Detestable In God's Sight

Luke 16:15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

I have recently been reading of what went wrong in Germany in the 1920’s and 30‘s. What allowed a man like Adolph Hitler to gain power?  What events caused the German people and the church to follow Hitler? What caused the German people to look the other way regarding the atrocities being done in the name of the state?

Germany was considered a Christian nation. In 1933 there were 14,000 Evangelical pastors. Sadly, thousands of these pastors swore their personal allegiance to Hitler, 800 did not and were arrested, some sent to concentration camps others executed.  Did the people cry out in protest?  Erwin Lutzer in his book Hitler’s Cross said this, “The majority of the people, including the professing Christian, no longer believed that Christianity was worth suffering for, much less dying for. They were willing to substitute Mein Kampf (book written by Hitler detailing his political ideology) for the Bible in exchange for jobs and the greater glory of Germany. “What people value is highly detestable in God’s sight.”

In 1945 the German dream had ended and Germany was lying in ruins. Helmut Thielicke ,a German pastor, said this to his congregation. “Denying God and casting down the cross is never a merely private decision that concerns only my own inner life and my personal salvation, but this denial immediately brings the most brutal consequences for the whole of historical life and especially for our own people. God is not mocked. The history of the world can tell us terrible tales based on that text.”

Casting down the cross. Hitler wanted to blend Christianity with the Nazi Agenda. He would not tolerate Christians who worshiped Christ exclusively. Hitler changed the name of Christmas to Yuletide, Christmas Carols and Nativity plays were banned from schools and Easter was turned into a holiday that celebrated the arrival of spring. Hitler knew that by removing the cross, Christianity would loose it power. Paul said this, “I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. As the scriptures say, I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas.” 1 Corinthians 1:18,19. Lutzer ends his book with these words, “The cross reminds us that the battle is not so much between church and state as it is within our own hearts. If Christ has all of us, if the Cross stands above politics and the world as Bhonheiffer has reminded us, we shall overcome regardless of the costs.”

Since the garden of Eden, we have been at war. Good verses evil. I will end with quotes from two of God’s Apostles. Peter tells us this, “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. ---your faith is more precious to God than mere gold.” 1 Peter 1:6,7 And these are the words of Paul, “For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.” Philippians 3:18-21

Scratching The Surface

John 21:24-25 “This is the disciple who saw these events and recorded them here. And we all know that his account of these things is accurate. And I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books.”

The Pastor in the church I attended this past Sunday spoke of this verse and what he said humbled me. I read through the Bible a number of times each year and I thought I had a good grasp on who Jesus is. I would say that I was prideful in my knowledge of Jesus. The point the pastor made is that John probably knew Jesus better than or as well as anyone who has ever lived, yet even he says, “I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books.” That is a lot of books, thousands of books have been written about Jesus. John and every other disciple could have spent every waking second of their lives writing about Jesus and they could not come close to defining all he is and all he has done.

As I was sitting there in church I felt a little like Job, the last we hear from him in the book of Job he says this, from the Message Bible; “I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.' I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor." Job saw God in a whole new light in the Amplified Bible it says, “but now my spiritual eyes see you.”

I was humbled for I have only scratched the service of who Jesus is. David’s words to his son Solomon were, “Get to know the God or your ancestors. Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind.” God says to Hosea, “I want you to know God.

I recently read a testimony from a 92 year old man he said this, “My life has become beautiful because I’m getting to know God. For 40 years I worked on bettering myself through a man-made program, but then you began to teach me from the bible and I came to know Christ. I would not have had anything to live for if I hadn’t become a Christian (at age 87). I wanted to die. I have changed, and now I talk to God every day and He helps me.”

Learn from God firsthand, not crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor. Read the Bible from beginning to end and be amazed at who this Jesus is!

The Dead Sea

John 4:13 “Jesus replied, People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

A perpetual spring within us, living water, The Holy Spirit.  Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come and live within us. He will give us strength, rest, peace, joy and eventually eternal life.  What a promise!  Yet what happens if we take and take and never give from this perpetual spring within us?   We become like the Dead Sea. A land locked body of water into which rivers flow in, but none flow out.   It takes but never gives. The result is a lifeless sea, there are no fish or creatures living in or around it’s shores. It cannot take away thirst. To drink of it’s waters would result in death, not life.

It is the same with us, if we never give or look outside of ourselves, if we become self-centered, we cease to feel alive. Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “As a matter of fact, many are actually ill as a result of nothing but self-centeredness. When you lose yourself, letting your personality flow outward, your life takes on creative joy and even health.”  He goes on to tell the story of a wealthy man who thought he was sick, he had three nurses on round-the-clock duty. The man’s doctor asked Mr. Peale to give the man a dose of outgoing Christianity. Mr. Peale decided to give it a try and as he was sitting with the man he noticed an elderly woman struggling to move a chair.  Mr. Peale suggested to the “sick” man to help her with the chair. The man groaned and put up a protest but he did go and help the woman move the chair.  When he sat back down he said, “You know I actually got a kick out of that.”  Mr. Peale was in the same hotel about a year later and upon meeting the man again he found him to be full of life and energy. Mr. Peale asked him to explain it. He reminded Mr. Peale of when he helped the elderly woman. “That little service made me feel so good that I began looking for other opportunities to do something for people, just little things.  Then I found a few bigger services to render. One thing led to another until, strangely enough, I began to feel so much better that, finally, I came to the day when I saw myself. I got a clear view of how I was destroying my life by self-centeredness. By living in a more outgoing manner has made me a healthy man, he declared.”

Is your faith land locked? Does your life resemble a healthy body of water or the Dead Sea?  Jesus said in John 10:10  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  Take these words of James and apply them to your life, “So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all---it is dead and useless.”  James 2:17 Let us look outside of ourselves and give life giving water to those around us who are thirsty.  As a result you “will have life and have it to the full.”