Step Away From The Lies

 

"The first step toward God is a step away from the lies of the world. It is a renunciation of the lies we have been told about ourselves, our neighbors, and our universe."  

— Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 29

The world is filled with countless messages that seek to shape who we are, what we believe, and how we view ourselves and others. Our constant exposure to social media, the enticing whispers of advertisements, and the news outlets we follow can make it feel like truth is hard to discern.

And you know what?  

All this messaging not only twists our perception of reality, but it also messes with our hearts. The messages we receive from the world can divide our loyalties between the Kingdom of God and the world, causing us to prioritize the wrong things in life.

In the midst of this reality, let's not lose hope!

Peterson’s wisdom in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction reminds us that there is a way forward. The path we need to take is a bold step away from the deceptive narratives the world pushes on us.

While we may not have control over the messages being blasted into our lives, we do have a choice about what we let in. Picture it like turning away from unhealthy, cancer-causing food that has consumed you for too long, and choosing instead a healthier diet.

The Bible provides many examples of people who have embraced this pivotal step.

One such person is the prophet Isaiah, whose life-changing encounter with God is found in Isaiah 6.

Isaiah’s vision revealed God seated on His heavenly throne, surrounded by spiritual beings. The sheer awesomeness of this revelation overwhelmed Isaiah, prompting him to cry out:

"Woe is me, for I am ruined  

because I am a man of unclean lips  

and live among a people of unclean lips,  

and because my eyes have seen the King,  

the LORD of Armies." 

— (Isaiah 6:5, CSB)

Isaiah's response came from a deep realization of his sinfulness, which moved him to acknowledge the shortcomings of all of Israel.

But despite this revelation, Isaiah did not fall into despair. Instead, he took the first crucial step toward God. With a newfound understanding of his unworthiness, Isaiah confessed his sin to God. In response, God sent a seraphim, a spiritual being, to purify Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the altar. This purification spread throughout Isaiah’s body as the seraphim declared:

"Now that this has touched your lips,  

your iniquity is removed  

and your sin is atoned for."  

— (Isaiah 6:7, CSB)

Isaiah’s story shows us that the first step toward God begins with confronting the lies we believe. Isaiah didn’t grasp the full extent of his sin, or the sin of Israel, until he caught a glimpse of God’s glory. That experience gave Isaiah a new perspective on himself and the world.

It’s worth considering what distorted beliefs we hold about ourselves, our neighbors, the world, and even God Himself. This is where humility must come in. If we don’t have the humility to consider that we might be wrong, that there are parts of the story we don’t know, then it will be hard for us to be corrected when we’re wrong.

No one likes to be told they’re wrong. When someone points out our flaws or our false beliefs we want to hunker down and defend our position. It takes more than being told that we are wrong to move us to change. This why Eugene Peterson called this journey a long obedience in the same direction. It’s a journey of repentance, learning, and obedience that moves us to forgive, serve, and love.

As we walk the path of faith, we need to draw inspiration from those who have gone before us. Like Isaiah and other heroes of faith, we must choose to step away from the shadows of deception. We must let go the chains of lies that have held us back and embrace the truth that will ultimately set us free.

In this process, it’s crucial to remember: with every step we take, we are not alone.

The Holy Spirit walks beside us, using Scripture, prayer, and the Church to guide us closer to the heart of God.

With this in mind, we can be confident as we step forward with unwavering obedience and trust, because we know that this journey leads us to a deeper relationship with the One who loves us beyond measure.

Who Is Your King?

 {Judges 17:6; ESV}

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

The book of Judges is the account of the nation of Israel between the death of Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy with Saul and David. The recurring problem this young nation dealt with was the lack of leadership. As long as God provided them with a leader: Moses, Joshua, and the various Judges the people seemed to do what was right, but once these leaders were gone the people seemed to always follow the religious practices of the kingdoms around them.

Rather than being God’s covenant people, guided by the Law, Israel desired to be another Canaanite nation, adopting the practices of their neighbors.

Israel’s unwillingness to accept God’s rule led to the invasion of foreign kings. No Israelite king ruled Israel, but there were kings who ruled Israel. These kings were cruel and their actions devastated the nation and kept the Israelites in bondage. 

Because of Israel’s choice not to accept God’s invitation to be their King, God allowed the invasions of foreign kings to occur.

The Old Testament often gives us a picture of what historically happened as a metaphor to the spiritual reality of life. Just as Israel needed to surrender to God lordship, we too need to surrender to God's rule.

We may think we don’t need a king in our lives because we have the wisdom and the freedom to do what we think is best, but the reality is that we are bound by the chains of a tyrant. Many of us are chained and enslaved. 

The habits you cannot break are not the result of your weakness, but are chains given to us by a cruel master. The lust, selfishness, and greed of your heart are the chains in which you have been bound. “I am free,” we yell as we fall back into whatever addictions we have developed to cope with life.

The reason why we self medicate with sex, alcohol, Netflix, Amazon shopping, exercise, or food is because that is how we have learned to cope with life. This self medication can easily turn into addiction and slavery.

Peter wrote:

For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. — 1 Peter 1:18-19 (CSB)

We inherited a way of life from the world. It is all that we know and it seems like wisdom because it is how everyone else is living, but that way of life is really oppression. We need to be rescued from it.

Jesus is the King who came to rescue us. The foundation of the Gospel is that God’s good Kingdom is being brought into the world through Jesus. This was Jesus’s summary of his message:

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.” — 

Matthew 4:17 (CSB)

To repent, in this context of Kingdom, means to change our loyalties. I like to say that to repent is to defect from the kingdom of darkness and declare our allegiance to Jesus and his Kingdom.

We have a choice to make. Who will be our King?

Will we accept Jesus’s offer to be our King by repenting and following him or will we choose to be our own king too weak to stand against the oppressing forces the world sends our way?

The Bible teaches that Jesus is offering the opportunity to accept His Kingship to all people, but there will be a day when this invitation will cease. Jesus is preparing to return and on that day no one will be able to stand against Him. Everyone will bow before him, either in absolute terror or in absolute love, and worship the King of kings. 

Today is the day for you to defect from the kingdom of this world and become part of the Kingdom of Heaven. The day is coming when there will only be one King left standing, and on that day I want to be on his side.

The Discipleship Road: Repentance

 At Bethlehem Church I have started a new sermon series entitled The Discipleship Road. It is loosely based off Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. The point of the series is to emphasize the importance of being committed to the discipleship process. Being a disciple of Jesus is a journey that is going to take the rest of our lives.

This first sermon looks at repentance. Repentance starts with the realization that we are in a place that we don’t want to be in or that we are not the person that we want to be. That is motivation that gets us started on the journey.

Text: Psalm 120 

Bottomline: Our Discipleship Journey begins with repentance. 

Challenge: Daily Confess That You are not where You want to be. Ask God to rescue you.

A Repentant Heart

As a life long Christian, I know the right things to say.

For instance, when life becomes difficult I know that the right thing to say is, "I am trusting God an His timing." 

I may say that, but the reality is that I am full of worry. Rather than praying and doing the next right thing, I distract myself with scrolling through social media or watching YouTube videos. Then I wonder why God never showed up.

It is possible to say that right words while lacking the faith to believe those words. 

The prophet Isaiah made it clear that God wants to help us. His desire is to show us love and give us life.

Here is the kicker: God is waiting for us.

He is generous and desires to help, but we are not turning to Him for help. We are trying to make it on our own. If we would stop and turn to God the experience of our lives would be different.

What is the answer? 

How do we receive the love God has for us? 

King David in Psalm 51 gives us an insight on how we are to approach God:

David wrote this Psalm after Nathan the prophet confronted him about his sin against Uriah, stealing his wife Bathesheba and murdering him. For a year afterwards David pretended everything was fine, but in reality it wasn't. So when David thought about what he needed to do, in light of Nathan’s words, this is was came to his mind: Repentance.

At the heart of repentance is the denouncement of our actions and declaration of our loyalty to God. 

Repentance requires both.

This isn’t about coming to God through religious piety and tradition. Going through the motions of religion does not move God’s heart. 

What moves the heart of God?

Our heart is what moves God.

We can imitate the motions. 

We can fake the right words. 

What we can't fake is the genuine emotion, motivation, and intention of our heart. There needs to be a genuine sorrow for our evil and a genuine desire to be in a relationship with God for Him to act on our behalf.

God waits for us because He wants us to have a heart that desires Him above everything else in our lives. 

Until we approach the throne of God broken and repentant we will never realize the awesome love God has for us. 

This makes pride the biggest obstacle we have in experiencing the love of God.

When we are prideful we believe we change the circumstance of our lives by ourselves. We pursue happiness the way we think is best. We may say all the right things and go though the motions, but the intentions of our heart is on our plans. 

Our pride keeps us from experiencing God’s love.

I am  tired of mouthing the right things and ignoring God. 

My pride has kept me from admitting my weakness and my need for God’s wisdom and strength. 

I come before God with a humble spirit in search of His love. 

Will you do the same?