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Have you ever been trying to finish a DIY project and you’re getting frustrated because there’s one part you cannot seem to complete? Then you phone a friend. They come over, look at the situation, pull the perfect tool out of their toolbox, and quickly fix the problem. You are amazed and they think, “It’s no big deal. I just happened to have the right tool for the job and the skill to know how to use it.”
We are all gifted, but in different ways.
God has uniquely prepared you for the situations you will face in your life. David declared, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). That tells me that your loving Creator knew the challenges and opportunities you would have, and He has already placed the perfect tool in your toolbox that you will need to excel in that moment.
We have already talked about how your passion helps you discover your areas of giftedness. Finding out what thrills you and what fills you is one key step on this journey. There’s another aspect of this discovery process that at first seems almost the opposite, but I think they are actually two sides of the same coin.
If passion is what thrills me, then pain is what kills me. I think a good word for this is zeal. In the biblical context, zeal would be anger at the things that keep people from experiencing all that God has for them—things that keep them from knowing the fullness of God’s glory.
As Moses grew older, it killed him that the Jewish people were now enslaved by the Egyptians and kept from worshiping God in their own place (Exodus 2:11-12).
We see Moses’ zeal misapplied at first (I mean, he did commit a murder!). This about the differences between a river powerfully flowing within its banks, and a flood when the river overflows its banks. When we use our God-implanted zeal in ways that He hasn’t sanctioned, we make a mess like that flood. But when we use our zeal to glorify God, it is as powerful as a mighty river within its banks.
We see perfect zeal in Jesus. We see Him cleansing the temple so all worshipers could come close to God (John 2:13-17). We see his anger over the religious rules that kept people trapped in their disease( Mark 3:1-5; Luke 13:10-16).
If passion asks, “What is God passionate about that thrills my heart too?” then pain asks, “What breaks God’s heart that also breaks my heart?” or “What’s broken that I would love to fix?”
Zeal moves us to action!
When we move forward in our zeal, others may say we are meddling or we are sticking our nose in places where it shouldn’t be. But we simply cannot help ourselves.
In Moses’ initial zeal—without God’s commission—he committed murder and then fled to the wilderness.
Stephen says, “Moses was well educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22). The word Stephen uses for “educated” means Moses was fully trained to interact success with is culture. And he also says Moses was “powerful” in speech and action.
So why does Moses say of himself that he is not “eloquent” and “slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10)? Literally, Moses is saying, “I might make the same mistake that I made previously.”
Moses looked back on his initial stumble and was fearful he may misfire again. He was comfortable staying in his restricted comfort zone, but this attitude made God angry (Exodus 4:10-12).
Saul in his zeal for the rules and traditions of Judaism, persecuted the Christians. After he became a Christian, we see the same zeal—calling out Barnabas and Peter, and asking the Galatians who has bewitched them to stay entangled with meaningless traditions.
We usually discover our giftedness by looking backward. The devil would love for us to see our previous missteps as disqualifications for future service. But God says that He can use all of these things for His glory (Romans 8:28). We have to surrender our fears to Him if we want to soar out of our comfort zone and into our comfort zone.
Let me give you three things to consider:
What do you find yourself praying about more than anything else?
What do you move toward that others ignore or move away from?
What topic do you talk about all the time?
Here’s your homework: Think about the three things to consider regarding pain, and then consider where your passion circle and your pain circle may overlap.
If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series Living In Your Gift Zone, you can find them all here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I want to give you some thoughts to take your Bible studies even deeper. Here are three strategies to make your Bible study time stickier—sticking in your heart and your mind.
Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her. … And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:57-58, 64-66)
When God does what only He can do, our testimony is irrefutable! People will rejoice, reverence God, and ask questions, but they will never be the same after witnessing a miracle.
Let’s pray for God to do the miraculous in our own lives even now so that we can be living testimonies that draw others to our Savior and Lord!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension, we read that Jesus was with His disciples “giving instructions through the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:2).
I think this word “instructions” in the NIV is too soft. The other translations say things like:
commandments (NKJV)
orders (NASB & NET)
instructed and commanded (AMPC)
The Greek word Luke uses in Acts 1:2 is entellomai and it is a word that carries weight. Throughout the New Testament this word is used to identify…
…the words of God (Matthew 4:6, 15:4; Luke 4:10; Acts 13:47; Hebrews 9:20)
…the words of Moses (Matthew 19:7; Mark 10:3; John 8:5)
…the words of Jesus (Matthew 17:9, 28:20; Mark 11:6; John 14:31; 15:14, 17; Acts 1:2, 13:47)
…the words of recognized leaders (Mark 13:34; Hebrews 11:22)
In other words, these aren’t just any words, but they carry an awesome authority with them. These are binding commands. They are not merely wise counsel or suggestions for godly living. They are indispensable to the Christian life.
Luke points out that Jesus gave these commands “through the Holy Spirit” because it is only through the Holy Spirit that you and I can understand them, apply them, and be empowered to obey them.
Jesus uses the same word entellomai in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) as well as in Acts 1:2. Clearly, the Scripture is telling us that we are powerless to understand and powerless to obey without the Holy Spirit’s daily empowerment. Jesus would never give us commands that we were unable to carry out, which is why He gives us instructions through the Spirit, and then the Spirit gives us the power to joyfully obey those commands.
Don’t ever think that you are on your own in trying to figure out what Jesus said, and how you are going to live it out.
I discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life in much greater detail in my series called We Are: Pentecostal.
Having too many items listed as “priorities” on your To Do list can actually paralyze you. You have keep your list manageable to keep your leadership effective. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had on setting goals and making changes. This is also an important aspect of maintaining good mental health.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
According to Leslie T. Lyall, the secret of Hudson Taylor’s life and ministry could be summed up in four simple propositions: “There is a living God. He has spoken in His Word. He means what he says. And He is willing and able to perform what He has promised.”
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” —G. Michael Hopf
In lamenting the rise of worldliness in our churches, John Piper said, “About forty years ago, David Wells wrote a book called No Place for Truth, which made the case that in the American church, God rests far too lightly on the people of God. He doesn’t have weight. It was the same heart cry from Dr. Wells as from J.B. Phillips. God is marginal. God has little weight in our worship services and little weight in our lives. He’s taken lightly. He’s simply one among many factors rather than the all-consuming factor, and I have thought that if I were to write a book today with a similar burden, it might have this title: Your Christ Is Too Cheap, Your Heaven Is Too Distant, Your Earth Is Too Big.”
The Institute for Creation Research reported, “In July of 2024, Science magazine confidently reported, ‘The last ancestor shared by all living organisms was a microbe that lived 4.2 billion years ago, had a fairly large genome encoding some 2600 proteins, enjoyed a diet of hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide, and harbored a rudimentary immune system for fighting off viral invaders.’ That’s quite a statement that details an unknown creature living somewhere on this planet 4.2 billion years ago.” Of course, this is an unobservable, unprovable claim, but that’s part and parcel of the evolutionists’ claims.
“What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.” —H.P. Liddon, nineteenth-century theologian
Lenny Esposito has a great podcast for Christian apologists called the Come Let Us Reason podcast. On a recent episode, Lenny used a passage in the Book of Jeremiah to talk about the inspiration of Scripture.
“God will work when He pleases, how He pleases, and by what means He pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but He will perform His word, honor our faith, and reward them that diligently seek Him.” —Matthew Henry
As the first Christian church dealt with a serious complaint that could have split the church internally, there are a number of leadership gifts that are in play to provide a wise solution. Most of these leadership gifts get overlooked by the casual observer, but they are all absolutely indispensable. This is new exclusive content I regularly share with my Patreon supporters. Would you prayerfully consider supporting this ministry?
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
As we learned last week, we are not the judge, nor the jury, nor the prosecution, nor even the sin police in deciding appropriate retribution. With that in mind, let’s consider Statement #15 in our series—Do not judge. Is that in the Bible?
Yes, those three words are there, spoken by Jesus, in Matthew 7:1. But then again, we need to say, no, because these words don’t mean we are not to make determination about the rightness or wrongness of something.
Let’s zoom-out a bit get the context of the words Jesus spoke. Who was His audience for these words? This is a part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Notice in the opening words, “His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them” (5:1-2). So Jesus isn’t speaking to the world at-large, but He is talking with His disciples.
Jesus was very specific in His wording. In talking about the world, He uses words like people (5:11) or men (5:16; 6:1, 5). When talking about His disciples, He uses one word quite frequently: brother (3x in 5:22-24).
Matthew 7:1 is still in this sermon, and the word brother appears 3x in vv. 3-5. So these are instructions primarily for Christians to use with other Christian brothers and sisters.
The words judge here in the Greek means, “Those who judge severely (unfairly), finding fault with this or that in others.” To me, “this or that” sounds like a deliberate searching for something wrong, but Jesus assures us that this will boomerang on the judgmental person (v. 2; Luke 6:37).
In modern psychology, we find terms like:
mirroring = a psychological term the means quickly seeing what’s in others because it’s in me
projection = taking the negative things in me and projecting them onto others
Paul addresses both of these thoughts in Romans 2:1-3, where the word for judging here is the same Greek word Jesus uses in Matthew 7.
Paul concludes his remarks by reminding us that God treats us kindly (Romans 2:4). David echos this same thought in Psalm 103:8-10, 13-14.
When you read the whole passage in Matthew 7:1-5, please notice the words “brother,”“first,” and “then.”
Jesus does not mean that I am not to point out to my brothers and sisters any areas of concern. Jesus did this, as well as nearly every epistle writer. What it does mean is that correction needs to be gentle and never condemning. In other words, I want to lovingly help someone before they have to stand before The Judge.
That’s why I need to first humbly recognize that what I see in others may be apparent to me because I am afflicted with the same thing. That’s why Jesus says first deal with my own plank. Examine myselfbefore I try to correct a brother or sister (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5).
After I have allowed the Holy Spirit to deal with my plank, I will then have the empathy to help my brother or sister (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Trying to get someone else to repent of something that still exists in my life is hypocritical.
If I see something wrong in someone else:
First ask the Holy Spirit to search me.
If necessary, confess it, repent from it, ask forgiveness, make things right.
Then lovingly and humbly share with your brother or sister (Ephesians 4:15).
If someone else sees something wrong in me, I should follow the exact same steps!
This is not easy, but it is vital for the Body of Christ to grow in a healthy way.
If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this installment of our series Is That In The Bible?, you can find them all here.
Even if the world’s legal system seems unjust, Jesus says by continuing to press our case with the public servants He has put in place, we are really trusting God to bring us His perfect justice. Check out my full sermon on how the Bible from Moses to Jesus explains how to define the legal term, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“A significant amount of research and scholarship (both scientific and theological) indicates that a young Earth is the most straightforward, conservative way to interpret God’s Word. … The most unambiguous way to interpret the Bible is according to its grammatical-historical sense, or the intended meaning of the authors. A literal interpretation accounts for all figures of speech in the text, providing the most straightforward method of exegeting Scripture. To this point, when Jesus quoted the Old Testament, it was always clear that He considered its passages as factual and true.” Check out the post Long Ages and the Bible—What’s the Problem?
“Your brain is made up of neurons that communicate with each other through synapses. Delta-FosB is one of the chemicals that creates neural circuits—i.e., ‘pathways’—to help those neurons communicate more quickly and efficiently. … Basically, what you experience as getting better and better at something is your brain ‘rewiring’ itself to become faster and more efficient at sending the same messages between the same neurons.” This works for both healthy and unhealthy activities. In this article from Fight The New Drug, research shows how regular consumption of pornography is hampering your brain’s ability to have normal, healthy relationships.
Dr. Henry Halley, in his Halley’s Study Bible, observed, “Note, too, the unceasing emphasis on the resurrection throughout this book. It was the pivotal point in Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (2:24, 31-32), in his second sermon (3:15), and in his defense before the Sanhedrin (4:2, 10), It was the burden of the apostles’ preaching (4:33). It was Peter’s defense in his second arraignment (5:30). A vision of the risen Christ converted Paul (9:3-6). Peter preached the resurrection to Cornelius (10:40). Paul preached it in Antioch (13:30-37), Thessalonica (17:3), Athens (17:18, 31), and Jerusalem (22:6-11), to Felix (24:15, 21), and to Festus and Agrippa (26:8, 23).” You can check out all of the Scriptures he mentions in this quote here.
Stephen Witmer asks an important question: “Which is closer to the center of your life as a Christian: what you’re doing for God, or what God has already done for you through Jesus Christ? Which one grounds your identity more deeply, affects your mood more frequently, rouses your passions more highly? Your answer to these questions will deeply shape the stability, tenacity, happiness, boldness, and humility of your Christian experience. Jesus wants to provide you grounds for unshakable joy.” Check out this example Witmer shares from an exchange between Jesus and His followers.
“Informing your opinion of the comparative merits of Christian men, never forget the old rule: ‘distinguish between times.’ Place yourself in each man’s position. Do not judge what was a right course of action in other times, by what seems a right course of action in your own.” —J.C. Ryle
God holds human life as precious in His sight. Whenever anyone asks me why I support the sanctity of human life, my answer is simple, “Because God holds it sacred.” Consequently, God punishes those who devalue human life.
My friend, Pastor Tim Dilena, shares a thought about how God often uses people as the answer to our prayers.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
We have to be very attentive when we hear anyone say something that they claim is a word from God. The first question we need to ask is, “Is that in the Bible?” If it is, then the next question is, “Is that statement being used in its proper context—does it conform with the whole counsel of God’s Word?”
So here is statement #14 in our series—An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Is that in the Bible? Yes.
This first shows up in Exodus 21:24, and it is a part of the legal code God gave through Moses (Exodus 21:1). This code was entrusted to capable men (i.e. judges) in Exodus 18:19-22, 25.
This has been referred to as “the law of exact retribution.” Later on the Romans would name it lex talionis—the law of the tooth. This was to prevent one-upmanship or escalating retaliation, and it also applied to false witnesses who were trying to get someone else in trouble (Deuteronomy 19:15-21).
By the time of Jesus, this legal maxim was so well known that when Jesus quoted it to His audience, everyone knew what it meant (Matthew 5:38).
One of the most innate responses that we humans have to threats or to an attack is fight-or-flight.
In this case, flight would be sweeping it under the run or pretending it didn’t happen. But it did happen, and there is a sense of justice in us that wants to see retribution. If this offense isn’t acknowledged and dealt with appropriately, the desire for retribution will allow unforgiveness to fester. This shows up in all sort of negative ways—physically and emotionally—and often there is a breaking point where the injured party lashes out.
Fight would be taking the law into our own hands. I want everyone to know that I was wronged by you, and I want you to suffer more than you made me suffer. But the first time this law is given, God calls for precise compensation (Exodus 21:22-25).
God’s means for carrying our the lex talionis today is exactly the same—a legal code administered by trained judges (Romans 13:1-4).
This is the law of the land—the natural law—but Jesus calls on us to respond supernaturally. Not to be the judge or jury, but to remember that God perfectly judges and vindicates (Luke 8:17; Deuteronomy 32:35).
Jesus continually calls us forego the natural reaction for the supernatural response. Notice the repeated pattern of, “You have heard that it was said” and then, “But I tell you…” in Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-37, 43-44 and specifically vv. 38-42.
If our eyes are on the one who injured us, our eyes are off of the only One who can vindicate and heal us (Romans 12:17-21).
Natural people merely react out of innate instinct. Supernatural people are able to respond with Christlike love.
Don’t give in to the merely natural reaction, but submit to the Holy Spirit who can help you respond supernaturally.
Craig T. Owens 