Am I Legalistic? Jesus Help Me

Websters defines legalism as a "strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code."

I would define a legalistic person (in the context of Christianity in America) as someone who snubs another or looks down upon another for not conducting him/herself in a certain way. The legalist forces his/her interpretation of the Bible and personal convictions on others.

Here I go again...sharing my heart and I am sure I will mess up...but I am trying to be real and raw with you, with myself, and of course with our LORD.

This issue has been VERY heavy on my heart lately. Today, as the Holy Spirit always times it perfectly, Pastor David spoke on the subject. The verses were from Colossians 2:16-23.

Colossians 2:16-17 states, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."

I already know that I can be extreme and I wear my feelings on my sleeve. My husband teases me about it all the time. But I don't want to ever, ever, ever impose my convictions on others. I don't want to be judgmental. I don't want to be a Pharisee (you know, a white washed tomb) and I DON'T want to be legalistic.

Now there are some areas, of course, that are easy. Jesus is the way. Period. John 14:6. I don't need to debate the issue of the sufficiency of salvation based on the cross. That's easy.

Here's a little bit more difficult one. I don't personally like R-Rated movies. I am sure there are some Christians who abhor them. Don't even allow them in the house. Others might say, well it depends. Saving Private Ryan is Rated R, but it's a war movie so that's OK, etc.
I am not bothered by my friend's movie collection. If my friend loves Jesus and we have sweet fellowship together and he/she happens to be a movie buff and likes some R Rated movies, that doesn't bother me. If my friend or relative showed an R Rated movie to my 4 year old with out permission, not that would bother me because of the adult content.

Now here is the tough stuff. My personal convictions. There are some areas that REALLY bother me. This is where I can become legalistic and I am praying for God to work on my heart. You see, if you have a glass of wine with dinner as a beverage and you don't feel convicted why should it bother me? I don't drink and I refuse to drink, but your drinking one glass shouldn't bother me. But guess what? If you turn that glass of wine scenario into your drinking a few beers in front of me, now I am bothered. It bothers me because I have seen too many loved ones lose their lives to alcoholism--specifically to daily drinking beer. I have seen people walk away from God, walk away from their familes, walk away from their jobs, leaving their church/fellowship all because of alcohol, specifically beer. I remember driving in the car when my dad was drunk....So here's the thing. I am not going to tell you not to drink beer. I am not going to say one word. But I know my facial expression will say it all. Unfortunately at that moment, I am sure I look a lot like a Pharisee.

I attended a birthday party recently. The parents are Christians. The parents had a picture of John Lennon and Yoko Ono naked on the wall (it was an album cover) and later, my girlfriend appologized to me for the photo. "We are hippies" she said. But I thought it was strange that she appologized to me. Did I look bothered? Was I sweating? Did I look upset? No. I think she just thought Laura is probably offended by this picture because she is a Christian and has deep convictions. But guess what? Jesus wouldn't be bothered by the picture. He created the human body. He would be totally comfortable with it. The picture wasn't really bad. Yes, it made me squirm a little, but honestly, seeing people consume large amounts of alcohol would bother me more...but why does it? Why can't I abstain from drinking, and not be "annoyed" when other people around me are drinking? Yes I get sad because I think of my dad's death. I saw his last breath and he could have lived longer if he didn't drink...his liver was shot. But I can't use this excuse. I NEED to be sensitive to others and NOT impose my convictions on them. I don't want to be a Pharisee or legalistic.

Now I must clarify, I'm not talking about if a non-believer asks me my opinion about drinking...oh then it is on! I can discuss openly how I feel and more importantly, what the Bible says. However, I am not to walk around with a pious attitude around any one....There is freedom in Christ and when we are abiding in Him, His Word and the Holy Spirit will be our guide on what conduct we should abstain from or engage in.

In fact, Jesus was often found hanging around the tax collectors, the prostitutes and sinners. Now Jesus never engaged in any unrighteous or sinful activity. Jesus was able to look past the conduct and see the person. That's what I need to work on. Help me Jesus to be more like you. Help me Jesus to see people through your eyes.

I guess the main point I want to convey is this: BE CAREFUL CHRISTIAN. Be careful to not stay in the Christian bubble where your eyes bulge out if your unsaved friend or family member drinks alcohol, watches R Rated movies, smokes pot, listens to profane music, etc. God knows you don't like that stuff, just as He doesn't. We need to reach people with the love of Jesus not walk around pointing out specks you know?

Father, help us reach this next generation for you. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit instead of trying to BE the Holy Spirit.

More Than Gold

It seems that every time I am watching TV or walking around the mall or in some place or another I see an advertisement that says, "Cash for Gold."


In these tough times people are struggling financially. People need help and they need some relief. When all the bills are just not going to be paid it makes sense, "Turn in your gold for cash." It sounds simple enough. You have an old gold chain that was popular in the 80s or 90s and you rather have the cash to pay a bill than that old piece of jewelry anyway...


I thought of this as I was reading my Bible.

Psalm 119:27 says, "Truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold."
and
"Your law is more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver!" Psalm 119:72

We need to learn to love God's Word. When I first started really getting serious about God, I would bring my Bible to church with me...but I wasn't really reading it on my own. It wasn't until I truly saw the value of reading my Bible, line upon line, every chapter, every book, and also reading commentaries to help me understand, that I begin to see God's Word as more valuable than gold.

See we all need the bills paid. We all have different types of "gold." It might not be your gold jewelry that you trade in for cash. For most people, their gold is their work/labor. If you work 40 hours a week, put in your time, then you get paid. Cash for gold. It's the same principle as the jewelry trade, Cash 4 Gold concept.

These days...the most precious gold I believe is OUR TIME. Believe me, if you give your time to Jesus, you will get something MUCH MUCH MUCH better than gold... You will get wisdom, you will gain insights and direction about how to live a joyful abundant life, you will get so much from sitting at the feet of Jesus and soaking up His Word.

One year, at a women's retreat, a sweet gal told me she wanted to be like a "sponge" all weekend long. She had such joy in her eyes and she said, "I want to soak up all of God's Word and learn and listen and retain what He has for me."

I liked that!

As the weather is heating up and even when money is tight may we trade in our cash (or time) for gold...the gold of reading, studying and meditating on God's Word. Also, let's soak in the son, let's soak in Jesus.

Again, I think so many people are turning in their gold jewelry for cash because times are hard. God's Word has something to say about this too:

These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:7

Ah...I want faith that is far more precious to God than mere gold. It seems the world is always focusing on gold. The price of gold. Wearing gold jewelry. Wedding rings are made from fine gold. The richest people have a lot of gold. But in the end...in eternity, at our funerals, people won't say, "Wow. She was wealthy and had a lot of gold." No. People talk about CHARACTER. People talk about how the deceased person impacted others. That's gold to me and that's what I want.

I want to bring praise and glory and honor to Jesus and I KNOW this can ony be attained when I give my time to Jesus sitting at His feet, reading the Bible and learning from Him.

Two Different Shepherds

I am so disturbed by this subject that on one hand, I do not want to blog about it because I fear it will be too much to read and jumbled...on the other hand, I want to raise awareness to this horrible act that occured recently, October 8, 2009.

Last Friday night while watching Dateline NBC with Chris Hanson I saw this horrible story. A new age philosopher/so-called self help guru name James Arthur Ray decided to have a retreat for his followers.

Those individuals who could afford the nearly $10,000 attended a retreat in Arizona. Bottom lie, Ray facilitated a sweat-lodge type "cleansing" ceremony that ended in the deaths of participants Kirby Brown, 38, James Shore, 40, and Liz Neuman, 49, and injuries to 18 others.

During the "sweat lodge" spiritual journey, people were passing out and vomiting, and Ray continued to encourage and "coach" people to stay inside the sweat lodge.

After the deaths of 3 of his followers, Ray, did say he felt bad about the tragedy and but continued with his work, saying, "I, too, want to know what happened that caused this horrible tragedy." On October 15, 2009, there was a report that Ray conducted a conference call with some victims and during this conference call, a self-described channeler said that the deceased had communicated with them and they said they "were having so much fun" out of their bodies that they didn't want to return.

I was dumbfounded. This really happened. The popular book he has written that you may have heard of is called, "The Secret."

I kept thinking to myself this is an excellent title for our culture today.

Everyone has a conspiracy theory. So why not buy into the idea that there is a "secret" to be uncovered regarding spirituality? These people paid $10,000 to unleash this "secret." Secret to what? To a better life? To self fulfillment? To satisfaction in life? To self actualization? To happiness? To purity? To conquering the idea that life is more than a mundane rat race and each life actually has meaning and purpose-to commune with God?

I think these people were looking for all of these things. The sad part is that they sought after the wrong shepherd. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11 Not so with the hireling. See a hireling is a hired person that does't really care about the sheep. The hireling just wants to get paid. The hireling does not lay his life down for his sheep.

I was (and still am) so grieved by this tragedy. These people paid $10,000 for a glimpse at the answer to the "secret" of life...to the meaning of life. I am willing to assume probably ALL of these people had a Bible at their home. My point is this. They spent $10,000 for an answer to life's most profound questions when they could have found the answer for free. John 3:16 gives the answer. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life. Not only did these people buy the wrong book, but they followed the wrong shepherd. For 3 of these people, they lost their lives forever. Oh my heart aches for their families.

It's amazing to me that people will believe the lie and follow a gimick rather than believing God and taking Him at His Word.

What can I learn from this? False teachers are real. False teachers get paid and they trample people along the way. May we be bold to share our faith with others. Our Jesus is free and available to all. He already paid the price. He is the answer to the secret of life...to the fulfillment of life...May we encourage our friends and family to watch out for false shepherds because even though it's 2010, they are still out there....they just want to get paid and if lambs are hurt, well that's covered by the signed disclaimer...anyway...

Pray for the families of those who died in this tragedy. Pray for James Arthur Ray to be saved and stop promoting this lie. Thank your Good Shepherd for protecting you from the lies of "self help" and for laying His life down for you.

Lying to Ourselves

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Isn't that so true? God's Word is indeed a sword. It pierces us and convicts us, but it also prunes us and cuts away all that junk that we don't need.

I read this verse from Psalm 119 the other day and gained a fresh insight:

"I lie in the dust, completely discouraged; revive me by your word.
I told you my plans, and you answered. Now teach me your principles. Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful miracles. I weep with grief; encourage me by your word. Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your law."
Psalm 119:25-29

OK so many of us know that Psalm 119 is an amazing Psalm where David talks about God's WORD and how important it is for us to eat and drink God's Word. But when I read this little dagger from God's Word, I was blown away...

David says, "Keep me from lying to myself..."

I know it is a sin to lie. It is one of the 10 commandments. It is a sin to lie to God and to lie to others. It is a sin to tell little white lies and it is a sin to tell big ole whopper lies..But what about this? Is it a sin to lie to myself?

Yup. It is a sin to lie to myself.

Why do we lie to ourselves? We lie to ourselves to justify sin, to talk ourselves out of something, to justify some behavior we know is wrong. We lie to ourselves to get away from the Truth of God's Word. Remember, Satan is the father of lies, so when we lie to ourselves we are listening to Satan as he tries to feed us junk food.

Example 1:
I spent all day at church yesterday. I feel so refreshed and thankful for God speaking to me. So today I am pretty tired mentally. I don't need to read the Bible today. I read it pretty much all day yesterday. Today I am going to just veg out in front of the TV. (LIE)


Example 2:
I know I already spent money on clothes this month. But those shoes are on sale! They are so cute and will match with everything. I know I already have black shoes but these are different. My husband won't be mad...and if he is I'll just pout and explain how hard I work and how I deserve something new and it's my pay day. I am sure we'll have enough to pay the bills. I know! I'll just charge them. (LIE)

We lie to ourselves! It's something I never really thought about before encountering it in Psalm 119. Lying to ourselves is wrong and it hurts God, others and it hurts our growth in the LORD.

We should look at lying to ourselves as just as serious as lying to others or lying to God. This culture tells us we deserve things when we can't afford it. This culture tells us we should be spiritual but "not too spiritual." This culture tells us it's OK to lie to ourselves (for example- that we can eat fast food all the time and not be unhealthy or gain weight).

My suggestion to all of us (starting with me first) is STOP IT. Stop lying to yourself about this or that. If nothing is screaming out to you, pray about it. I am sure there is some area where you or I have been lying to ourselves about for far too long. I am so glad God awakened me to this truth from God's Word.

I want to pray like David. My prayer is "Dear Jesus, please keep me from lying to myself. Instead, give me the privilege of knowing your law."

God's Will versus My Will

I have to be careful when I read about the Israelites and all their grumblings in the Bible. Sometimes I read about their conduct and I hear this, "Blah, blah, blah ...Wah, wah, complain...grumble...whine....whine" and I think to myself, "Why can't they see God's goodness??? Why are they never satisfied?"

In 1 Samuel 12 the Israelites complained to God about wanting a king.

Here we go again...Complain, complain, complain...

God gives them a king- king Saul. But that wasn't God's perfect will for them. He allowed it. But it wasn't His perfect will. I want to learn the valuable lesson between obeying God's perfect will and following after my own will.

Unfortunately, I can be a whiner and complainer too...

I want to be able to discern between God's perfect will and His permissive will to avoid unecessary pain in this life.

The Israelites were never satisfied. Aren't we the same way? We ask God for something. LORD, please can I have this new job? I'll give more to missions or to the church. Then we get the job and we grumble. LORD, I love the new job...but my boss is killing me! Can you please transfer me to such and such? That other boss is great and he's a Christian too.

Or LORD, it would be great if I moved to a nicer neighborhood. I'll witness to everyone! Please move me! Then, oh LORD. The neighborhood's great, we love our new home...but there are way too many helicopters flying over our home...and I can't sleep because of the sound of the cars driving by and and...

Bottom line we need to discern between our own will and God's will...when we make our requests (or wants) to the LORD.

Listen to Samuel's wisdom, "But when you were afraid of Nahash the king of Ammon you came to me and said that you wanted a king to reign over you, even though the LORD your God was already your king. All right here is the king you have chosen. Look him over. You asked for him and the LORD has granted your request." 1 Samuel 12:12 NLT

Later, Saul was anointed king and the troubles start. King Saul feared men. He cared and worried what others thought of him. Sadly, King Saul wasn't a man after God's own heart. King Saul waited for Samuel on on occasion and Samuel the prophet was taking long so Saul's patience grew thin....King Saul said, (paraphrasing) "I'll just offer the burnt offering myself." King Saul was not a priest.

Samuel replies, "How foolish...You have disobeyed the command of the LORD your God...Had you obeyed, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Isreal forever. But now your dynasty must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart."
1 Samuel 13:12-1

God is the same in Old Testament times through New Testament times to the 1950s and today...God is the same. He never changes.

God is STILL seeking men and women after His own heart.

But we grumble. We want more.

Part of this whole thing is due to the influences we allow in. The media, commercials, magazines, billboards are all telling us we "need" this or that. So we give in. We believe what man says we need to be fulfilled. A bigger car, a smaller waist line, a bigger house, a smaller greener car, a bigger savings account, new this, new that...

Stop the insanity! All we need is Jesus period. But, back to my heart's desire: to follow God's perfect will versus my own will. We can pray and ask for something and God may give it to us...but we will never, no never, I mean never, be satisfied until OUR PRAYERS are in alignment with God's perfect will for us.

What's God's perfect will?

To love God above all. To love God supremely, sublimely, more than anything else, and to love others sacrificially. If our prayers are in alignment with loving God more and loving others more, go for it! The prayer request is likely in alignment with God's perfect will. But if the prayer request is for something that is self centered or if we simply don't have total peace about the request, it is not likely in God's perfect will. This is hard to discern for sure! I struggle with this all the time...

We know that the Bible calls David a man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22) He was all about being in God's perfect will. Of course he failed and we will too...but listen to this...David prays, "I love the LORD because He hears and answers my prayers. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath." Psalm 116:1-2

I too want to pray as long as I have breath.

Knowing God's will should be easy. Seek God first and everything else will fall into place right? (Matt 6:33) But it's not always easy to discern things of the spirit because we have the flesh, satan and the world distracting us. So pray on saints! Keep asking, seeking and knocking...When you aren't sure what God's will is, remember this:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18