The Real Fight
Tom Pauquette

Matthew 11:11, 12: [Jesus said] “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

Here, again, we see that according to Jesus the way to greatness is through authentic humility. John the Baptist was a crazy guy. He wore crazy clothes, ate crazy food, preached a crazy message, and generally lived a pretty crazy life. He lived out in the desert with the wild animals which, I’m guessing, were probably afraid of him!

At the center of John’s life was a radical humility. Certainly John had passed up many other options on his way to the desert. He had been born in to a prominent family. He had the discipline and personal sacrifice that enabled him to run with the toughest of his peers. He displayed a genuine intelligence in his stifling responses to his critics. John could have been anyone, he could have accomplished anything.

But John left his life of opportunity and went to the desert. John laid down his options and his free moral agency and he followed God. He set aside his inherent rights to fulfill his own destiny and live up to his own potential. All this he did to be faithful to the call of God on his life.

Speaking of John the Baptist, Jesus made a fascinating comment: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Interesting. Jesus insists that the Kingdom of God comes by “force.” As western Christians we are inclined to automatically think we need to pray “harder” or “louder” or become more “commanding” in the tone of our spiritual lives. While there may be times to step up to that plate with this kind of force, this can’t be what Jesus is saying here. What He’s saying is that there is, perhaps, nothing in your life that will require more of your personal force (determination, dedication, perseverance, etc.), than laying down your personal rights in order to humbly follow after the call of God. So much of our own human (sinful) nature is dedicated to self-advancement and self-protection that we will literally have to fight in order to find the place of humility in our lives.

Clearly you want to find and follow God. You would not be bothering to read this if you didn’t. But do you want to find and follow God deeply enough to fight this fight against your own pride and sense of entitlement in order to get to the place of humbly seeking and obeying Him? The real “force” of laying hold of the Kingdom of God is not going to be about praying louder or shaking our fists toward Satan. The real force of laying hold of the Kingdom of God is first to be exerted toward our own selves as we humbly lay down our lives to follow after Christ.

Have a power day!

Tom Pauquette is the Senior Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

WITH ALL YOUR HEART
Scott Pontier

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

To the Biblical writers, the heart (levav) is the center of human thought and spiritual life. We tend to think that the heart refers mainly to our emotions, but in Hebrew it refers to one’s mind and thoughts as well.

Many ancient cultures assumed that the heart was the seat of intelligence, and without an advanced understanding of biology, it makes some sense. The heart is the only constantly moving organ in the body, and strong emotions cause the heartbeat to race. When the heart stops beating, a person dies. Because the Hebrew uses physical things to express abstract concepts, the heart became a metaphor of the mind and all mental and emotional activity. Understanding that the word “heart” often meant “mind and thoughts” helps clarify the meaning of passages.

For example: These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. (meaning: These commandments are to be a part of all of your thoughts) And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, the largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. (1 Kings 4:29) (“Largeness of heart” is translated as ‘breadth of understanding” in the NIV)

As we think about the meaning of “heart” in the great commandment to “love the Lord with all your heart” we find it means we are to use all of our thoughts as well as our emotions to love the Lord. In the Greek text of the Gospels, the phrase “and all your mind” is there to emphasize that fact, but in Hebrew it would have been understood.

In general, our Western culture tends to separate the intellect from emotions, and we may believe that while worship and prayer are essential, study is less important to our relationship with God. In contrast, in Jesus’ time, study was considered “the highest form of worship”! Great emphasis was put on education throughout life. Both Jesus and Paul were deeply intellectual teachers who assumed that their Jewish audiences would know the Scripture well. We are challenged to live up to their expectations.

While certainly God loves those with the simplest faith, if we are to love God with all of our levav, “heart and mind,” we should dedicate all of our mental abilities to him as well. As Paul says, we “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

What is dangerous about focusing our love and worship of Christ toward our heart only, at the expense of our thoughts?

Focusing our love and worship of Christ toward our mind only, at the expense of our emotions?

What about this moves you towards becoming a complete disciple of Christ?

How can pursuing a journey inward help God to display his power in your life and in others?

Scott Pontier is the Student Ministries Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

LOOKING FOR SUPERHEROES?
Bob Stiles

What qualities are needed to be a superhero? As a young boy, I grew up reading comic books. It was fun as I got older watching the superheroes come to life on the big screen. Typically the superheroes had special powers above and beyond “mere mortals” and could do just about anything. Let’s read about some “superheroes” in Scripture:

Hebrews 11:1: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.”

Hebrews 11:32-40 32“Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. 36Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. 37Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. 38They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 39All of these people we have mentioned received God’s approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them, for they can’t receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race.”

What is the number one quality of a godly “superhero”? Hebrews 11 has often been called the Bible’s “Hall Of Fame”. The people listed here have one quality in common – FAITH IN GOD! These heroes were not super in their own right, but only because they trusted the supernatural God to lead them and empower them! Basically, they were ordinary people doing extraordinary acts because their faith pointed to the Almighty God! Our world today is looking for superheroes. It needs to see ordinary people letting God do something extraordinary through them. Let God’s Spirit give you the faith to be His superhero even if the world doesn’t notice. Thank Him and praise Him for the extraordinary ways He has worked in your life. Let Him know that you’re willing to honor Him by serving Him even in the “ordinary” details of life. Look for an opportunity this week to be a “hero” in someone’s life by helping them in some way that seems very ordinary to you. Your faith in God may seem quite extraordinary to them!

Bob Stiles is the Worship Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

WAIT
Jason Coker

Luke 24:49: 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus is about to ascend into heaven and he leaves his disciples their final instruction, and this, I think, is the single hardest thing he’s asked them to do. Jesus says he’ll send them “power from on high” in the form of the Holy Spirit – something he had already promised (John 14:16) – but first he tells them to wait.

“Stay in the city.”

Just sit tight.

Wait for it.

They have to wait for the power of God, because genuine power and authority is not an attitude, or posture, or mental state that we can work-up. We often think it is, but that is just plain superstition. There is no invisible magic trick that will suddenly connect you with power. You can’t increase your heart rate, or blood pressure, or raise your voice, or jump up and down, or push people on the ground and find more power. Faith is not the intentional effort to temporarily forget about your fears and skepticism. Faith is trusting God enough to actually do what he tells you to do, in spite of your lingering fears and skepticism.

So, what has he told you to do? God always gives us the resources, the ability, the power to do what he instructs…so I ask again: what has he told you to do? If you don’t know, then you must wait. True power belongs to God; it is his to give and ours to steward. Therefore, we must wait for it. We must wait for Him. It’s not up to us – it’s up to him.

Jesus said, “Apart from the father I can do nothing” (John 5:19). So, Jesus waited, not just for the right moment to begin his ministry but also for the right moment to do everything according to God’s perfect timing and will. He waited, and when he recognized God’s move, he went with it.

If you’re not getting what you want from God in your prayers, don’t try “working up” your belief, or your authority. Just wait. Ask God for the opportunity to pray for what he wants. Then wait. Ask God for the ability to hear him clearly when he prompts you, and ask him for the courage to respond obediently. Then wait for it. Don’t just do something; sit there.

Jason Coker is the Associate Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org

The Point of the Power
Tom Pauquette

John 20:30, 31: Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

At the end of John’s Gospel he qualifies his writings. The qualifier John gives is that there were many more miracles which Jesus performed which he did not record. You have to wonder what other miracles Jesus could have performed. He already walked on water, fed thousands with a boy’s lunch, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, and even raised the dead. What more could Jesus have possibly done – juggled elephants? In any case, John says there just wasn’t room in his book for all the miracles Jesus performed. It’s hard to imagine what more He could have possibly done.

John gives a crystal clear reason for including the miracles he did choose to record: “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The world needed (and still needs) to know that Jesus is “the Christ”. That Jesus wasn’t just some great teacher or incredible prophet. The world needs to know that Jesus is “the Christ”. That He’s the One prophesied about for many centuries. That He’s the very One the Jews had been looking for and the Gentiles had been longing for. The He’s “the One” who can rescue us from sin and death. The miracles, John says, proved that.

The world also needs to know that Jesus is “the” Christ. The use of the definite article (“the”) shows that He is not one among many “gods” but that He is the One and Only True God. His powerful miracles separate Him from the rest. His miracles consistently demonstrate that He is not “a” god, but that He is “the” God.

It is only when we come to realize that Jesus is “the Christ” that we will fully put our trust (faith) in Him. If He is anything less, we will hedge our bets, we will not fully trust Him. Are you fully trusting in Jesus Christ alone today? Do you need to see His power manifested in your life to push you over the edge? Why not ask Him? “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves” (John 14.11).

Have a power day!

Tom Pauquette is the Senior Pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Grove City
www.gcvineyard.org