Today I want to talk about the type of faith that is pitiable. If you don’t understand what I mean by the word, “pitiable”, I mean it’s so pathetic looking that you feel sorry for it. I’m not talking about faith that so desparately longs for God to rescue in dire situations. I’m not even talking about faith that continues to hope against all odds, despite knowing the outcome. I want to say that a pitiable faith is something far worse than believing in something or someone when it seems impausible. In fact, a pitiable faith is a faith that does not dare to stretch further than what can be seen and touched tangibly. That is pitiable because that type of “faith” relies on short term goals and has no long term expectations. See, the most pathetic type of faith, is a faith that expects selfishly in the now and present without any long term view of faith.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV)

Though Paul would not deny that in the spiritual sense Christians enjoy a better present life than non-Christians, this verse emphasizes the greatness of what God has promised for the life to come. A pitiable faith would never consider the next life. A new life that is promised in faith, so as to empower us through times when our faith grows weary and thin in this life, is roboust and does not fade. We may look pitiable clinging to our faith in times when our faith seems to wane, but in reality our hope of salvation is so glorious that if we were still in our sins and lost, we would have experienced the greatest and cruelest of all deceptions– a truly pitiable faith with no hope for something better. Faith should not be pitiable. Faith should not be something limited to just things in this life and hope for temporal things here and now. Faith should look forward to hope in and beyond our lives and stretch into the eternity promised through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus, in faith, gave his life for faithless people; we too need to live in a faith that may look pitiable, but in fact, resonates stronger and brighter because it sees and reaches beyond what can be seen and touched. Our faith is so much more than this life.

Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. ( 1 Corinthians 15:34) I allow me to exain the context of this statement: no the people being referred to in this statement were not drunk. Rather, these people lived their lives doing things as stupidly as drunk people would do on a Friday night. If you thought being drunk was fun, here’s the truth: be drunk just makes the stupid things you do seem less stupid to you because you imagine it to be fun. Now, if Christ following people live like drunkards, what does that look like? Is it wrong to have alcohol, Biblically speaking? That answer is no. What it looks like when Christ following people act like drunkards is a sobriety test gone wrong. Just as somebody whose drunk cannot walk the straight line on the road, and they believe they can; the Christ follower acting like a drunkard thinks they are following in Christ’s footsteps, except those steps are not inline with Christ’s. Today is the day we all give measure to ourselves. Are we acting like drunk people in a bad sobriety test, or are we really following Christ. What is implied here, but I will explicitly say it is that anything short of following the footsteps of our savior is sin. Its why we needed a savior in the first place. The shame is that we know better, let’s stop kidding ourselves and follow Christ with a whole heart instead of fooling ourselves like we’re drunk.

But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them. (Joshua 13:33) “God is their inheritance…” It may appear that you have nothing to receive from God materially in this life because nothing goes well or nothing has been going well, but rest assured, you are receiving an inheritance greater than things. You are receiving God. He is your inheritance. If you have nothing lining your pockets then remember that you have everything in God. The tribe of Levi was set aside by God during the conquest of the land of Canaan. Ask the other tribes received land according to their size, but Levi’s progeny received nothing more than rentals in between subdivisions. Yet they received a promise that none of the other tribes received: they would eat from the table of God throughout their lives. What is the use of anything in comparison to eating at the take of God? If you have no inheritance from God in the tangible monetary sense, do not feel bad looking at everybody else. You are receiving the inheritance greater than all others: you are receiving God as your inheritance who can do more and be more than anything else.

For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. (Exodus 40:38)

What stuck me today was how little we keep God in sight. Let me explain. If we consider the daily circumstances, and everyday experiences, “journeys,” then how often or how prevalent is God in those activities? The answer: God is almost non existent in our thoughts and in our lives through these daily activities. In fact, God really is only a presence in our lives when we come to church on Sunday and intentionally focus on Him. For some reason we want to live our lives with God out of sight and therefore out of our minds. In doing so, we miss so many opportunities to have God’s presence journeying with us. I know we don’t intentionally cut God out of our lives, but perhaps we need to intentionally keep God in sight. What would happen if we would keep God in sight through all our journeys? What would that even look like? What kinds of journeys would we have with God?

I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. (Exodus 6:7) Here is real encouragement: Moses wanted to know what to tell the Israelites after Pharaoh came down hard on them by ordering they make bricks without any straw, and he got more than confirmation from God. God basically claims this fight for the Israelites and says, “I will be your God.” I shiver just reading that statement. If you have a larger than life problem that you can’t escape, well then, “Yahweh will be your God.” I would hashtag an “Amen” but I think some of us have a hard time believing that statement. This an authoritative, declaration if you weren’t sure who your God is. The reason it is authoritative and declarative is simple: God is not interested in what you cannot do– He wants you to trust in who He is to do what He does because He claims you as His own. Every time we feel like we’re left out to hang in limbo– think again because God claims you. He claims you into freedom. He will show you why He is our God. If you doubt and don’t want to listen anymore, then just keep your eyes open. God will claim you and He wants you to witness it. Just like people witnessed God claim Jesus out of death, He will claim you out of your sin, fear, doubt, and oppression. You will know God is your God who frees His people.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1 ESV) Perhaps you know this parable that Jesus told. If not, let me give you the one sentence summary. There was a woman who kept asking a wicked judge for justice and the judge gave the woman justice because of her persistence. Moral of the story is simple: keep trying even if you don’t succeed at first. What a great lesson this is for all of us who have given up. And I’m not talking about those of us who have given up after failing the first time, I’m talking about those of us who have given up after a prolonged period of trying and failing. How disheartened have you been after the 100th time you’ve asked and tried for something and came up short? How many of those requests have you abandoned as hopeless? Some examples, a life partner, a child, a new job, etc. Perhaps, there hasn’t been a single thing you’ve asked for that persistently yet, or maybe you’re one of those people that gives up after a few times of trying; regardless, that feeling of hopelessness overcomes us and we’re thrown into disheartened mess. This is exactly why Jesus tells his audience this parable– because as long as there is somebody trying and persisting, there is hope. That hope stems from the fact that God is always listening. This isn’t where it ends either. God not only listens, He is better than a wicked judge at giving justice! As a result, we NEED to pray and not lose heart… ever. When you cry out to God day and night in prayer, and I don’t mean the prayer of a madman, but in the earnestness of a child, there is nothing that can stop that prayer from being fulfilled by God in His justice. Don’t lose heart for prayers that have not been answered yet, keep on praying because God is listening and He will provide swift justice.

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. (Psalm 4:5) Despite what people say about earning trust; trust doesn’t actually begin until you are ready to sacrifice something for it. For example: you don’t really trust somebody with your money unless you are ready to lose it all to the person you are handing it over to. Perhaps less tangibly but more relevantly, you don’t really trust the person you are dating until you are ready to sacrifice your independent latitude as a selfish single person — thus getting married and trusting your spouse for everything. Ergo, the amount of trust you have is measured by how many of your eggs you put in that single basket. I think you get the picture– you do not trust FULLY until you are ready to lose it ALL for the the person/thing you trust. Having said that, there is a “right” way of offering sacrifices that trusts in God. This is what we’re aiming for. Some people love to sacrifice their time, money and energies toward the things of God but do so for the wrong reasons. Jesus lamented this throughout his ministry and stood in opposition against them his whole life. They sacrifice because they can or because they have to, they do not do it from a heart intended on trusting God for what they are giving up. Let’s bring this back to the 21st century. I know a lot of us are willing to sacrifice sleep for a fun time; money for pleasure; food for looking good; and time for money. But what about for God? What are you willing to sacrifice for Him? What have you ever sacrificed for the the God who saves your soul? Its not that God needs you to sacrifice anything for Him, like He needs it. However, in the same way you would like your spouse or partner to sacrifice their individuality for you, wouldn’t you think God would like you to sacrifice your individuality for Him? It’s some food for thought as we head into the weekend. How are we ready to sacrifice in order to show God we trust in Him?

If you want to have a good 2014 then there are three things that you NEED to do in order to ensure that this coming year is better than your previous one. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) So how can you be imitators of God and walk in love? Let’s go to Ephesians 5:15-17 (GNB) “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like ignorant people, but like wise people. Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days. Don’t be fools, then, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.” Three Objectives for the new year: 1. Be careful of how you live. Where did you fall short in 2013? Did you live in the same way God would live or did you just fall terribly short of achieving even the slightest expectations you thought you may have had at the beginning of the year? If you didn’t live godly, then what do you plan on doing to remedy that? 2. Make good use of every opportunity. Carpe Diem (seizing a day) is too easy. Paul said to imitate God we must Carpe omnia singula puncta temporis (seize each and every moment). In Matthew 6, Jesus tells his disciples to forget about worrying about tomorrow because when you do, you miss out on seeking the kingdom of God right now. Did you maximize everything you were given in 2013? What did the opportunities look like? How will you recognize them in the future? 3. Find out what the Lord wants you to do. What did you learn about yourself and the passions in your heart? This is the great joy of life that we so easily miss out on because of the everyday rigors of living life. God’s will for you in written all over your life we would simply take the time to seek how God moves you and how you find your being through the passions burning within us. For some of us that is to use that creative spark for engineering, others healing, others teachings, others of us doing math that no human being should be doing. But all of us were created by God uniquely so that you can touch the lives of every single person around you. He wants you touch their lives as He touches yours and inspire them through the Holy Spirit within you that moves and brings you refreshing. Let’s strive for these things in 2014.

I can’t even begin to put a number on the times people ask me what the will of God is for their lives. I can’t even begin to number the times I’ve asked people what the will of God is for my life. Each time the advice I give and the advice I get is simple: Love God and love others. BUT how to live into this will of God is complex and multifaceted. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:15-16) You love God and other people by doing good despite what others think of your “doing good”, this is what the Apostle Peter is saying. The will of God is to go out before other people who may be foolish and love them by doing good. Let me caveat this last comment because I don’t want you to get into harms way. “Doing good” doesn’t mean putting yourself in harms way; however, it does mean going out of your way to do something for somebody or some people who don’t necessarily deserve it. This means going out of your way in a sacrificial manner to help, assist or even make comfortable, the lives of friends, family and colleagues who make your life a practical living hell. The rationale behind doing good is simple: because Jesus did the same thing. He saves us when we’re the worst and even when we’re our best, he continues to sanctify us from our wickedness. The life we live should be intentionally good, using our abilities and gifts for the benefit of other people, and I don’t mean just the people who treat you well or the people who do not annoy you. At the end of the day, you’re not really being Christ-like (aka Christian) if you’re not living as a servant of God. You can’t be a servant of God if you’re live under the delusion that you are the master of your own universe. Therefore, the next time you are pondering about lashing out at other people because you were jilted, embarrassed or persecuted, remember that you should live as a servant of God and use your will to do good despite those negative experiences. Let’s look to Jesus and be a servant after God’s own heart.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness… (Romans 4:4-5) Some of us need to get one thing through our thick heads: we can’t earn salvation. It doesn’t matter how hard we try or how much we work. Doing good works is fine and well, but that will never be enough to earn what God is offering so freely–salvation. Salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Only believing that God’s own righteousness is imputed to us will actually cleanse us from our failure and shortcomings. God gives what no other religion ever extends to their followers: a free gift. That gift is nothing less than a brand new life and life after death. No other religion will offer a second chance or a brand new beginning so freely. You can search long and hard and traverse the entire world, but salvation is in Christ and flows from Him only. This holiday season we need to remember that we celebrate the birth of that gift in our lives. It’s so easy to forget how little we are actually responsible for in regards to our own salvation. But when we remember that we did nothing and in fact tried our best to sabotage ourselves from receiving salvation from God, it’s amazing how Good draws us to Him and redeems us. When we accept this gift of salvation, not having done anything to deserve it on our own merits, we become positioned for blessedness. That blessedness is also a gift that we must realize is ours which cannot be earned or compared to anybody else. Accept the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus because you won’t be able to earn it anyway else.