Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Sick On Tradition

"making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do." - Mark 7:13

Browsing through online news articles, I came across a story about a wedding celebration in the Ukraine that put the phrase "in sickness and in health" to the test. As a Ukrainian tradition, massive amounts of dishes are prepared to celebrate as a community over a course of several days. It is believed that lack of refrigeration space for all of the food caused wedding guests including the bride to be sickened with food poisoning and hospitalized. The traditions of men can make a bride sick. Just ask the Bride of Christ.

Many struggle with whether or not the word of God is real, accurate, true or if it is effective. In Mark chapter 7, Jesus warned that the very traditions of men lessen the impact and effectiveness of the word of God. We make concessions because we love people and we shudder to think about the consequences that may be attached to the actions committed. We compromise to make others feel comfortable instead of allowing the conviction of the word to be the rule instead of the exception. All too often in our churches, we place the tradition of men over God-given common sense and reject what we know is truth to embrace manipulation powered by popular opinion and peer pressure. The Bride is sick. 

The Bride has become sickened as she gobbles high amounts of rotting compromise. She knowingly feasts on the delicacies of poisoned theories and hypothetical conclusions unsupported by scripture. The Bride is doubled over in pain as she regurgitates the waste-covered sweet nothings instead of the word of God she has ingested. She reeks of the stench of sin and her gown is stained with remnants of the rejection of swallowing what is not to be consumed. All in the name of tradition. 

The only remedy, the only solution that will help the Bride recover is the unadulterated, unequivocal word of God. Lifting the word of God over every opinion of man, every lust-driven, sin-filled desire to appease the flesh rather than a sacrificial holy life. The medicine is strong, but it will cure every ailment, sickness and disease. Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.". 

Well wishes to the Bride....her groom comes.




Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Swaportunity

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” – Deuteronomy 30:19

Swaportunity - "the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for Yoplait Light." Yoplait has created a word for trading what seems to be a lesser choice, but is actually a better choice. When was the last time you swapped your high calorie snack for something lighter? And I don’t mean food. I’m talking about high calorie sin snacks.

High calorie sin snacks are the ginormous lifestyle defects that started out as recreational, turned into habitual, and now make up the definition of your character. High calorie sin snacks fill you up quickly and leave you hungry for more, because sin can never be satisfied. That’s why you find yourself opening the door after that familiar 2 a.m. knock without even thinking about it. That’s why you can’t seem to keep your mouth off of people and your nose out of their business. Continued indulgence of high calorie sin snacks will develop into full-blown meals of self-pride, the lusting of children, unforgiving of others, embezzlement from those who trust you, secret hatred of your own brother, secret drunkenness, and concealed drug abuse. Your flesh is getting hungrier for sin rather than for righteousness. That’s why you struggle to pray, you fight to truly worship, and your bible is merely a collection of passages you memorize to impress. Your body is being entertained and indulged while your spirit man suffers from the weight and heaviness of your sin. It’s time to consider a swaportunity!

For all that sin you’ve packed on and become comfortable with carrying, Jesus has a better choice for you today. It may not seem the like choice you want because you will have to sacrifice those killer snacks your body has become accustomed to. The “lighter” choice that Jesus has to offer will leave you with zero guilt after drenching yourself in the Holy Spirit. Making a swaportunity for righteousness gives you the freedom to indulge in His presence and feel as light as a feather when you come out!


Brothers and sisters in the Lord, I want to encourage you to take some swaportunities today. Swap your sorrow for joy! Swap your ashes for beauty! Swap your sickness for pain! Swap the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise! Above all, swap ungodliness for that which is holy! As Deuteronomy 30:19 offers you the chance to make the swaportunity of a lifetime, the swap should be simple: choose life. There’s no swaportunity better than that.