Our Focus is Off...

We've seen it before. A group of friends from church go out to lunch after service. They are talking about how awesome church was and how mightily God moved, but before you know it the conversation changes. First someone critiques the worship team, then someone starts in on the pastor and before you know it they are all sitting around bashing everyone and everything they can think of.

For some reason I don't think this is what God had in mind when He started the church. Why do we do this?

Well, we could justify our actions and say that it is our human nature and we are a part of this fallen and sinful world. Or we could use the excuse that everyone does it. But what did Jesus tell us in Matthew 7:1-5? Don't we love to do this...point out someone else's speck (faults) instead of dealing with our own log (shortcomings)? Isn't it much easier to judge someone else's heart than to stare into the mirror and do a self-evaluation?

Many times I find myself seeing where others fail, judging or criticizing them, when my relationship with God isn't what it should be. Or, I do these things when my complete focus isn't on God. The problem is that we are spending way too much time focusing on others instead of God. During worship we are thinking more about the style of music, the selection of songs, than we are about God Himself. Even with other ministries we love to tell someone how to run them but we won't get involved ourselves. As long as we are focused on others it keeps the attention off of us. We should spend our time lifting our eyes towards God, if we did that we wouldn't have to worry about what people around us are doing.

When we are looking up and fixing our eyes on God, we should pray Psalm 139:24, "Point out anything in me that offends You". When we complain, criticize or judge we are part of the problem and not the solution.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 the Bible does tell us that there is a time when we should judge, not gossip or criticize, someone in the church. In the context of this scripture the Corinthian church was allowing a man in their congregation to sleep with his step mother, gross, but they were not doing anything about it. In Luke 17:3-4, we are told that if someone is sinning we should rebuke them, but also be willing to forgive and be patient with them. At the same time we should make sure that the sin they are committing is not rebellion against a man-made rule, petty church dogma, or a conviction we may have in OUR relationship with God.

When I got saved, I was discipled by some very religious Christians. I got to the point that I would judge believers who didn't listen to Christian music. If an artist didn't say Jesus in their lyrics I looked down on them. This is not good, why not? Let's look at Romans 14:21-23. We all have our own convictions in some gray areas. Take music for example. I listen to harder Christian music and I have been in many debates with other believers about whether the music is actually "Christian" or not. I had one customer in particular come into the Christian bookstore where I work. He said that he could feel the devil in the music I listened to. I told him to stop judging and asked him some questions and we got into a good debate. Later on, I felt God telling me to give him some free music that we had in the back of the store. I gave him some worship and gospel music. We talked things out, apologized and moved on. This last Thursday he came in and came straight to me and said thanks for the music. He shared with me that he recently lost his 21 year old son and that the music I gave him really helped him to heal.

Another good example of Romans 14 today is what we watch or what we wear. Those are our own convictions. If a person claims to be a Christian and is sexually immoral, lusting, into idolatry etc...we should confront them. But make sure you do it out of love and you have checked the log in your own eye before trying to get the speck out of theirs.

Read James 3:7-12. How can we lift our hands and praise God, say we love God, claim to be a follower of Christ and bash, criticize or judge another person's heart or character, especially if they are a believer?

We shouldn't, and we need to stop. Every single one of us is guilty of this. No wonder people don't want to come to church. Especially when we are claiming we love God with one breath and cursing our brother or sister with the next. We complain about them to our families, in front of our kids, to our friends, non-believers, co-workers and fellow believers.

I don't believe this is what God intended for His church.

Read 2 Corinthians 12:19-21. If Jesus were to come to your church or mine would He find these things going on? Just remember He doesn't need to come in physically. He knows if you do them or not. But James 4:11 tells us "Don’t speak evil against each other".

Many times it isn't the "BIG" sins in our lives, but the "little" ones that can destroy us. Things like gossip, judging others, criticizing and complaining. God wants us to experience His full glory and stop these petty things as we crave Him and His Word, 1 Peter 2:1-3.

We are told in Ephesians 4:29, "Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."

If we are focused on God, we will please Him. Let God take care of the details of others' lives. Our AIM should be to live in harmony and build one another up as it says in Romans 14:17-19. Because as the Bible says the world will only know us by our love...

Be blessed,
Steve

Simple Prayer

Deuteronomy 8:9-18

"It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees thatI am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did allthis so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in orderto fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."

* To heed this warning in Deuteronomy, the Jewish people developed a tradition of offering specific, short prayers throughout the day - from when they awoke until they fell asleep.

* Each of these tiny prayers of thanksgiving are called Barakah, which means blessings.

* In the English language the word blessing usually means having favor upon someone, but the Bible often speaks of the word blessing to mean praise, to acknowledge God as the source of all blessings. In Deuteronomy 8:10 many translations use the word blessings instead of praise.

* The word Barakah to the Jew also means to kneel down. So when you combine the words praising and kneel down, the Barakah means to kneel down mentally and humbly praising God for His goodness.

In Jesus' day each prayer was just one short line that started with "Blessed is He". Within a couple of years, the Rabbi's declared that one should call on the name of the Lord in prayer by using the phrase, King of the Universe. So the past 1,700 years the first line in their prayer is this...Blessed are you, O'Lord our God, King of the Universe."

Jews had a simple prayer or Barakah for everything...for opening your eyes by saying, "Blessed is He who opens the eyes of the blind." For after you went to the bathroom, budding flowers, a rabbi, a beautiful person, being reunited, the smell of an orange, saying "Blessed is He, who has given us the pleasant smell of fruits." Or when someone died, "Blessed is He, who is the True Judge."

I was watching Morgan and having a conversation with her...and I got this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and the presence of God. We all have had these moments whether it be at work, in the car, spending time with family or friends, at a funeral, wedding or sunset. Those moments cause us to bow our hearts and in thanksgiving to give simple praise, a Barakah.

Unfortunately, we take a lot of life (blessings) for granted...It doesn't rain in Israel from May to October and Israel isn't really known for their rain showers period. One Rabbi says this, "The best time to pray is during a rain shower, because God is in a good mood, ready to hand out blessings." Another Rabbi says, "Rain gives joy to the whole world, including birds and flowers... the only time we give praise is during a dry time."

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 tells us to, "pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances..."

We also complain...a lot...

Our jobs, our circumstances, our church, spouses, our performance, kids, how we have sounded when we sang or taught, how much we get paid... When we should learn from the Jews in the simple prayer of Barakah...even though it is traditional and repititious, we can learn to mentally or physically bow our hearts in thanksgiving and praise to God...

See also;
Ephesians 5:18-20
Colossians 3:15
Philippians 4:6

Be blessed,
Steve