Wheels of Glory! Blog

No Excuses – VOTD.05.08.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | May 8th, 2017 | by

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else… Or do you show contempt for the riches of (God’s) kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? Romans 2:1,4

Accept one-another, just as Jesus accepts you. Romans 15:7

God is a reconciler…a God who accepts us because Jesus became sin for us so that in Him we become the righteousness of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). As “the righteousness of God” Jesus became the instrument of our reconciliation to God (v. 18). As the “righteousness of God” in Jesus we become God’s instruments of other peoples’ reconciliation (v. 19).

The outcome? “we no longer regard anyone from a worldly point of view” (v. 16) because “if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come!” (v. 17). So we can accept one-another, just as Jesus accepts us (Rom 15:7).

So in light of all of this, which is probably been read and understood by most Christians, why do we have problems with judging in the Body of Christ? Probably, a lot of it has to do with our not believing that God has truly reconciled us to Himself, or that Jesus death on the cross is all we need to make us new creations.

Being judgmental is a sure sign of unbelief. Unbelief in what? Firstly, unbelief in the power of God. (That God has the power to save us, to reconcile us, to make us new creations. Unbelief that He can take care of our own sin as well as anyone else’s. 2 Cor 9:8)).

Secondly, it’s belief in our own righteousness. (Belief that we’ve got it more together than our brother or sister. Belief that we have more ability than the Holy Spirit to ‘fix’ our brother or sister. (Rom 14:4)

But a lot of us have fallen into that at times. Why’s that? Because our God is too small, and we are too big (as we said above). Because we’re prideful; because we’re just plain annoyed at other peoples’ immaturity (impatience) or inability to see the truth the way we do—and yes, theologians fall into this trap.

And perhaps, most of all, because we rightly see ourselves as instruments of God, but mistakenly see ourselves as instruments of His judgement rather than instruments of His love. Instruments of His reconciling power.

So how to we deal with judging…either in ourselves toward others, or being on the receiving end? We’ll look at that next time.

Wheels of Glory! Blog

It’s Who We Are – VOTD.05.02.15

Posted in Verse of the Day | May 2nd, 2017 | by

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Rom 14:17

We are the Kingdom of God here on earth. God’s Kingdom is not something we have, it’s something we are. When this is who we are becoming, then we will begin to live and move and have our being in Jesus.

In today’s verse Paul gives us three characteristics of God’s Kingdom:
1) righteousness
2) peace
3) joy

All three of these come from the same source: The Holy Spirit. There is no other source for real righteousness, peace, or joy. They come from our awe of Jesus that occurs within us as we experience Him close up and personal. They come from the renewing of our minds that He performs within us.

All three of these are something we are, not something we have. Jesus is our righteousness. Without Him, our righteousness is simply filth. The same goes for joy and peace. He is our joy and He is our peace.

All three of these are like 3-point identity checks when someone is trying to confirm our identity. They prove who we are. They prove our citizenship in God’s Kingdom.

It wouldn’t be very fair if God told us to get our righteousness, peace and joy in line and if we pass the test, we will be inducted into His Kingdom. Unfair, because we could never do it. These traits only come from Him.

But some people literally teach that we have to do it ourselves. They have people pretending to have peace when they have no peace in hope that peace will become a habit. A tell-tale sign that we don’t have real, Holy Spirit-provided peace is that we can’t share our peace. Somehow, our arrival into any situation does not fill the room with peace (or joy, or righteousness).

You see, we bring God’s Kingdom everywhere we go. We don’t create it once we get there. It is with us because the Holy Spirit is within us. And that changes everything.

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Policies vs. Values – VOTD.05.01.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | May 1st, 2017 | by

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” (an expert in the law described the two greatest commandments).
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied to him…
But the man wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:27-29)

A few weeks ago, a major airline had a catastrophic public relations nightmare as a passenger was forcibly removed from their aircraft while other passengers caught it all on video. The images went viral as they were shared all over social media and the news. As a frequent flier of that airline, I received a letter last week from their CEO that was undoubtedly crafted by some of the best damage-control experts in the industry. I mean, it was a work of art, among those of us who work in communication.

But one line near the beginning of the letter struck me, particularly. You see, I immediately thought of us Christians when I read it:

The incident “happened because our corporate policies were placed ahead of our shared values. Our procedures got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right.” (more…)

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On Navigating the Presence of God – VOTD.04.24.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 24th, 2017 | by

You make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

Last time we asked the question: Why don’t more Christians experience God’s Presence? The first reason was that we don’t know or believe it’s available. Today we’ll look at the second reason: We don’t know how to get there.

Once we know and believe that the presence of God is something that is available to us, the obvious question is “How do I get there? How do we plug in and experience it for ourselves?

According to today’s verses, God, Himself makes that known to us. “You make known to me the path of life.” So what we’re really asking is how does God reveal Himself—How does He make Himself known? How can we position ourselves to receive the revelation God of Himself?

There are obvious answers like reading the Bible, Prayer, Fasting, etc. And there’s plenty of ‘formulas’. Often believers stumble into something that works for them; they latch onto it because it has greatly impacted their life. And they surround it with a Bible verse or two and begin to teach others.

Don’t misunderstand me…It is wonderful when any believer gets a revelation of the presence of God that changes their life—that opens up for them an entire new dimension of intimacy with Jesus. I totally rejoice for them and their experience. (more…)

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In Jesus’ Presence – VOTD.04.23.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 23rd, 2017 | by

You make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

It’s incompatible with the Christian faith to NOT want to be in God’s presence. After all, the practical result of being in God’s presence is joy. And who doesn’t want joy? And yet many Christians seem stressed out or bored and that suggests they lack this sense of God’s presence that today’s verse speaks of.

In fact, the whole of Psalm 16 makes being in the presence of God very compelling. It’s a natural desire for anyone who have been around those who have experienced being in God’s Presence to want the joy, comfort, and sense of well-being and love that comes with being in His Presence. It is available. So why don’t more Christians experience His Presence? (more…)

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Jesus Prevailing – VOTD.04.18.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 18th, 2017 | by

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive (the demon) out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Mark 9:28,29

Let’s start with some context. Jesus has just returned with John, James and Peter from the Transfiguration experience. While they were gone, the rest of the disciples were asked to heal and cast out a demon from a boy. They tried but were unsuccessful. So the boy’s father approached Jesus and explained the situation, asking for His help. Jesus healed the boy and cast out the demon.

What about the 9 disciples that awaited Jesus’ return? Why couldn’t they perform the job? Why couldn’t they do what they had been trained to do? What they had been given power to do? What they had already done successfully many times before? Before we try to answer that, let’s look at what they didn’t do:

First, they didn’t concoct some cheap theology to explain away the non-answer—to help God save face (or to help themselves save face). That would be to cheapen the love and power of God, Himself. Too often, we see that done today when we don’t get what we ask for in prayer. We strive to make unanswered prayers acceptable, even the norm. It makes us comfortable.

Second, they didn’t blame the boy or his family. They didn’t blame it on the parent’s sin. Nor did they blame one of their own. They didn’t commence a “witch hunt” to figure out which of them might have sin in their lives that somehow made the prayers of the rest of them powerless.

Third, they didn’t conclude that they must have “got the formula wrong” and work on refining the healing procedure. Often Christians run to James 4:2,3 where it says “You do not have because you do not ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (more…)

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Satan Falling – VOTD.04.17.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 17th, 2017 | by

Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Luke 10:17

Let’s start with some context. Jesus just received the report of the 70 disciples He had sent out on a mission to “gather in His harvest”. Along the way, they did some pretty amazing things by way of miracles. They came back pretty excited. This wasn’t church as usual, and they knew it.

Jesus knew it, too. Seeing the battle in the spirit realm, even as the 70 disciples saw it in the earthly realm, He knew a vital link had been broken in the chain the evil one used to enslave the people. He saw Satan fall like lighting. There is no place in the Bible that we are told that Satan ever recovered from this fall.

But worse things were in store for our enemy, much worse, as Jesus rose from the dead, which many of us recently celebrated. Satan and his power were defeated when Jesus rose. This is the new reality we live under.

This new reality—the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven—becomes our own as we receive it (Heb 12:28). Now we stand in the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21); and we have the love of God deposited inside of us (2 Cor 13:5). In fact, we have received more than enough to stand victorious over any enemy or attack that could ever come against us: (more…)

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Resurrection and Life – VOTD.04.11.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 14th, 2017 | by

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  John 11:25,26

Last time, we talked about the Passover, and how through Jesus’ blood covering our guilt and shame, we each are made right with God. But what brings us into the fullness of what Jesus accomplished for us in His shed blood and His resurrection? Only one force—the resurrection power of life—zoe in the Greek. It’s the same word as Spirit.

God’s reveals His purpose for Jesus’ shedding His blood: “For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He would destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8).

This is the purpose Jesus demonstrated throughout His ministry. He overcame the works of the devil throughout His ministry. He did all that He did (teaching, miracles, conversations, …everything)—all by the power of the Spirit (zoe, life). However, it was His shedding His blood on the cross that actually destroyed those works.

Jesus covered the guilt and shame of humanity when by the power of the Spirit, zoe, life, He reached into the enemy’s realm and overcame death in death’s power. At that moment, our sin and shame were not only covered, like the blood of the Lamb covered the doorposts back in the time of Moses, but by the Spirit, zoe, life, the penalty of our sin (death) was taken on Himself and was and carried out on Him in our behalf.

Jesus conquered death and hell for each of us. God’s purpose in sending Jesus had been accomplished. “…he shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who were held in slavery by death.” (Heb 2:14,15). This resurrection power comes directly out of the heart of God—His love for each of us (Jn 3:16). (more…)

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Passed Over and Why it Matters to Us – VOTD.04.10.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 14th, 2017 | by

On that same night I will pass through Egypt… and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destruction will touch you when I strike Egypt.” Exodus 12:12-13

This evening Passover begins. It’s the commemoration of God delivering His people from the plague where the first-born all died except for His people who marked their doors with blood.

From Genesis through Revelation, blood is a major part of the picture of redemption. In Genesis 3, God, Himself shed the first redeeming blood when Adam and Eve sinned. He sacrificed an animal to provide skins to cover them.

Throughout the Old Testament with the constant sacrifices of bulls and goats and sheep, God taught His people that something had to die in our place for our sins. Passover was one special time each year that memorialized the first time God passed over and did not judge those whose door was covered with blood. Jesus died on the Passover, because God intended to use the imagery of that historical event to teach us what Jesus had come to do.

About 3400 years ago, Israel was in slavery in the land of Egypt. God sent Moses to Pharaoh and demanded that he let God’s people go. But Pharaoh laughed and mocked even the idea of a God of Israel. “Who is this god, that he should tell me what to do?” (Ex 5:2)

So God introduced Himself over the next few weeks. He brought 9 plagues upon Egypt to prove His existence and His superior power over Pharaoh and all things Egyptian. The suffering in Egypt was so profound that even Pharaoh’ priests literally begged him to listen to Moses (Ex 10:7). But Pharaoh still refused. (more…)

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Life in the Vineyard – VOTD.04.03.17

Posted in Verse of the Day | April 14th, 2017 | by

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  1 Corinthians12:12,26

Last time we were talking about nurturing new believers and used Paul’s analogy of a mother nursing a child. Another metaphor that might help, is vineyards. Jesus used this in talking about vines and vine-dressers (Jn 15).

Sure, having a healthy vineyard includes weeding out the ugly, and often that’s all the help people will get from their more entrenched churchmates because it’s all we can see. But nurturing Christians can see a lot more and go much further.

A nurturing vinedresser can take the newly-growing shoots and attach them to a trellis so they can get the support sunshine and watering they need to grow higher, stronger, and more fruitful. Otherwise, the newbie might just wallow in the dirt and never go anywhere.

And while the nurturing person might do some weeding, too, they are also backfilling. Like Jesus’ warning about chasing out a demon and leaving the host clean but EMPTY, we often find that Christian discipleship programs are good at ‘weeding’ out the ugly in the lives of people we minister to, but leave craters in their place—like an open invitation for seven-times worse problems in the future (Lk 11:26) if we aren’t backfilling the hole that left with Jesus.

Hurt people are often the ones who are drawn to Jesus. He offers solutions they know they need. But hurt people have a real knack at getting themselves into situations where they will be hurt again and again. Nurturing disciple-makers know that removing the weeds from hurting people’s lives is not enough. (more…)

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