Repentance from Dead Works

Back in February, I wrote about striving versus abiding, and I cannot honestly say that I have done much abiding since then.  Striving has gotten rather old, and exhausting, for that matter.  I can't imagine that I am the only person who finds himself in such a place.  So, rather than wallowing in self pity over how much time I've wasted, I will simply pick up where I left and try not to drop the ball down a cavernous hole again.

There is something so amazing about knowing a God who isn't impacted by time.  That's not to say that we don't lose opportunities by wasting it, but we still have hope because God can redeem the time that we have lost or wasted.

The world constantly presents us with the opportunity to get entangled in dead works, which could be defined as any pursuit that does not accomplish the purposes of God and His Kingdom.  There are lots of examples of dead works in the Bible, and our culture seems to invent new ones all the time.  Although, in reality, we know that there is nothing new under the sun.  It's just a new spin on an old rut.

God has specific purposes for each of us; so, what is God's purpose for one, could be a dead work for another.  Just because it looks good doesn't mean it's God.  We don't all have the same gifts and callings for a reason.  To be absolutely clear, I am not saying that anything short of full-time ministry is a dead work, especially since it is quite possible to be in such a place and doing dead works.

As a more concrete example, consider that striving out of fear to get ahead in your job so that you can just barely pay the mounting bills is a dead work.  Providing for your family and working in peace as unto the Lord is not.  The difference is submission to and trust in the Lord.

According to Hebrews 6:1-3, repentance from dead works is an elementary principle:

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this we will do if God permits."  NKJV

Yet, it seems I often have a hard time really walking out what should be basic for every believer.  Now, I recognize too that it is a progression, not a discrete moment in time, wherein we suddenly have a grasp of all of the basic principles.  To repent from dead works, we have to understand what it means to repent.

In Matthew 3:1-2, we read: 

"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'" NKJV

The word repent here comes from the Greek word metanoeo, which means to think differently or reconsider; in other words, change your mind.  To truly think differently in the sense of this word, we are not talking about a new way to rationalize old behavior.  We are talking about a 180, a total turnaround, going in the opposite direction.  

It's often not easy to change our minds, but thanks be to God, we have victory through Him and by the blood of His Son.  Thank God for His unfailing love!  He is always waiting for us to return to Him for sustenance, offering Himself as the Living Bread that brings abundant life.

I don't want to waste anymore time fearing what I may fail at doing in my own strength because the fact is that our own strength will always fail us eventually.  I certainly cannot say that there have not been times recently where I have known that the Lord has carried me through some things or given me the wisdom I needed.  But, I know there is such a greater level of trust in Him where His peace is never overshadowed by fear or doubt.

"I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward." Phil 3:13-14, AMP

Flesh and Blood Part 1: Stop Striving and Start Abiding

Jesus made the statement in Matthew 6:53,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” 

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t get it.  His disciples didn’t get it saying, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”  Jesus continued in verses 54-56,

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

The natural mind cannot understand what Jesus is saying here.  The religious leaders tried to take it literally and some religious people today still do.  We know that He was not saying that we literally had to eat Him because in John 6:63 he says,

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

It behooves us to understand what it means to eat His flesh and drink His blood because we don’t want to find ourselves in the position of having no life in ourselves.  We are quite plainly talking about life and death.  We have to be abiding in the Lord and He in us, or we’re dead.

We are well aware that if we don’t eat or drink anything for days, we’ll eventually die.  Most of us don’t let a day go by without eating or drinking something, however small.  No one enjoys the feeling of hunger or thirst to the ragged edge of death.  Most people have never been in that place of desperation when it comes to physical survival.  Yet, I’d venture to guess that most people exist in that place when it comes to spiritual things.  Some might get a small glass of milk on Easter and Christmas.

Why do you suppose we ever allow ourselves to wander away from the very Source of life, even one that is freely offered?  Pride.  It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it was what took Satan from being a beautiful angel in God’s presence to a twisted, deceived enemy of God and His creation.  Here are a few of the (many) lies that drive how people live in this day and age, and they are really rooted in pride.

Lie #1: I can make it on my own.

Scripture is very clear that we can do nothing without the Lord.  Our plans and fleshly desires lead to one thing: death.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” - Prov 14:12

Lie #2: I can’t stop worrying about the “important” things.

I honestly believe that we somehow feel that we have more control over things when we worry about them.  We try to take ownership of major decisions in our lives when we have no business doing so.  Not only does worrying not accomplish anything, but it even shortens our lives here on earth.  Don’t believe me?  Go Google stress and the effects it has on our bodies.  It’s obvious that worry and stress are major issues in our society, just based on the sheer amount of information about stress relief out there.  It’s pretty sick that the media puts out a bunch of garbage for some kind of weird adrenaline high on news of disaster and chaos and then has the audacity to tell us about some new method for stress relief.

Lie #3: God is holding out on me.

Again, this is not new.  Remember what the serpent said in the Garden of Eden about the fruit from tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (See Gen 3:1-4)  There has never been a time where it was a good idea to think “God isn’t getting me what I want; so, I’m going to get it for myself.”  But, that is exactly what our culture teaches us to do.

The world’s concept of living is staying healthy, having nice things and maybe even trying to do some good for others.  The problem is that this form of “living” can only become striving for the things that we want out of life.  We become convinced that we have to compete with everyone else on the planet for the life we want.  We get to the point of thinking we’re alive because we’re breathing and have a pulse.  This “living” is really a slow dying.  The logical conclusion of this path is becoming our own God:

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” - 2 Thess 2:3-4

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” - 1 Cor 3:16-17

God’s desire for us is that we stop striving for the “good” in life and receive His best that He has already offered us.  Jesus didn’t live for Himself, and He didn’t live because of His own actions.  He lives because the Father lives and Jesus feeds on the life coming from Him.  We must in turn feed on the life coming from Jesus.

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

This feeding by abiding in the Vine is how we truly live.  We have to continuously move our focus away from the strivings of this temporary existence to the eternal life and love of our heavenly Father.  It is a moment-by-moment battle sometimes, especially when so many things are vying for our focus, even some that seem to be “good” things.

The best part of all is that if our sole desire is to never allow our connection to the Vine to be hindered, we will quickly find that the Lord handles the cares of this life.  He does a much better job of handling them too!  We don’t even have to strive to abide in Him.  We simply seek His face by faith, knowing that He will feed us.  We live by His flesh and blood, not by our own.

“But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’ Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.’”

Next time we’ll look more into feeding on the living bread.  Stay tuned…

How to Stop Abundant Life in Three Easy Steps

Step 1: Complain.
Step 2: Complain.
Step 3: Complain.

Complaining is a pit with which I found myself most familiar this week.  Unfortunately, it is a plague that breeds quickly and can be difficult to escape.  It is easy to fall into when circumstances are not what we would like them to be.  However, this reality does not offer us an excuse, because we know God’s reality overcomes the perceived reality of this world.  Complaining robs us of the abundant life that the Lord desires us to walk in every moment of every day.

Complaining is dangerous and destructive:

“nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Cor 10:10-11

But we always have a way out:

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Cor 10:12-13

When we find ourselves in the midst of an opportunity to complain, we have a way out. If you’re like me, you complain about day-to-day stuff like long hours at work, car repairs and traffic.  I believe the key to avoiding the temptation to complain and walking in abundant life instead is to involve God in the day-to-day stuff, all the gory details.  

The Lord cares about the details and wants to be involved.  There isn’t anything He can’t handle!  There have been several occasions where He has helped me solve a problem writing computer software at work.  Why?  Because He loves me, as He does you:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” - Matt 10:29-31

God knows every hair on our heads, and He completely understands every situation we walk through, which is why we can walk in abundant life, even in the midst of something really awful.

If we seek Him instead of complaining, He can show us the path of life through the messes in our lives.  Our mess for His life; now that’s a deal and a half!  We have so much more to be thankful for than we have problems to complain about.

Diligently Seeking

Whether it is read by 10 or 10,000, I have felt the leading of the Lord to once again use the gifts He's given me in a deliberate and focused way.  It's been over a year now since I have done any teaching, and if I don't put a demand on the gift somehow, I am wasting it.  So, here we are.

I’ve always found that the best environment for teaching is one in which there is an exchange, not only a giving, but also a receiving.  If you feel so inclined, please feel free to share what the Lord is showing you today.  As members of the Body of Christ, we are to spur one another on to love and good works.  Please study these things out for yourselves.  Don’t just take my word for it.  1 Thess. 5:21 says, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

I've entitled this blog "Diligently Seeking Him Today" because it is what I need to do every single day.  The title comes from Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." NKJV  The phrase "diligently seek" is a single Greek word, ekzeteo.  It means to search out, investigate, crave, demand and worship.  Our greatest reward is to truly know God and to be known by Him.  We must crave the Lord above all else.

It is a seeking that is always in the present and should be continuous.  My prayer is that any who read this blog hear the Lord's heart, are blessed and are challenged to pursue Him with greater tenacity.  I want to know God more every day.

In pursuit,

Haans