The Last Piece of the Puzzle

“And you are complete in Him.” Colossians 2:10 

Have you ever been the lucky one to find the last piece of the puzzle all by yourself?  The 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle has been scattered out on the card table for weeks. You toy with a single piece, and suddenly, it starts coming together.  You get on a roll and put the last piece into place. You shriek and shout, but no one is there to see it happen and your moment goes unappreciated except for your inner satisfaction.  You no longer have to stare at an incomplete picture with its gaping holes. 

Incomplete is a frustrating word.  It is the bane of our existence; it carries the baggage of failure; it sags with disappointment; it weighs heavily with depression.  An incomplete grade; incomplete test; incomplete treatment. To a quarterback, an incomplete pass is not good; neither is an incomplete game to a pitcher; or an incomplete three-point play to a point guard.  We hate an incomplete manuscript, an incomplete call, an incomplete contract, an incomplete portrait.  But, that’s where we are. 

The world cannot complete you.  Not only does the world fail to complete you; it actually depletes you!  In Colossians 2:8-10, Paul alerts us to the dangers that exist in the world, dangers that threaten our faith and leave us with an incomplete life. We can be spoiled—meaning stripped of all value and left with nothing, e.g. the spoils of war; or “to the victor goes the spoil.”  We can be stripped of value by philosophy, by vain deceit, by the tradition of men, by the rudiments of the world.  Our incomplete life cries for a greater understanding about God. 

God completes; He is the essence of wholeness.  “For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Some wonder about the importance of the oneness of God.  Does it have practical value?  Is it meaningful to us in real life?  Absolutely!  The doctrine of the oneness of God is more than a mere theological position. The plenary indwelling of God in Christ Jesus, the awesome revelation that all of God—His height, His depth, His length, His breadth—is in the man Christ Jesus. All of God I will ever see, all of God I will ever know, is in Jesus Christ!  This truth profoundly impacts my life.  “Ye are complete in Him…” The two words—fulness and complete—both come from the same root word. In fact, some versions of the Bible use the same word in both verses.  

Have you grasped this powerful concept?  However incomplete we may be by the standards of the world, we are complete in Him!  Because God dwells fully in Christ, we are full by living in Christ. Because Christ has access to every attribute of God, so we have access to every attribute of God by dwelling in Christ. Jesus Christ is totally complete and fully divine.

Dietary Supplements for the Soul

Vitamins and dietary supplements are all the rage today, due to the lack of quality in much of our food.  Our grocery shopping habits lead us to buy processed foods, foods with non-organic additives and produce from corporate farms that are more mindful of dollars than quality. While we continue eating meats, vegetables and other primary foods, more and more we are supplementing these main courses with ingredients that have been stripped from them.  It’s a daunting task; the sheer array of choices staggers the mind (specialized stores exist that only sell food supplements), but with a little research and advice, we can usually figure out what we should get.  

But, what about our spiritual diet?  Far too many believers live in survival mode, eating only the main course of attending church, listening to preaching and perfunctory prayer.  These necessities may keep them alive, but they need spiritual supplements to grow and thrive.  I compare them to patients in the hospitals versus workers in the factories and offices.  You may be technically alive—and not much more than that—but, you need to enhance your soul with some supplements that will give you what you’re missing.  Here are some suggestions to get you going. 

• Memorize the Word.  Committing the Word of God to memory serves as a pantry for your life. 
• Manage your days.  Avoid sporadic and chaotic consumption of spiritual junk food in your daily life. 
• Witness.  You have a story to tell. You strengthen and spice up your own life each time you tell it. 
• Read a book.  Books help you stay fresh, alive, alert and informed. 
• Read a daily devotional.  A specific thought may be exactly what you need for your spiritual health. 
• Subscribe to spiritual magazines.  Keep current. Stay plugged in. Trends inform your prayer life.
• Listen to recorded sermons.  Hearing the Word exposes you to both the passion and the words.
• Meditate.  You read for information and understanding; you meditate for meaning and experience. 
• Listen to spiritual music.  Music nourishes the soul.  It fulfills many emotional needs of your life
• Write or keep a journal.  Thoughts are treasures.  Unless you preserve them, you will lose them. 
• Correspond with a missionary friend.  Knowing missionary needs adds a depth to your life.
• Talk about your faith.  Dialogue with others will make your life purposeful and inviting.
• Get involved in a ministry.  Don’t get isolated and paralyzed.  Contributions bring satisfaction.
• Do good deeds.  Helping others elevates your own spirit.  Accomplishments birth good feelings.
• Encourage.  Refrain from negativity. Be a lifter, an encourager, a person who strengthens.  

Any or all of these actions will make your world a better place, but they will have an even greater impact on you than others.  They will not replace the main course of spiritual meals in your life, but they will make you feel stronger, more alive and more useful in the kingdom of God.  Don’t live on life-support. Don’t set your goals at subsistence levels.  Live revived and thriving!  You should feel challenged, your talents should be tapped to the limits, and your imprint on the world should be the result of all-out living for God! 

The In-Between Disciple

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.” John 20:24-31 

We call them deniers.  Some deny the Jewish Holocaust.  Some refuse to believe that man walked on the moon.  Some deny that Islamic terrorists brought down the twin towers on 9/11.  Despite reports, evidence and personal visits, they refuse to believe, and we don’t always know why.  Some are obstinate.  Some are naturally skeptical.  Some think they are being conned.  Others won’t abandon long held political viewpoints.  But, many doubt because they lack personal experience.  They think they are at the mercy of others for history.  History, they say, is someone else’s S-T-O-R-Y. 

Guess what? God has already thought about this human propensity for doubt!  That’s why you don’t have to take someone else’s word about salvation!  You don’t have to be an outsider, an on-looker, a spectator to the greatest story that ever transpired in the annals of history.  God had designed an experience for you.  He has your name on it.  It’s called the baptism of the Holy Ghost!  The Holy Spirit is given to us to complete our new-birth experience.  It lifts us out of our human limitations into the realm of the Spirit.  

Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus came, post-resurrection. (When you skip church, you never know what you’re going to miss!)  Maybe he had a good excuse for his absence. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was confused about when and where the service was going to be held.  Maybe he heard some incredible rumors that Jesus was alive before he encountered the disciples, and he couldn’t process this information. Amazing.  Thomas saw Christ on the mount of transfiguration. He saw Jesus heal and deliver.  Most astounding is that Thomas was present at the raising of Lazarus.  And yet, he had trouble believing that Jesus rose from the dead.

But I do not want to be too hard on Thomas.  I admire his honesty and bluntness.  He simply said, “If you expect me to believe this, I need to put my fingers in His hands and thrust my hand into His side.”  He needed a personal touch from the Master.  So, after eight days, he joined the disciples.  This makes Thomas a sort of mysterious person to me.  He did not fully believe, yet he did not leave.  There was an eight-day period in which he pondered these things in his heart. 

Why did Thomas come back?  He could have gone fishing or joined some other group.  He could have denounced Jesus.  He could have become an enemy of Christ and the disciples. Yet, he stuck around. Evidently, he had enough loyalty and respect that he could not sever his connections with Jesus.  Or, maybe, he hoped something would happen to change his mind. He was just being Thomas, always in between decisions. 

I hold out hope for the Thomases of this world.  Jesus will reward your honesty. After eight days, Jesus showed up.  Thomas was there. Jesus didn’t show up just for the disciple’s sake.  He had already appeared to them.  He came for Thomas. He did not denounce him for his unbelief or scold him for his denial.  He reached out to him with compassion.  Never mark yourself off the list.  Never pass judgment on yourself that you are beyond hope or help.  You do not know the lengths to which God will go to reach you where you are and in whatever condition you may be. 

Jesus challenged Thomas to put his fingers in His hands and side.  There is no record that Thomas did this.  His encounter with Christ was enough to erase all his doubts and fears. Thomas wanted something authentic, not a hand-me-down religion.  He wanted Jesus to be real. Today, you can also say, “My Lord and my God.”  It’s good to call Jesus Lord and God.  It’s far better to know him as your Lord and your God.

Sometimes, It All Comes Down to One Thing

“One thing have I desired of the LORD … that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.” Psalms 27:4 

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart seventy-three seconds into flight, killing its seven crew members. The entire vehicle disintegrated after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The failure caused a breach joint, allowing pressurized hot gas to reach an external fuel tank. The structural failure of the external tank broke up the orbiter.  The O-ring breakup caused the disaster.  The Challenger catastrophe tragically illustrates the importance of one thing. 

How many times have you looked at your problems and told yourself that things are just too complicated to fix?  Maybe the cause of today’s mess actually started years ago.  You can’t go back and undo it to come up with a different result.  Life seems complicated when you want to do something, and you aren’t allowed to do it; when you have to do something but don’t have the money; when you did something but shouldn’t have; when you didn’t do something and later wish you had.  When you loved someone, who didn’t love you in return; when you loved and later realized you didn’t really love that person in the first place; when you committed and then changed your mind too late; life seems complicated. 

If only David had gone to war with his troops, the Bathsheba incident wouldn’t have happened.  It became a complicated mess of intrigue and murder for which David would pay through the death of his own family members.  The truth is that the unbelievably twisted and hopelessly complicated disasters of life will not be solved by trying to figure it all out.  The bars and clubs fill up with people every weekend because it’s easier to forget troubles by drinking than to face them.  It’s seen as less painful to throw a marriage away than to confront the man or woman in the mirror.  It’s easier to quit a job, quit school, jump into a new relationship or move a thousand miles away than to reduce everything down to God and self.  Don’t drown in the abyss of life’s complications.  It all comes down to one thing.  

One thing I desire.  Psalm 27:4. Go to church.  Jesus said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Desire church.  Desire to stay in fellowship with the people of God.  Desire to keep your relationship to God intact.  God is going to save the church.  You will be saved as a part of the church, not as an individual, free-lance Christian.  

One thing you lack.  Mark 10:21. We call this man the rich, young ruler.  The answer Jesus gave him caused him great pain and sorrow because he believed that the way to happiness was paved with gold and silver.  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV)  

One thing Is needful.  Luke 10:40-42.  Martha allowed her life to become complicated with her own expectations.  She was a perfectionist and a busybody, always trying to fix someone else’s life. (Have you ever known a happy perfectionist?) Jesus told her that she needed one thing; stop all of her fussing and fuming, her busyness and worry, her obsession with the affairs of her own life and sit at the feet of the Master.  

Citing complications seems justified, but it only masks the simple truth.  Get down to the one thing.  It’s amazing how much it will mean.

The Defense Never Rests

“Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost … since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.

F. Lee Bailey, one of the most sensational trial lawyers of the last century, practiced the creed that every person is innocent until proven guilty.  He did all that was humanly possible to defend a client.  He entitled his autobiography, “The Defense Never Rests.”  The word translated as Comforter or Helper in John’s gospel comes from a Greek word, Paraclete.  It means advocate, or defense lawyer.  Anyone accused of a crime needs—and has a right to—a defense attorney.  Defendants in a capital crime must withstand a formidable prosecution by a District Attorney.  The most chilling moment in the proceedings arrives when the defense lawyer says, “The defense rests its case.” The harrowing questions now bombard you. Has everything been said? Has every loophole been closed? Has all the evidence been countered and all the hostile witnesses been refuted?  Ten, twenty years, life imprisonment, or death, hangs in the balance. 

Did you know that you are on trial?  From the very moment God’s word influenced your heart and Christ’s love drew you to him, you have been undergoing a great spiritual ordeal.  Your difficulty in loving God is not just an insignificant, trivial personal battle.  Out of revenge, Satan introduced sin into the world, seeking to erase God from the minds of men. Failing in this, he tried to destroy the personification of righteousness, Jesus Christ.  Having failed once again, he is now attempting to nullify the work of Christ in this world. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12. 

Yes, you are on trial—and you are guilty! Man is born in sin. “All the world may become guilty before God.” Romans 3:19. Sin is our natural heritage and death is our fixed destiny.  The human heart is deceitful. All have transgressed the commandments of God.  You are on trial and Satan is the prosecuting attorney.  He is called Satan fifty-six times, meaning opponent or adversary. He is called the devil thirty-five times, meaning slanderer, accuser. He is the source of evil, a liar, the tempter and the great deceiver.  

News flash! We have a Defense Attorney who never rests His case. “Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost … since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Your defense is flawless, and your defense attorney, the Paraclete Comforter, never rests! He brings these things to your remembrance: 

When Satan says “You’re my possession,“ the Paraclete says: “I redeemed you!”

When Satan says “You’re a troubled individual,” your Defense Attorney says, “No! I’ve given you My peace!”

When Satan says, “You’re not good enough for heaven,” your Holy Ghost says, “I have justified you!”

When Satan says, “You are soiled with sin,” your Helper says, I have cleansed you!”

When Satan says, “God is angry with you,” your Advocate says, “I have forgiven you!” 

When Satan says, “You’re too far from God,” your Eternal Lawyer says, “I’ve drawn you close to Me!” 

When Satan says, “I can still control you,” your Comforter says, “I’ve given you victory!” 

When Satan says, “You are still guilty,” the Almighty God says, “I can’t remember your sins!” 

The defense—YOUR DEFENSE—never rests!

The Watcher

“If the master of the house had known … he would have watched.” Matthew 24:43

Picture the scene as a wealthy landlord returns from a leisurely trip and finds the limp, lifeless body of his wife, his children, brutally murdered, lying at their mother’s feet.  He surveys the charred, skeletal remains of his home, the evidence of his loved one’s pitiful attempt to defend themselves and all his possessions stolen. He reels from the devastation.  An overwhelming sense of guilt magnifies his losses. He could have protected them.  He could have known of criminal activity.  He could have returned days earlier to secure his home and family. 

Today, home security systems have risen to become the most sought-after feature of modern home-owners.  You can buy systems that sound alarms, turn on lights, send audio and video  images to your Smart Phone and call the police.  They detect heat, motion, vibration, and opening doors and windows.  Elaborate, state-of-the-art equipment can blanket your house with radar and light-beams.  You can buy smoke, heat, radon and carbon monoxide detectors. 

The saddest aspect of all this security is that it is mislabeled.  It claims to provide security for homes.  House? Yes. Property? Inanimate possessions? Yes. Homes? No. The real attackers that invade homes walk in unnoticed. Sometimes they even have a welcome mat. They come in on the airwaves. They come in attached to the minds and spirits of moms, dads and kids. They look a lot like TV programs and video tapes. They look a lot like splashy magazines, CD’s and DVD’s. They sound a lot like music, lyrics and rap. They sound a lot like the spin, the ideas and words of schools, offices and factories.  Listen! Your alarm is emitting a deafening siren. Criminal activity is at work in your neighborhood.  Rogue masterminds have come to steal minds, corrupt morals, break up homes, plant rebellion and remake your children in the image of the world. 

Who is the master of the house in this scripture?  In our society, because we are structured so differently than that of two thousand years ago, both parents must be labeled as the responsible guardians of the home.  It’s past time to address the care of the minds and spirits of those whom God has entrusted to us.  Don’t be ignorant. Don’t be naive.  Don’t put trust blind trust in the systems of the world. Don’t dismiss the attackers as cute or harmless.

“Children of today are exposed to violence every single day, be it in the home, on the streets, on the TV, in the newspaper, or in the movies. Toddlers are generally engrossed by television cartoons, some of which do carry disturbing humor and violent action’s and messages. Many cartoons are mills of violence. Many children are very attached to violent cartoons. In fact, if you’d ask any kid, he will surely be able to tell you something about his favorite cartoon character. According to research, children who watch too much of violence on TV can are very likely to have emotional and behavioral problems.” (www.childtrends.org) 

You may have adequate security for your house, but what about your home?  Don’t go to Home Depot or Lowes for the following items:  A Bible.  Prayer time. A church-going habit. Spiritual traditions. Physical, mental and emotional presence. A home in Biblical order. 

Are you investing or ignoring in your loved ones?  Are you willing to make the necessary sacrifices?  Sacrifice the nicer clothes, cars, houses.  Sacrifice the relationship with old friends.  Sacrifice your time spent on yourself.  Stand up to the attackers and say, “Over my dead body!” 

How can you—how DARE you—secure your material possessions at the expense of your real treasures?  Watch!  It’s your responsibility!

The Gate of Heaven

“This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:17 

Some are inviting; some forbidding.  Some are stone with clinging ivy and wrought iron attached; others are simple picket boards painted white.  Ornate, plain, wide, narrow, well-oiled, creaky, they all have something in common. They are all gates allowing entrance into a walled-off square.  A gateway also means the official way to begin a journey.  St. Louis is said to be the gateway to the west, thus the huge arch that towers above the city.  In New York City, the Statue of Liberty signifies freedom for all immigrants. In the drug culture, they speak of the Cannabis Gateway.  Cannabis is the marijuana plant, and people who use it enter through a gateway that leads them to other drugs, like heroin and cocaine. 

Jacob was on the run.  A fugitive because of a stolen birthright, his brother, Esau, had promised to kill him.  Jacob didn’t find God because of pure motives.  His life had been reduced to complete shambles and there was nothing left for him to do but scramble desperately for a place to hide.  God first seeks us; then we seek God.  Moses was not looking to be the savior of Israel when he saw the burning bush on the backside of the desert.  Gideon was not seeking to be a great General when God found him threshing wheat by the winepress.  Anyone who finds God does not have themselves to thank.  It is the mercy of God that he found us and chose to use us. In the midst of our despair, God shows up.  

Jacob had stumbled into a holy place. Tired, sweaty, footsore—any place to rest would do.  The gate of heaven had no markings.  There were no road signs, no name of the village or town to tell Jacob where he was spending the night.  It seemed like it was just a coincidence that Jacob ended his days journey here. The dream happened to Jacob in a barren, desolate place.  No gardens, no greenery, no oases. No Embassy Suites or Hyatt Regency Hotels.  No shopping malls, no tourist attractions, no bright lights, not even a dingy little gas station offered him any comfort. 

Many believers have no idea how they happened into an Apostolic church and felt the power of God.  They were ignorant of the oneness of God or the new birth experience.  God turned their very troubles and trials into opportunities to get to Him.  He used their sicknesses to lead them to Himself.  He rode into their lives on the back of cocaine addiction, divorce, prison, the barrel of a gun pointed in their face!  God has a way of turning wilderness stones into monuments of blessing.  That which you thought was a curse was God’s way to bring you to the gate of heaven. 

It is a maddening irony that the gates of our heaven are the places of our dread. Our flesh recoils, our human nature resists, our carnal mind rejects this place. The closing scene of Jacob’s nightmare revealed the house of God. The house of God was the gate of heaven.  If Bethel was the gate of Heaven, it means that it only represents a transition into a brand-new realm of living. Once you enter in the gateway, the fabulous plan of God begins to unfold in your life.  You find yourself in the middle of change.  Your tastes, your desires, your affections, your plans.  Something begins to pull you along. You are in a passageway…you don’t even recognize your old self.  The person staring back at you in the mirror is not the same. 

Once you begin this journey, you can never be the same.  You cannot erase the revelations and illuminations you receive in the gateway to heaven. How can anyone view such sights and go back to the way they were? He now says, “Come.  Take my hand.  Let me lead you into higher heights and deeper depths than you ever imagined even existed.”

Your Inexorable Future

“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves.” Proverbs 29:18 (MSG) 

Visions and dreams are often used interchangeably in the Bible. Both can be either from God or the flesh. Jacob was a dreamer.  Joseph was a dreamer. But, even though Peter and Paul had dreams, we do not call them dreamers. We call them visionaries.  Dreams seem to be a premonition of the future. Visions seem to be understandings of the future. Dreams wait to be fulfilled. Visions call for action and active faith.

But the words dream and vision today differ from the language of the Bible. Now, vision relates to tomorrow; dream relates to yesterday. 

Further analysis of visions vs. dreams: Visions are for the future. Dreams are for the past. Dreams are for what used to be or what might have been. Visions are for what has not yet happened or what will be. A dream needs no basis in reality to have value. A vision’s value is precisely because it is based in reality. A dream needs no connection to the present. A vision thrives on its connection to the present. Dreams happen when your eyes are shut. Visions happen with your eyes wide open. 

Joshua and Caleb gave us six musts of vision. (1) They desired to have possession of the land. (2) They believed they had a right to the land. (3) They believed that failure to act was to rebel against the Lord. (4) They believed they could defeat the enemy. (5) They refused to be ruled by fear. (6) They were ready to make their move. 

Your vision is waiting. A vision for yourself.  First of all, you must start acting upon the vision you have for yourself.  A vision for your family.  You don’t work on your vision by telling others what to do.  You work on your vision by investing yourself into your vision. A vision for your ministry. 

What has God called you to do?  Notice, I didn’t say “called to be.”  Too many of us think to do something, we must be something. False.  You can win souls without thinking of yourself as a soulwinner.  You can witness without being a preacher. You can care for people without being a pastor. You can work in ministry without the title or position of minister.  A vision does not whine, “I want this.” A vision proclaims, “I see this.” A vision does not lament, “If only I had this.” A vision announces, “I will get this done.” Going after your vision will not be easy. “For it is a day of trouble … and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls.” Isaiah 22:5. 

Everybody can dream. Vision requires something more. Dreams may be nothing more than fantasy. Visions are ventures of faith. Dreams are cheap. Visions are expensive. Unfulfilled dreams often fade without a second thought. Unfulfilled visions lead to extreme discontent and frustration. When you say “I will do this or that” you are expressing your vision. When you say “I will not do this or that” you are also expressing your vision. You must have a vision for the future.  You cannot dream about it.  If you dream about the future, you are treating it as if it were the past.  Dreams deceive one with a sense of rest and fulfillment. Visions demand high energy, commitment and work.  

A vision (1) desires, (2) believes, (3) acts, (4) overcomes, (5) defies and (6) prepares.  So now, make up your mind: A dream or a vision:  which one do you want? The future will happen with or without a vision or not. Without a vision, you will perish. With a vision, you will flourish. Which do you want?  Perish or flourish?