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Bandwagon

/ EllieJ

Every season, no matter what sport, the teams that make the playoffs always have an influx of fans. We call this jumping on the bandwagon. They may not watch the sport all season long, but if a certain team ends up in the postseason, suddenly, they’re superfans. The excitement draws all sorts of people out of the woodwork who act as though they’ve been fans all year long. The true test of these “fans” is the next season. Through the off-season, many of those who jumped on the postseason bandwagon will quietly slide right off, never to be seen again until the next time the team makes the playoffs. But there are a few who will continue to follow the team through their down time. When the season starts up again, those jerseys they bought at the end of the previous year get aired out, ready to be worn again through the year.

When Jesus began his ministry, he knew he would draw the bandwagoners right along with the truly faithful. Some followed because of what Jesus could do, but they never stuck around long. Others followed because of who Jesus was. Those people he discipled.

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

John 2:23-25 (NIV)

Jesus is no dummy. He can tell his true followers from those who are just along for the ride. Just like wearing a team jersey doesn’t necessarily make a person a true fan, showing up at church on Sunday doesn’t necessarily make you a true believer. God looks at what is inside of us, not what we show everyone on the outside. Not only does God look, but we should be inviting Him to do so.

Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind.

Psalm 26:2 (NIV)

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

We cannot hide who or what we are from God. He sees through every façade, every fake smile, every insincere word. But even if we are a bandwagon Christian, only showing up when things get exciting, it doesn’t mean that we can’t become true worshipers. The Psalms are filled with lyrics of insufficiency and defeat, treachery and deceit. Yet, if we turn our hearts fully toward God, He will be faithful to draw us in and to help us (not make us) become true believers, worshipers, followers.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4:24 (NIV)

Read: 1 Kings 19-20, John 2

No place to hide

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Read: Genesis 3-5, Matthew 2

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Genesis 3:9-10 (NIV)

We can all look at this verse and have a bit of a chuckle. Who does Adam think he is to try and hide from God? Did he really think that God wouldn’t know what was going on? That he wouldn’t be found out? It’s almost like a toddler trying to play hide and seek. When someone calls out their name, they’re conditioned to answer and when they do, they give away their hiding spot. Adam is trying to hide and gives himself away all at the same time.

Cain tried something similar after killing his brother, Abel.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother, Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Genesis 4:9 (NIV)

It seems so silly, trying to hide things from God. We know that He knows everything. But there are still things we try to hide, to cover up. We keep secrets and, even though deep down we know that God knows, it’s almost as though we hope He doesn’t.

Doing what is right may sometimes seem difficult in the moment, but even more difficult are the consequences of doing wrong. After God refused Cain’s offering, He had a little chat with him.

Geneses 4:7

Obviously, Cain did not take the conversation to heart because he went out and brutally killed his own brother. His reason? Abel’s offering was accepted and his was not. Cain opened the door to sin and allowed it to get a foot inside.

If you’ve already opened the door to sin, there is a way to shut it again—Jesus.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

And if the door is still closed, keep it that way. In just the first four chapters of the Bible, we learn that it is much easier to have everything out in the open rather than try to hide things from God. Would God have responded to Adam differently if he’d gone to Him immediately after realising his mistake? Maybe. We’ll never know. But we can learn from it.

Our approach to God must be on His terms. But they are not difficult terms and He’s promised to help us when we reach out to Him. There is no place to hide with God. And that’s a good thing.

 

Super-apostles

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Did you know that even church people can be deceived? Gasp!

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church and is worried that those who had already accepted the true Gospel of Christ might listen to and believe the words of other apostles claiming a different Jesus and offering a different spirit.

For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

2 Corinthians 11:4-6 (ESV)

Lying lips can often spew what sounds like truth.

Psalm 119:11 talks about storing up God’s Word in you heart so that you will not sin against Him. This is why it is so important that you not only know God, but know His Word and how it applies to you. Even the devil quoted scripture to Jesus.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)

Know God. Know His Word. Know how it applies to you so that, when the super-apostles show up, you will be able to discern God’s truth from the devil’s lies.

Daily Bible reading:Ecclesiastes 7-9, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

Increase

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Many may believe that, in times of persecution, those who are being persecuted should be quiet and hide until it is safe once again to come out in the open. If that’s you, that’s fine. If you want to take your faith and hide, go ahead.

But who will stand? Who will stay and fight? How will the Church grow if we’re all in hiding?

In the Book of Acts, the Church was under persecution. In the first verse of chapter 12, it says that the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. James was killed by the sword and Peter was put in chains.

You don’t have to search very long in the news to see that similar things are happening today – even in the West. We are not at all immune to persecution and, perhaps, it’s even worse here because the changes are subtle and churches are believing the little lies until they no longer believe the Truth.

So what did the church of Acts do? Did they hide? No! They prayed. They went out and brought the Gospel to those who could not or would not come to them.

But the word of God increased and multiplied.

Acts 12:24 (ESV)

It is easy to speak the Word when no one is against you, but the words have more weight when you speak them even though the world may be against you.

Daily Bible reading: Job 29-30, Acts 12

Whole and Willing

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And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

1 Chronicles 28:9 (ESV)

As one of his last acts as king of Israel, David urges his son to follow in his father’s footsteps. God knew David’s heart and David’s heart was in the right place.

I often have to take a look at my own heart. When I wake up Sunday mornings, more often than not, I’m looking forward to an afternoon nap more than I am to the church service that comes first. Where is my heart?

When I stand on the stage, am I giving God my whole heart or just a part of it? Am I serving with a willing mind or is it wandering, trying to make it through the service?

Church aside, where are my heart and mind through the week? Does God have my whole heart all the time? With a willing mind, do I read His Word and pay attention to His teachings?

I take no small amount of encouragement in the second part of this verse, “If you seek him, he will be found by you.” God doesn’t play games with our hearts or minds. He is always faithful and sure. He will not leave us or forsake us even if we don’t approach Him wholeheartedly or completely willingly. He meets us where we are so long as we take that step. Jeremiah 29:14 says, “I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”

When I think of us searching for God, I think of playing hide and seek with a kid. We’re the one seeking and God is the kid hiding in plain sight, breathing heavy, talking the whole time, impossible to miss.

God wants us to find Him. And, when we know that God wants to be found, it makes it easier to search for him with all of our hearts and with a willing mind.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 28-29; John 11:47-57

Touch and see

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Do you ever doubt that Jesus lives in you? Does it ever cross your mind that, maybe, this whole Christianity thing is one great big hoax that has been fooling millions of people for millennia?

Doubt is not the problem. Our response to it is.

And he said to them, “Why are you trouble, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

Luke 24:38-40 (ESV)

Jesus accepted the doubt of the very men who walked with him. Rather than rebuking them, he gave them proof.

Draw near to God, and he he will draw near to you.

James 4:8a (ESV)

This is one story among countless others. For many of us raised in the church, we may find it difficult to remember a single defining moment in our faith. But for people like the man in the video, God went out of His way to show Himself to a single person who was doubting.

God doesn’t hide from us.

You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me! I will let you find me,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:13-14a (NCV)

When we have doubts, God wants us to come looking for Him. He wants to show Himself to us. He lets us find Him.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Kings 12-13; Luke 24:36-53