Look to Jesus

The quote I shared below is an interesting one, and I would like to share it again.  According to the book Steps to Christ, "As we meditate upon the perfections of the Saviour, we shall desire to be wholly transformed and renewed in the image of His purity. There will be a hungering and thirsting of soul to become like Him whom we adore. The more our thoughts are upon Christ, the more we shall speak of Him to others and represent Him to the world" (E.G. White, p. 89).  As I read this I couldn't help but think of a Bible verse.  

In II Corinthians 3:18, Paul says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (NIV).  How are we being transformed?  By reflecting the "Lord's glory."  To reflect the glory of Jesus, we must look to him.  You cannot see your reflection in a mirror without looking into a mirror. 

All too often, as part of our supposed Christian walk, we become quite absorbed in "being good."  Ephesians 2:8 reminds us that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."Clearly it is impossible to be good enough under our own power, and yet we still find ourselves in the trap of looking at ourselves and our "goodness" or lack thereof.  Our focus within this mindset of exactly the opposite of where it should be.  

If we would but turn our eyes to Christ, we would then be able to reflect HIS character and HIS glory.  This in turn brings another question: why aren't more of us reflecting Jesus in our lives?  I believe it is because we are not looking to Jesus.  I want to encourage everyone to focus on your relationship with Jesus first and foremost in your life.  Spend time getting to know Him so that you can reflect His beauty and perfection to the world around you.  

Just imagine the effect we could have on the world if we started to actually interact with others as Jesus would!!!

To Be Like Christ

"As we meditate upon the perfections of the Saviour, we shall desire to be wholly transformed and renewed in the image of His purity. There will be a hungering and thirsting of soul to become like Him whom we adore. The more our thoughts are upon Christ, the more we shall speak of Him to others and represent Him to the world."

SC 89.2

"Come Out of Her"

This past week, a major event with global repercussions shocked the world.  Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.  This unheard of announcement from a Pope quickly gained more attention than the more light-hearted news stories, such as the 2013 Grammy Awards.  However, it was at the Grammy Awards that we find what is possibly an even more sinister news item.  The winner for Album of the Year???  Drumroll please........ The Album of the Year was entitled "Babel."  As a Bible-believing Christian, that set off alarms in my head.

We first find Babel mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 11.  "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech" (verse 1, NIV).  That is significant.  The flood has recently occurred and people are now fully engaged in repopulating the earth.  In verses 3-4, the people determine that they should build a city with a "tower that reaches to the heavens" to make a name for themselves (verse 4, NIV).  Next God proceeds to confuse their languages so that they cannot continue in the course they have chosen.  As a result, after the people scattered out from the former building site, it became known as "Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world."

A quick check of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary describes Babel as "a confusion of sounds or voices" and also as "a scene of noise or confusion."  I would suggest that we are living in a scene of noise or confusion today.

We find Babel, or Babylon (built on the site of the original city), showing up later in the Bible when the Israelites are carried off into the Babylonian Captivity.  While there, in Daniel 4:30 we find King Nebuchadnezzar praising his own successes saying, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" (NIV).  The message is clear: Babylon is centered on glorifying humanity and rejecting God as the Source of all Power.  In fact, I recommend reading all of Daniel chapter 4 for more on this story and its implications.

Fast forward some more, to the New Testament book of Revelation, and we find Babylon showing up again.  Spiritual Babylon is our real concern as Christians, and Revelation dwells on the topic at length.  The crowning appeal comes as John hears "another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins'" (Revelation 18:4, NIV).

We find in Revelation 13:14, we find a lamb-like beast, representing the United States, setting up an image in honor of the first beast, representing spiritual Babylon.  And now, our media and pop culture has awarded arguably music's highest honor on an Album entitled Babel.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  Time is short, and soon I believe that, instead of something trivial like the Grammys, the United States will be honoring spiritual Babylon officially.

Babylon represents confusion, and in spiritual Babylon we find all sorts of confusion.  The Bible says to "Come out of her," meaning that we need to know our beliefs and stand firm in them.  Earth's time is short.  There is not time for putting off a decision for Jesus until later.  Accept Him and begin to study His Word today to find out the Truth about what God wants for each of His people.

Persistent Prayer

"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their in and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:13, 14).

God never promised that life would be easy, and in fact it appears that He purposefully allows difficult times to invade our lives.  God says, "When I shut up the heavens..." The rest of the verse explains that the purpose of trials and tribulations is to encourage God's people to humble themselves before the King of the Universe, to pray, to seek God's face, and turn away from doing evil.  What I would like to focus on is prayer.

While God wants to hear from us during the trials and tribulations, He also wants to hear from us the rest of the time as well.  In fact, prayer is our lifeline to Heaven, without which we will drift so far from God that it will require those tough times in our life to remind us of our dependence on the Giver of Life.  Often we get so caught up in the cares of this world that we forget to spend time in prayer.  "Prayer is a necessity; for it is the life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place; but it is secret communion with God that sustains the soul life" (Ed 258.3).

One of Jesus' greatest concerns is that He will return to take His people home only to discover a lack of faith in Him.  In the story of the persistent widow found in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells of a widow who kept presenting her request for justice against an adversary before the town judge.  The judge "neither feared God or cared about men" (verse 2), but due to the widow's persistence eventually granted her request so she wouldn't "weary" him.  Jesus then goes on to make the point that if an earthly judge who does not care for men would eventually grant the widow her request, how much more will an all-powerful and loving God grant us our requests when we continually present them before Him!!!

The warning then comes with Jesus adding, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).  Prayer is one way in which we are called to exercise our faith.  God is ready and waiting to answer our requests, but first we need to show the persistence that demonstrates our faith in and complete reliance on God.  Among the things Jesus wants us to pray for is that we may not fall into temptation (Luke 22:40).  As time grows ever shorter and the world around us becomes more and more corrupt and sinful, a constant and life-giving connection with God is essential to avoiding temptation.

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly  that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced crops" (James 5:16-18).  Scripture is clear: what Elijah had can be the experience of any believer in Christ.  Jesus asked if He would find faith on the earth when He returns. It is our duty to stay true to God, and we begin first of all by maintaining our connection to Him through prayer.

In I Kings 18:41-46, we find Elijah, full of faith, convinced that God will now send rain on the land.  The showdown on Mt. Carmel with the priests of Baal is complete (I Kings 18:19-41).  Elijah is so sure of the God he serves that he tells King Ahab to "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain," (verse 41) and this before there is even a cloud in the sky!

Elijah then returns to the top of Mt. Carmel to intercede with God on Israel's behalf.  Even though Israel has followed after foreign gods, the people have overwhelmingly made a decision to follow the true God again.  Elijah begins praying, and after each prayer sends his servant to look towards the sea for any sign of the coming rain.  One time, two times, three times, no clouds, no sign of rain.  Four times, five times, six times, and by now most people would have given up, but not Elijah because his faith in God is total at this point.  Jesus did not tell the story of the Persistent Widow randomly, but really wanted to drive home the point that we need to intercede with God not once, not twice, but many times.  Finally, on the seventh time, Elijah's servant returns and reports a cloud the size of a man's hand (I Kings 18:44).

Elijah hurries down to Ahab and tells him to hurry home or else get caught in the storm which soon bursts upon the land.  "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).  God is seeking people who will "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17), people who will continue to pray, in faith, for God to work in their lives and the lives of those around them.

In Mark 11:24, Jesus tells us that when we ask and believe, God will answer our prayers.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).  God is waiting, yearning to hear from his children.  "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer" (I Peter 3:12).  If God cares about us so much and wants to hear from us, then we should give Him the honor and respect He deserves.  Will you purpose to spend more time in prayer starting today so that when Jesus comes He will find faith on the earth?