LOYALTY - FIRST VALUE OF A SOLDIER OF CHRIST

 THE FIRST OF SEVEN VALUES OF A SOLDIER OF CHRIST - LOYALTY

FOUNDATIONAL VERSE: "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him."  (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB 1995)

CONSIDER THIS: LOYALTY

“So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord….2 Samuel 23:16

CONSIDER THIS: The account in this verse is amazing. If you actually see it in one of the old time Bible movies about King David, it is even more impactful. David and his “Mighty Men”, as the scriptures call them, were equally in danger and under duress. Yet these three great soldiers put their very own lives at risk to get the equivalent of “designer water” for their leader, who was just reminiscing about the tasty spring waters of Bethlehem, his birth place. When they bravely went behind enemy lines, drew a large amount of water from the Bethlehem well, and escaped again to take the water to King David, he was immediately cognizant of the fact that he did not deserve such a favor. He knew the men had risked their own lives to satisfy his fleeting thirst for tasty water.

The question for us is – are we willing to risk ANYTHING to please our God? David took the gift of his special favorite water and poured down the altar as a drink offering to the Lord. He did not even take one drink. What the three warriors and their other comrades saw was a man so completely sold out to the Lord, that he gave Him the thing he desired most at that moment in time. Scripture tells us that the Lord desires the praises of His people. Worship is not music but a frame of mind, which includes prayer, music and the Word of God.

David worshiped God in praise (as the pouring of the Drink Offering) as he prayed in 2 Samuel 23:17 “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

ACTION: By definition, a Christian is loyal to Christ. Many of us would go the extra mile to win our loved one to Salvation or to feed and clothe a relative, friend or homeless person. The question is, are we therefore loyal or better yet, absolutely aware of the sacrifice God gave on the Cross? Are we willing to give up a craving for some fancy thing, as David did? Are we so tuned into the Holy Spirit that we can pray, praise, read the Bible and fast when spurred by the Spirit so we can grasp that the greater calling of the Christian is to worship God over everything else? We can enhance our spiritual maturity if we react proactive, daily, to all of these points, going forward. We will suddenly find ourselves instinctively drawing closer to the Lord, in prayer, bible study and deed.

HOLY WEEK - THURSDAY: "TWO TRANSFORMATIVE EVENTS"

On the day which some call “Maundy Thursday”,  a series of significant events occurred which brought a new paradigm and way of thinking to those who aspire to be both leaders and servants of the Lord.  It was Passover, just as it is now, in 2017 around Good Friday. On the biblical calendar (which is different from the Julian calendar we used in today’s world – the one created by Julius Caesar), Passover is always on 14 Nisan 5777 (not the automaker Nissan, but Nisan – which was April 10th 2017 this year). Jesus had sent Peter and the disciples ahead to prepare the Upper Room for the Passover Seder.

The Passover Seder is much like what some of us, who are versed in these things, have done in various venues for years, with all the required elements. Except when Jesus is doing the Passover remembrance, it is the real deal! He is not just the actual Passover Lamb Himself, metaphorically speaking, but it was Christ Who led the Exodus out of Egypt all the way from when He met Moses on Mt. Sinai in the Burning Bush...and created the original Passover at that time.

Apart from the physical preparations for the meal, the strong undercurrent and tension of the previous few days events in Jerusalem, now packed with up to one million people for the Passover, weighed heavily in the air. Jesus, the Man Who preached peace, love and forgiveness was starting to reassume His eternal title of Divine Judge and had overturned not just the tables, but the same corrupt and evil order who had existed since the time the Magi (the Wise Men) visited Herod looking for the Christ Child. These Magi had seen the Star of Bethlehem in the East and followed it to find the baby Jesus in the Manger. Jerusalem was in uproar, knowing the prophesied Messiah had come to mess up their evil world order and now, 33  years later, nothing had changed. The worldly powers had seen first-hand, what a Righteous God can do. They still did not believe. The question is, if we were alive in Jerusalem, would be part of the uproar against Christ, or would we stand on the sidelines or would we have been all in? These are serious things to ponder, even now! Please do not think modern day Christians are incapable of acting just like some of these folks from Bible times! 

What happened during the meal carries deep significance for us Christians, and Christian leaders, alive today.  The one that is most talked about and emulated, is the actual “Washing of the Feet”.  I have been honored to be asked to be the recipient of this act of selfless humility and service, decades ago while attending a church in Hartford, Connecticut.  It shakes one to the core. It makes you feel completely unworthy and it brings home not just the symbolism of what Jesus – the CREATOR OF THE WORLD – did for this rag tag group of men who would abandon him less than 12 hours later, but what He actually did for us on the Cross.

The Ultimate Life Coach – King Jesus – basically did what He came off the Eternal Throne of Heaven to do. He did the job Himself. But in this act of washing the disciples’ dirty feet, He instituted the only acceptable form of leadership which is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Listen to what He said here in John 13:12-17:
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 

Jesus surely made these men uncomfortable by this act and they should have been. Just as Jesus shook up the world order for the sons of perdition, He was even more intentional about Kingdom Order for the few who are chosen then, and the many who will be chosen in the Kingdom to come.  When Peter recoiled, as maybe a lot of us would have,  He was told in no uncertain terms, that this is how it was going to be. In our own way of thinking, how would we have reacted to Jesus washing our feet? In a sense He already did. He washed us clean with His Supernatural Blood if we are born again and have accepted His Lordship in our lives!

The other significant event that night was the betrayal.  It was particularly noteworthy that everyone or most of the disciples thought that he was the one who was going to betray the Lord! In a sense, most of them did. They scurried away and headed for the hills as soon as King Jesus was captured by the bad guys, after their crooked treasurer Judas betrayed Jesus. 

All the disciples, from the rambunctious Peter who literally cussed up a blue streak while denying Jesus Christ three times to the fabulous sons of thunder, (minus John who wrote the Book of John), ALL abandoned the Lord. The beloved John the Revelator not only showed up at the Crucifixion, but stood next to Mary, mother of Jesus, James, Jude and other sisters and a brother. He was the only one spared an early death, but not persecution.

In a sense, we have all betrayed Him.  When one sinned – all sinned. There is no difference between Adam, whom God had personally instructed face to Face, standing next to his wife while she negotiated with Satan and then joining her in her sin….and the daily sin we commit, even as Christians. Sin is sin and missing the mark, big time. 

We also miss the mark when we do not stand up for Christ in the marketplace. A person very close to me and a group of new recruits of over 50 men and women stood before the local Colonel at their first military drills.  Out of the blue, the Colonel asked if anyone in the group was a Christian. Only one person put his hand up and it was that person whom I knew very well. Then the Colonel explained the reason he asked. He just wanted to inform them that chaplains were available for Christians and others if they needed.  It was as simple as that and not a call to join the Crusades. Still, while others may have said they were later on, the reluctance to even identify as a Christian in so-called “Christian America” is absolutely stunning.

When we pass on even stating who we are, in the marketplace, alongside our co-workers or even the classroom, because in the world’s opinion it is not the “cool thing” to do, we too run from Christ and hide like His disciples did. We are not saying that any of us would have sold out Jesus to the enemy for 30 pieces of silver or bitcoin. No real Christian would ever do that, but we have all kept silent when Christ has been blasphemed, maligned and/or worse. Most Christians – professing or authentic – are incapable of even explaining one substantial answer for the Hope that is within us, as Scripture prescribes because only 9% of Adults even know the Bible or have a worldview which encompasses the Real God of Heaven. Even less millennials are Biblical literate – 4% and declining (all current George Barna figures).  Within two generations, most young people will be completely lost to the world. There is absolutely no difference between any of this and what the disciples in scattering to the four winds. 

These are two of the most significant things which occurred in the hours (on the Thursday of Holy Week) leading up to the arrest and six illegal trials of the Lord Jesus.  Both have had significant impact, on not just the church, but has affected each and every authentic follower of Christ. Those who are wise, will rise and learn from this one incredible act of Jesus (washing of the feet) and the betrayal (the acts of men). May we be found wise in His Eyes and may our Lives be continually transformed into HIS Likeness and not the one which reflects this quickly perishing and fleeting age. Amen.

HEALED! - THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH

There is an amazing incident in the Bible that happened in the 8th century BC in ancient Judah which still takes your breath away. The reason is, this miracle, where God was about to call a man home - King Hezekiah - occurred when the King prayed one of the shortest prayers ever recorded! For the record, the shortest prayer ever has to be when Peter was sinking after walking on the water briefly towards Jesus (on the Sea of Galilee) and he shouted out in fear and trepidation "Lord, save me!" Those are the most powerful three words in history for any lost sinner, such as you and I were before He rescued us from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light!

Hezekiah was a very young man, probably in his early 50's when the Word of the Lord came to the Amazing Prophet Isaiah. Chapter 38 verse 1 says "In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”

But then here comes the one short sentence prayer which caused God to do something unique, in Isaiah 38:2-3 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” 

What was it in that short prayer that could have caused God to respond this way: (verses 4-6): "And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’ 

One of the most productive things any Christian can do is to read and study the dozens and scores of prayers in the Bible! Each one is unique in circumtance but there is a common denominator to each prayer that inspires the reader (you and I) to become prayer warriors like these our predecessors in the Faith, whom we shall meet one day in Heaven and fellowship with forever! That common thread was Faith and Submission to the Will and Work of God. Keep this in mind, through the following: brief look at  King Hezekiah's Prayer: 

- Hezekiah turned his face TOWARDS the wall: the man and woman of God MUST turn away from the bonds of this world and TO the One Who holds the world in His Hands. Not just that but doing this indicates FULL reliance on the power and promises of God to heal, seal and reveal His plans for us.
- Hezekiah "prayed to the LORD": do not be afraid to go to the Lord with even bitter questions of "why Lord, why is this happening" because if you are listening and not trying to answer the question yourself, He will show you why something is amiss, why He allowed it and where this is supposed to lead you in your relationship with Him.
- Hezekiah asked the Lord to remember: Now the Lord did NOT forget a thing. But there is nothing wrong in bringing up your faith and full trust in Yahweh as an introduction to your prayer, and mine, not to remind God but to come to the Throne in full understanding of your right standing before Him.
- Hezekiah walked with God in Truth and with a loyal heart:  and Hezekiah did do that. He removed the pagan form of idolatry and worship and stood on the Word of God his entire life. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says "the Eyes of the Lord runneth to and fro across the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him". While God may not perform a life saving miracle every time, for His own reasons, He does stand up for those who stand WITH Him! Just reflect back on our own lives, and think of the many times He rescued us from this calamity, and that financial hole or this accident or that health scare or worse. This comes from an intentional and purposeful daily WALK with The LORD. Scripture encourages us constantly to WALK with Him and the kind of Walk we should have as sinners saved by Grace. We walk with those whom we love, so why should we not walk with the One Who loved us?!
- Hezekiah did what was good in God's sight: as much as it depends on us, let us do as much good as we can. We should do this, not just to our families where it is expected but to and for those who can give us nothing in return. I am not just talking about helping the poor and homeless but also for living like King Hezekiah, whose deeds made it possible for the Truth of God to reign and be a testimony to others. THAT is our calling.

PART 1 - ENOCH "WALKED WITH GOD"....

In a world, where life is lived at warped speed, it is profoundly difficult to fathom our Life's Journey as a "Walk" with the Lord, our God. "Walking" implies an activity which is done at a steady and/or measured pace. It is even more delightful if done with someone whom you love or admire, such as a spouse, your children or a close friend. Even more precious, though, is our "Walk with the Lord".

We get a hint of how wonderful walking is when we read in Genesis 3:8 that ... they (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Three things stand out here here: 
- The Lord (Jesus Christ the Creator) walks 
- His garden welcoming and comfortable with cool and full of trees
- The Presence of Him Who made us was in the Walk.

This may challenge theological thinking from seminaries and other man-made formulas, but I know now, that even when I was not walking with the Lord in my rebellious days, He was with me. I know that now, looking back at all the times He rescued me from the pit and those who would do me harm.  It is obvious that before they sinned, Adam and Eve walked and fellowship with the Lord. The above-mentioned verse confirms this.  But it was not just this truth, but the fact that Jesus also WALKED WITH them before the Fall! He was present and was with them as they did the work He called them to in the Garden.

The open and vile sin of both Adam and Eve of listening to a filthy serpent when you are accustomed to being the Presence of the Creator of this amazing Universe, is truly stunning. We all know the current state of the world is because of that sin, but for the purposes of "Walking with the Lord", what does this look like and what does it mean for us?

A much overlooked Biblical hero is a man named Enoch, a direct descendant of Adam and the great-grandfather of Noah. The Book of Genesis said this about Enoch: "Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:22b–24).

Going back one verse to Genesis 5:21-22a, we see that something happened to Enoch at age 65...and this should be an encouragement to us, no matter how old we are...or even if we think we are TOO old and God cannot use us! This verse says in part "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years." After Enoch became the father of the oldest man in the Bible - Methusaleh - it says that he walked with God for the next 300 years!

Methusaleh is important as his name literally means in Hebrew "his death shall bring judgment".  Methusaleh lived 969 years and at his death, the Great Flood was sent to cleanse the earth of all human degradation. Enoch means "dedicated" (Chanokh in the original Hebrew) and by his 300 year Walk with the Lord, his dedication led to his unique translation into Heaven. Enoch is only one of two men in the Bible who did not experience physical death. Elijah is the other one.

When God gives a name in Scripture, He is directly communicating something by that designation. He changed the name of Abram to Abraham. He changed the name from Saul to the Apostle Paul and called His chief disciple (Simon Barjonah) to Peter. When God caused Jared to name his son Enoch, the Lord knew that the latter would be dedicated to Him.

Since words mean thing, we need to look at the word "dedication" from whence Enoch's name was derived. Websters Dictionary described "Dedication" as the following:
- a feeling of very strong support for or loyalty to someone or something 
- an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use
- self-sacrificing devotion
- the quality or state of being dedicated to a person, group, cause
- the act of officially saying that something (or here, somebody like Enoch) was created for a particular purpose (such as worship) or to remember or honor a particular person.

Webster's has described the perfect Walk with God, without knowing it! A man (Enoch), whose name means dedicated, walked for 300 years as a loyal man of God who saw the evil of his day, and gave up worldly pleasures (in self-sacrifice) to remain true and loyal, having been set apart (or dedicated) for God, as one of His own. Being set apart like this is a perfect example of the sanctification, which the true woman or man of God is experiencing right now, due to our surrender to Jesus as Lord.

The man or woman of God was (and is) also created for the most particularly important function and that is to worship, honor and obey the Father. All of this is directly implicated in the name of Enoch!

Do we have this kind of dedication? If we do not, we are not walking in Spirit, Truth and Righteousness! Have we dedicated our life to walking with Him, in the fullness of His Presence?
Does our Walk glorify Him?
Are we walking behind or away from Him, by sins of omission as well as commission? 
Are we even walking ahead of Him, but not waiting on His prompting, guidance and direction which can only be gotten through prayer? By doing this, we are chasing windmills.
Are we?

These are questions which each individual has to answer on his or her own.  There is a benefit for the Christian to be walking in sync, and in God's timing and pace, rather than behind or ahead of Him. 

When we walk behind Him, we lose the blessings of His Presence and Power in our lives. We may even be at risk of backsliding and losing fellowship with Him.

When we walk ahead of Him, we short-circuit His wonderful plans and purpose for us and put ourselves in a world of hurt, due to our impatience. There is nothing more perfect than God's Timing. So why blow it by doing things your own way and not waiting on the Lord? 

We have all committed these errors and paid the price of stress, anxiety and failure. Isn't it time, therefore, to have the kind of walk - like Enoch - so that we too can say like the Psalmist "In Your Presence, there is fullness of Joy"!  This kind of fullness can only come, by walking daily and keeping pace with, the One Who saved us by His Grace.

THE EYES OF THE LORD PART 2 - "ALL IN"

“For the Eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

The theme of the 2014 Fellowship of Christian Athletes annual sports camp (for high school kids and led by its powerful Chaplain Kirby Myers of the Naval Academy FCA) is “All In”…..as in totally sold out to Christ, or committed to walking in His Ways – which are not our ways.  At least one quarter of the high school teens are only there for the sports camp training from the best football, baseball etc. coaches in any state.  Some of these coaches are many times state champions like the Central Illinois father-son team of Ken and Derek Leonard, the latter having four straight state 4A High School football championships under his belt. We can say that kids like those are not “all in”.

So it was with a king of Judah named Asa, who was ruled the southern kingdom around     the 9th century BC. When he had been king for 36 years, the southern kingdom of Judah was attacked by the northern kingdom and its vicious armies.  But instead of turning to the Lord, Who had favored the southern kingdom, Asa made a treaty with the pagan kind of Aram (Syria)….a man named Ben-Hadad.  The Lord had already sent the prophet Azariah to warn Asa that if he (Asa) sought the Lord, the Lord will be gracious and open to him. But God also warned Asa that “if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”!  2 Chronicles 15:17 said that Asa’s heart was “blameless all his days”.

But then, something happened. When Asa made his pact to seek Ben-Hadad’s assistance to defend Judah, he disregarded the Word of the Lord. The Lord then sent another prophet, Hanani, to deliver the word from on high. When Hanani went to tell King Asa of the direct admonishment of the Lord, for relying on a pagan alliance with Ben-Hadad rather than God whom Asa followed for most of his life, the King through Hanani in prison! Not just that, but King Asa had a complete shift in character from the majority of the many decades of good rule, and began oppressing his own people. In due course, King Asa developed a severe disease in his feet and instead of turning to the Lord for healing, as apparently he used to do, he turn and trusted only in his mortal doctors. There was a strange end to this once Godly turned prideful and selfish man - King Asa. When he died, he was buried in a grave - WHICH HE DUG FOR HIMSELF!

There are some critical lessons for us to learn from a man like King Asa. They are relevant for even these modern times. The first one is that you can do all kinds of wonderful work for the Lord. You can do go missions to dig water wells for people or build churches in Central America. You can feel the homeless at the local breadline or even win souls for Christ in passionate street ministry. You can be the best preacher in town with the liveliest church. If all of this means your self-reliance on your own judgment, is more important than seeking the Lord.... or you have some notion about making friends with the world to "get along", then you are in mortal King Asa territory. In this case, it would be a good idea to search your own heart to see if you are truly born again!

Secondly, the scary thing was - Scripture said Asa's heart was "blameless all his days"....until that 36th year when he committed a HUGE sin by taking the gold and silver from GOD's TEMPLE in Jerusalem and giving it to Ben-Hadad, for some defense "alliance". We can be deceived into thinking we are alright for most of our christian life and show our true colors towards the end of life, when it counts the most. We can appear to live the perfect life, in the eyes of the world, yet suffer shame and loss on Judgment Day. Asa shook his fists in front of Holy God not once, but many times in the last three years of his long reign as king. He knew the power of God - we know the power of God. He knew God would fight his battles, if he asks - we know the Source of our Strength, but sometimes do the opposite of Philippians 4:13. 

He knew the prophets of God (Azariah and Hanani) and persecuted them for speaking truth - we stick our heads in the sand because we, as a church, are afraid to acknowledge sin, call it sin, call evil evil and then stand up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are no different from King Asa sometimes...to the point of doing it our way, with no apologies to Frank Sinatra. Some of us refuse to even pray and/or intercede for our families and friends or country, because "God knows I'm okay". Some of us are so full of our own pride and self-importance that we even dig our own philosophical grave, as King Asa did so we could be buried "his way"!

The Scripture, whose context anchor this historic event, says that "the Eyes of the Lord run and move to and fro" across all mankind....to find AND support those whose hearts were ALL IN, or LOYAL to Him! King Asa was NOT loyal to HIm when it counted. Are you?
Jesus said in Matthew 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." What the Savior really means is that the elect - those who are called by His Name and are saved WILL make it all the way to the end of all things.  This is absolutely true. True believers have the capacity to persevere (also called "Perseverance of the Saints") because the Holy Spirit of God, who lives in us to guide us to the path of all Truth, leads us into the path of all Truth. The challenge from now on is for each of us to set our eyes and hearts to "Jerusalem" to fix our gaze on Him; to never waver and to never, never, never give up and never give in.

Let us then resolve to be like King David in Psalm 139:23-24" Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way within me". Then beseech the Lord to remove all filth, sin, iniquity and the propensity towards transgression, that His Eyes may find us "all in" for Him! Amen.