Tag: christianity

A Longing for Something Different

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Looking Out

If we are honest, we know the things in this world won’t and can’t satisfy us.

A Longing for Something Different

Our longing is for something greater, something more. We long for another world to come that is different than this one.

You don’t really need the Bible to tell you that. All you need to do is look at our movies and books. Most present worlds different than ours. Worlds without sickness and disease. Worlds that are heaven like.

We create these stories because there is a natural longing in all of us for something different. Something that will give us meaning and hope. Something to look forward to.

Our Longing Can Be Fulfilled

The good news is we can fulfill our heart’s desire by turning to Jesus. When we repent of sins and turn to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the perfect world we long for, the perfect world we read about in Revelation will be our world.

But here is the thing, if we don’t repent and turn to Jesus, then this world is as good as it is going to get for us. This world is our heaven because what comes after is much more horrible than anything we could ever imagine. What comes after is punishment for all eternity.

Question for Reflection

  1. What do you make of our natural longing for a world to come?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon Scripture Undermined, Scripture Defended, Repentance Offered

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The Hope to Press On

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Hope

Christians believe in the resurrection of the dead. They believe there is a world to come.

Revelation 21 and 22 presents a brief glimpse of that world. There we learn death, sickness, disease, corruption, injustice, war, and sin won’t exist. Instead we will be ruled by a perfect King, Jesus Christ, and every moment of everyday will abound with joy and peace.

Hope to Press On

The reason God has revealed our future is to give us hope. Knowing we have something after this life should encourage us to press on, to continue to live for God, even in the face of persecution.

I recently watched 12 Years a Slave – Great movie if you haven’t seen it! There was one scene in the movie, where one of the female slaves comes to Solomon, another slave, in the middle of the night asking him to kill her, to drown her in the nearby pond.

Death to her was the answer. She didn’t believe she would ever be a free person. She saw no end to the beatings and rape to which the plantation owner subjected her. Seeing no way out and having nothing to live she would rather die.

As Christians we might find ourselves in a similar situation one day. While Revelation gives us a picture of the world to come, it also gives a picture of what will happen before Jesus’ return. It tell us there will be mass persecution of those who follow Jesus. When that time comes, if we don’t find our hope in Jesus and believe there is a perfect world to come, we won’t make it through. We will cave and give in to the enemy.

So knowing there is a world to come, should provide the encouragement we need to press on, to continue live for God, even in the midst of persecution.

Question for Reflection

  1. How does knowing a world to come help you press on?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon Scripture Undermined, Scripture Defended, Repentance Offered

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Looks are Deceiving

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Quotes5 Comments

While reading for an upcoming sermon over Matthew 23, I came across the following application to the two woes pronounced on the scribes and Pharisees in verses 25-28 that challenge our current model of and participation in church.

Looks are Deceiving

Avoid looking pious while living lives of greedy self-indulgence. The fifth and sixth woes describe a life of hypocrisy and typify much of Western Christianity, building huge luxurious churches whose members on Sunday look worshipful while they live lives of extravagance.

The members live above their means, yet give little to God in terms of both time and money. It has been estimated that only 25 to 30 percent of the average [members in an] evangelical church are actually involved in that church’s ministry. The rest attend regularly but live self-centered lives.

There are only two possible destinies for them: to squeak into heaven “as one escaping through the flames” (1 Cor 3:12–15) or to have Christ say, “I never knew you” (Matt 7:21–23). It is a terrible thing to play games with one’s eternal destiny!

Question for Reflection

  1. What in your mind is worship? Is worship attending service? Serving God? Or a mixture of both?

Resource

Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, vol. 1, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 859.

The Wisdom to Avoid Sexual Temptation

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical4 Comments

Temptation

Sexual sin is a major problem in our society. It is not just a problem for those outside the church. Both those in and out of the church deal with lust, pornography, and sexual temptation. So how do we combat sexual sin?

We need wisdom. Wisdom found in God’s Word. Proverbs promises us we “will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress” when we have wisdom (Prov. 2:16). Wisdom delivers us because it allows us to see the temptress as God sees them; it allows us to see their tactics, true character, and end result.

The Tactics of the Temptress

Sin is appealing, especially sexual sin. The strange woman knows that so she uses her outward beauty, charm, and sensual pleasures to attract us. She flatters us. Promises fun and excitement.

The True Character of the Temptress

Wisdom allows us to put on spiritual spectacles and observe the true character of our temptress. When we do, we see their character doesn’t match their alluring outward beauty.

Proverbs 2:17 reveals that the adulteress woman is not faithful. She is not faithful to men, nor to God. She is a quitter. Someone who jumps from one person to the next. So we shouldn’t be shocked when she leaves us. Especially, if she was willing to break up our relationship.

I am not just picking on woman. Woman too need to be careful. If a man was willing to leave his wife for them, they shouldn’t be shocked when years later he leaves them for another woman. Those who aren’t faithful will not stay.

Our faithfulness starts with our relationship with God. Those who forget God to seek their own pleasures shouldn’t be allowed to capture our heart. If someone refuses to follow God, they are not candidates for lasting relationships.

The End Result of the Temptress

Your sex life may start out in the clouds, but it will end in the grave. We are told,

“Her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life” (Prov. 2:18-19)

Those who take the bait will die. You can’t wander off the path thinking you can come back anytime you like. Once caught in the trap everything is ruined. Your family, your relationships, your career, your reputation all ruined by the temptress.

Not to mention those who continue to follow her, who live in unrepentant sin, will be judged by God and will not gain eternal life. Sexual sin is serious. Hebrews 13:4 says,

“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

Conclusion

When we struggle with lust, we shouldn’t just pray for deliverance, we should also remember who the temptress is. When we see the temptress as she really is, she shouldn’t be a threat to us. Instead, we should be repulsed when we remember her true character and the consequences of her seduction.

Question for Reflection

  1. How do you avoid sexual temptation?

Resource

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Why Do Some Follow God’s Will, While Others Don’t?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

http://stephencuyos.com

Have you ever wondered why someone who has the same opportunities to hear the gospel as you do doesn’t respond in the same way?

Background

I grew up in a Christian family. We attended church every week. I also went to a Christian school. At school we were required to take two years of Bible class and attend chapel. Many of those in my class also attended the youth group associated with the church that ran my school.

Even though many of my classmates heard the same presentation of the gospel and had the same opportunity to respond and follow Jesus as I did, many didn’t. They continued to live according to their own will instead of following God’s will. Why is that?

Why do Some Follow God’s Will, While Others Don’t?

At the end of the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus answers this question. Jesus says,

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14)

So Jesus tells us “many are called”. Many are called to respond, to profess Him as Lord and Savior, and to live according to God’s will. Jesus, however, tells us few accept the call and actually produce fruit.

The reason Jesus gives for their unrepentant heart is that they aren’t chosen. For if they were, they would accept God’s call, they would follow Him, they would produce fruit, and live according to God’s will, but they don’t. And that’s because they haven’t been chosen.

Don’t Write It Off

Now, I know this is a challenging verse. I know it is a controversial topic. But Jesus said it. So even if at first we might not agree, or even if we are turned off by it, we have to consider it because Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God incarnate gives that as His reason for why people don’t respond to the call to follow Him and produce fruit. They haven’t been chosen.

Clarification

Now when Jesus says this, I don’t think He is telling us:

  • We are to try to figure out who the chosen are.
  • We shouldn’t evangelize or call others to believe in Jesus. There is clear application from the parable we are to evangelize.
  • People aren’t held responsible for their actions. Clearly people are rejected in the passage because they have rejected God.

Instead, what I believe Jesus is doing is answering the age old question: Why do some follow God and do His will, while others don’t?

Questions for Reflection

  1. Why do you believe some follow God and do His will, while others don’t?
  2. How do you interpret Jesus’ reason?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon: The Parable of the Wedding Feast

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Spread the Gospel Indiscriminately

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Evangelism, Pastoral, PracticalLeave a comment

Prison

God calls all people’s to come and follow Him. I believe we are the instruments God uses to extend that call. As we call others to follow Jesus, we shouldn’t discriminate. It shouldn’t matter if we think someone is good or bad, or if we believe they deserve salvation or not. Our job is to spread the gospel.

The Gospel Changes People

I once knew a guy who was selfish. He only did things that pleased himself. He disrespected authority, rebelling against the system. He hated others and did things to make people’s lives miserable. He was a racist, a liar, and cheater. He was someone who objectified woman.

But you know what? Someone shared the gospel with him. Through that person’s witness, Jesus saved him and changed his heart, so that he now follows Jesus. He now desires to live according to God’s Word and spread His gospel.

You know who that person is? That person is me. I am that horrible, terrible person God saved.

You Are No Different

My story is no different than yours. Each of us were at one time horrible, terrible people who only lived for ourselves. So we shouldn’t think God only saves those who are good because if that were the case, none of us would have experienced salvation.

You see, none of us are good. None of us are savable. But thankfully God doesn’t save those society deems good or savable. God saves all kinds and each of us are a testament to that.

We Shouldn’t Discriminate

So we shouldn’t discriminate as to who we share the gospel with. We should share the gospel with all people’s.

As we spread the gospel, people will respond. Many will enter the kingdom through our witness. Many will follow Jesus. The key though is that we are to spread the gospel indiscriminately, calling anyone and everyone to follow Jesus.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you think some are too far gone to be save? If so, why?

Resource

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