Christians, Assemble!

The character of God can be summarized by how he engages humanity and what he desires our response be when we read about his commands and communicate with him through prayer and supplication (Philippians 4:6-7). For example, God specifically lays out a foundation for how we should treat one another. On multiple occasions, the power of our influence is well documented in Scripture. Hebrews 10:24-25 says,

“And let us consider how to spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

God created us to be in community with one another. Fellowship matters to him because it is a reflection of him and his deepest desires. In fact, our influence on one another withholds so much power, it will even prepare us for the dark days that are ahead of us. All the more is a key phrase used to explain how much more important it will be when the men and women who serve the Lord will be put on trial for their beliefs (see Matthew Henry Commentary of Hebrews 10:25).

In addition to all the more, another phrase that is important to focus on is as some are in the habit of doing. Long before this day and age, God knew the greatest weakness that could potentially eliminate the positive influence of man, and it would come in the form of isolation. Commentary suggests ‘assembling Christians’ (found in Hebrews 10:25) translates to Christians who publicly worship (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible). The problem, unfortunately, is the lack of meeting and publicly worshiping God together in word and deed. What looms larger is the disguise: Isolation and comfort often go hand-in-hand, and filling our schedules with busy seems to be the norm. Even when there is meeting up with others in worship to God, we are not spurring one another toward love and good deeds as much as we should. We forget and abandon the unlimited power of influence we are given when we meet with the purpose of encouraging one another on.

While Hebrews does provide clear instruction on how to engage with one another, it is not the only reference in Scripture that cites the importance of meeting together. Matthew 18:20 also promises, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Sure, alone time with God is good for the soul and the relationship, but a fellowship of believers makes a strong impact as well. When those who come together with a common desire to make him the vocal point of conversation and action, God’s presence is multiplied. Why? In the context of Scripture, it’s simple. Take a look at how influential fellowship works:

First, we are called to be “imitators” and to “imitate God” in everything we do (see 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Ephesians 5:1). This means Jesus didn’t just come to save us from sin, but he modeled for us what it looks like to imitate God in all we do. Second, being imitators of Jesus means this: when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and adhere to its promptings, we are very much like Jesus. Now imagine a room full of Jesus’, loving on one another, instructing one another, admonishing one another, etc. Our words, actions, and deeds, when prescribed in the context of imitating God’s goodness (the fruits of the Spirit), carries so much power because God is in the midst of it.

God earnestly desires for us to be committed to one another in Christ because in doing so, we are intentionally engaging in the mission statement of God: to bring Love and Truth to a world who so desperately needs it. Men, women, and children so often struggle to be like Jesus; to live like he did and imitate him in all they do. When we meet together and spur one another on, we collectively see that living like Jesus is possible, and it strengthens our desire to continue living that way.

Those closest to me, the men who run the race with me, know me well. When I am feeling down, or I let my circumstances define my faith, these men give me a pep talk; they snap me out of my mindset. Like a star athlete huddling around his teammates to remind them the game is not over, my buddies will yell in my ear who I am in Jesus and that I am bigger than Satan’s flaming arrows; that I have the armor I need to fend off any attack from him. My friends are good at giving me the pep talk because those pep talks are grounded in Scripture and aligned with God’s promises. When Jesus feels invisible to me, the Holy Spirit living in my friends is what catapults me into Truth and Victory. When Jesus fees non-existent in the midst of my problems, my fellow warriors show me Jesus in them and how that same Jesus still resides in me.

Again, the problem remains. We don’t gather together as much as we should (Hebrews 10:25). We don’t spur one another on enough through meeting one another and worshiping together. Too many people live outside of the realm of this possibility. If we do gather together, God isn’t in the picture as much as he could and should be. Fortunately, each day is new, and each day is another opportunity to flip the script. If you’re not spurring one another on towards love and good deeds and getting spurred on as well, your life will lose Biblical, godly purpose.

We were designed to gather together and encourage one another towards being imitators of Jesus. We were designed to publicly worship together. In today’s age, we have become distracted, and distraction is one of Satan’s tricks. If he can’t take us out, he will use daily distractions to prevent us from living in the complete blessings that come from God. Fellowship is a blessing, and isolation is Satan’s way to eliminate imitating God. When we see another believer properly living out his faith, we are inspired to begin or continue that process. If we are not inspired, we should be. If we are not inspired to meet with others, Satan could be using distractions, busyness, and other excuses to eliminate that desire.

There is a reason God gives the command of meeting together. It works, and it brings us closer to His likeness. Jesus walked with twelve disciples. This means he didn’t go through life alone. We too are not meant to go through life alone, so it is critical to be proactive in this area, because God says it is important.

1. The way to combat complacency and enter into a spiritually Christ-centered community is by doing some of the following. 
2. Making a local church your home and attending (maybe even serving) regularly.
3.  Finding spiritual brothers (if you’re a guy) and sisters (if you’re a girl) and becoming genuine friends with them (one of the most powerful accountability tools is putting yourself around godly people and allowing them to show up in your life)
4. Finding a same-gender leader who is willing to mentor and/or disciple you to become or continue being an imitator of God. 

Never give up on opportunities to meet with others, worship God together, and spur them on toward love and good deeds – this is a command that God gives us, so it is important to not become lazy in this area.

There is a reason God gives the command of meeting together. It works, and it brings us closer to His likeness. Jesus walked with twelve disciples. This means he didn’t go through life alone. We too are not meant to go through life alone, so it is critical to be proactive in this area, because God says it is important.

*Additional verses instructing the engagement of brothers and sisters in Christ: Romans 12:10-21, Colossians 3:12-17, 2 Timothy 2:23-25, Matthew 5:21-23

Your Herod vs. His Provision - Who Wins?

Let's set the scene. Just like a play, there are characters, a most notably, an antagonist  and protagonist. We begin with a prophet who makes a bold statement:

Matthew 1:23: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God with us.'"

The setting is Bethlehem, which is Jesus' birthplace, which falls around the time of our antagonist, King Herod. While the protagonist (Jesus) and the antagonist have not met yet, King Herod is fuming with jealousy. Instead of initially making his hatred of the 'newborn king of the Jews' known, he disguises his desire to kill with these words:

Matthew 2:8: (to the wise men) "...when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

This statement coming from King Herod is the equivalent to an Apple employee heading over to Samsung only to "check out how amazing the iPhone X is." Sure, that's probably the only reason. Imagine how bad of a liar King Herod is. Here is a newborn baby, already considered a king of the Jews, and King Herod is disturbed (Matt. 2:3).

Within the first 12 verses of Matthew 2, we can infer Herod's intentions are not healthy. Verse three notes that Herod was "deeply disturbed" when he heard of Jesus' birth. He later tries to cover his hatred by commanding the wise men to find Jesus' whereabouts (v. 8), and we once again get the sense that Herod's intentions are not good when God warns the wise men to not return to Herod

Note: When God says not to return to someone, that person is probably unhealthy for you.

While Herod's track record only gets worse (see Matthew 2:16 and his annihilation of babies), the focus is not on who Herod is, but who God is in the midst of Herod. Pointing out Herod's absolute disgust with Jesus is important to note because his actions during this time would lead anyone to believe Jesus was good as dead. In addition, reading the story without God's intervention in mind would lead us to believe Jesus and his caretakers would never make it out alive with Herod hot on their tale.

Yet, God had other plans, and he would intervene at all costs. Check out all of the recorded times in Matthew 2 alone:
1. "When it came time to leave, [the Wise Men] returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod." (v. 12)
2. "After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,' the angel said. 'Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.'" (v. 13)
3. "When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 'Get up!' the angel said. 'Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.'" (v. 19-20)
4. "But when [Joseph] learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee." (v. 22)

On four occasions, God prevents mighty King Herod's hand from impacting the life of Jesus. Remember, this is the same Herod who ordered all boys between newborn and two years old in and  around Bethlehem to be slaughtered, and it was done at his command. This is a powerful king, yet God demonstrates more power in the form of his provision.

Don't we all have our own "Herods" in life? It might be a big, ugly Herod that shows up in the most obvious ways. It might be an inability to pay off bills, a broken relationship, loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, abusive relationships, cancer, a struggling loved one, anxiety and doubt, or pornography; it could be a combination of those things. Our Herods come in many forms, some not even listed. These problems and burdens will do anything to destroy you. You sit, helplessly, watching the world around you crumble because of this Herod or these Herods in your life.

Ok, so we have Herods, and they're painful to think about. But we also have God, and his provision and guidance will defeat any and every foe, no matter how colossal, intrusive, and obtrusive they can be. God had a plan to send himself down to Earth as a man to save a dying world, but God also has a plan for you to be victorious, walk in freedom, and live out the glory of our Father.

We have our battles, but God has his provision, and he is scared to provide against our Herods. There is one thing we can do to secure daily victory in the midst of our Herods bearing down hard on us:

Jeremiah 29:13

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart."

Matthew 6:33

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

These verses do not promise storms will not happen, and Herods will cease to exist. But it promises two things: you will find God when you look for him and he will provide you with enough, every time. There are dark days when it doesn't feel like God is in your midst. You might wonder if you do have enough. Remember: these verses are promises, and God promises to you and I that he is in our midst and will give us all we need.

Don't fret, his provision is always stronger than our Herods. Nothing surprises him.

The Evidence of God's Love: From: Holy Spirit, To: You (Do Not Open Until...) - Pt. III

If you haven't experienced it yourself, you have probably seen someone go through it. The difference between many of the rooms we walk into are a result of the perpetual battle going on between flesh and Spirit, and that is why many of us experience either loneliness or a sense of true belonging. Do not get confused with the external, environmental sense of belonging or loneliness. You can never read the setting in a book to determine the outcome of the story. In the case of community, a sense of belonging, or loneliness, is found within, and when people find true, genuine community, they know it.
Why do they know it? Because deep down inside we are given with the innate desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We feel connected when others around us genuinely enjoy our company. While this part of the Gospel, unity with fellow believers, is crucial in the development of the newborn Christian. there is another gift that far surpasses the connection we feel with the church body, and this connection is much, much bigger than ourselves.
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." We gain true freedom from bondage when we dip into the blessing of the Holy Spirit, whether or not our fellow believers are encouraging our walk with Christ. Now that we are given the blessing of community, our mindset should be on connection with the Spirit, as well as a constant download of the wisdom the Holy Spirit provides.
When Paul preached and spread the Gospel, he warned those who heard him that "Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, [he] relied on the power of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:4). Why? So we would "trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God" (2:5). Paul understood that his freedom did not come from the people around him, as encouraging as they might have been. His hope was found in God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what took him deeper than he could go, and it gave him freedom from bondage.
Other than giving us freedom, why else would we want to be driven by the Spirit?

1. In order to comprehend the mysteries and secrets of God, we must tap into the Spirit:
"...so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us." (1 Corinthians 2:12)

2. When people lived under the Old Covenant, the glory was to remain sacred and untouched and unseen. Moses actually had to intercede on behalf of the people of Israel. Under today's Covenant, we can see and hear within our hearts the wonderful blessing of transformation into his likeness (Romans 12:1-2).
"..the veil is taken away...all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord...makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

3. The Holy Spirit gives us confidence and boldness to live out our true calling - this genuine confidence cannot come from believers, but can merely be encouraged by them (Philippians 2:1-4). Paul calls us to be one in spirit together, encouraging one another to live out love, being "one in spirit and of one mind." However, we receive that confidence and boldness through the promise of the Holy Spirit.
"...as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are confident.."(2 Corinthians 5:5-6).
"Since this new way (the New Covenant talked about in part I) gives us such confidence, we can be very bold" (2 Corinthians 3:12).

4. The power of the Holy Spirit gives us peace and hope that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
"...by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13)

5. We receive conviction to live out a healthy lifestyle with our body, including what we see, hear, touch, and think about.
"...don't you know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

6. You are chosen by God to be imitators of him, and in doing so we receive conviction when living in the Holy Spirit.
"...because our Gospel came to you not only in Word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

7. We have access to his thoughts! Isn't this amazing? We can access his thoughts about us, the world, and how we can be stewards of it.
"No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:11)
*Remember, we have been given the Holy Spirit, which is "God's own Spirit." = "...but we understand [the Lord's thoughts] because we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:15-16).

These seven reasons we should invest in the Spirit on a daily basis is only touching the surface. Paul goes much deeper than this, and he encourages us as a body of believers to dive into the secrets of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ, We understand and comprehend the vast knowledge of God when we are devoted to the part of us that is so much greater than our ordinary self (1 Corinthians 2:16). In fact, the Holy Spirit is the very part of us that makes us extraordinary.

As a challenge, begin looking to the Holy Spirit within you for guidance. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). One way to "delight yourself in the Lord" is to seek the Holy Spirit. As you do that, you will begin to understand what your hear truly desires.

Go deeper with the Holy Spirit, because with it you will discover things much bigger than yourself.