Presumption

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

Matthew   16:21-22 NASB

This must have been a bad day for Peter!  He was rebuked by the Son of God for somehow releasing satanic counsel.  A very bad day! 

As we look into this story we find Jesus sharing with His disciples how He must die. Upon hearing this, Peter decides to take Jesus aside and assure Him that what He has said will not happen.  Directly after sharing this, Jesus speaks to Satan (somehow coming through Peter) and rebukes Him.  

The word presumption means “an assumption, often not fully established, that is taken for granted in some piece of reasoning.”

I believe that what Peter was doing was operating out of presumption. The word presumption means “an assumption, often not fully established, that is taken for granted in some piece of reasoning.”  Its not that Peter was somehow controlled by Satan or a demon while sharing his rebuke with Jesus, but I believe that he was reacting to Jesus’ words based out of some assumptions he had concerning what Christ was going to do while present on the earth.  This was satanic in the sense that it did not involve the purpose of God (redemption).

The Jewish tradition was that when the Messiah comes, He will set up His kingdom to rule and reign, and to do so with the nation of Israel at His side. Obviously, we know today that there is an interval time between the first and second coming of Christ which is not what they understood.  Knowing this, it is easy to see how Peter was filtering what Jesus was said based on the established Jewish doctrine of that day.   When the Lord spoke something that did not fit into what He understood, Peter’s reaction was to rebuke Jesus because death seemed so far out from what the will of God should be.

As Jesus spoke to His disciples He was speaking out of the big picture which was in the Fathers heart – man redeemed. The disciples had not heard this before, nor did they have any frame of reference for what Jesus was saying.  All they could do was ask the Lord to further explain and clarify to them what He meant so they could align themselves with the plan of God. This would take great trust to stray from what they thought or had been told.

If we are not careful we will end up speaking on behalf of the Lord to others, giving them advice or counsel that is opposite of the will of God.  

The bottom line is that Jesus was speaking and living out of an eternal perspective which would bring eternal results. Peter was operating out of a temporal perspective which would only bring temporary results. What we think should happen isn’t always (if at all) the case in God’s overall picture. If we are not careful we will end up speaking on behalf of the Lord to others, giving them advice or counsel that is opposite of the will of God.  

Presumption carries the interests of man, or the interests of this life which are often, if not always, in direct opposition to the plan and will of God. 

I can remember times where I took it upon myself to give conclusive advice to someone as though that is what God would have wanted. Maybe I was not as strong as Peter, but to the person I spoke to, I am sure it was all the same. I realize now how presumption can lead us to say things we should never say, to think things that are not full of truth and ultimately to do things that may need undoing. Presumption carries the interests of man, or the interests of this life which are often, if not always, in direct opposition to the plan and will of God. The last thing any Christian should want to do is get in the way of what God is doing, even if it doesn’t look like what we think it should. 

The caution for us, then, is to live in a way where we handle the Scriptures with integrity and determine to live a life of sensitivity to the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us that the Spirit is here to “lead” us into all truth. It is important that we do not lead ourselves into what we think is true, but rather that we allow the Holy Spirit to lead as we patiently study the Scriptures and call on the Lord for His leading through prayer.

We are the representatives of the Lord Jesus, and as such it is our responsibility to represent Him as accurately as we can. This may mean we are not able to speak about some issues. This may also mean we need to speak up about things that are clear from God’s perspective. Either way, we must allow our opinions and views to be shaped by the Scriptures and the leading of the Spirit or we will inevitably have presumptuous moments that we will regret. My call to you today is to represent your King in a way that reveals His heart and purposes – not our own. May God grant us the wisdom and knowledge to share with people who desperately need to know Who God is and what He is like.

Bless you,

Ben Dixon

Ignite Global Ministries, director 

ben@igniteglobalministries.org

The TRUE Test of our Worship

“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” 

Mark 12:41-44 (NASB)
 
Jesus is only days away from being crucified and somehow in the midst of all that is going on He wants to teach the disciples a lesson. A lesson about worship, at least that’s how I see it.

It’s Passover time and Jerusalem is packed with people from all over. Many Jews have traveled quite a distance to make sacrifices, celebrate the Passover, and worship God at the temple. 

In the temple there were thirteen trumpet shaped chests around the walls of the court of women, which is where the people would come and give their free-will offerings. In this moment, Jesus is sitting on the opposite side of one of these walls as he begins to observe those who were bringing their offerings. Think about that for a moment!  The Son of God observing people as they worship through their giving.  WOW!  At the same time, we understand that He knows the true worship behind their actions. Jesus knew if people were giving to get something (like being seen by others), or if people were giving as a religious duty with no real heart to worship. He also knew those who were giving sacrificially out of true devotion to God.

Think about that for a moment!  The Son of God observing people as they worship through their giving.

Isn’t that the case today? Doesn’t God know what we do and why we do it?  I believe He does. Many were giving large sums of money which looked like a lot to other observers, but not to Jesus. The disciples saw the same thing that Jesus saw on the outside but Jesus was teaching them what it really meant to worship. The lesson for the disciples (and for us) is that our worship is tested when we seemingly have nothing to give.
 

Our worship is never about the portion but the proportion.

The rich gave out of their abundance but the widow gave out of her lack.  Percentage wise, the widow gave more. Now we know that giving money is only a small piece of our worship before God. Do you give sacrificially?  Sometimes I think of myself as a real giver – of my time, talent, and treasure. But what if Jesus was sitting on a chair opposite of me observing all of my doings and all of my givings? What would He say about my worship?  Would His perspective be the same as what I allow myself to think? Probably not.  But that is the case right? Jesus truly is observing our worship. He truly knows if we are give out of our abundance or out of our lack. He alone knows the proportion of our giving regardless of the portion. 

I started to wonder this morning why the Bible would record this event at such an important moment in the story of Jesus. I mean, He was days away from the crucifixion. In my mind there had to be more to this story than Jesus honoring this unnamed widow in front of his disciples. He must be teaching His disciples a lesson that I need to know as well.  As I pondered this story it hit me all of a sudden.  Jesus used the worship of this widow to teach the disciples the value that God places on wholehearted commitment to Him. In just a few days all of the disciples would have their commitment to Jesus tested. They were about to lose everything. He was not only teaching them but also preparing them for wholehearted commitment and this widow was a witness of what that meant.

Our worship to God is constant, everyday, and ongoing. However, the very substance of our worship comes out most when we have nothing and we still come and give Jesus whatever we do have. The worship of this widow is either a witness to us or against us. One thing is for sure, our worship before God is a sweet smelling sacrifice in the moments of our suffering, lack, and pain. I am reminded of so many people that I know right now who think that because of their situation they can’t give God anything – it’s quite the opposite. When you worship God, give Him thanks, stay committed, encourage others, and give your “mites” because God is watching. He is always watching what we are doing and why we are doing it. Our worship to God is not about our impact on others – it’s about our willingness to bring everything that we have to Him and give it all, especially when there is not much to give.  

Our worship to God is constant, everyday, and ongoing. 

I encourage you to follow in the widows footsteps and bring your mites to God today, and as you do, picture the smile of God over you because He is looking right at you.


Ben Dixon

Ignite Global Ministries

www.igniteglobalministries.org

igniteglobalmin@gmail.com 

A Biblical Vision For Marriage

Something that I have always shared with couples before they get married is that they must have a ‘Biblical vision for their marriage.’  In this short blog I hope to share some helpful thoughts that will encourage and strengthen you in your marriage.  For those of you who aren’t yet married let me share with you some powerful Christian ‘pick up’ lines that I am sure will help you in the days to come;

o   “I know a church where we could go and talk!”

o   “Want to come over and watch The Ten Commandments?”

o   “Do you believe in Divine appointments?”

o   “Excuse me; I believe you’ve got one of my ribs.”

o   “I don't see it, but some people think I look like Samson.”

o   “What's your name and number so I can add you to my "prayer" list?”

o   “What do you think Paul meant when he said, ‘Greet one another with a holy kiss.’?”

o   “Has anyone ever told you, ‘your eyes are like doves and your hair is like a flock of goats’?”

o   “Before tonight I never believed in predestination.”

o   “Hi, my name's Will...God's Will.”

Now I know those are pretty good so I encourage you to share them freely!

In order to have a successful marriage we must know what it is and what it’s for.  Some questions we should ask are - Why did God create marriage? What purpose does it serve? How does it thrive?

I have been married to my wife Brigit for over 11 years. Together we have 4 kids (blended) and we have adopted a vision for our marriage that I did not understand as clearly when I first said ‘I DO’.  Also, I have the privilege of pastoring many people and I get to officiate weddings where I am able to share some of these thoughts as well;

- When God created man (Adam) he said something quite interesting before he made a woman:

Genesis 2:18 -  “Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

Everything God made was “good”, but the man being single was not good, so he made woman.

God’s answer to man’s problem of singleness was a woman;

Genesis 2:20-25 - “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

We see in our creation that there is a deep longing for a man to be with a woman and a woman to be with a man.  The Biblical word for this desire of coming together is “oneness” or “one flesh”. Actually, what we see in the creation story is a woman who was made out of man and God’s design is to bring them back together into oneness or completion.

Now, it should be said and noted that there are some who will live single and God gives grace for that. 

Actually, Jesus reaffirms the Biblical model for marriage by quoting the creation account that we just read and at the same time he speaks to singleness as well;

Matthew 19:1-12 -  “When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. ³ Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" ⁴ And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, ⁵ and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? ⁶ "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." ⁷ They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" ⁸ He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." ¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry." ¹¹ But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² "For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."

It is noted that in this culture, even among the religious minded law abiding Jews, divorce happened. They are asking the wrong question as we are often asking the wrong question today. Jesus speaks of marriage as two becoming one, so why do we speak of the one becoming two? The disciples responded with who should get married.. And rightly so, this is that serious of a thing!

GOD’S VISION FOR MARRIAGE IS ONENESS

Marriage is not about making you happy it’s about making you holy.  This happens as the two become one!

The process of two becoming one is two-fold.  First, God causes a married couple to be one in the spirit as they make a covenant to one another.  Second, that couple needs to live in a way that stewards the new life they have together.  No longer are they two, but as one new life they must learn how to live in keeping with what God has done in the spirit. 

This process can be a lot like salvation. When you give your life to the Lord you are a new creation, but you still have the flesh, which is also referenced as your old way of thinking.  Even though you have a new life, you must learn to live in the new life that God has given by His Spirit. 

God wants us to work toward oneness in marriage concerning all things. The funny thing is that we are so different.  Diversity is a God thing.  He wants us to learn how to function together in love and unity in the midst of diversity.  We fight to maintain individuality and that’s where we go wrong.

Marriage is having one mind and one heart with unity, harmony, and love because we are better together.

ONENESS MEANS BOTH PEOPLE ARE GIVERS

True oneness in a marriage not only reveals God but it glorifies Him as well.  In order for this to happen it is essential that both the husband and the wife become givers!

There are only a few scenarios in marriage;

o   A Taker and a Taker (bad)

o   A Giver and a Taker (bad – burnt out)

o   A Giver and a Giver (this is where oneness can happen)

Look at what Paul said the Corinthian Church;

Ephesians 5:22-33 - “²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ²⁸ So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹ for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of His body. ³¹ FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.
³² This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”

For a wife, being a giver means she submits herself to her husband. She yields her life as unto the Lord. For a husband, being a giver means he loves his wife and lays down his life for her as Christ did for the Church. Notice how Paul mentions this idea of oneness again in verse 31 as he discusses marriage and how it relates to Christ and His Church.  There is a parallel that becomes our true model in marriage. 

CONCLUSION

In my experience, people who struggle in their marriage have somehow lost this vision; the vision of ‘oneness’.  This is God’s vision for marriage where two become one.  Two lives merge and yield to a higher purpose, a higher goal – to glorify God.  

What are some things that you need to do in your marriage that will bring you together as one?  How can you prepare yourself now for your future spouse if you are not married? 

I encourage you to adopt this vision of oneness for your marriage or future marriage. 

Ben Dixon

Director – Ignite Global Ministries

www.igniteglobalministries.org

igniteglobalmin@gmail.com

Love - "I Command You"?

Recently I have been studying the topic of love in the Bible. What a topic….   

I usually just begin with a word search and try to read every scripture related to that word, in this case the word 'love'. The first few references of the word love in the Bible are related to a man’s love for a woman. The first mention we have of people loving God is found in Exodus 20 where Moses receives the Ten Commandments. In the first commandment, God speaks very clearly about those who love or hate Him.

Exodus 20:4-6 (NASB) "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

This verse is the first of Ten Commandments. Although this does not say “YOU WILL LOVE ME” as a straight command it is clearly implied. In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving his final instructions and reiterating these commandments to Israel, we read;

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NASB)  "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! ⁵"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

This is a familiar verse because Jesus refers to it while being questioned about the "greatest commandment”.  This verse is clearly a command; “you shall love the Lord!”  I bring this up because much of what is taught or understood about love doesn’t seem to fit within the context of a command. I mean, can you command love from someone?  Do we understand why God commanded us to love Him? Is there context that we are missing to understand commanded love? These are questions that loom in my mind when reading these verses. Here is a final verse that seems to help me understand all of this a little better;

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NASB)  "Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Moses tells Israel that God requires from them several things, among them is “love”.  Once again we run into the concept of God commanding or requiring love from us.  I find it interesting that at the end of this passage Moses mentions that those things which he is commanding them to do is “for your good”. Verse 13 is the key to help us understand why God would command/require us to love Him. I don’t know about you, but it helps me a bit to know why.

Let’s briefly look at the context of both Exodus and Deuteronomy. God had called Moses from the wilderness to deliver His people Israel from slavery in Egypt. Moses confronts Egypt’s leader until he finally allows the people to go.  All of Israel leaves Egypt (the Exodus) with many great signs and wonders performed by God along the way. God delivers them from Egypt with the hope to bring them into a blessed land that he promised to their ancestors. Israel did not know the Lord at this point. They had been slaves in Egypt for near 400 years. During that time it’s safe to say they knew very little of the God of their ancestors (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). It’s possible that Israel had heard some stories and the promise God had given concerning the land of Canaan which was meant for them. But it seems that they did not personally know God as their ancestors did. The first thing God did while Israel was in the wilderness was establish His commandments among them (the 10 commandments). This was important because for 400 years Israel was enslaved to a people and culture that worshipped over 400 different gods. The Egyptian culture was very immoral, evil and stood against the character of YAHWEH. The 10 commandments were given in some ways to help Israel know YAHWEH’s standards. These commandments provided them the insight needed to know God and His ways while separating them from all that they had known in the worship of other gods.

The command to “love God” was given to teach them. Israel knew nothing about God (or very little), and their understanding of love and worship was skewed from their experience in Egypt. All of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy is to help them know YAHWEH. It reminds me of teaching children. Children have very little knowledge or understanding, but they learn very quickly. When you teach children you have to be specific and often the first lessons you teach them are related to what not to do. Creating boundaries of what’s right and wrong while you explain to them why is almost always how it works. The first command was a benchmark for Israel. They needed to understand that loving God is what they were created for and all that He did for them gave them more than enough reason to want to do so. 

Deuteronomy 10:13 (NASB) says “and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good."

God commanded them everything for their “GOOD”. Our God does everything out of love and goodness. Even though he commands us, it is still for our good! That is amazing to me. We are children and he is our father. He is not just setting rules; he is establishing truth for us. The truth is, He made us to love Him and when He says “you shall love me” it is because we need Him to tell us in this way. God has proved His love for us, which should warrant a response of love from us.  However, when what He has done somehow loses its power in us to respond back, we have His command which instructs our heart in truth. When we read “you shall love me”, it will quickly remind us of all that He has done which will draw out love in our hearts for Him.  Even our capacity to love has come from Him, the one who has called us to love Him back. May we give all of our love to Him without reservation.  Lord, we love you. Teach us to love you more…..

In other posts I will explore what love is and how we actually love God. Stay tuned....

Ben Dixon

Director - Ignite Global Ministries

www.igniteglobalministries.org

igniteglobalmin@gmail.com