21

Jump Start # 1730

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1730

Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

  This is Thanksgiving week. It’s a busy time. College students will be coming home. Plans will be made for cooking, traveling and family gatherings. It’s a great time. There will be feasting, football, fun and memories made. Some will use the time to rest. Others will use the time to find deals on black Friday. The moment of Thanksgiving will cause God’s people to count their blessings. We live in good times. There is much to be thankful for, especially spiritually. Where would we be without Jesus? What a scary thought that is.

 

Thankfulness begins with reflecting and remembering. So, for the next few days we will bring to your mind a few thoughts that helps us with our Thanksgiving. Today, we begin with remembering. What better place to begin than to see that God remembered Noah in the ark.

 

Our verse comes from the days within the ark. It’s hard for us to imagine what it would have been like to have been in that boat with all those animals for more than a year. I had a trip to the grocery store last night, my wife was cooking and needed something. My suggestion as to an replacement ingredient didn’t pass her test. So, off to the store I went. I passed a chicken house. I don’t know what they were doing, but it really smelled. It was so strong, I thought I was going to get sick in the car. I don’t know how Noah handled the smell in that boat. Noah was not at the helm. It seems the ark was floating about as God directed it. Our verse can leave the impression that God had forgotten Noah. We could see an angel tapping God on the shoulder and pointing down to the ark on earth and God saying, “Oh, I forgot about them.” That didn’t happen. God never forgot Noah. The expression, “God remembered” simply means God kept His promise. God was aware the entire time of Noah, and his family. That’s all that was left in the world. Why God didn’t have Noah save all the babies and children of the world is not explained to us. God is good. God is holy. His ways are much higher than our ways.

 

God remembered Noah. God remembered His promise to Abraham. Hundreds of years after Abraham, when the nation of Judah couldn’t make up it’s mind whether to bow to Jehovah or Baal, God remembered His promise to Abraham. Punishment. Captivity. Destruction of a city and the holy Temple. Yet, God remembered. A remnant would return. A bloodline would be preserved. God remembered.

 

The thankful heart begins by reflecting, realizing and remembering. I mentioned in a sermon yesterday, that all of us have had help and blessings through the years, that many of us never realized. Most of us are where we are today because someone gave us a chance, someone opened a door for us, someone believed in us. The first job, the first date, the first sermon, even the first Jump Start written. I just wonder how many prayers our parents prayed for us that we never realized. I wonder how often those first Bible class teachers thought about us and hoped that we would understand God’s word. I wonder how many times our mates, even our children have prayed for us and we never knew.

 

Our look in the Bible shows us that there has always been those who were there to help others. The eunuch had someone to answer his question which led to learning about Jesus. Cornelius had Peter. Down at the riverbank is Lydia and some women and there Paul comes and teaches them. The Jailer that Silas and Paul. Apollos had Priscilla and Aquila. Without Barnabas, the young convert, Paul, would have had trouble in Jerusalem. It seems that everyone had someone else to help them. They taught. They supported. They opened doors. They connected them to others. A fellowship was established. A brotherhood was experienced.

 

Not far from where I live is the heart of thoroughbred race horses. The bloodlines and the pedigree of those horses is not only worth millions of dollars, but also the beginnings of the next champions. We each have a spiritual pedigree, a bloodline that connects us to Christ. Most of us preachers remember those early days and those first sermons. They weren’t very good. Brethren were more than patient, they kept seeing something in us. They encouraged us. They bragged on us more than we deserved. They kept putting fuel in our hearts to go on. And we did. And we got better. And we moved on. And we preached and preached and preached. Hundreds of places. Thousands of faces. A lot of sermons. Hours and hours of study, research and digging into the word. We never quit. And here we are today, but it could not have happened had it not been for those first folks that rallied us on.

 

For you, it may have been your marriage. Maybe those first few years were tough. A career starting, school loans to pay off, getting use to each other, and stress and realizing “happily ever after” doesn’t look like this.  You may have had second thoughts. You may have thought about pulling the plug on the relationship. But someone older and wiser talked to you. They counseled you. They kicked you in the pants when you needed it. You hung in. You became the person of God that you were supposed to be. You stopped the selfish whining. Now, all these years later, people point to your marriage as the standard. People want a marriage like you have. Had it not been for some good people in your life a long time ago, you may have ended it.

 

All of us have had great people in our lives that pointed us to Jesus and reminded us of what we were supposed to do.

 

God remembered Noah. He never forgot about Noah. This Thanksgiving, take a trip down memory lane. Give some thought to those who have helped you in the past. Be thankful for them. Be thankful that God put them in your life. Be thankful for their trust, encouragement and love. For many of us, those early people in our lives are now gone. They have moved on into the next room with God. Their memory is sweet to us. You may have a note or a memento from them that serves that very purpose, a reminder. A reminder of someone who was special in your life. Someone who inspired you. Someone who wouldn’t let you quit. Someone who went above and beyond what they should have with you.

 

Remember—reflect—and thank the Lord. Then, you become that person for someone else. You get involved with a young couple, a young preacher, a young Christian and you be that influence, that guide, that help. You do it because they need it. You do it because it’s the right thing to do. And without realizing it, someday, down the road, around Thanksgiving time, your name will come up. It will bring a warm smile and a tear to their eye as they remember a kind person who made a difference to them.

 

It’s happened to us and now we need to do it to others.

 

Remember…

 

Roger

 

18

Jump Start # 1729

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1729

Acts 10:34 “Opening his mouth, Peter said, ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality”

  His name is Ivory, and he is black. He worships with us and is a kind, gentle and compassionate friend. He dresses sharp on the outside and is insightful and reflective on the inside. We talked the other day. The conversation turned to a discussion about prejudice. He spoke, I listened. I don’t understand prejudice. I guess I am color blind when it comes to things like that. I know about prejudice. I graduated from a high school that was infected with racial problems. Fights were nearly daily. Police were often called to the school. I have seen the fear in neighbors as a white neighborhood sells out and flees to the suburbs and that neighborhood becomes black. But what I don’t understand is how there can be prejudice in the church. I have talked with several black brethren and have asked them what was it like in the 1960’s among brethren. The answer is universally the same, PREJUDICE. But what is even more amazing, is to see these families not be destroyed by this hatred nor to use these events to play the victim card. Most would have never said anything, had I not asked. You would never know what these good folks endured by the reckless tongues of their own brethren.

 

Our passage is one of multiple verses that shows what God thinks about prejudice. God is the one who made us the color we are. Peter’s trouble in our verse wasn’t the color of Cornelius’ skin, but his ethnicity. Cornelius was Gentile and Peter was from a Jewish background. Peter admitted that it was unlawful for a Jew to visit a “foreigner.” God had to send three visions for Peter to get it. Even later on in the N.T., Peter stumbles on this point and caves in to the pressure of Jews. He and Barnabas alienate themselves from Gentiles. The apostle Paul confronted Peter, face to face with this hypocrisy.

 

God loves all. We are to love all. The curse of Cain was not a change of complexion. The Bible doesn’t tell us what the “mark of Cain” was. If it was, how do we know that the curse wasn’t turning him “white.” Too many assume that God is white and that God is American and that God has an American flag on His pickup in Heaven. Wrong on all counts. God is a spirit. Our souls do not have color. God is not American.

 

Prejudice is born out of the fact that we are different. So what? Prejudice is fed by our fears and our up bringing. The N.T. faced many social challenges. Galatians lists many of these when it reminds us that we are all one in Christ. There is not male, female, master, slave, Jew or Gentile. Each of those where huge cultural and prejudicial differences. Can you imagine, during worship, a master serving his own slave the Lord’s Supper? Can you image a Jew serving a Gentile the Lord’s Supper? Or a man serving a woman? Those were mountains to climb for those early Christians. The very master who might serve his slave during worship, would then go home and the slave would serve the master dinner. What a twist of events and what re-wiring of their minds and hearts. They somehow worked it out. They did it. They saw that God wanted a untied church. God wanted brethren to be of the same faith and same heart. God wanted the church to be a spiritual family. All would be welcomed. All would be cared for. All would be loved. All would be accepted.

 

These many years later, we ought not to still be struggling with prejudice among brethren. But we do. Fewer things are more toxic to a church and more destructive to our message and more insulting to our God than for brethren to ignore, avoid, look down or roll their lip at someone who Jesus died for and is now God’s child. Prejudice comes in many ugly forms. It can be against the color of skin. The nationality of someone. There can be prejudice toward age, young and old often struggle in the same congregation. It’s time we killed prejudice in the church. It’s time we stopped tolerating it in the church. It’s time to show some the door and if they no longer what to manifest the spirit of Jesus, be disciplined.

 

Stop the “color jokes.” They are insulting. Stop talking about the color of our current president. You may like or not like him based upon policy decisions and philosophy, but to discount him because of his race, is prejudice. Stop referring to your brethren who look different than you do as, “them.” Once you start the “them” and “us” talk, you being the process of dividing. Stop it. It’s time to pray that God will change your heart.

 

Stop excusing prejudice. When someone says, “You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks. That’s just the way I am,” he is not even trying to do what Jesus said. You are not a dog. You are a soul created in the image of God and the Lord wants you to be conformed to Jesus. If you want to be an old dog, then maybe the best place for you is out back in a dog house.

 

Stop saying, “Well, that’s just the way I was raised.” Have you heard of repentance? Change. God demands that. By justifying your hateful spirit, you are allowing the next generation to carry on—because that’s the way they are being raised. I have seen and heard prejudice among family members. We have in our family history someone who belonged to the Klan the same time he belonged to God’s church. A person can change if they want to. We walk with Jesus. The same Jesus who healed the Gentiles. The same Jesus who went to Samaria. The same Jesus who invited himself to the home of a tax collector. Jesus didn’t see color. He saw souls. We need more and more of us to walk with Jesus.

 

Stop defending prejudice by tying it to Nascar, being a redneck or Southern. You are a Christian. Period. First and always, a Christian. You don’t have God if you can’t love your brother in Christ. That passage doesn’t read, “Your white brother.” It’s all brethren. It’s the Indian. It’s the Asian. It’s the black. It’s the white. It’s the inner city brother. It’s the country brother. Just drop all the labels, titles and realize we are one in Christ. Become color blind to the world.

 

I hug Mr. Ivory every Sunday out in front of our building. I do so because I love him. I do so because I want cars passing by and folks leaving the building to see a white preacher hugging a black man. I do so because I believe Jesus would have hugged me.

 

I am embarrassed and ashamed of how some in the church have treated others in the past. I hope this Jump Start begins a serious look within. I hope you will realize that you can lose your soul for being so hateful and ugly toward any of God’s people. I hope you can see how wrong all of this is. I pray for the day when we stop defining churches as “black church” or, “white church.” If this doesn’t stop, you may find at eternity, those that you were prejudiced against in Heaven and you not being allowed in. Our attitudes, spirit, body language, friendliness and acceptance of one another illustrates our character and whether or not we truly walk with Jesus.

 

I saw a sign on a church building that said, “God loves you, and we are trying our best.” I think we can do better. Don’t you? Maybe you need to hand this Jump Start along with an apology to some in your congregation. What would Jesus have you to do?

 

Roger

 

17

Jump Start # 1728

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1728

Psalms 34:3 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

  Worship is a powerful experience. It praises God when it is according to His will. Not all worship pleases God. The modern church has forgotten that. They believe anything that they do God will love. The story of Cain and Abel reminds us that God doesn’t accept nor approve of every worship. The story of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offering strange fire, illustrates that God doesn’t want us to be different, original, unique or unusual when it comes to worship. He has shown us what He wants. He wants heart felt, genuine worship that follows His will.

 

Worship is good for us. It changes us. It opens our eyes. It has a way of getting our perspective in the right order. It gets our attention off of us and our problems and upon the God of Heaven and Earth. Worship  is good and right.

 

Our verse today emphasizes the importance of worshipping with others. Three times this is stated in one sentence. It is “with me;” “let us;” and, “together.” This passage is inviting others to worship with him. It is the call to come together and join heart and mind in worship. There is such a good effect when we worship with others.

 

First, it reminds us that we are not alone. In our times we can feel that way. Most of us are spread out. We don’t live in small villages, and we don’t walk to everything. We don’t walk daily to the market place as they would have in those early Bible years. It is not uncommon for brethren to only see each other at the church house a couple of times a week. The rest of the time, our homes, jobs and distance from each other leaves us isolated from each other. It is easy, especially in our times, to feel alone, discouraged and doubting. Coming together, and seeing others, lifts our spirits. It reminds us that we are not alone. There are others. Elijah thought he was the only one who was serving the Lord. God reminded him that there were thousands who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Somehow, ole’ Elijah didn’t know about that.

 

Second, worshipping together encourages us. We may enter the church building with our heads down and are hearts heavy with the toils of the world. Problems, stresses, worries can simply drain the life out of us. But then we see each other. Hope arises. A prayer. A certain song. An encouraging comment. A smile. A hug. And suddenly our problems do not seem so large after all. Suddenly we realize that God is greater than our problems. Encouragement is oxygen for our souls. We get that from our togetherness.

 

Third, we get inspired, challenged and motivated when we are together. We see spiritual giants among us. We hear of what others are doing. We see needs that we can help out with. We learn. Questions are answered. Hearts are filled with hope and love.

 

Fourth, we see unity in practice. We look around during worship and notice grandparents and little ones and teenagers and young couples. We notice businessmen and farmers. We see those who are in college and those who never went to college. We see blue collar workers and white collar workers. We see different races. We see different backgrounds. Each person has a story. Each person has a past. Each person comes because they need and love Jesus. Red and yellow, black and white—our souls are the same to God. With each other, we are color blind. We notice the big ones helping the little ones. We see laughter and joy and smiles. We are one. This is a picture that our nation doesn’t understand. It wants to separate us all into different categories. The unity of worship dissolves those lines of division. We shouldn’t define ourselves as white churches or black churches, but rather, God’s church. We stand as one. One voice. One mind. One heart. This only happens when we worship together.

 

Fifth, God is glorified. Our verse uses the word “magnify.” The thought is not that we are making God larger than what He is. You can’t do that. You can’t put God in a box, a building or even in a definition. He’s too big for all of that. The thought is focus or attention. Let us focus upon God. Let us magnify God. We do not gather to hear our story. Our stories end up the same. We disappointed and disobeyed God. We all have. Rather, we come to hear His story. His story of how He loves us and wants us back. His story of righteousness, blessings and patience. Too many books today, and too many sermons today focus upon us. I have a collection of books on the prodigal son. It’s one of my favorite themes in the Bible. Current books on this parable always tell the author’s own story of rebellion. Why? Is his story better than God’s story? We do not magnify each other. We magnify God. Our attention is upon God. Standing in His presence ought to humble us. He is always right and we are not. He is always pure and we are not. He is always good and we are not. It is God that we are drawn together.

 

Sixth, without God, most of us would not even know each other. It is because of God and His church that we have come to know and love each other. There would be no “let us,” or, “together,” if it were not for God. The greatest people I know are Christians. My best friends are Christians. I know people all over the world because of Jesus. My network is huge. Some would say, “It’s a small world.” The truth is, “It’s a large family.” It’s a family that loves and wants the best for each of us. Because of God, we have surrounded ourselves with some of the best people in the world. People who love and care for you. People who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts. People who want you to go to Heaven. Quality people. People of character. People who are honest. God’s people.

 

With me, let us, together—the joy of worshipping God with others. Now, what does all of this say to the guy who doesn’t connect with the church or doesn’t go very often. He’s alone. He’s isolated. He’s not sure. His network of friends are mostly people of the world. He is pulled constantly to return to the ways he has left. He is weak. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t have the hope that others have. All of this could change if he would jump in with others and worship. Worship often. Worship weekly. Worship every time the doors are opened. Get to know the church family. Get to know God. What a profound difference this would make in his life. There would be positive changes that would effect his eternity.

 

With me…let us…together—magnify the Lord. Another Psalm states it this way, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (122:1). Let us. Glad. Go to the house of the Lord. Powerful words that show what happens in our worship.

 

Magnify the Lord together!

 

Roger

 

16

Jump Start # 1727

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1727

1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

  I was watching a TV show the other day when an ad came on for another show. It was a short preview, a teaser, to try to lure viewers to watch. The show is called, “Impastor.” I’ve not watched it, but the teaser was enough for me to say, “No.” A troubled man takes on the identity of a “Pastor” who dies. The man moves to a small town and “pretends” to be the “pastor.” The ad shows him smoking, drinking and caught in a compromising situation with a woman. I suppose all of this is supposed to be funny. Many would like to find a preacher that relates to their lifestyle and is like them, even in the sinful ways. Having “cracks” in the preacher’s character makes him seem more human, I’ve heard people say. The show is about a man who doesn’t believe what he is doing. He’s a fake. While the country will laugh and laugh at the silliness of this show, it poses a deeper thought for us.

 

We need men and women who are spiritual giants. We need to look up to those who do have a great character and are indeed doing as God says. Instead of bringing every one down into the sewer with the rest of us, we need to see those who have risen above that in faith. They are leaving footprints that point the way to Heaven.

 

Our verse is one example of this. Be imitators of me, is what Paul wrote. He said this again in the eleventh chapter.  The young preacher Timothy was told to be an example to those who believe. Pretending to be what you are not is the definition of a hypocrite. Our young people need to see the examples of spiritual giants today. We need examples of marriages that are thriving and pleasing the Lord. We need examples of dedication, sacrifice and service. Pointing to failures doesn’t disprove what God says. It merely indicates that someone couldn’t make the right choices. Within our fellowship, we have heard of far too many leaders who destroyed their marriages because of adultery. When this happens, it is devastating to a congregation. Years of good can be lost by the lack of faith and the poor choices of a few. Satan will do anything to crush the good that a congregation is doing.

 

The preacher is not better nor any different than the rest. The preacher must guard and feed his faith, just like everyone else. He is tempted and he must deal with worry, fear and discouragement, just like the rest of us. We may expect more out of the preacher than we ought to, but he must understand that he is a role model. As he is teaching others, he must first teach and believe what he says himself. What you will find as you get to know your preacher is that he is not that different from you. He has chosen to live what he believes. You, just like him, can make the same choices. You, like him, can lead your family and others to the Lord. You, just like him, can please the Lord.

 

Paul’s words to the Corinthians echo that very thought. Who would dare say that they could be like Paul? He seems so lofty, right and holy. He seems perfect. He’s not. He needed Jesus as much as you do. He had his struggles as you do. Follow the leader, is the idea behind this verse. Paul was letting the Corinthians know that they could very well imitate him. Imitate him in faith. Imitate him in attitude. Imitate him in behavior.

 

I believe for too long we’ve allowed people to discount what Paul says here. “There is no way, I could do what Paul did?” And with that, they are given a pass to remain spiritually weak, indecisive, and even indifferent. “I can’t,” we assume, so we don’t even try. We remain as we are. There is a major problem with this thinking. When we agree to this, we are discrediting what God says. God says, through Paul, that we can imitate him. Why then, do we not believe that? Is it because that requires more effort than we want to give? Is it because we have to leave some things that we don’t want to leave? Is it because we are comfortable being weak and nothing is required of us?

 

Imitate me, is what Paul said. Be a spiritual giant in your family. Be the one that people go to for their questions. Be the one that others look up to. Be the one that leaves spiritual footprints for others to follow. We don’t need more to fake their faith. We don’t need more pretenders. We need genuine men and women, who are walking by faith and making serious spiritual decisions based upon prayer, hope and Christ. Our times, need spiritual role models. Our times, need men who preach who are genuine. They are not “impastors.” We need men who love the Lord, serve Him sacrificially, and realize that it is by the grace of God that they are saved. We need people to show us how it is done right. We need success stories. We need to show ourselves and the world that God’s plan works and it makes us a better people. We need more, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus,” and less sitting on the premises.

 

Mocking faith and showing the failures of believers has always been the way of Satan and Hollywood. A show illustrating deep faith, rich values, commitment to marriage and God would seem “boring” to world. They don’t want that. But God does.

 

Could you list a dozen spiritual heroes today? Could you list a dozen preachers that are walking by faith? I read a book a while back that disclosed the number of preachers through the years that had failed morally. The number was huge. We don’t need that. We need to know the number that succeed. We need to know that we can make it. When I’m sitting on an airplane, don’t tell me about the number of planes that crash. Tell me about the thousands everyday that land safely and successfully. Sitting in church, I don’t need to hear about failures. That doesn’t help me. I need to see those that made it successfully.

 

“Impastor” won’t be around for long. Folks will tire of it and want to move on to the next sordid and raunchy show from the sewer of Hell. It reminds us of our role. People are counting on you and I. They look up to you as a parent, grandmother, teacher, preacher, elder. This is much bigger than just yourself. Your choices can be the very thing that encourages someone else or it can be something that crushes the hope that they have in you and in the Lord.

 

Imitators—my list is long of great men of God among us today. They are busting it for the Lord. Every week they are pouring their hearts out for Jesus. Get to know these kind of men. Bring them into your congregation. Talk to them. Hear their stories. See their faith. Follow their footsteps.

 

By good friend, Rickie J. and I always end our emails with the same expression. It came from a little boy who pulled on my suit jacket just as I was getting ready to step up to preach. The little guy whispered, “I wish I was you.” WOW. That stuck with me. This is what Rickie and I tell each other, “I wish I was you.”

 

I believe in many ways, this is what Paul was trying to get the Corinthians to see and to say.  Can someone say that of you?

 

Roger

 

15

Jump Start # 1726

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1726

Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.”

  Our passage today reminds us of the importance of our mind. There is a battle going on for your mind. The one that wins the battle, eventually will win the war. Our attitudes, our behavior, our goals, our values and our perspective are all shaped and defined by our mind. The carnal man, as Paul referred to the Corinthians as, has his mind set on the things of the world. He is material in his thinking. He sees the same thing that the spiritual man does, but he goes no deeper than the surface and the obvious. He doesn’t think about influence, consequences and the future. His decisions are based upon what he feels like doing.

 

The spiritually minded man is thinking about God, Heaven and the course that God wants him to pursue. He measures what he says before he says it. He thinks about how his actions will affect others. He looks at the big picture and goes out of his way to be a positive influence in his words, decisions and attitudes.

 

Some are spiritually minded and others are purely worldly minded. Why is it that way? Our verse explains. It comes down to the word “set” or “be intent.” It’s a choice. The spiritually minded man could easily be solely worldly, but he chooses not to be that way. He has made choices that now affects everything about him.

 

Notice how this spiritual mindset is found throughout the N.T.

 

  • Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom 12:2)
  • Have this mind in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5)
  • Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and of good repute, dwell on these things (Phil 4:8)
  • Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6:33)
  • Senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14)

 

Control the mind and you will find other things falling into the right place. It may be that too often we focus upon the external problems and never realize that the cause is a mind that is not set on the things above. A person can apologize for saying improper or hurtful things, but unless he changes his thinking, he’s bound to do it again. The same goes for immoral living. A person can apologize and even promise never to do it again, but they will, unless they change their thinking. A material man is bound to keep messing up and breaking the laws of God. A material man doesn’t think spiritual. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see it. And until he does, he will continually make the wrong choices.

 

The prodigal finally came to his senses. For the first time, maybe the first time ever, a spiritual light bulb came on inside of him. He realized that his life was a mess. There was no one to blame but himself. He realized that he didn’t have to continue living this way. He remembered. He remembered what his father was like. Any hope and any promise of a better future meant apologizing to his father and coming home. He had to get up and come home. The spiritual mind was beginning to work. He set his sights on home. In this same way, a material man today begins his spiritual journey.

 

The first steps are painful and filled with sorrow and guilt. A person realizes that they messed up. They come to realize that they have sinned. There is no need to point fingers. No one made them do what they did. It was their dumb and wrong choices that got them there. How they wish that they could do things over again. Some of these choices have hurt other people. Things were said that should never have been spoken. Choices were made that were not thought out. And now the consequences come caving in on the material man. For the prodigal, it was looking at pig food and wanting that to eat. For others, it may be sitting in the back seat of a police car. It may be the loss of a job. It may be your mate who tells you to go somewhere else. It may be getting expelled from school. Now the world comes crashing in on you. Why did I do those dumb things? Why wasn’t I thinking? The answer is obvious. You did not have your mind set on things above. You were material in your choices. You did what you wanted to without any thought to your family, your God and your future. What a painful realization this is when it finally hits a person.

 

The next step is much easier. Turn to God. Do what God has always said. For some, it’s putting on Christ in baptism and walking in righteousness. For others, who did this long ago, but forgot, it’s a matter of getting back to where you need to be.

 

Spiritually minded—the person is more concerned with the inside than the outside. He is careful about what he feeds his heart and soul. He will take a long look at music, literature, movies and even friends. He knows those things can influence, shape and even alter the direction a person may be going. He will fill his heart with spiritual things such as worship, reading God’s word and prayer. He will surround himself with righteous people who are spiritually minded. He finds in a very short time that his perspective, his values and even what he likes becomes shaped by the spiritual. He longs to see God’s kingdom grow. He sees the value of helping others find what he has found. He longs to be with God.

 

As the outer man decays, the inner man is being renewed day by day. His body and mind are going different directions. That doesn’t bother him. He is not discouraged. Paul’s words from 2 Cor 4, “We do not lose heart.” He wants to be with God. Even death is viewed differently for the spiritual man. It’s an advantage, because he will be with the Lord and he will be finished with the struggles here.

 

Set your mind on things above—that’s our passage. That’s our choice. That’s our calling. No one can do it for you. But whether you do it or not, the outcome will  be obvious. The material man and the spiritual man are moving in different directions.

 

What are you thinking about? What have you set your mind on? What is your focus point? Where are you headed? What do you have your eyes set on? Is it the things above or the things right before us?

 

Spiritually minded or materially minded? Your choice, but what a choice it is.

 

Roger