

This blog post isn’t meant to start a debate…this morning the Holy Spirit was speaking to me through His Word, showing me again and in some new ways how WONDERFUL Christ is! He was showing me how GOOD our God is! It’s out of this excitement that I write this blog. I write out of a desire to share what I tasted of Christ’s greatness this morning. I write to continue to marvel and store what I have learned.

It starts with humility and the journey that the Holy Spirit has had me on in the last year in learning the depths of Christ’s humility as well as the depths of human pride.

You see, the proverbs above is simple. So simple in fact that I was tempted to pass over it this morning without much thought. Even in our current state, human nature knows that wickedness and wrong-doing deserves punishment. That is why we have a justice system. That is why we appoint people to judge if something is wrong…but it doesn’t stop there, because then you have to decide what to do with the person who is found guilty of wrong-doing. On a more basic and personal level, this feeling that wrongs should be righted is one big reason why we wrestle with bitterness, revenge, murder. Wrongs must be righted! It’s why we have to learn about forgiveness and mercy…because it is opposed to our nature…or maybe the nature of things.

Enter the pride of man. We have to either believe the Word when it says that we are all guilty…or we believe that in the end we can stand in our own righteousness. It is baffling for some to believe that all are guilty…we are more prone to bring into question the character of God before we bring into question our own character. Or the character of human nature.  But the Word says that we are all already judged guilty. We are all wicked.

Based on the proverb above, if we are all guilty then it should be expected that punishment is coming our way. Based on even our own standards…if we really are guilty, then it should be expected that we would be punished because of our guilt. It shouldn’t be surprising or appalling to think that we might be punished . The character of God should not be brought into question for punishing the guilty…we punish who we believe to be guilty every day!

This is what makes Christ’s atonement for our guilt so incredible. You see, God in His true love and mercy has made a way out for us. He has made a way for us to escape our punishment. It requires that we allow Christ to take our punishment for us. It requires a good deal of humility. It requires us to come back to what Adam and Even abandoned so long ago. Humility and our need for God.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:18

We have a critical choice. The heart implications of the choice are huge, just like the heart implications of the choice Adam and Eve made so long ago. In choosing to let Christ be our Savior we acknowledge that we are guilty before God, and we humble ourselves by letting someone else take our punishment. Christ in that moment becomes beautiful to us. And in Him becoming beautiful to our hearts once again we are brought back into communion with God. That is why the choice matters. That is why you can’t erase the choice. It’s not just about erasing hell, it’s about erasing the way that God has designed a reversal in our hearts. With Adam and Eve, they rejected God and embraced themselves. It was never meant to be that way. By choosing to let Christ take our punishment we embrace God once again…

Just as we condemned ourselves by rejecting God through eating the fruit…we condemn ourselves still by not embracing and believing what Christ has done. By not choosing to let His blood cover us we are still rejecting Him. By rejecting Him we are still banished from the Garden and communion with God. Believing on Christ is the ONLY way. There is no escaping punishment without Him.

I know that hell is real because Christ was punished on my behalf. Someone had to be punished because of my guilt. If I don’t let Christ take that punishment for me…then there is a punishment that awaits me. Hell. Separation from God.

Praise to Christ who not only took my punishment, but made a way for me to realize His beauty by becoming my Savior! Praise to the wisdom of the Father for not only making an escape from what I deserve, but for also creating a way, through choice, for my heart to acknowledge once again my love and need for Him!