God’s Goads

Saul the scholarly member of the Sanhedrin, (the Supreme Court of the day) was a prime persecutor of the followers of Jesus. So zealous was he the court appointed him the chief investigator of the resurrection, giving him the credentials to ferret out, persecute, imprison, and even kill believers. He was anti-Jesus.

On his way to Damascus to persecute believers there he encountered Jesus and Saul the persecutor became Paul the Apostle. This transformed follower of Jesus was divinely appointed as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Facing the possibility of the death penalty, Paul stood before King Agrippa, Queen Bernice, Governor Festus, and other dignitaries in chains a defender of the gospel giving this testimony, “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” (Acts 26: 14)

As an aside Jesus asked why are you persecuting “me?” It was the church Saul was persecuting, but the church was so precious Jesus referred to it as Himself. This speaks of the vitality of the church.

Then the statement, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” The word translated goads is better understood today as “pricks.” When oxen were being used for plowing they needed guidance and often discipline. A long sharp pole was used to prick the animal on the flank, that is, poke it. At times a rebellious ox would resistantly kick against the pricks. 

Jesus had brought influence to bear on Saul, to guide and discipline him. Paul had kicked against them, that is, rebelled against them. On occasion Saul had resisted God’s chastisement intended to direct and discipline him.

When an ox kicked against the prick, it hurt the ox more than the initial prick. His kick was met with a kickback. 

King David had used the ox analogy regarding his experience, “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” (Psalm 73:21-22) May that caution enlighten us so that we avoid such an experience when disciplined by the Lord. 

Some contemporary goads are: friends, deaths, sermons, suffering, doctrine, difficulty, adversity, affliction, godly counsel, holy confrontation, conviction of the Holy Spirit, financial reversal, natural disasters, business failure and academic probation. Add your own list as you consider your own experiences.

Consider times that in retrospect you kicked against God’s goads.

In our hours of disobedience Jesus goads us in order to direct or discipline us.

May our responses be positive and affirming, not a kickback to them.

The Liberty to Love

Posts regarding what God does for us are a blessing, but then comes along one like this related to what God wants us to do for Him and then it challenges us. “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:13) “Meism” is the mandate of the hour. Self-fulfillment, not self-denial, is the cry of the age. Christ said, “If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

If you truly want to fulfill yourself lovingly, deny yourself and give yourself in service to others. Forget yourself and serve yourself into joy and fulfillment.

Self-restraint is a vital part of liberty. Every person has some restraints. They are typified by three dogs. One in a pen that restrains him. One is on a leash, that limits him. Another is controlled by his obedience to his master.

Only love expresses liberty in a way that enhances rather than destroys. Bible love has two distinct qualities. It has its origin in God,“ we love because He first loved us,” and it has its relationship with people, “beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Love isn’t a word to describe your feeling, it is not a technique by which you fulfill your need. It is not a pure abstract ideal on which you meditate. It is acting in response to God and in relation with people.

If we can’t see people in relationship with God, if God is not the lens through which we see others, then we can never freely love them. We will either want to get rid of them because they are in our way, or we will want to use them in order to get us on our way.

The Norwegian dramatist, Ibsen, tells the story of Peer Gynt going to a mental hospital. No one seemed crazy. Everyone talked sensibly and logically about their plans. He felt sure everyone was sane. In response to his inquiry, the doctor said, “They are mad. They talk very sensibly, I admit, but it is all about themselves. They are, in fact, most intelligently obsessed with self. It’s self-morning, noon, and night. We can’t get away from self here.” We must get away from self and along with the Lord often if we expect to live properly with one another.

Liberty without love resembles a blind person without a guide. In an interview in “Psychology Today,” Victor Frankl said, “I often tell my American audiences that freedom threatens to degenerate into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend to you Americans that you should have a “Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.” Apart from responsibility, liberty quickly disintegrates into anarchy such as described in Judges 21:25, “every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

The result of such unbridled liberty is described by Paul, “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.” (Gal. 5:15)

Because we have the right to do a thing does not mean it is the right thing to do.

That is our big challenge to start doing through Jesus today. Love one another. If you resolve to do it, be on the lookout for someone in your life who will make it hard to love them today.

What a Victory We Have in Jesus! Part Three

We are to abound in “the work of the Lord.” What is the work of the Lord? Our Lord allows us contact with other persons in order that we might serve them in His name. That is the work of the Lord. As Christ came not to be ministered unto but to minister, so we must all perpetually be ministers to one another in His holy name. What God considers is how we behave toward others. How much of a loving spirit do we show?

Do we evidence a gracious forgiving attitude,
a willingness to return good for evil,
to speak a helpful word of release to those 
who are captives of their own bad habits,
to help set free those oppressed by wrong, 
hateful attitudes,
to bind up the broken hearted, 
and open the eyes of the blind.

Be assured, such labor is not in vain. The ultimate confirmation of this will come in our inevitable victory celebration called “the day of the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19) 

Our supreme victory is spoken of in I Corinthians 15 in the verses preceding our text. It is summed up in verse 40. We are there referred to as having what  is called a “terrestrial” body. That is, a body perfectly suited for life on planet earth. Outside the sphere of earth’s atmosphere it isn’t perfectly suited. Capsules or space suits have to be used to sustain life outside our natural realm.

In death the believer is given a new body, a “celestial” body.  As our natural body is perfectly suited for life on this planet, so this new celestial body will be perfectly suited for life in Heaven.

You, the real you, will never cease existing. Just because you exit your natural body at the moment of death does not mean you cease to exist. In truth that isn’t the termination of life. It is the end of life in the terrestrial body. It is the beginning of life in the celestial body.

At that point it will be obvious your labor wasn’t in vain.

Now, note I Corinthians 15: 57 once more: “Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Greek word for gives is “didonti,” meaning to “bestow or grant.”

We don’t win it. We can’t earn, merit, or deserve it. It is a gift of God. For it the author says “Thanks!”

Imagine someone offering you a desired and needed gift. For you to say “No, thanks” means the gift isn’t yours. It doesn’t matter how lovingly sincere the giver is or what was paid for the gift, it isn’t yours until you say “Thanks” and take it. God wants to give you the gift of eternal life and the assurance of His presence with you daily. For you to share the victory you must be open and receptive to accepting Christ’s shared victory.

What a Victory We Have in Jesus! Part Two

I Corinthians 15:57, 58

In New Orleans we lived on the battlefield where on January 8, 1815, Major General Andrew Jackson and 5,000 men consisting of rag-tag regiments from Kentucky and Tennessee along with pirates of the sea under the command of Jean Laffite defended the city. They were opposed by 8,000 crack British forces, considered the best army in the world.

Seven of Jackson’s men were killed, and over 700 British were killed. Jackson had six men wounded, and the British had over 1,400 wounded along with 500 captured. It was a remarkable victory for the forces led by Andrew Jackson and propelled him into national prominence.

The outcome of the battle did not have influence on the outcome of that war, the War of 1812, because a peace treaty had been signed two weeks earlier. News traveled so slowly the word had not been received in New Orleans. Even though the victory was assured, they fought as though the outcome of the war depended upon them.

A loss by Jackson would have been nullified by the winning of the war that had already occurred. However, it mattered to Jackson’s men that they be loyal.

Our beloved Lord Jesus Christ won for us the ultimate victory on Calvary many years ago. However, we must engage in the spiritual warfare of our day as though the outcome is dependent upon us.

In reality we do not fight for victory, but from victory. It is His victory in which we share.

It is Jesus who “keeps on giving” us the victory. That is present participle in the Greek, meaning ours is a continual victory. 

He is alive to meet us everyday. In this is found new power to stand firm amid the pressures of life — and they are many.

You need an awareness of His presence and power if you attempt to claim your victory daily in a world crowded with frustrating mean-spirited people who say cruel twisted things about people in an attempt to mask their own unhappiness.

Doing the work of the Lord does not give us permission to act like everybody else. In saving us He never gave us permission to breathe fire in a world of dragons.

I Corinthians 15: 58 opens with “Therefore.” It translates the Greek conjunction “hooste” meaning, “consequently.” As a consequence of the victory that is ours there is an appropriate response. “Be steadfast, unmovable…” is a present participle, meaning we are to be constantly stable. We are to “continue to stand” and “always abound.”  Keep on being steadfast and immovable. This gives no furloughs for fits of unfaithfulness. Repeat, “Be steadfast, unmovable…”

What a Victory We Have in Jesus! Part One

I Corinthians 15: 57, 58

Jesus wants you to be a winner. All you have to do is become His team mate. Often in a team victory there are members of the team who have little to do with the actual victory. The team may be carried by a superior player. That only hints of the victory we enjoy as members of Christ’s team. He is solely responsible for our victory. He, and He alone, won our victory.  Yet, it can be your victory.

Our victory is “through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  That is, by the instrumentality of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is based on His victory.

In the award winning novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee one of the main characters is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch. Her dad, Atticus Finch, calls her Scout. Her dad, a lawyer, is a man of character and integrity. One day Scout comes home and shares some problems she is having with a teacher and some students. In an effort to help her understand and get along her dad gives this advice. “First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

That is exactly what Jesus Christ did. He left His celestial body and crawled into a terrestrial body composed of human skin to become Immanuel, God with us. As God with us, He was in reality God for us. His birth, life, death, and resurrection was as our proxy.

In the Old Testament is the story of a young lad named David, representing the nation of Israel, in battle against the Philistine giant, Goliath. David defeated Goliath. He was the only one on that battlefield that day facing the giant. Yet, it was a victory for all Israelites.

Jesus Christ as the “only begotten Son of God” died alone on the cross of Calvary. Three days later He alone arose from the grave. It was His victory over sin, death, and the grave, just as David’s victory was his conquest of Goliath. Likewise, as with David, so Christ’s victory is a shared victory. His victory is our victory. God gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. The moment we invest our faith in Christ as our personal Savior the victory is won.

After peace was declared in Europe at the end of World War II, there were German holdouts who fought furiously against the Allies. The war was over, but there were battles to be won. Jesus has won the war over sin and has left us here to win the mop up battles which at times are ferocious. The challenge is for us to fight daily as a winner and win our battles through Him. Don’t be surprised when you encounter a strong enemy. 

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.