Tomorrow I head off to Montana where we will be holding 4 meetings.
They will take place as follows:
Friday April 10, 7:30 pm
Saturday April 11, 11 am and 7 pm
and Sunday April 12, 10 am
The Meetings will all be held at
Woodside Cutoff Road
Corvallis Montana
If you need directions, they are up at the hand of help website, under speaking schedule.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Object of Our Hope
Every man hopes in something. Even atheists have an object of hope, their hope being that they are right and there is no God. One cannot go through life without having an object of hope. The only question that remains is what is it that we hope in? Now hope is defined as looking forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. The problem however arises, when we place our hope in the wrong things, and the object of our hope fails to produce that which we desired with reasonable confidence. Countless souls today place their hopes in things that will inevitably fail them. Few things in life are as painful as misplaced hopes, yet men continue to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers, and place their hope in the wrong things.
Every man chooses the object of his hope, and every man without question will suffer the consequence of their choice, or the reward thereof. There are crossroads in the lives of every man, perhaps more than we would like to admit, wherein we are confronted with choices. Today I would like to highlight four of these crossroads and search our hearts as to what the object of our hope is, or would be in these situations.
The first is whether we choose to hope in God or in man. The reason this first question is so important is that it sets the precedent for all the other choices we make. If we choose wrong on this first bifurcation in our lives, the subsequent choices, absent of divine intervention, will inevitably be the wrong choices as well.
Psalm 33:16-19, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”
We readily dismiss the warning of Jeremiah that any man who trusts in man is cursed, we readily dismiss the fact that man is limited and is constrained by limitations and therefore his help will likewise be limited, and proceed to place our hopes squarely on the shoulders of mere mortals. We idolize men, we make them icons, and we consider them to be the hope that will change the world into a nirvana of sorts where everyone will live out their lives in a perpetual bliss, only to be heartbroken and disillusioned upon realizing we have placed our hope in the wrong thing when we chose man over God. Men will fail you; men will disappoint you; men will fall short of your expectation, but God never will. When your hope is in God, it is sure and steadfast; it is built upon an unchanging foundation and a divine promise.
The second question, is do we choose to hope in riches or in God. I realize it is becoming increasingly difficult to hope in riches, since they are disappearing like a fog before the rays of the sun, but men still cling to possessions like sinking mariners to cement blocks not realizing the object of their hope is dragging them down into hopelessness.
1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
There are countless examples in God’s word that point out the futility of trusting in one’s possessions. No matter how much one might have amassed, no matter how certain they are of the security possessions may afford them, they will be for naught, for they are temporal things. We hoard and amass today, making plans for an uncertain future, not knowing the fundamental question whether we’ll even be here tomorrow to enjoy the fruit of our labors.
There is nothing wrong in being rich, as long as one views his riches as trivial possessions. When one however is possessed by his wealth, when material things are what define them as a person, then the fall from such deception will be too difficult to endure for some.
We can point to the rich young ruler, who desired to follow after Christ, until he heard the price of discipleship. Christ knew that this young man was possessed by his possessions rather than a love and passion for Him, and simply told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. For the young man, it was too high a price.
Abraham on the other hand, was also a rich man, but he did not hope in his possessions. Abraham hoped in God, and God alone, and for this he had the honor of being called God’s friend. The third question is whether our hope is in this present life or the life to come. This morning I woke up to the news that there was an earthquake in Italy that claimed the lives of close to one hundred people. A couple days ago, a man walked into an immigration center and took the lives of thirteen individuals. Every day that goes by we cannot escape the fact that life is fragile, and life is short. The whole of creation seems to be pointing out that we are temporary beings, here only for a season. Any man who trusts in this present life, being indifferent toward eternity, is truly a fool among fools.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”
The fourth and final question is whether we have a temporary hope or an eternal one. A temporary hope, hopes in temporary things. An eternal hope, hopes in eternal things. We might be going through the valley of tears, we may be enduring suffering and hardship, but we know that all these things are passing, for our hope is eternal. Life does not end at the cemetery gates, and our loving Father promised us an eternal rest. If our hope is eternal, then we walk boldly into tomorrow, fueled by the peace and the joy that comes with knowing that heaven is being prepared for us, and one day we will be welcomed into our Father’s home.
Perhaps God is molding and chiseling you today, perhaps he has placed you in the furnace of affliction, but if your hope rests in Him, if your hope rests in the life to come, if your hope is an eternal hope, you will weather the hardship, you will weather the storm, all the while being thankful to God for leading you in His truth and teaching you His paths. We cannot enter heaven while still clinging to this earth. God is not a fan of dual citizenships, and in this time of global troubles He is attempting to show His children how foolish it is to hope in earthly things, and how wise it is to hope in eternal ones.
Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all day.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Every man chooses the object of his hope, and every man without question will suffer the consequence of their choice, or the reward thereof. There are crossroads in the lives of every man, perhaps more than we would like to admit, wherein we are confronted with choices. Today I would like to highlight four of these crossroads and search our hearts as to what the object of our hope is, or would be in these situations.
The first is whether we choose to hope in God or in man. The reason this first question is so important is that it sets the precedent for all the other choices we make. If we choose wrong on this first bifurcation in our lives, the subsequent choices, absent of divine intervention, will inevitably be the wrong choices as well.
Psalm 33:16-19, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”
We readily dismiss the warning of Jeremiah that any man who trusts in man is cursed, we readily dismiss the fact that man is limited and is constrained by limitations and therefore his help will likewise be limited, and proceed to place our hopes squarely on the shoulders of mere mortals. We idolize men, we make them icons, and we consider them to be the hope that will change the world into a nirvana of sorts where everyone will live out their lives in a perpetual bliss, only to be heartbroken and disillusioned upon realizing we have placed our hope in the wrong thing when we chose man over God. Men will fail you; men will disappoint you; men will fall short of your expectation, but God never will. When your hope is in God, it is sure and steadfast; it is built upon an unchanging foundation and a divine promise.
The second question, is do we choose to hope in riches or in God. I realize it is becoming increasingly difficult to hope in riches, since they are disappearing like a fog before the rays of the sun, but men still cling to possessions like sinking mariners to cement blocks not realizing the object of their hope is dragging them down into hopelessness.
1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
There are countless examples in God’s word that point out the futility of trusting in one’s possessions. No matter how much one might have amassed, no matter how certain they are of the security possessions may afford them, they will be for naught, for they are temporal things. We hoard and amass today, making plans for an uncertain future, not knowing the fundamental question whether we’ll even be here tomorrow to enjoy the fruit of our labors.
There is nothing wrong in being rich, as long as one views his riches as trivial possessions. When one however is possessed by his wealth, when material things are what define them as a person, then the fall from such deception will be too difficult to endure for some.
We can point to the rich young ruler, who desired to follow after Christ, until he heard the price of discipleship. Christ knew that this young man was possessed by his possessions rather than a love and passion for Him, and simply told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. For the young man, it was too high a price.
Abraham on the other hand, was also a rich man, but he did not hope in his possessions. Abraham hoped in God, and God alone, and for this he had the honor of being called God’s friend. The third question is whether our hope is in this present life or the life to come. This morning I woke up to the news that there was an earthquake in Italy that claimed the lives of close to one hundred people. A couple days ago, a man walked into an immigration center and took the lives of thirteen individuals. Every day that goes by we cannot escape the fact that life is fragile, and life is short. The whole of creation seems to be pointing out that we are temporary beings, here only for a season. Any man who trusts in this present life, being indifferent toward eternity, is truly a fool among fools.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”
The fourth and final question is whether we have a temporary hope or an eternal one. A temporary hope, hopes in temporary things. An eternal hope, hopes in eternal things. We might be going through the valley of tears, we may be enduring suffering and hardship, but we know that all these things are passing, for our hope is eternal. Life does not end at the cemetery gates, and our loving Father promised us an eternal rest. If our hope is eternal, then we walk boldly into tomorrow, fueled by the peace and the joy that comes with knowing that heaven is being prepared for us, and one day we will be welcomed into our Father’s home.
Perhaps God is molding and chiseling you today, perhaps he has placed you in the furnace of affliction, but if your hope rests in Him, if your hope rests in the life to come, if your hope is an eternal hope, you will weather the hardship, you will weather the storm, all the while being thankful to God for leading you in His truth and teaching you His paths. We cannot enter heaven while still clinging to this earth. God is not a fan of dual citizenships, and in this time of global troubles He is attempting to show His children how foolish it is to hope in earthly things, and how wise it is to hope in eternal ones.
Psalm 25:4-5, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all day.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
In Hot Water
My wife collects tea. It used to be stuffed toys, but a couple years ago when we realized our guests had nowhere to sit when they came to visit, my wife bagged all her stuffed toys and gave them to the orphanage. I make it a habit to buy my wife something whenever I take a trip anywhere. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive, just something that shows her I was thinking about her. Since I’ve been traveling pretty much nonstop since we got married, and she forbade me from buying her any more stuffed toys, I started buying her tea. She has a big box full of teabags, and many of them don’t have labels on them anymore. You never know what kind of tea you will be drinking until you put it in boiling water. Only when the teabag is placed in hot water will you discover what is inside. At the onset all the teabags look the same, but after they’ve sat in hot water for awhile one begins to discern the differences in the aromas.
Sometimes God puts us in hot water to show us our true character. Believe me when I tell you it is not for His benefit. He already knows us, He knows our hearts, He knows our thoughts and desires, but as is often the case we have an inflated sense of self. We think ourselves so strong, so spiritual, so mature, that we stop leaning on God, we stop relying on Him, and then to show us the true measure of our impotence He will allow something in our lives, whether a trial, a hardship, or a setback, that will bring us back to the realm of reality.
It is also in the hot water that our character raises to the surface. In our times of distress our true nature, our true character comes boiling up to the surface, whether toward our honor or toward our shame. God is more interested in our character than our comfort. There are many who desire to sit and dine with Christ, to feast at the Lamb’s marriage supper, but far too few, desire to take His yoke upon them; far too few, desire to labor and to sacrifice.
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
How else is God to search our hearts? How else is God to try us but in the fires of affliction? I know it is not popular, I know nobody wants to hear these things, especially now, but if not now when?
Isn’t it interesting that by the same flame wax melts, water evaporates but clay hardens? What are we? In the same flame, in the same fire of affliction some grow stronger, while others melt and evaporate, never to be heard from again.
Sooner or later trials and afflictions come upon all flesh. None is spared, but in the midst of affliction we see how differently two people can react to it. It is how we react to affliction; it is how we react to hardship and sorrow that defines us.
“But brother you don’t know what I’ve been going through. Nobody knows my sorrow as the song so aptly puts it.”
I might not know the specifics, but I do know what trials are, I’ve had my share, I do know what afflictions are, I still have my share, but I also know that God is allowing them in my life for a reason and a purpose.
I have never endured a trial from which I did not learn something. Whether concerning the greatness of God, the discipline of God, the love of God, the chastening of God, the mercy of God, or the righteousness of God, every affliction, every trial allowed me to grow, to understand and to mature. Sometimes the lessons are painful, especially when we are forced to shed ourselves of preconceived notions and ideas of who we thought God was, and what we were entitled to.
Often, and tragically so, we understand the value, the true worth of a thing in our lives only after we have lost it. We are perpetually thankless, absent of contentment, and although God bestows a myriad of blessings upon us, we overlook them and dismiss them readily.
If you have health, thank God for it, countless others do not. If you have a wife who loves you, or a husband who loves you, thank God, countless others do not. If you have children who obey you, thank God countless others do not. If you have found Jesus, and He is Lord of your life, and you feel His presence, thank God countless others have not. There are so many things, for which we ought to be thankful, for which we ought to fall on our faces and thank our heavenly Father.
Even when God puts us in hot water, it is reason to be thankful, because He sees beyond today, beyond present circumstance, to a future time when your trial and affliction having come to their rightful conclusion, worked together for good.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Sometimes God puts us in hot water to show us our true character. Believe me when I tell you it is not for His benefit. He already knows us, He knows our hearts, He knows our thoughts and desires, but as is often the case we have an inflated sense of self. We think ourselves so strong, so spiritual, so mature, that we stop leaning on God, we stop relying on Him, and then to show us the true measure of our impotence He will allow something in our lives, whether a trial, a hardship, or a setback, that will bring us back to the realm of reality.
It is also in the hot water that our character raises to the surface. In our times of distress our true nature, our true character comes boiling up to the surface, whether toward our honor or toward our shame. God is more interested in our character than our comfort. There are many who desire to sit and dine with Christ, to feast at the Lamb’s marriage supper, but far too few, desire to take His yoke upon them; far too few, desire to labor and to sacrifice.
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
How else is God to search our hearts? How else is God to try us but in the fires of affliction? I know it is not popular, I know nobody wants to hear these things, especially now, but if not now when?
Isn’t it interesting that by the same flame wax melts, water evaporates but clay hardens? What are we? In the same flame, in the same fire of affliction some grow stronger, while others melt and evaporate, never to be heard from again.
Sooner or later trials and afflictions come upon all flesh. None is spared, but in the midst of affliction we see how differently two people can react to it. It is how we react to affliction; it is how we react to hardship and sorrow that defines us.
“But brother you don’t know what I’ve been going through. Nobody knows my sorrow as the song so aptly puts it.”
I might not know the specifics, but I do know what trials are, I’ve had my share, I do know what afflictions are, I still have my share, but I also know that God is allowing them in my life for a reason and a purpose.
I have never endured a trial from which I did not learn something. Whether concerning the greatness of God, the discipline of God, the love of God, the chastening of God, the mercy of God, or the righteousness of God, every affliction, every trial allowed me to grow, to understand and to mature. Sometimes the lessons are painful, especially when we are forced to shed ourselves of preconceived notions and ideas of who we thought God was, and what we were entitled to.
Often, and tragically so, we understand the value, the true worth of a thing in our lives only after we have lost it. We are perpetually thankless, absent of contentment, and although God bestows a myriad of blessings upon us, we overlook them and dismiss them readily.
If you have health, thank God for it, countless others do not. If you have a wife who loves you, or a husband who loves you, thank God, countless others do not. If you have children who obey you, thank God countless others do not. If you have found Jesus, and He is Lord of your life, and you feel His presence, thank God countless others have not. There are so many things, for which we ought to be thankful, for which we ought to fall on our faces and thank our heavenly Father.
Even when God puts us in hot water, it is reason to be thankful, because He sees beyond today, beyond present circumstance, to a future time when your trial and affliction having come to their rightful conclusion, worked together for good.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
In The Shadows
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist”
-Charles Baudelaire French poet 1821-1867
Recently there was a special aired on television, the topic of which was whether or not the devil really exists. A colorful cast of characters made their individual cases, and although there was allot of back and forth debate, nobody really clarified the matter, at least not to my satisfaction. I realize some of you are scratching your heads wondering why I would waste my time writing about the devil, seeing as there are a thousand other topics I could write about, but the reality of our enemy is something to be pondered if we are to defend against his wiles.
The devil is not a comfortable topic to talk about for anyone. Once you begin to understand his utter hatred for mankind, and his desire to destroy what God has created, one can’t help but feel a bit perturbed. In the old country, whenever the devil’s name was mentioned the elderly women would spit on the ground three times, and with a look of disapproval say ‘it’s better not to talk about that one.’
There are countless misconceptions concerning the enemy of our souls. The devil does not live below ground, he doesn’t have horns, he doesn’t run away from garlic, or from salt, in fact the devil doesn’t run. He is forced to flee at the name Jesus, he fears the blood of the Lamb, but we will get to that in due time.
During the Middle Ages the devil was caricaturized, with paintings and murals showing a red horned beast with a long tail, while in our modern age he has been wholly ignored even though he is ever present, smiling with yellowed gums and missing teeth because he’s old, and when he can no longer tear with his teeth, he will chew with his gums.
In order to defeat an enemy, you must know your enemy’s weakness, and as such we must understand the devil who revels at the thought of being overlooked and dismissed. He makes his home in the shadows, and does not desire to be seen. When I speak of knowing our enemy, I do not do so in the sense of fearing him, but rather reviling him, being by nature repulsed by his nature, and learning the weapons of our warfare inasmuch as we are able to defeat him.
God, our heavenly Father, desires to be found, discovered, loved, and worshiped, but the enemy is content with going unnoticed. As long as he can ply his trade, as long as he can snatch unwitting souls and drag them down into the deep, he is content with keeping to the shadows. So why talk about our mortal enemy? Is he really that dangerous? Unfortunately yes, and if we know the ways and means he employs to deceive and imprison the souls of men, we can do our utmost in keeping ourselves from falling into his snares.
First, the devil tempts. It is what he does best, and we’ve all read it in the Bible, heard it from our parents, sat through the sermons in church, so much so, that it no longer sounds sinful to our ears. Temptation does not sound like a negative thing to the modern hearer anymore, because when one is tempted by its very definition temptation must be something that the flesh yearns for and desires. It is not evil itself that tempts us, but something we dreamed of, some possession, position, or person we desired.
We rationalize and justify falling into temptation, still desirous of reaching heaven, because temptation attempts to convince us that we can take a shortcut, just like Eve so long ago, we are talked into believing that we can circumvent the authority and commandments of God, because they have a negative connotation, and cut our own, much shorter path toward the pearly gates.
Temptation is as persistent as a toothache, continually presented to us through different prisms which attempt to minimize the consequences, sugar coat the aftereffects, and keep us from seeing what awaits us at the end of the journey if we give in and take the bait. Temptation comes in our moments of weakness, as well as our moments of strength, because if one’s armor is not securely fastened, if one’s prayer life is not active, even in what we perceive as our greatest time of strength, the enemy will find a weakness which he can then exploit.
As pleasing to the eye, and desired by the flesh a temptation might be, the end result desired by the devil in any given temptation is to cause us to miss the mark altogether, to forfeit the eternal promises of God, for the temporal pleasures of this earth.
Second, the devil is a thief and a liar, but often his theft is so delicate that some go on for years not realizing what he has stolen from them. Eventually all who have fallen into the snare of the enemy wake up to the reality that something is missing, something has been taken. By stealing our peace, our joy, our charity, and our strength, the devil does not become richer, but we become incomparably poorer. What troubles me is that this theft takes place with the tacit support and approval of the victim, who feels a masochistic sort of pleasure in being robbed of the most precious virtues he possesses.
Third, devil divides, but not with the intention of coming out of the shadows, showing himself, and lording over those he has deceived, but out of the sheer joy of witnessing a daily Babel, in which a mass of humanity is yelling at each other absent of understanding, with no common goal or unity. The enemy’s methods of infusing hatred within the hearts of men vary, but all toward the same defined and desired result.
The enemy also binds. Habits have often been referred to as man’s second nature, and habits are not necessarily bad or evil. If you wake up every morning and brush your teeth, which is a habitual practice, it is not evil, just common sense, and respect toward your fellow man in not forcing them to smell last night’s garlic on your breath. However, some habits can be perverted and then those selfsame habits become snares. The chains of habitual practice are at first too thin and small to notice or feel, but given enough time eventually become so thick that one can no longer break free. It is the journey from wearing a thin and delicate chain around your neck, to that selfsame chain becoming a shackle and a fetter, fastened to the earth that so many fail to notice until it is too late. We all know what these practices that lead to abject slavery are, even in the lives of some believers. I will not enumerate them for fear of missing one, that selfsame one that a reader of this article might then say, ‘wow, dodged a bullet, he didn’t name my vice, my habit or my addiction.’
You know what is just and unjust, you know what is good and what is evil, don’t let the devil deceive you into indifference and apathy. More Christians suffer death by apathy than we would like to admit.
The devil kills. He kills out of pleasure, not out of fear. He kills because he knows his end, he knows his time is short; he kills because his hatred of man knows no bounds. The devil is not man’s friend, he is our enemy, and as such we cannot make concessions. The most enticing of temptations is nothing more than bait upon a hook, the most reasonable of compromises a smooth road to destruction.
The devil will forever remain in the shadows, because he fears the light. He fears the light of truth, he fears the light of Christ, he fears the light of the gospel, and so remains well hidden.
As children of God, as those possessing the light of truth, we must be fearless when confronting the enemy. Too often between fight, flight, or immobility, we choose either flight or immobility acting as though we are defenseless, or as a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
The Bible calls him a lion, a snake, a wolf, a leviathan, and the truth is that we wage war on his turf, on his territory, but wage war we must. The alternatives are too bleak to consider. If we do not fight, if we do not as Dylan Thomas once said, rage against the dying of the light, then we will surely be overtaken, and sooner or later become complicit in the enemy’s plot. From one who was tempted, man becomes the tempter, because it was not the devil that tempted Adam, it was Eve after she fell.
If we are to fight well, if we are to do battle with nobility and dignity, we must know our adversary, we must renounce fear, put on the whole armor of God, and resist our mortal enemy, keeping the knowledge that our General Jesus goes before us at the forefront of our minds.
Revelation 12:10-11, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
-Charles Baudelaire French poet 1821-1867
Recently there was a special aired on television, the topic of which was whether or not the devil really exists. A colorful cast of characters made their individual cases, and although there was allot of back and forth debate, nobody really clarified the matter, at least not to my satisfaction. I realize some of you are scratching your heads wondering why I would waste my time writing about the devil, seeing as there are a thousand other topics I could write about, but the reality of our enemy is something to be pondered if we are to defend against his wiles.
The devil is not a comfortable topic to talk about for anyone. Once you begin to understand his utter hatred for mankind, and his desire to destroy what God has created, one can’t help but feel a bit perturbed. In the old country, whenever the devil’s name was mentioned the elderly women would spit on the ground three times, and with a look of disapproval say ‘it’s better not to talk about that one.’
There are countless misconceptions concerning the enemy of our souls. The devil does not live below ground, he doesn’t have horns, he doesn’t run away from garlic, or from salt, in fact the devil doesn’t run. He is forced to flee at the name Jesus, he fears the blood of the Lamb, but we will get to that in due time.
During the Middle Ages the devil was caricaturized, with paintings and murals showing a red horned beast with a long tail, while in our modern age he has been wholly ignored even though he is ever present, smiling with yellowed gums and missing teeth because he’s old, and when he can no longer tear with his teeth, he will chew with his gums.
In order to defeat an enemy, you must know your enemy’s weakness, and as such we must understand the devil who revels at the thought of being overlooked and dismissed. He makes his home in the shadows, and does not desire to be seen. When I speak of knowing our enemy, I do not do so in the sense of fearing him, but rather reviling him, being by nature repulsed by his nature, and learning the weapons of our warfare inasmuch as we are able to defeat him.
God, our heavenly Father, desires to be found, discovered, loved, and worshiped, but the enemy is content with going unnoticed. As long as he can ply his trade, as long as he can snatch unwitting souls and drag them down into the deep, he is content with keeping to the shadows. So why talk about our mortal enemy? Is he really that dangerous? Unfortunately yes, and if we know the ways and means he employs to deceive and imprison the souls of men, we can do our utmost in keeping ourselves from falling into his snares.
First, the devil tempts. It is what he does best, and we’ve all read it in the Bible, heard it from our parents, sat through the sermons in church, so much so, that it no longer sounds sinful to our ears. Temptation does not sound like a negative thing to the modern hearer anymore, because when one is tempted by its very definition temptation must be something that the flesh yearns for and desires. It is not evil itself that tempts us, but something we dreamed of, some possession, position, or person we desired.
We rationalize and justify falling into temptation, still desirous of reaching heaven, because temptation attempts to convince us that we can take a shortcut, just like Eve so long ago, we are talked into believing that we can circumvent the authority and commandments of God, because they have a negative connotation, and cut our own, much shorter path toward the pearly gates.
Temptation is as persistent as a toothache, continually presented to us through different prisms which attempt to minimize the consequences, sugar coat the aftereffects, and keep us from seeing what awaits us at the end of the journey if we give in and take the bait. Temptation comes in our moments of weakness, as well as our moments of strength, because if one’s armor is not securely fastened, if one’s prayer life is not active, even in what we perceive as our greatest time of strength, the enemy will find a weakness which he can then exploit.
As pleasing to the eye, and desired by the flesh a temptation might be, the end result desired by the devil in any given temptation is to cause us to miss the mark altogether, to forfeit the eternal promises of God, for the temporal pleasures of this earth.
Second, the devil is a thief and a liar, but often his theft is so delicate that some go on for years not realizing what he has stolen from them. Eventually all who have fallen into the snare of the enemy wake up to the reality that something is missing, something has been taken. By stealing our peace, our joy, our charity, and our strength, the devil does not become richer, but we become incomparably poorer. What troubles me is that this theft takes place with the tacit support and approval of the victim, who feels a masochistic sort of pleasure in being robbed of the most precious virtues he possesses.
Third, devil divides, but not with the intention of coming out of the shadows, showing himself, and lording over those he has deceived, but out of the sheer joy of witnessing a daily Babel, in which a mass of humanity is yelling at each other absent of understanding, with no common goal or unity. The enemy’s methods of infusing hatred within the hearts of men vary, but all toward the same defined and desired result.
The enemy also binds. Habits have often been referred to as man’s second nature, and habits are not necessarily bad or evil. If you wake up every morning and brush your teeth, which is a habitual practice, it is not evil, just common sense, and respect toward your fellow man in not forcing them to smell last night’s garlic on your breath. However, some habits can be perverted and then those selfsame habits become snares. The chains of habitual practice are at first too thin and small to notice or feel, but given enough time eventually become so thick that one can no longer break free. It is the journey from wearing a thin and delicate chain around your neck, to that selfsame chain becoming a shackle and a fetter, fastened to the earth that so many fail to notice until it is too late. We all know what these practices that lead to abject slavery are, even in the lives of some believers. I will not enumerate them for fear of missing one, that selfsame one that a reader of this article might then say, ‘wow, dodged a bullet, he didn’t name my vice, my habit or my addiction.’
You know what is just and unjust, you know what is good and what is evil, don’t let the devil deceive you into indifference and apathy. More Christians suffer death by apathy than we would like to admit.
The devil kills. He kills out of pleasure, not out of fear. He kills because he knows his end, he knows his time is short; he kills because his hatred of man knows no bounds. The devil is not man’s friend, he is our enemy, and as such we cannot make concessions. The most enticing of temptations is nothing more than bait upon a hook, the most reasonable of compromises a smooth road to destruction.
The devil will forever remain in the shadows, because he fears the light. He fears the light of truth, he fears the light of Christ, he fears the light of the gospel, and so remains well hidden.
As children of God, as those possessing the light of truth, we must be fearless when confronting the enemy. Too often between fight, flight, or immobility, we choose either flight or immobility acting as though we are defenseless, or as a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
The Bible calls him a lion, a snake, a wolf, a leviathan, and the truth is that we wage war on his turf, on his territory, but wage war we must. The alternatives are too bleak to consider. If we do not fight, if we do not as Dylan Thomas once said, rage against the dying of the light, then we will surely be overtaken, and sooner or later become complicit in the enemy’s plot. From one who was tempted, man becomes the tempter, because it was not the devil that tempted Adam, it was Eve after she fell.
If we are to fight well, if we are to do battle with nobility and dignity, we must know our adversary, we must renounce fear, put on the whole armor of God, and resist our mortal enemy, keeping the knowledge that our General Jesus goes before us at the forefront of our minds.
Revelation 12:10-11, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Skinny Mirror
James 1:23-24, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
Before my last trip abroad, I realized I needed to buy some new pants. I try to get as much use out of a pair of pants as I possibly can, but as my wife is fond of saying, ‘when they start to shine from all the use, it’s time to buy a new pair.’
Shopping has never been one of my favorite things. I like most men, don’t really enjoy going through all the isles of hanging attire, I am unconcerned with whether or not the colors complement each other, and as long as I find something in my size, I am more than happy to wear it until the threading starts to come apart.
I had put it off for as long as I could, until finally one afternoon I went to the local department store in search of a new pair of pants. I am not adventurous when it comes to clothing, so I found a pair of black slacks, went into the fitting room, put them on, and then came outside to inspect in the store mirror.
To my pleasant surprise the pants looked fantastic. I turned one way, then the other, beginning to believe the old adage that the clothes make the man. I looked good, better than I remembered myself, and with a smile on my face I went to the cashier and paid for the pair of slacks.
On the drive home I began thinking to myself that I really hadn’t done anything new with my diet, I hadn’t changed anything in my regimen, but it did seem as though I was thinning out around the middle, at least that was what my reflection in the department store mirror was telling me.
I got home and excited told my wife I had finally given in and bought some pants, and they looked really good on me. ‘Go try them on she said’, smiling, I went into the bathroom and put on my new pants. Before reemerging I threw a quick glance at myself in the bathroom mirror and was stunned to see that my reflection was very different than I remembered it at the store.
I hadn’t thinned out after all, and what I had seen in the department store mirror had been nothing more than an optical illusion. I came out of the bathroom in my new slacks, and my wife said, ‘they’re nice, but what’s so special about them?’
‘They looked better on me at the store’, I answered.
‘I guess you looked at yourself in one of the skinny mirrors’, she said smiling. When I inquired what a ‘skinny mirror’ was, she informed me that in some stores there are mirrors that make people’s appearance seem more flattering than it is in reality. A person can go and try on a pair of pants, or a shirt, and looking at him or herself in the mirror sees something more than what is actually there, or in my case, less than what was actually there. Apparently seeing themselves in a whole new light, or seeing themselves different than how they truly look makes people more likely to buy the item of clothing that they are trying on.
Although not criminal, I believe this practice to be shady and manipulative to say the least. What is more disturbing is that this same custom is being practiced by countless preachers and teachers of the Word today. They present a gospel that is not a true gospel, and so by their omission of truth hold up a ‘skinny mirror’ in front of countless souls who looking at their reflection begin to reason with themselves, that they are actually pretty good.
The crowds flock, the applause is plentiful, because people begin to see themselves in a new light, a better light, a more flattering light than ever before due to the words that they are hearing from behind the pulpit. They look at their reflections, and even though they are different than what they remember them to be they reason to themselves that mirrors can’t lie, a mirror always tells the truth, so they must not be remembering correctly.
The danger of this practice, the danger of being presented with a skewed gospel and a ‘skinny mirror’, is that sooner or later you get home, sooner or later you are confronted with your own mirror, one that has not been altered one that was not engineered to reflect something that was not there, and your heart sinks because you realize that you do in fact look like you remembered yourself, and the mirror did in fact lie. The reflection was not your own.
More and more people are beginning to go to the mirror of God’s word today, because even though the reflection they saw was flattering in the mirror that was held up for them at church, something deep within their hearts kept telling them that things were not as they seemed.
The mirror of God’s word does not mask flaws, it does not airbrush wrinkles, and it does not whitewash sin. The mirror of God’s word shows the reflection of our soul as it is, because it is more loving to reveal a necessary truth that may hurt someone’s feelings, than to mask it in order to spare them.
If one were to go to a doctor who would continually tell them that they were in the best of health while in reality the suffered from a terminal yet treatable disease, would anyone in the world consider that doctor loving, kind, or merciful? Then why is it that we praise men who do just that on a daily basis? Why is it that men who do not preach repentance, righteousness, or sanctification are so beloved in this present generation when in reality their actions, their teachings and their willful omission of the truth are leading people to eternal torment?
Yes, some of the blame falls on the hearer, those who no longer endure sound doctrine, those who do according to their own desires, those who have itching ears and turn away from the truth, but this does not mean that we should omit the truth in order to cater to them. Those who feed the sheep are as culpable if not more so for leading the sheep astray, than the sheep who refuse to receive the truth of God’s holy word.
There is a sure remedy for the spiritual ‘skinny mirror’, and that is sincerely, honestly and openly looking into the real mirror of God’s holy Word. It may not be as flattering a reflection as looking into the diluted word of God, but it will be true, and real, and honest. There is still time to fall on our faces before the cross, there is still time to do away with those things that we know hinder our walk and relationship with the Father, but time is running out, and soon we will stand before the eternal King of all that is. Stripped of all the flattering perceptions of ourselves, we will stand before a holy God as we truly are, and the only means by which we will be welcomed into His eternal kingdom is to be found washed and made clean by the blood of His beloved Son Jesus.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Before my last trip abroad, I realized I needed to buy some new pants. I try to get as much use out of a pair of pants as I possibly can, but as my wife is fond of saying, ‘when they start to shine from all the use, it’s time to buy a new pair.’
Shopping has never been one of my favorite things. I like most men, don’t really enjoy going through all the isles of hanging attire, I am unconcerned with whether or not the colors complement each other, and as long as I find something in my size, I am more than happy to wear it until the threading starts to come apart.
I had put it off for as long as I could, until finally one afternoon I went to the local department store in search of a new pair of pants. I am not adventurous when it comes to clothing, so I found a pair of black slacks, went into the fitting room, put them on, and then came outside to inspect in the store mirror.
To my pleasant surprise the pants looked fantastic. I turned one way, then the other, beginning to believe the old adage that the clothes make the man. I looked good, better than I remembered myself, and with a smile on my face I went to the cashier and paid for the pair of slacks.
On the drive home I began thinking to myself that I really hadn’t done anything new with my diet, I hadn’t changed anything in my regimen, but it did seem as though I was thinning out around the middle, at least that was what my reflection in the department store mirror was telling me.
I got home and excited told my wife I had finally given in and bought some pants, and they looked really good on me. ‘Go try them on she said’, smiling, I went into the bathroom and put on my new pants. Before reemerging I threw a quick glance at myself in the bathroom mirror and was stunned to see that my reflection was very different than I remembered it at the store.
I hadn’t thinned out after all, and what I had seen in the department store mirror had been nothing more than an optical illusion. I came out of the bathroom in my new slacks, and my wife said, ‘they’re nice, but what’s so special about them?’
‘They looked better on me at the store’, I answered.
‘I guess you looked at yourself in one of the skinny mirrors’, she said smiling. When I inquired what a ‘skinny mirror’ was, she informed me that in some stores there are mirrors that make people’s appearance seem more flattering than it is in reality. A person can go and try on a pair of pants, or a shirt, and looking at him or herself in the mirror sees something more than what is actually there, or in my case, less than what was actually there. Apparently seeing themselves in a whole new light, or seeing themselves different than how they truly look makes people more likely to buy the item of clothing that they are trying on.
Although not criminal, I believe this practice to be shady and manipulative to say the least. What is more disturbing is that this same custom is being practiced by countless preachers and teachers of the Word today. They present a gospel that is not a true gospel, and so by their omission of truth hold up a ‘skinny mirror’ in front of countless souls who looking at their reflection begin to reason with themselves, that they are actually pretty good.
The crowds flock, the applause is plentiful, because people begin to see themselves in a new light, a better light, a more flattering light than ever before due to the words that they are hearing from behind the pulpit. They look at their reflections, and even though they are different than what they remember them to be they reason to themselves that mirrors can’t lie, a mirror always tells the truth, so they must not be remembering correctly.
The danger of this practice, the danger of being presented with a skewed gospel and a ‘skinny mirror’, is that sooner or later you get home, sooner or later you are confronted with your own mirror, one that has not been altered one that was not engineered to reflect something that was not there, and your heart sinks because you realize that you do in fact look like you remembered yourself, and the mirror did in fact lie. The reflection was not your own.
More and more people are beginning to go to the mirror of God’s word today, because even though the reflection they saw was flattering in the mirror that was held up for them at church, something deep within their hearts kept telling them that things were not as they seemed.
The mirror of God’s word does not mask flaws, it does not airbrush wrinkles, and it does not whitewash sin. The mirror of God’s word shows the reflection of our soul as it is, because it is more loving to reveal a necessary truth that may hurt someone’s feelings, than to mask it in order to spare them.
If one were to go to a doctor who would continually tell them that they were in the best of health while in reality the suffered from a terminal yet treatable disease, would anyone in the world consider that doctor loving, kind, or merciful? Then why is it that we praise men who do just that on a daily basis? Why is it that men who do not preach repentance, righteousness, or sanctification are so beloved in this present generation when in reality their actions, their teachings and their willful omission of the truth are leading people to eternal torment?
Yes, some of the blame falls on the hearer, those who no longer endure sound doctrine, those who do according to their own desires, those who have itching ears and turn away from the truth, but this does not mean that we should omit the truth in order to cater to them. Those who feed the sheep are as culpable if not more so for leading the sheep astray, than the sheep who refuse to receive the truth of God’s holy word.
There is a sure remedy for the spiritual ‘skinny mirror’, and that is sincerely, honestly and openly looking into the real mirror of God’s holy Word. It may not be as flattering a reflection as looking into the diluted word of God, but it will be true, and real, and honest. There is still time to fall on our faces before the cross, there is still time to do away with those things that we know hinder our walk and relationship with the Father, but time is running out, and soon we will stand before the eternal King of all that is. Stripped of all the flattering perceptions of ourselves, we will stand before a holy God as we truly are, and the only means by which we will be welcomed into His eternal kingdom is to be found washed and made clean by the blood of His beloved Son Jesus.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Sins of an International Prophet
Jonah 1:1-3, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
Since early youth I have been fascinated with Jonah. Here was a man who had a stable and solid enough relationship with God. A man whom God spoke to, a man whom God trusted enough to commission for what some today might seem an international ministry, yet a man who refused to go where he was sent.
In my younger days, long before going into ministry, or even coming to America, I would reason to myself that if God ever told me to go and do something as important as what he asked Jonah, I would not hesitate. I would be on the first plane to wherever He sent me, and with boldness and courage cry out against the city warning them of God’s impending judgment. I often smile at the thoughts and reasoning I used to have as a child, but I digress.
If anything the story of Jonah should serve as a cautionary tale to everyone who has ever received a calling on their lives, who has been called into ministry, or commissioned to be a defender of truth. Since we are all ambassadors of Christ on this earth, the story of Jonah should serve as a cautionary tale for us all.
So what were the sins of Jonah, this prophet commissioned and sent out by God? The first and most obvious sin that Jonah was guilty of, was the sin of disobedience. God’s instruction was a simple one: ‘arise, go to Nineveh, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.’ Rather than submitting to the plan and the will of God, Jonah decided to run. In order to realize just how absurd and illogical Jonah’s decision to run really was, we must see his choice in the context of fact that there is no place on this earth, above the earth, or beneath the earth wherein one can hide from the presence of God.
Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
I’ve often considered what could have been going through Jonah’s mind, to think that he can outrun God, or to believe that if he got far enough away God would not see him. Upon further introspection however, I’ve come to the realization that we all have times when we resist the commands of God, the callings of God, and the commissions of God on our lives, and if we don’t try to outright run away from Him, we try to reason our way out of them. Like Moses of so long ago, we try to convince God of why we are not the right people for the job, why He could find someone better, smarter, more talented, and with a fuller head of hair. The older servants reason that they are too old to go and do the works of God, the younger ones reason that they are too young, and the work is left undone.
I am amazed and humbled at how many times I’ve considered fleeing to my own Tarshish, and how appealing that vessel that would take me away from my responsibility has gotten sometimes. Each time however, I would ask myself a series of questions: where can you go that God won’t find you? Can you endure all that God can allow to bring you back to the place where you ought to have been in the first place? Are you willing to pay the price for disobedience?
Jonah’s second sin was diminishing the power and ability of God by his very actions. For some unexplained reason, Jonah believed that God saw him, knew him, and was able to punish him only in His country. Twice in just one verse Jonah made his intention very clear, he desired to flee from the presence of the Lord. Jonah doubted God’s omnipotence, thinking to himself that if only he could get far enough away quickly enough, he could stay one step ahead of God.
Jonah’s third sin was absence of love. By his actions he proved that he did not care what happened to Nineveh or its inhabitants, their souls mattered not to him, and he could not be inconvenienced to travel to Nineveh and proclaim the message of God. Sometimes even the most faithful of servants are guilty of this selfsame sin, wherein they cannot be bothered to speak to someone about Jesus because they have more important things to do. There is nothing more important in this life, than helping to pluck one who was mired in darkness from the shackles of sin, and bring them into the light of God’s truth and righteousness.
Jonah’s fourth sin was his anger. Throughout the last chapter of the book of Jonah, God is dealing with Jonah’s anger, attempting to open his eyes to how baseless said anger truly was. Yes, God withheld his judgment for a season, He did not destroy Nineveh at the end of the forty days as Jonah had proclaimed because the city had repented in sackcloth and ash, they had turned from their evil way, but Jonah was not interested in hearing God’s reasons for not sending destruction. He was angry, and he didn’t care who knew it. In His limitless love, God simply asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah’s fifth sin was that he desired to die. So distraught was Jonah over Nineveh not being destroyed, that he wished death for himself and said, ‘it is better for me to die than to live.’ How quickly we forget that life is a precious gift, how quickly we forget that death is the penalty for sin, how quickly we forget our lives are in God’s hands and none can add a day to their existence no matter how hard they might try. So many times, in so many ways Jonah overreacted, disobeyed, and sinned, yet God in His abundant grace was merciful with him. God reasoned with Jonah as a father would reason with an ignorant offspring, showing him the error of his ways, the sins he had committed, and continually reemphasizing the eternal truth that His ways are not man’s ways, and His thoughts are not man’s thoughts.
May we be wise, and learn from Jonah’s mistakes and shortcomings, and having learned from them not follow in his footsteps. When God speaks, listen; when God commands, obey; when God sends you, go.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Since early youth I have been fascinated with Jonah. Here was a man who had a stable and solid enough relationship with God. A man whom God spoke to, a man whom God trusted enough to commission for what some today might seem an international ministry, yet a man who refused to go where he was sent.
In my younger days, long before going into ministry, or even coming to America, I would reason to myself that if God ever told me to go and do something as important as what he asked Jonah, I would not hesitate. I would be on the first plane to wherever He sent me, and with boldness and courage cry out against the city warning them of God’s impending judgment. I often smile at the thoughts and reasoning I used to have as a child, but I digress.
If anything the story of Jonah should serve as a cautionary tale to everyone who has ever received a calling on their lives, who has been called into ministry, or commissioned to be a defender of truth. Since we are all ambassadors of Christ on this earth, the story of Jonah should serve as a cautionary tale for us all.
So what were the sins of Jonah, this prophet commissioned and sent out by God? The first and most obvious sin that Jonah was guilty of, was the sin of disobedience. God’s instruction was a simple one: ‘arise, go to Nineveh, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.’ Rather than submitting to the plan and the will of God, Jonah decided to run. In order to realize just how absurd and illogical Jonah’s decision to run really was, we must see his choice in the context of fact that there is no place on this earth, above the earth, or beneath the earth wherein one can hide from the presence of God.
Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
I’ve often considered what could have been going through Jonah’s mind, to think that he can outrun God, or to believe that if he got far enough away God would not see him. Upon further introspection however, I’ve come to the realization that we all have times when we resist the commands of God, the callings of God, and the commissions of God on our lives, and if we don’t try to outright run away from Him, we try to reason our way out of them. Like Moses of so long ago, we try to convince God of why we are not the right people for the job, why He could find someone better, smarter, more talented, and with a fuller head of hair. The older servants reason that they are too old to go and do the works of God, the younger ones reason that they are too young, and the work is left undone.
I am amazed and humbled at how many times I’ve considered fleeing to my own Tarshish, and how appealing that vessel that would take me away from my responsibility has gotten sometimes. Each time however, I would ask myself a series of questions: where can you go that God won’t find you? Can you endure all that God can allow to bring you back to the place where you ought to have been in the first place? Are you willing to pay the price for disobedience?
Jonah’s second sin was diminishing the power and ability of God by his very actions. For some unexplained reason, Jonah believed that God saw him, knew him, and was able to punish him only in His country. Twice in just one verse Jonah made his intention very clear, he desired to flee from the presence of the Lord. Jonah doubted God’s omnipotence, thinking to himself that if only he could get far enough away quickly enough, he could stay one step ahead of God.
Jonah’s third sin was absence of love. By his actions he proved that he did not care what happened to Nineveh or its inhabitants, their souls mattered not to him, and he could not be inconvenienced to travel to Nineveh and proclaim the message of God. Sometimes even the most faithful of servants are guilty of this selfsame sin, wherein they cannot be bothered to speak to someone about Jesus because they have more important things to do. There is nothing more important in this life, than helping to pluck one who was mired in darkness from the shackles of sin, and bring them into the light of God’s truth and righteousness.
Jonah’s fourth sin was his anger. Throughout the last chapter of the book of Jonah, God is dealing with Jonah’s anger, attempting to open his eyes to how baseless said anger truly was. Yes, God withheld his judgment for a season, He did not destroy Nineveh at the end of the forty days as Jonah had proclaimed because the city had repented in sackcloth and ash, they had turned from their evil way, but Jonah was not interested in hearing God’s reasons for not sending destruction. He was angry, and he didn’t care who knew it. In His limitless love, God simply asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah’s fifth sin was that he desired to die. So distraught was Jonah over Nineveh not being destroyed, that he wished death for himself and said, ‘it is better for me to die than to live.’ How quickly we forget that life is a precious gift, how quickly we forget that death is the penalty for sin, how quickly we forget our lives are in God’s hands and none can add a day to their existence no matter how hard they might try. So many times, in so many ways Jonah overreacted, disobeyed, and sinned, yet God in His abundant grace was merciful with him. God reasoned with Jonah as a father would reason with an ignorant offspring, showing him the error of his ways, the sins he had committed, and continually reemphasizing the eternal truth that His ways are not man’s ways, and His thoughts are not man’s thoughts.
May we be wise, and learn from Jonah’s mistakes and shortcomings, and having learned from them not follow in his footsteps. When God speaks, listen; when God commands, obey; when God sends you, go.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Difference
Psalm 91:2, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
One of the many graces of being a child of God, redeemed and sanctified by the blood of Christ is the ability of seeing the world in a different light than the rest of humanity. What the world sees as a means of security, and something they could readily place their trust in, the children of God see as futile and vain, temporal and passing, deceptively constant until as suddenly as a thunderbolt it disappears into the ether, becoming so much ash and mist.
As far as I am concerned, one of the most sinister and tragic attacks upon the hearts and minds of God’s children, is the doctrine of mirroring the world in that we ought to trust in what the world trusts, respect what the world respects, and desire what the world desires. There is no surer way of finding oneself alone, helpless, and hopeless than attempting to serve God while mirroring the nature of the world. In attempting to retain the mindset of the world while attempting to serve God, one becomes an outcast of both societies, not being wholly given over to the world, but by the same token not being wholly given over to God either.
If we are to persevere and overcome, if we are to be lights in the midst of the darkness, then we must reacquaint ourselves with the notion of being in the world, but separate from it, walking in the midst of a godless generation, yet filled to overflowing with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
What has been keeping me up nights as of late is the thought of countless souls who not only took the bait, but swallowed the hook when it came to desiring the things of this present life, and the material excesses of this present world. Rather than keeping their trust, and their faith firmly planted in the omnipotent God whom they purport to serve, they have put all of their trust in the selfsame things they are being stripped of daily.
When one’s trust is not in God, and in God’s ability to provide and to keep, every dip in the stock market, every negative news item, every dreary projection of the future that is upon us, is like a merciless blow to the heart. Some have no time to catch their breath as their safety blankets are ripped from beneath them one after another in such quick succession that they feel as though the world is coming down around them.
In the midst of all the turmoil, we see the wisdom of God rise to the surface again. In the midst of all the trials and the hardships that are plaguing not only this nation, but the world as a whole, we see the indisputable and undeniable wisdom of not trusting in the arm of the flesh, and of not trusting in possessions.
Long ago, the city of Samaria was under siege. The king of Syria, at the time King Hadad, had gathered all his army and besieged Samaria for a very lengthy period of time. Things got bad. Things got really bad. At the height of the famine, a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, about a cup and a quarter of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. Things got worse still, but how bad it got is not the point of this post.
Just as a means of comparison, we must keep in mind that some fifteen hundred years later, Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. So for almost two and a half times what Judas got for betraying Christ, you could buy a donkey’s had in ancient Samaria at the height of the famine. We’re not talking a donkey porterhouse, or a nice donkey rump roast, but a donkey head.
One day at the height of the famine, the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, and a woman cried out to him saying, “Help, my lord, O King!”
And the king answered, “If the Lord does not help you where can I find help for you?”
So what’s my point? Well, my point is as simple as it is profound. When times get tough, I mean really tough, unimaginably tough, neither gold nor silver, nor kings, nor princes will be able to lend a helping hand, ease the pain, or fill an empty stomach.
Only One is able to keep us, to protect us, to shelter us, and to provide for us in the midst of hardship, and that is God. If the Lord does not help us where can we find help?
If I’ve learned anything in over twenty years of ministry is that placing one trust in God is never futile. God always provides, God always comes through, even if He must perform a miracle in order to do so.
The difference between the children of God and the world is that the children of God have a hope in their Father; the children of God know that the Lord will help them.
It would be so easy to allow fear for tomorrow to worm its way into our hearts, it would be so easy to begin to doubt, it would be so easy to adopt the mindset of the world and believe if only we amass enough, if only we store up enough, if only there’s enough money in the savings account we will weather the storm. The truth is that food spoils, money becomes worthless, but God remains ever faithful in perpetuity. Trust in God and your trust will not be misplaced. Trust in God and you will see His provision and protection.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
One of the many graces of being a child of God, redeemed and sanctified by the blood of Christ is the ability of seeing the world in a different light than the rest of humanity. What the world sees as a means of security, and something they could readily place their trust in, the children of God see as futile and vain, temporal and passing, deceptively constant until as suddenly as a thunderbolt it disappears into the ether, becoming so much ash and mist.
As far as I am concerned, one of the most sinister and tragic attacks upon the hearts and minds of God’s children, is the doctrine of mirroring the world in that we ought to trust in what the world trusts, respect what the world respects, and desire what the world desires. There is no surer way of finding oneself alone, helpless, and hopeless than attempting to serve God while mirroring the nature of the world. In attempting to retain the mindset of the world while attempting to serve God, one becomes an outcast of both societies, not being wholly given over to the world, but by the same token not being wholly given over to God either.
If we are to persevere and overcome, if we are to be lights in the midst of the darkness, then we must reacquaint ourselves with the notion of being in the world, but separate from it, walking in the midst of a godless generation, yet filled to overflowing with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
What has been keeping me up nights as of late is the thought of countless souls who not only took the bait, but swallowed the hook when it came to desiring the things of this present life, and the material excesses of this present world. Rather than keeping their trust, and their faith firmly planted in the omnipotent God whom they purport to serve, they have put all of their trust in the selfsame things they are being stripped of daily.
When one’s trust is not in God, and in God’s ability to provide and to keep, every dip in the stock market, every negative news item, every dreary projection of the future that is upon us, is like a merciless blow to the heart. Some have no time to catch their breath as their safety blankets are ripped from beneath them one after another in such quick succession that they feel as though the world is coming down around them.
In the midst of all the turmoil, we see the wisdom of God rise to the surface again. In the midst of all the trials and the hardships that are plaguing not only this nation, but the world as a whole, we see the indisputable and undeniable wisdom of not trusting in the arm of the flesh, and of not trusting in possessions.
Long ago, the city of Samaria was under siege. The king of Syria, at the time King Hadad, had gathered all his army and besieged Samaria for a very lengthy period of time. Things got bad. Things got really bad. At the height of the famine, a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, about a cup and a quarter of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. Things got worse still, but how bad it got is not the point of this post.
Just as a means of comparison, we must keep in mind that some fifteen hundred years later, Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. So for almost two and a half times what Judas got for betraying Christ, you could buy a donkey’s had in ancient Samaria at the height of the famine. We’re not talking a donkey porterhouse, or a nice donkey rump roast, but a donkey head.
One day at the height of the famine, the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, and a woman cried out to him saying, “Help, my lord, O King!”
And the king answered, “If the Lord does not help you where can I find help for you?”
So what’s my point? Well, my point is as simple as it is profound. When times get tough, I mean really tough, unimaginably tough, neither gold nor silver, nor kings, nor princes will be able to lend a helping hand, ease the pain, or fill an empty stomach.
Only One is able to keep us, to protect us, to shelter us, and to provide for us in the midst of hardship, and that is God. If the Lord does not help us where can we find help?
If I’ve learned anything in over twenty years of ministry is that placing one trust in God is never futile. God always provides, God always comes through, even if He must perform a miracle in order to do so.
The difference between the children of God and the world is that the children of God have a hope in their Father; the children of God know that the Lord will help them.
It would be so easy to allow fear for tomorrow to worm its way into our hearts, it would be so easy to begin to doubt, it would be so easy to adopt the mindset of the world and believe if only we amass enough, if only we store up enough, if only there’s enough money in the savings account we will weather the storm. The truth is that food spoils, money becomes worthless, but God remains ever faithful in perpetuity. Trust in God and your trust will not be misplaced. Trust in God and you will see His provision and protection.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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