Reflecting the Character of Christ

I just finished teaching a long lesson on Heaven in Sunday School. One of the books I used as reference was Anne Graham Lotz’ book ‘Heaven, My Father’s House.’

She was talking about how in Heaven we will finally be like Jesus. That even with our own unique personalities and characteristics we will reflect the character of Christ.

And she said, “that character starts to get developed here on earth every time we:

Obey Him in the midst of suffering

Trust Him with unanswered prayer

Love Him without seeing Him

Believe in Him even though all evidence seems contrary to His Word

Focus on Him in the darkness of depression and discouragement

And hope in Him to bring us through.

When we choose to be patient instead of frustrated

To love instead of hate

To hold our tongues instead of lash out

To gently instruct instead of harshly correct

To be gracious instead of rude

Kind instead of mean

Unselfish instead of selfish

Tell the truth instead of the easier lie.

And when we:

Submit to the pain

Accept the pressure

Bear the burden

Deny ourselves daily and take up the cross of His will for our lives

When we follow Him not the crowd

And choose to live by His Word, not others’ opinions.

All of this forms Christ’s character in us and that’s how God uses everything for the ultimate good. None of our trials or sufferings are wasted.

Jesus is the Word

I just finished reading Anne Graham Lotz’ book ‘Just Give Me Jesus’. The whole book was wonderful, but as someone who has often prayed to God to tell me plainly what to do – maybe by writing on a billboard! – what His will is for my life, I especially loved what she said about John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Anne wrote that Plato, who was popular in John’s day, had said he hoped someday a “logos” (word) might come from God that would make everything about life clear. John says in this verse that it did! A living logos. An outward revelation of the heart and mind of God, expressed perfectly for us in a living person.

Jesus is the living expression of what’s on God’s mind. Of what’s on God’s heart.

Do you want to know the will of God? Then just look at Jesus.

How to Read God’s Word so you can hear Him speaking to you.

At the Woman to Woman Conference Anne Graham Lotz taught us a wonderful way to read the Bible!

Exodus 34:1-3 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

God called Moses to come to Him alone in the morning. That is an excellent example for us to follow. Spending time in God’s Word every morning sets the tone for our day. We spend time with Him in order to know Him. This is how we see His Glory. Sometimes we can see it in retrospect. We may be in a spiritual dry spot, but we can remember what He’s done in our lives. By taking the time we can look back at different times in our life and see He was with us all the time.

Anne suggested we have a spot set up that we use every day: our Bible and a notebook already in place. To start we choose a book of the Bible to read. She suggested starting with The Gospel of Mark or maybe a smaller book like Colossians. Take just the first paragraph or couple verses. Read the paragraph through. Then re-read it listing just the outstanding facts. (Don’t paraphrase).

Go through each fact and ask what it means. Find a spiritual lesson or a principle in each fact.

Next ask what this means in your life. And finally ask yourself “How am I going to live in response?’ Date this one and hold yourself accountable.

Here’s an example:

John 14:1-6 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1. Facts might be Do not be troubled, trust in God, trust in Me.

What the fact means could be worry is a lack of trust. Or there are going to be troubles but they don’t have to come inside. (don’t let your heart be troubled by them.) Even “do not be troubled” is a command so worry is a sin!

What does this mean in your life? You might ask yourself if you choose to put your hope and belief in God instead of circumstances. Or; if you really know God why do you keep worrying? Or what areas of your life are you currently worried about that would demonstrate a lack of faith in that area?

How are you going to live in response to this? Depending on the answer above you would come up with something you are going to change or work on.

2. Fact In My Father’s house are many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you I’m going to prepare a place for you? Jesus is going to prepare a place for me.

What the fact means may be there are lots of rooms in Heaven; enough for everyone who wants to go! Or God is preparing a place just for me! Heaven is a labor of love!

What you might ask yourself from this is “Am I living my life with the expectation of going to Heaven? Am I letting others know they can go too?”

And then decide what you are going to do about the question you just asked yourself.

3. Fact I will come back to take you to be with Me.

What this fact means is God is the initiator! And Jesus will personally deliver you to God. You can be confidant of this because He says so. It also means that earth is not your home and this life is not all there is.

What you might ask yourself from this is “Will I be ready when He comes back? Am I staying in the Word, sharing the Gospel, loving others, worshipping God?”

Then decide what you intend to do, write it down and date it.

4. Fact You know the way to the place I am going.

This fact means God has told us! We have been given the information! We’ve got the Bible. Believers have the Holy Spirit. It also means there is a way! One way!

What you might ask yourself is “DO you know the way?” or “Can I help others know the way?”

And then decide what to do about that!

Fact 5 Thomas said he didn’t know where Jesus was going so how could he know the way?

From this fact you could take that even a disciple might not get it – so what about all those other people sitting in church every Sunday? Or it might be showing you that it’s ok to ask Jesus questions.

You can then ask yourself “Am I alert to people who are in the dark?” or “Am I looking for another way to Heaven?”

And then decide what you are going to do about this.

Fact 6 Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.

This means that not all roads lead to Heaven. It also shows Him answering a question – we will get answers when we ask. He answers in His Word, so stay in the Word! Jesus is the guide who will take us there! When we close our eyes on earth we open them looking into His eyes!

You might ask yourself “Am I making myself available to answer people’s questions about how to get to Heaven?” “What questions would I like Jesus to answer?” “Am I asking God to reveal His will?” “Do I go to Jesus first for my answers?” “Am I submitting to His leadership?”

And then decide what you will do about it.

Lastly, but really firstly, pray before you read your Bible. Ask God that the Holy Spirit open the passage to you so that you will understand it and hear God speak to you.

Hope for All Seasons

I went to the Woman to Woman Conference Friday night and all day Saturday at the Hickory Metro Convention Center. The theme was Hope for All Seasons and the keynote speaker was Anne Graham Lotz. (One of my very favorites!) This post is what she covered Friday night.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

In today’s world we put our hope in so many things: the stock market, the company we work for, our health, our ability. When any of it fails – we lose hope.

Sometimes we lose hope because of the day after day same old same old problems. We pray about them, we try to fix them, but they never go away.

Biblical hope is confidence. Our hope rests in God’s plan, God’s person and God’s purpose.

The 1^st century Christians were losing hope in God. Jesus hadn’t returned yet and there was a crazy man ruling who demanded they bow down to him and call him god. When they wouldn’t he burned them at the stakes, fed them to the lions and nailed them to crosses.

God gave the Apostle John the vision to write the book of Revelation to give them hope. Today it’s one of the last books we look at when it should be the first. It’s meant to give us hope!

God’s plan is revealed in Jesus. It was all about Jesus since before the creation of the world. The key to understanding the book of Revelation is to focus on Jesus.

We have hope in the world because Jesus is in charge. When it looks like the world is falling apart it’s really just falling into place. (Study prophecy – you’ll see!)

Revelation says “blessed is he who reads this”. And really we are blessed anytime we open our Bibles. God knows our problems and He will help us manage them so that we can bring Him glory. And we bring Him glory as we become more like His Son.

Revelation 1:8 says He’s the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end of the alphabet. He is all wisdom. He knows everything about us and has known our names since before we were born.

John was suffering for his testimony. Sometimes we think when we are suffering it means God doesn’t love us. But remember, John was the disciple that Jesus loved yet he was in exile for doing something completely in God’s will. Sharing Jesus to others. His suffering ended up bringing glory to God through the writing of the last book of the Bible. God allows us to suffer for a greater purpose. We need to understand this; know that our lives will never be trouble free and deal with it!

John, even though he was alone on that tiny island, was “in the spirit” on “the Lord’s Day”. When we are going through trials we need to stay in the Word. Stay close to God. Don’t complain. Show others that we are trusting that God has a plan for our life and He will use this for our good and for His glory.

We lose hope because we keep trying to get Jesus to make our life the way we want. When He doesn’t do what we tell Him to we get upset! We need to rest in His plan. We need to have a submissive spirit and just ask Him to let us know what to do next.

In Revelation 1:13 Jesus was dressed in the robe of a high priest. Right this minute He is our high priest and praying for us by name. The golden sash around His chest was like that of a King’s. He held seven stars in His right hand representing the seven churches (us). We are in His right hand because He wants to use us. His word is double edged. We need to be in the word to use it.

John fell at His feet like a dead man. Dead men don’t talk back. They don’t argue or give excuses. No more struggling against His will. 

No matter what happens in your life, focus on Jesus and continue to praise Him for who He is and what He has already done for you. Accept His purpose in your life. Read the Bible to know His will and then do it! Surrender!

Jesus put His hand on John and said “Don’t be afraid” because He knows we are sometimes afraid to surrender because of what He might ask us to do. But the better we know Him the more we will want what He wants! God’s will is good and pleasing and perfect. But we won’t get it until we surrender to Him.

 

God’s Purpose in our Trials

I’m reading the book “Just Give Me Jesus” by Anne Graham Lotz and what she said about trials is something I want to remember:

Bad things will still happen to people God loves, but when they do they have a greater purpose than the physical or the temporary or the material or the visible. Sometimes it’s to bring us to absolute helplessness and hopelessness so that we put all of our faith in Him, His power and grace and total sufficiency for our need.

When He delays it’s never because of indifference or preoccupation with other things or an inability to act. His delay has its purpose the development of our trust in Him and Him alone for our own good and His glory.

Revelation 22:1

I’ve been teaching the book of Revelation for about 5 weeks now. I’m using Anne Graham Lotz’ book, The Vision of His Glory and I love this part about Revelation 22:1. It’s concise and tells you exactly what you need to know!

Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

The river symbolizes the eternal blessing of God. And it flows from the throne. The source of all blessing has been, is and forever will be the authority of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

So the river of blessings flows when Jesus Christ is in full authority in your life, when you have completely surrendered yourself to Him, when His will is your will, when you deeply desire what He wants more than what you want, when you deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Him, when you live in a right fellowship to the throne…that’s when the river flows!

Revelation 3:7-13

Here is something else I learned while teaching from Anne Graham Lotz’ book The Vision Of His Glory that I thought was really great:

Revelation 3:7-13
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Jesus is revealed as the One “who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut and what He shuts, no one can open.”

Jerusalem is known as the City of David and heaven is referred to as the New Jerusalem. “The key of David” represents acceptance in and free access to heaven. And Jesus holds the key. He is the one who determines who can come into heaven and must stay out. He opens the door to those who receive Him by faith and shuts the door to those who reject Him.

In the next verse, Jesus says He knows they have little strength. They’re a little church and pagans surround them. But, He says they have kept His Word and haven’t denied His name.

The other door Jesus controls is opportunity to service for Him. Even if people haven’t done much in the past. If they have kept His Word and are loyal to it, He will open the door of opportunity to more and maybe bigger service to Him. And at that point it doesn’t matter how small or inadequate we feel. An open door of opportunity from God implies the command to walk through it. His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in weakness.

He doesn’t tell us we can do something – we just have to try harder. Or that we’re perfect for the job. Instead He acknowledges that on our own, we couldn’t do His command. But, He says He’ll work through us if we just make ourself available to Him in obedience and dependence.

If we say to Him, “But I don’t have time, strength, education, money or ability, He tells us in Revelation 3:11, “hold on to what you have”. We have Him! We have His Word. We can walk through the open door, holding on to that.

God will never command us to do something He is unable or unwilling to do in us and through us. And our motivation to serve Him? Revelation 3:11 also says, “I am coming soon.” Time to serve Him on earth is short. In Revelation 3:12 Jesus promised, “Him who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. I will write on him the name of my God.” The pillar represents strength, the temple of God is His presence and His name written on us is His identification with us. It is a promise that our obedient, dependent service will be so rooted in His presence and His person that others will see only the strength and identification with God – not how inadequate we are.

More thoughts from “A Vision of His Glory”

Rev.2:12-17 To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

Lotz writes about this in "A Vision of His Glory", “Jesus is saying with the double-edged sword of truth – you are surrounded by intelligence. You are surrounded by “religion”, but look at me. I’m the truth. The Bible is my Word! It is true on both sides of the sword – heaven and hell, salvation and judgment, God and the devil. It is the truth and you can’t accommodate truth to the world around you or it ceases to be truth!”

In today’s world it is so easy to accommodate the different beliefs. New age religion is an example. It’s all over the place. Everything is about tolerance and those who preach straight from the Bible are looked down on.

People work to make God into what they want Him to be. And if someone calls them on that they say something like “Well, how could your God let a child die? My God would never do that.” And because some Christians don’t know how to answer that or they feel like they have over and over, but it doesn’t seem to do any good – they let it slide. They accommodate to others. Their faith turns “private” “personal”. And that’s not what Jesus told us to do or be. He told us to be lights and salt. To spread the Gospel.

So the Christians at Pergamum had some failures. But, Jesus did applaud them for their loyalty and faithfulness to Him. He even named one of the believers who had been faithful even to death. For those who have been criticized for their testimony of Jesus, this section is an encouragement. Jesus tells them He knows what kind of society they live in. Where Satan rules. He knows what it’s like and He thanks them for remaining loyal and faithful. But then He tells them He has a few things against them.

He mentions the people teaching of Balaam and the people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolations. These groups apparently distorted, diluted and denied the truth of God’s Word. They caused people to stumble and doubt it.

Today these are people who are false teachers. They profess to give out God’s Word while destroying people’s faith in it. Think religion classes at a lot of universities. Think some churches who are more worried about numbers and attendance then preaching the truth. I stumbled across a website called Rapture Ready.com and it had a letter to people who will be left behind and who go on line trying to figure out what had just happened. One of the things it said is that the Sunday after the rapture the churches will be packed. And some of the well-known “Christian” leaders will be scrambling to explain the whole thing away.

Jesus warned us about false teachers. We are responsible personally for knowing the Bible and whether what they are saying fits or not. Jesus in this section isn’t warning the false teachers. He’s warning us about them. I love to listen to Christian radio. And I learn a lot from it, but even there you have to be careful. Some speakers and preachers, to be more entertaining, start embellishing some things, watering down others, so that people will enjoy listening to them.

Jesus says in Rev.2:16a again, “Repent Therefore!” He says Stop! Stop embellishing God’s word. Stop allowing seeds of doubt to be planted in your mind!”

Remember how Satan began his deception with Eve in the garden? He said, “Yes, but did God really say…” He caused just a little doubt about God’s word.
Lotz wrote here, we do not stand in judgment over God’s word. God’s word stands in judgment over us. We may not understand everything in the Bible, but we can accept it as the inspired, authoritative, inerrant word of God. Why would God allow something to be in the Bible if He doesn’t want it there and then call it His word?

Thoughts from “A Vision of His Glory”

Here are some thoughts I had from reading Anne Graham Lotz's views of Revelation 1:12a in the book The Vision Of His Glory when the apostle John turned around to see Jesus: “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.”

The turning around to look at God can mean wanting not just to hear the word, but to see and know the person behind the word.

Lotz asks if when we read the Bible, do we read it to familiarize ourselves with facts? Or grow in our knowledge of the truth? Or so we can live by and obey it so we might be blessed? These are all good intentions, but the ultimate purpose of God’s Word is to reveal God so we can know Him personally.

Lots of times we focus on the hands of God. What He has or hasn’t done for us. What we want Him to do. Instead of focusing on the face of God – simply who He is.

Finding Hope in the Book of Revelation

I’ve read Anne Graham Lotz’ book, The Vision Of His Glory
several times. But, I am finally writing up a Sunday School lesson from it.

For all those who haven’t studied the book of Revelation because they think they won’t understand the symbolism or it’s too frightening to think about the end of the world. Read this book. It explains so well that Revelation is meant to give us a fresh vision of Jesus Christ. As King. And that it is meant to give us hope in trials.

Reading this book along with the Bible is a great way to study Revelation.

Blessings of God

Anne Grahm Lotz wrote in her wonderful book, God’s Story:

These are the blessings of God. I am:
Accepted by God,
Beloved by God,
Chosen by God,
Delivered by God,
Enlightened by God,
Forgiven by God.

I have:
God’s grace,
hope,
an inheritance in heaven,
justification,
knowledge of God,
God’s love,
God’s mercy,
God’s nearness,
oneness with God,
peace,
quickening of the spirit.

I am:
Redeemed,
sealed with the Holy Spirit,
treasured by God,
united with other believers,
validated as an authentic child of God.

I have:
His wisdom,
and one day I will be exalted with Him in Heavenly places!