The Danger of Dullness

The Danger of Dullness

Hebrews 5:11 & 6:12
5:11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
6:12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

   Are you dull?  This might sound like a social problem, but I’m talking about a spiritual issue.  “Dull” used here is not referring to the sharpness of a blade’s edge but it’s used to mean sluggish or lazy.  What I’m asking you is are you getting spiritually sluggish or lazy?  The writer of Hebrews used it twice when talking about the Hebrew Christians.
   In chapter five he is telling them about Christ and says he has much more to tell them but they have become “dull” of hearing.  We know this happens in a physical sense and you probably know someone this has happened to.  They have a hard time hearing you when you talk and need to turn the TV up louder to hear it.  But this also happens to our spiritual hearing.  We can let ourselves become dull of hearing and not hear God’s Word being taught or preached.  The pastor can lay his heart out before us but with our hearing dull we can let our minds wander and we think of what’s for dinner or who’s going to win the big game or what that rattle under the hood is or any of a hundred other trivial things.  Oh, look!  It’s 10 after noon and he’s STILL going on and on!  When is he going to get done so I can get out of here?  And we miss what God is trying to tell us.
   Then in chapter six he is complementing them on their work and then warns them not to become sluggish.  The Greek word for “sluggish” is the same one used in chapter five for “dull.”  What the author is warning about here is the problem he spoke of the chapter before.  Since you work so hard for the lord and care for each other, don’t become dull and stop these good works.  There is a real danger here because it’s easy to get tired of working all the time and want to “take a little time off.”  Once you begin to skip services and stay home, you are more likely to become sluggish in spiritual things.  It’s happened to me and I’ve witnessed it happen to many others.
   So I ask you again, are you dull?  Do you still hear God’s Word?  Does it excite your heart?  Do you look forward to going to church services or is it just “what I do on Sundays.”  Be honest!  If you try to lie, the only one you’re lying to is yourself.  God already knows the condition of your heart.  But the good news is that being dull is not a fatal condition if you turn to God and pray that He revives your spirit.  He can blow that little spark in your soul back to flame again.  He can call to your dull ears and you will be able to hear His Words again.  He can cure your dull eyes so you can see the truth again.
   Revival does not begin in your church.  Revival only begins in one place:  in your heart.  If you want your church to experience revival, let it begin in you.

Stephen Cram                            January 27, 2013                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Tell Them “I Am Who I Am”

Tell Them “I Am Who I Am”

Exodus 3: 13&14

13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

   Last week, I wrote about Moses meeting with God for the first time.  God identified Himself to Moses by saying He was, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” After that, Moses knew Who God was.  God told Moses He had heard their cries and seen their suffering and was sending Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go.  Moses asked a couple of questions, one of which was, “if the people ask me what is Your name, what do I say to them?”  God answered and gave Moses the famous saying, “I Am Who I Am.”  But a simple word study reveals that God was saying more than just that bland statement.  I think the closest we can get to what He said in our language is, “I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be.” 

   We need to remember that God never said I WAS the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.  God is not the God the past nor is he the God of the dead.  He is the God of today and the God of right now and the God of life.  He is “I Am”, not “I Was.”  There is a blessing for us in remembering how God has blessed us in the past.  But beware, history is full of stories of people who did one thing in their lives and never succeeded at anything else.  They lived on that one accomplishment and never risked anything else in their lives.  You shouldn’t try to live on a memory - live today and don’t hide out in your rocking chair.  God is the same God Who blessed you and He has not run short of His supply of “god.”     

  “I AM WHO I AM.”  God is Sovereign and He is Who He is and we do not have a vote.  God makes the standards and He is the only One Who can reach those standards.  We often “demote” God in our minds making Him less than what He is.  Our doubts cloud our thoughts and we lack the understanding of what God has done for us that is just waiting for us to take hold of so we think God is not “god” enough to meet our needs.  This is our failing, not God’s; He is still God All-Mighty, the Maker of Heaven and earth.  He IS “god” enough to meet all your needs.  We read of God in the Bible and He is still the same God today He always has been.  He will still be God tonight and will still be the same God tomorrow and next week and next month and next year.  Our perspective changes but He does not. 

   “And I will be What I will be.”  God chose us and is our Father.  He adopted us into His family.  He chose to send Jesus to live and take our sins and then die for us.  He then raised Jesus back to life and seated Him at the right hand of the throne.  He chose to do all this for us while we were still sinners. 

   I have heard countless sermons and lessons and this mystery perplexes many people.  I don’t know why God chose us and sacrificed His Son for us, except to say He loved us so much He went to these incredible lengths to redeem us.  His love is beyond my understanding and I can only accept it and be grateful.  He is Who He will be and He will never leave us and never disown us and never throw us aside.  The only limits on Who God is in our lives are the limits our doubts and unbelief put there.

   Our job is clear:  take this Good news to all the world.  There is a lost and hurting world just waiting for Christians to tell them Who God is.  And when they ask you Who sent you, say to them, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Stephen Cram                            January 20, 2013                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 

God of Your Father

God of Your Father

Exodus 3:6 NKJV

Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

   When God chose to give His call to Moses, He did not say, “Hey Moses, I am God!”  “God” is a pretty broad term that means different things to different people.  Moses had been raised by an Egyptian princess and so would have been familiar with the many gods of Egyptian beliefs.  He was wet-nursed by his own Hebrew mother and she would have told him about the God of his people, the God of Abraham.  Later he was exiled in Midian and the desert nomads had other gods including Ba’al Peor and the “mother earth goddess,” Ashtoreth.   The word “god” can be a confusing concept to people as there are countless claimants to the title.  So when God wanted to reveal Himself to Moses, He needed to make it clear to Moses that he was dealing with the one true God.  

   He could have said He was “God Most High,” but Horus could have made that claim.  He could have called Himself, “God the Creator of Heaven and earth, but Atum, the first of all the gods and goddesses of Egypt could have claimed that title.

   Polls show that most people say they believe in God, but when you ask them who God is and what they think of Him their ideas are a little unclear.  God is a cosmic power, or a benevolent energy source in the universe which permeates all creation. (Use the Force, Luke!)  God is fate or he is destiny.  Some look at God like he is a larger version of Santa Claus, One Who gives good things to us if we’re on the nice list and withholds things from us if we land on the naughty list.  There is a feminist movement that says God is actually Goddess.  I once knew a Christian who had fallen away from a true belief in God and claimed we were supposed to pray to “our” Angel.  And, of course, there is the humanistic view that each of us are our own god.

   These ideas and views may be held by many people, but none of them are the God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob.  After Jochebed, his birth mother, sent Moses into the Nile in a basket, he was found by a princess of Egypt and brought to the palace to live.  The princess sent for a Hebrew nurse and Jochebed was the one summoned to the palace to care for Moses.  You can believe that she would have tried to teach him all about the Hebrews including their belief in one God.  So when God identified Himself this way, Moses knew right off Who He was.  In one moment, all the stories of his childhood told by Jochebed became real to him.  He knew which God this was calling to him and knew his people had not been abandoned by God.

   Do you know who is calling to you?  Whose voice are you listening to?  When God speaks to your heart, there will be no doubt.  He doesn’t wait in dark corners waiting for you to wander by.  “Pssst.  Hey you, come over here.  I got something for ya.”  He will make it clear to you what He’s trying to tell you.

   And one of my pet peeves are people who claim that, “God told me to tell you…”  No, He didn’t tell you to tell me and no, He didn’t need your help to tell me.  What He needs is for me to be listening for His voice.

   I have written it before and I will write it again: check everything against the Bible.  You will never be led to do something which is not supported by the Bible.  God is the Author of the Bible and He will never go contrary to what He has written. 

Stephen Cram                            January 13, 2013                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 

One Word Resolution Part 2

One Word Resolution Part 2

Romans 10:10 Complete Jewish Bible

For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making public acknowledgement and thus continues toward deliverance.

  I’m not a big fan of resolutions and I never was.  I tend to set high goals and then fail miserably sticking to them.  Last year, I chose to use only one word for my New Year’s resolution: the word TRUST.  I wanted to learn to trust God more and entertain my doubts less.  Well, my resolution was put to the test during the year; my wife’s surgery and long recovery topping the list.  There were many other trials also, and I found myself being pushed to the limit a few times.  But I really did work at trusting God in everything and was blessed by the grace I received Him and the love and support from others around me.  Your prayers and loving words really helped me more than I can say.

   So I am making another one-word resolution this year: Embrace.  Last year was a year learning to trust God more, this year I want to embrace my faith in Him more.  As I have written before, I am a spiritual adulterer.  I am not always faithful to my Lord and have done and said things that I know He did not approve of.  I need to embrace my faith more and become a more faithful Christian.  So my resolution is a little more detailed than last year’s was.  I need to embrace the Word more and learn more about Christ and learn about my salvation more.  I want to know Christ and know Him as much as I can.  I pray the Holy Spirit will lead me to learn what I need to learn and show me what I need to see and listen to what I need to hear. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Amplified Bible

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

   I know this but need to let this become part of my being.  I know this verse intellectually, but need to know it intimately. 

   The Holy Spirit has been gracious with me allowing me to learn many truths from the Bible and I have been privileged to be able to teach these to many people.  But I still have a lot to learn and a lot of what I have already learned I need to embrace.  Knowledge that just rattles around inside your head but never reaches your heart is a waste.

   There is so much written in the Bible that I truly believe no one can ever learn it all.  But I have always thought that there is no harm in trying!  Paul wrote to Timothy to study to show yourself approved to God.  I feel that one of the greatest failings of the church in America is the lack of Bible teaching and the lack of desire to learn.  We live amidst a cornucopia of Bibles and Bible aids and many lack even the basic knowledge of God and His Word.  You need to ask yourself:  are you Christian attending church or a club member in good standing?  If there is no solid Bible teaching where you are attending then you are in a club not a church.

  So this year I challenge you to adopt a word and pray for guidance and strength to grow in Christ.  I pray you choose to become what God wants you to become, not what you want to become.  Don’t be satisfied with just “tweaking” your life and becoming just a “slightly improved” Christian this year, jump in off the deep end and let Christ guide you.      

   If you email me your word, I’ll promise to pray for you every week that God will give you grace to grow in Him this year.

Stephen Cram                            January 6, 2013                      Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8