conversion.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

When a person is born anew and experiences repentance, his attitude about Jesus changes. Jesus himself becomes the central focus and supreme value of life. Before the new birth happens and repentance occures, a hundred other things seem more important and more attractive: health, family, job, friends..." "But when God gives the radical change of new birth and repentance, Jesus himself becomes our supreme treasure."


-John Piper, What Jesus Demands From The World

If I would have read this two years ago, I would have simply agreed and said "Yeah, of course." It wasn't until God regenerated my heart to submit to Christ as master that I truely understood what this verse meant, and therefore, the words that Piper writes hit home. The self-made fake/plastic/wax fruits have now been replaced by Holy Spirit wrought genuine/juice-filled/ripe fruits that are alien to my own exertion.

A call for character

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper. Romans 1:30

There were times where I could remember honoring Presidents due to their character. Abraham Lincoln was a known for a man of integrity. George Washington was praised for his courage and hard work. But…. In the 90’s, we as a nation for the first ever, gave a rise in popular vote to president Bill Clinton for admitting to have an affair with another woman.

He was just ummmm….errr “keeping it real” so they say.

In society we put people who are unrighteous, arrogant, slanderers, adulterous, and greedy on the covers of magazine as if these characters were virtues.





Well, unrighteousness is great at making money.

Sex sells! Gossip sells! And so does Vanity!

C’mon. How much money could these magazines make if you they started advertising the fruit of the spirit? (Galatians 5: 22-23)
People would exercise self-control. Stop buying things and in fact, start putting their money towards ministry.

Dona Karan would be so mad!

It does not take much to convince even an unregenerate that we are living in a time and society in which the …end is near. And as a result God calls us to be lights in these dark times. He calls us to excellent moral character.

The Bible is very clear on what Godly character looks like. We are to be loving, long-suffering, merciful, pure, meek, humble, and peaceful.

These may not necessarily the easiest or the best at making money but…

…..they are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10

Abandon

So, nobody wants to be this person right? It's tough. Nothing to really call your own, nowhere to sleep, hardly anything to eat. Yet we're called to this.

Luke 14:25-33

25)Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26)"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27)And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28)"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29)For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30)saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

31)"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32)If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33)In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

So three things.
1. Hate your father, mother, brothers and sisters, and yourself, you can't be a disciple of Christ. Commonly interpreted as a hyperbole (an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis) Especially in light of Matthew 10:37 "If you love your Father and Mother more than me, you're not even my disciple"

2. If you do not carry your cross, you can not be a disciple of Christ. Deny self, give up desires and dreams to follow God. Repenting and fleeing from sin.

3. Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Of the three this is the most self explanatory, yet most confusing.

Give up everything? Surely he can't mean my home or my wealth or my life, can he? I'm not sorry to tell you that this portion of the verse is not a hyperbole.

The greek word used in this verse is apotasso. It means: say farewell (to), take leave (of); renounce, give up.

Love Jesus above all, so that your love for your family looks like hate. Carry your cross and die to your self daily. Give up everything you have.

Need examples?

Peter James and John
Elisha
Abraham
Moses
Noah

most of all,

Jesus. Who are we to be like?
Jesus.

blinded.

Psalm 139:23-24

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."

"The heart of man is full of sin and corruption, and that corruption is of an exceedingly darkening, blinding nature. Sin always carries a degree of darkness with it. And the more it prevails, the more it darkens and deludes the mind."

-Jonathan Edwards

Usually the first thing I pray in the morning, as soon as I wake up, is a prayer of praise and magnification to God. I think my second prayer immediately following that prayer will now be for God to reveal sin in my life that I am blinded to.

Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:43-48

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

God says that you treat enemies the same way you treat friends and family. Impossible? Of course. But not when we have the fear of the Lord. When we know that God's power is greater than that of our enemies, when we know that he is just, and when we know that he loved us while we were his enemies, then we are free to be simple servants who imitate and obey the Father. He blesses the righteous and unrighteous with rain and food, and so we too should bless.

To love this way, we need both power and discernment. We need power because we are incapable of loving the way Christ has loved us. We need discernment because it is sometimes difficult to know what form love should take.
-Edward Welch