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Published: 27 March 2014

There is a fair amount of confusion about religion and Christianity. Some of it is the result of our own laziness, some is the result of the enemy and some is the result of our fallen mind to grasp what God’s mission really is. First, remember that there is true religion and false religion. James defined true religion in James 1:27. False religion is defined by the Pharisees. False religion adds unhealthy paradigms to the gospel. False religion takes on many of the same forms as true religion but false religion is without heart change and without sincerity. Second, Jesus is not opposed to true religion, in fact, He came to fulfill the Law. That is, He, among other things, clarified what the intent of the Law really was. There are a number of well meaning evangelicals who write and often act as if the slogan of the church should be borrowed from a restaurant ad a few years ago. To hear them talk you would think that Jesus had no standard, no moral high ground, no list of do’s and don’ts. What Jesus opposed was the making up of rules and calling them God’s. He opposed the twisting and perverting of God’s Law to personal advantage. If we look to Jesus to find permission based upon the absence of what He talked about, just about anything in this culture is permissible. However, if we look to Jesus to understand God’s intent, we will grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth. In our text on Sunday (Matthew 12), Jesus was not anti-rules; He was for man’s good. The Pharisees took their Sabbath regulations to one extreme; today, we take it to the other. To our own peril we miss God’s intent, scrap a so-called rule and miss the gift of God. There are important lessons for us in all this. “Open the eyes of our heart Lord.”

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Published: 20 March 2014

Are we supposed to live on the edge of exhaustion? Is it spiritual to be wiped out? Is the best answer for, “How are you?” “Busy, busy, busy!” Talk to the average person and it seems that living on the ragged edge is normal. But is that really abundant living? Is that what life is about and how to live? Did Jesus live like that? If the Kingdom of God is at hand should we be running around like chickens with our heads cut off? (What a picture!) Getting tired is inevitable but we need to be careful to distinguish between physical fatigue and the fatigue of the inner life. Physical fatigue can often be remedied by a chocolate chip cookie and a nap. I wish the renewal of the inner life was that easy. When Jesus made His comforting invitation to rest (Matthew 11:28) He was referring primarily to soul rest (see verse 29). If my soul is at rest, my body can recuperate but if my soul is agitated, no matter how I am doing physically I will be struggling eventually. I like the way the Message paraphrases those last few lines of Jesus’ invitation, “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting upon you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Ahhh, freely and lightly sounds good don’t you think? There are prerequisites for that kind of life; I’ll talk about them in detail on Sunday as the Lord allows, but you can see them for yourself in the text. The only people who find rest for their souls are the ones who recognize Jesus for who He is, yoke up with Him and learn His ways. In other words, inner refreshment comes as we rearrange our lives to receive it. The normal life of the believer can be one of active rest. We serve, but we serve with Him in His ways. We work, but we work with Him in His ways. We give, but we give out of the resources He has provided. We bless, because we have been blessed. I wish I could change our verbiage, I wish I could change my own, maybe if we really did what Jesus said we could answer the question, “How are you?” with “Resting in Him.” Let’s shoot for normal.