The Power of Our Decisions.

As a finale to our Words of Life over the past few weeks, I want us to see the power of our decisions.  Because decisions are not made in a vacuum; nor are the consequences which accrue.  Our attitude {arrogance or humility} determines our priorities; our priorities {what is critically important to us in life} determine our decisions.  Good or evil, the consequence of a decision we make will always be consistent with the decision itself!  Call it the ‘Universal Law,’ if you like {Gal. 6:7}.  Those decisions can be spiritual or carnal, sacrificial or selfish; it’s our choice.

Joshua set before the elders of Israel an amazing challenge in Joshua 24:15.  He said, “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”  This was a real man in the sight of God: a man of character, a man of conviction, a man of courage, a Warrior among warriors, one of only two men in the Old Testament who were said to have “followed the LORD fully,” meaning “wholeheartedly:” Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.  This is a unique phrase in the Hebrew found only five times in Scripture, three of these in the Book of Joshua.

Of these two men the Lord said to Moses in Numbers 32:11-12, “Because they have not followed Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the Land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob— not one except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite….”  Notice something here.  He wasn’t even an Israelite; he was one of the ‘mixed multitude’ who joined up with this nation of nomads in their wilderness wanderings.  The “Kenizzites” were part of the Canaanite peoples living in the land according to Genesis 15:19.  They were to be dispossessed by the Israelites.  And yet this man’s rank in the Heraldry of Heroes stands head and shoulders above the Jews of his generation.

“And” who else?  “Joshua son of Nun.”  Why?  “For they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”  There it is.  They did not stray from the course; by faith they exercised endurance, by faith they practiced perseverance on the trail which leads from the Cross to the Crown.  Their commendation came in Time {they were allowed to enter the land when no one else from their generation was}, and it will come again in Eternity, only on a much, much greater scale.

The natural outcome of our decisions is our actions.  The actions of our lives reveal the attitude of our hearts {pretty major lesson for life}.  We can boil action down to right or wrong {not always motivation, however: only God knows all the circumstances surrounding why we do what we do, or why we don’t do what we don’t do!}.  How’s that for simplicity?

Finally, we come to the eagerly ignored but impossible to avoid, consequences.  Remember this: To every action belongs a result; to every decision a consequence {Hos. 8:7b}.  Our actions bring either blessing or cursing for ourselves and for those around us.  No man is an isolated island, no woman is unrelated to the rest of the world!  And you cannot change cursing into blessing until you humble yourself in the presence of Abba.  And that is all in the attitude.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

What Is Most Important to You In Life?

Our priorities represent our scale of values, what’s most important to us in life.  They’re either going to be temporal or eternal, but they won’t be both.  Jesus in Matthew 6:33 said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” i.e., ‘everything else you need, I will provide.’  This brings out a priority point: The main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing!  And the ‘Main Thing’ is Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 3:1 the Apostle said, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” {v. 2}, meaning not on the distractions and deceptions of the satanic system around us.  Phroneo refers to our ‘thinking,’ and the present imperative means- ‘be constantly thinking about what draws our gaze to the Master.’  To “set your minds on things above,” where your great King currently resides, is to take an eternal perspective, day after day after day, so that your priorities are aligned with Eternity.  And with a Kingdom lasting for all Eternity.

The author of Hebrews in 3:1 said, “Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling [meaning the Royal Family of Faith], fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.”  The compound katanoeo means- ‘bear down with the mind, concentrate, think carefully, examine closely.’  We bear down with our minds upon the Living Word.  And one of the ways we do this is by concentrating, by thinking carefully and examining closely the written Word.  Which is another way of saying we live with a passion for Truth.

In Hebrews 12:2 he writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame....”  To “fix” the “eyes” of the soul “on Jesus” and keep them there is from the present participle of aphorao meaning- ‘view with undivided attention, fix one’s eyes by looking away from every other object.’  You know what the formula for successful running in the Life of Faith is?  To look away from everything on the horizon, all the sinful encumbrances and entanglements, all the distractions and deceptions of the world, and to concentrate our upward gaze on one thing— the Lord Jesus Christ!  This is a faith-filled, Scripture-formed focus on the Son of God.  Get this.  Clarity and objectivity come from taking an eternal perspective, from putting the Word into practice in the circumstances of life.  They come from recognizing and embracing: [i] this world is not all there is; and [ii] a far greater World awaits.

V. 3, “Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men....”  Analogizomai is a command meaning- ‘think over, ponder, consider by comparison.’  Why?  Why ‘think through’ the Life and Death of our Lord at length, why should we ‘consider by comparison’ with our own pain the incredible “opposition” Jesus endured from a hate-filled enemy embodied in the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the teachers of the Law?  “So that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  I’m going to let you in on a little secret to divine endurance.  You will grow weary in the Race; but you don’t have to lose heart while it’s happening.  You can find rest in the shadow of His wings, in the secret place of the Most High.  And you will need to— again and again and again.

I want you to know this and to remember it.  It is possible to live with faith, to live with courage, to live with conviction, by constantly comparing the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus to the trash of far lesser priorities!  By fixing the eyes of our faith on Jesus, it is possible to lay aside the distractions, deceptions, and destructions of this world.  It is, and we should.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Humility Is the Missing Element.

There are two basic attitudes in life: arrogance and humility.  The former is self-centered {that’s just the nature of the beast}, the latter is Jesus-centered, Christ-consumed, you might say.  You and I approach life from one of these two perspectives every day.  We know which one the Scriptures enjoin.  In Psalm 138:6 David said, “Though the LORD is on high, He looks upon the lowly [‘the humble’], but the proud He knows from afar.”  See this?  There will never be closeness, camaraderie, companionship between the arrogant and Abba.  “Before her downfall a woman’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” {Prov. 18:12}.

The missing element in the lives of so many of Abba’s post-modern Children is humility.  There’s an old saying, ‘Plan wisely, and hold the reins loosely.’  You know why?  Because God could change those plans at any given moment!  As long as we’ve got our plans all figured out, God withdraws His presence and therefore His power.  But the minute you cry out, “Have mercy on me, Lord; I need You desperately,” the minute you humble yourself He comes close, He draws near in your time of need.  What did James tell his hearers in 4:8?  “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”  This was a word used in the Original Testament for priests entering the Tabernacle and the Temple to offer sacrifices and to minister before the Lord; it means- ‘approach for worship.’  “This very moment, this very second, come near to the Holy One; and you will experience this deeply relational reality: He will most certainly come near to you!” {RRExp}.  Promise.

You want to make a fashion statement in the spiritual realm?  Here’s what ‘fashionable attire’ for a Follower of Jesus looks like.  “Therefore,” Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12, “as God’s chosen People, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  The Family of Faith upon whom grace will pour down like a River of Living Water is one which maintains a humble attitude before God and man, one which stays low and trusts in their Abba.  If you’re a leader, listen up.  Leaders who get this will never fail to find the Path of Life, as David said in Psalm 25:9, “He guides the humble in what it right and teaches them His way.”  The secret to receiving divine guidance is humility.

Didn’t Peter tell us in 1 Peter 5, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”?  Why?  Because “God makes war on the proud but gives grace to the humble,” v. 5.  I don’t know about you, but I want to be on the “humble” side of this equation, on the “grace” end of this stick and not the other!  Rather than scrambling for prominence and position— just like the world— humble Disciples will serve one another in love.  And that’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.  Just so we understand each other: the Greek word tapeinos means- ‘in the dust, never rising far from the ground.’  It describes the Child of God who follows her Lord down the path of humility— which, ironically, is the only path to promotion in the Kingdom of Grace.

James say’s in 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord….”  The result?  “And He will lift you up,” He will exalt you.  And why would we “humble” ourselves before the Lord?  Didn’t Jesus teach His Apprentices, that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” {Lk. 14:11}?  Indeed, He did.  “If you plan to build a tall house of virtues,” wrote the 4th century father Augustine, “you must first lay deep foundations of humility.”  A French archbishop {Francois Fenelon} from the 17th century said, “Nothing will make us so tender to the faults of others as, by self-examination, thoroughly to know our own.”  It’s been said, “Life is ten percent what happens to you, and ninety percent how you choose to respond to it.”  This, my friends, comes down to one thing— attitude.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Resurrection Is the Point.

“Behold,” Jesus said, “I make all things new!” {Rev. 21:5}; “all things new,” not all new things.  Resurrection / restoration is the point.  The very reason those first and closest friends of Jesus focused on “miracles, healings, and the hopeful aspects of the Faith like the Ascension and the Resurrection” was simply that these are what demonstrate the mighty hand of God at work in the lives of men.  These things are the point.  A dead man is not much help to you and I; a dead God is an even worse proposition.  But real Life, that is Life Eternal, true Love, that is Love Eternal, shining Light, that is Light Eternal for the darkness of our present days, the power of Christ to restore our souls and redeem our lives… that’s an entirely different matter.

Here are three things we can take with us, three lessons we can learn and live, from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 I.  In Jesus’ Resurrection we have the solid assurance that our Savior-King conquered sin, death, and Satan.  The empty tomb is the resounding cry of victory over death!  We trust in a crucified Savior, but we serve and proclaim a risen King.  Paul in Romans 1:4 say’s it was Jesus of Nazareth “who through the Spirit of Holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His Resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord!”

II.  Through our faith in Jesus’ Resurrection we are guaranteed our own as co-heirs of His Kingdom {Rom. 8:16-17; 1 Jn. 3:1-3}.  Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit [He ‘bears witness’ ...Spirit to spirit, Soul to soul, Heart to heart.] that we are Abba’s Children.  Now if we are His Children, then we are also heirs— heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” v. 17a.

III  Through moment-by-moment faith in Jesus’ Resurrection we are empowered by His Spirit to “live a new Life” {Rom. 6:4c}.  Over the years, we’ve seen— each and every one of us— life after life transformed from the shadow of sin and shame to become shining trophies of mercy and grace.  Every last Child of God is called to live as “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” {Rom. 8:37b}.  This power is due to one thing: the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus, the triumph of the Son of the Living God and Savior of all Mankind.

May we live and love in its Light!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Born to Die ...and Rise Again.

“Every other person who ever came into this world came into it to live.”  Jesus “came into it to die.  ...The Scripture describes Him as ‘the Lamb slain,’ as it were, ‘from the beginning of the world’”— Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

The Life of Christ fulfilled all righteousness and provided the ultimate example, One in whose footsteps we are to follow.  The Cross of Christ brought a forever forgiveness to every Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve— for every single sin, misstep, and mistake, every ounce of anger or arrogance to course through your soul, every slanderous word or shameful slight to ever cross your lips, every hurt or pain you’ve caused another or suffered yourself.  He paid a price no other could pay by dying a death no other could die!  The power of the Cross with its substitutionary death is a phenomenal truth— heart-healing, soul-freeing, redemption-realizing.  But apart from the Resurrection and the Eternal Life God so freely gives His Children, there is no hope for anything remotely resembling Life beyond the walls of this world.  The Resurrection of Christ gives us this Hope— the glorious Hope that Death is finally dead and the Grave is a conquered enemy!

Jesus in John 10:15b said, “I lay down My Life for the Sheep.  ...The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My Life— only to take it up again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again...,” vv. 17-18b.  Though Jesus had to be born as Man in order to die, He also died in order to rise!  I’ve heard many, many messages through the years, beautiful, powerful messages that focus in on the Crucifixion and the Work accomplished there... but far, far fewer that focus in on the Resurrection.  And yet Resurrection, restoration, healing and wholeness, these are the point.  They were, in fact, the focal points of the early Church, the Body of Christ in its apostolic infancy.

For a perfect example of this, read the Gospel account recorded by Mark— cf. Mark 15:1-16:7.  It contains the teaching of the apostle Peter concerning the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Another fascinating account would be the Gospel of Luke.  I love how Luke frames the angels’ words to the women in ch. 24 of his Gospel.  He says, “in” the terror of “suddenly” finding “two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning standing beside them” {v. 4}, “the women bowed down with their faces to the ground [Not an unusual response in Scripture when humans are confronted with a higher order of being.], but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the Living among the dead?’”  It’s a great question ...one Abba is still asking to this day, at this very moment, in this very place: “Why do you continue to look for Life in what can only bring you Death?  In people, in places, in things— idols and addictions— with the stench of death hovering over them?  Why, when I offer you in communion with the Risen Christ ‘Life— to the full’ {Jn. 10:10}?”  “He is not here; He has risen!,” vv. 5-6a.  The way this last phrase is constructed in the Greek Luke uses for his Gentile readers it means: ‘At a particular point in real Time, real Space, and real History, He was raised from the depths of darkness and Death!’  Amen!

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in his beautiful book The Life of Christ, said, “Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat.  Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity.  But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory”  Victory, indeed— to resound for all Eternity.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Resurrection Is the Glory of the Gospel

Now, let me show in the rest of the Scriptures how powerful and profound this singular theme is: Peter in Acts 1:20-22, along with the other Apostles, the “women” who followed Jesus, His mother “Mary” and “His brothers” {vv. 13-14}, said of Judas Iscariot, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’  Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s Baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.  For one of these must become a witness with us of His Resurrection.”  Matthias was to become a “witness of His Resurrection,” the astounding fact of the 1st century Faith.

In Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the majority of what he has to say— from vv. 24-35— is occupied by the Resurrection and Ascension.  Acts 4 tells us, “the priests and the captain of the Temple Guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  They were greatly disturbed because the Apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the Resurrection of the Dead,” vv. 1-2.  It’s the same thing in v. 33, “with great power the Apostles continued to testify to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.”

We can go on.  Paul in Athens testifying before Greek philosophers— Acts 17:18  and 32 {“Paul was preaching the Good News about Jesus and the Resurrection.”}; Paul speaking to Jewish theologians in Jerusalem— Acts 23:6 {“I stand on trial because of my hope in the Resurrection of the Dead.”} and 24:21.  We see the Apostle testifying in his own defense before King Herod Agrippa and the Roman Governor Festus in Acts 26:22-23, “I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.  I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim Light to His own People and to the Gentiles.”  Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-5 wrote: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy he has given us new birth [Anagennao- lit., ‘we are born again:’] into a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in Heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the Last Time.”

In Romans 6:4 Paul say’s, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new Life,” a Resurrection Life …in Time.  This is for now, not later.  In v. 11 he says, “In the same way, count, consider, add up the facts and come to the conclusion, to this relational reality: that you are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, in light of this, do not let sin reign over you, don’t let it run amok, wreaking havoc in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” {RRExp}.  In Ephesians 2:4 he wrote, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions....  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” vv. 5a-6.

We believe Christ died for us, that’s true, as a Substitute on our behalf— 2 Corinthians 5:15-21.  But He was also raised for us {1 Cor. 15:12-22}; His Resurrection as much for us as His sacred Life and sacrificial Death.  Romans 5:17: “For if, by the trespass of the one man [the First Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and …the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man [the Second Adam], Jesus Christ.”’  Let me ask you a question.  Are you ‘reigning’ in your life, right now?  “Through the one Man, Jesus Christ”?  If not, why not?  We have been abundantly provided for in grace, we’ve been given the gift of a “righteousness” not our own to last beyond any Time we could conceive, we’ve been sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit and this same Spirit sealed in us as a down-payment on “God’s possession” and the guarantee of “our inheritance” as Sons {Eph. 1:13-14}.  We were meant and we were made to “reign” in this Life as preparation for the next.

Let this be the challenge lingering in our hearts and lives this Easter Son-Day: as Sons and Daughters of the Most High God, we were meant and we were made for so much more than we have known, so much more than we presently possess in our daily experience.  May the Light of Christ’s Resurrection lead us to these riches.  Amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing.

In Mark 10:23 Jesus and His Disciples watch this ‘prince’ of Judea walk away, head bowed low, downcast and dejected, back to his life of money and ease.  “Jesus looked around and said to His Disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich,” for those who are defined by their property, their wealth, their means, their money, “to enter the Kingdom of God!”

It says in v. 24, “The Disciples were amazed at His words.”  I want you to notice their astonishment, because this isn’t the last time it comes up or the last time it’s expressed.  The reason is Jesus had just taken their entire understanding of morality, of formal adherence to law and order, and the accepted agreement that this always resulted in wealth, in blessing, in the favor of God showering a man, and turned it upside down.  Thus, if a man had all the outer accoutrements, he must by necessity be a righteous man with one foot in the Kingdom of God.  The rabbinic argument of 1^st century Judaism, universally accepted, was that wealth was a sure sign of rightness with God and thus blessing from His hand.  Jesus takes this entire notion and turns it right-side up, whereas before it had been upside down.

“But Jesus said again [reinforcing His original point], ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God [‘How utterly and incredibly difficult for those bound to the idol of Mammon.’].  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle [Greek word here is ‘a sewing needle;’ it’s a proverb for the impossible.] than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.’”  A couple of points along this line.

 I.  Possessions have the ability to rivet our souls to the present world.  As Samuel Johnson was being shown a beautiful castle and its gorgeous grounds in the English countryside he said, “These are the things that make it difficult to die.”

II.  When our motivation is materialism, we begin to think of everything in terms of its price {and sometimes everyone}.  “Well, if I can afford it, and I’m not hurting anybody else, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.”  But you see, price and value are two different animals.  We live in a luxuriant culture that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing!

There’s a true story from the early 20th century of a shepherd from the highlands of Scotland whose children were raised as simple, unsophisticated, believers in a simple, unsophisticated Savior.  The father was given a position in the nearest town with a salary and a much higher standard of living.  When introduced to ‘city-life’ and the culture of the kosmos, the children began to change radically and almost immediately… and not for the better.  His wife wrote a fascinating letter to the local paper, the last paragraph of which read: “Which is preferable for a child’s upbringing— a lack of worldliness, but with better manners and sincere and simple thoughts, or worldliness and its present day habit of knowing the price of everything and the true value of nothing?”  Mmhhhmmm, which indeed?

III  Jesus was saying that great wealth is often a great worry.  It ends up becoming two things to the Children of Men: [i] a true test of character— for every hundred men who can withstand adversity only one can withstand prosperity; and [ii] a very real responsibility: to use it and not abuse it.  Money is always judged by two criteria: how you get it; and how you use it.  The more money one has, the greater the responsibility resting upon them.  The real question is are you going to use it as if you’re its undisputed possessor— as if God has no claim to His Creatures— or as a steward of the Savior, a servant of the Master?

After Jesus lays down His point a second time, Mark say’s the Disciples “were even more amazed [‘amazed beyond measure, exceedingly astonished’] and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’  Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God,’” vv. 26-27.  In v. 27 we have Jesus stating the doctrine of grace in salvation in a nutshell: “If salvation depended on man’s effort or ingenuity, on man doing anything, it would be utterly impossible.  But salvation is the gift of God {offered in grace and received in faith} and all things are possible with Abba!”  The man who trusts in him self or his savings can never experience Eternal Life; the woman who trusts in the finished Work of Christ and the redeeming love of the Father can enter the fold freely and find all the pasture her heart desires.  This single thought is the foundation of the Christian Faith.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously