No Joke, No It's Not

No Joke, No It's Not
by David Brenneman

"But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:17-25.

When we come to Christ for salvation this isn't simply a means of safety from the wrath to come upon mankind.  It isn't a golden ticket to allow us to go back to doing whatever is right in our own eyes.  It isn't following rules and regulations that are burdensome.  It isn't. 

A life in Christ is exactly what Jesus said it would be.  It does require our obedience to God's Word whether it makes sense or not.  It isn't about dispelling any fun we might think we're missing.  There's fun to be had in the Christian life if we but understand what that means in a life with Jesus.

Our primary responsibility is to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  We may not understand why things happen in our lives but we are to trust the Word of God that says to trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.  We must trust regardless of what our eyes see and our ears perceive.  We also must be extremely wary of man made rules and regulations within a supposed church claiming to be part of the body of Christ.  There is nothing in the Word of God dictating clothing to wear while serving.  Best examples are around the instructions to the Disciples when they were sent out in pairs to serve.  Read the Gospels closely.  The only people telling people how to dress, wash, speak or any other such religious activity were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Nothing at all from the Savior Jesus Christ.

There's absolutely nothing in the Word of God as to what version of the Bible one ought to be reading. Again, the Pharisees and Sadducees dictated how and what people heard with regards to the Word of God and their regulations.   Interestingly enough the King James version of the Bible was written by pagans under the Kings direction.  What people read today isn't even what the original King James version looked like.  Whatever version that the Spirit of God teaches you with that speaks to your heart and mind, that is a complete work of God, use it. I read the NASB version primarily since it's the closest to the original language in its translation.  I also read the NKJV, and CSV for comparison.  Sometimes the NIV.  There are versions out there where sections of the Word of God have been removed to support the narrative that those groups endorse.

We are to take up our own cross and follow Jesus.  This means self-discipline.  This means saying no to sin and sinful actions that the Word of God speaks against.  It does not mean we get as close to the line of sinning that we can without crossing over.  We are to flee these things. 

Our walk with Jesus is to be personal. It's not just us as a part of a whole body of Christ whereas we blend in and don't stand out.  We are to be with fellow Believers in order to ensure our growing in Christ.  Comparing what we see, hear, and are taught with the Word of God.  If any of these lead us astray, flee. 

We are to indeed run this race of life with Jesus, being patient, pacing ourselves with His pace.  Paying attention to what He's pointing out as to what's important according to His Spirit. 

Our lives in Christ are meant to be seen by the world and to either draw people to Jesus or to help others return to Jesus.  Jesus saves, we don't.  Jesus is to be the center of our lives not one person among many.  We represent Jesus everyday, everywhere. 

What is in your life that's not helping you grow in Christ?  Where is there in your life things that you have compromised on?  What have you done, said, or permitted that has watered-down your faith?  What comes out of your mouth?  Jesus said that what comes out of your mouth is what can defile a person.  We can perceive within ourselves that everything is great.  We can think that our examination of ourselves shows nothing amiss. 

Don't trust you.  Perhaps that's not proper English grammatically but it's true.  You shouldn't fully trust you in knowing if you're compromised with regards to sin's influence and impact on your life.

We are to take our walk with Jesus seriously because He took going to the cross seriously.  He wouldn't allow anyone or anything keep Him fulfilling His reason for coming.  He ran the race, finished the course, before Paul ever said such a thing.

When was the last time you had a heart-to-heart talk with your Savior?  When was it last that you seriously took up your Bible and read it for yourself and not just because someone else was reading it and wanted you to follow along?

Jesus bled and died after being scourged. Whipped with a torture device.  Shards were attached to the ends of the tassels.

Does any of that sound at all like the situation wasn't serious?  Does nails going through His hands and being suspended high above people as the blood drained from His body sound like anything but seriousness of His determination to save humanity who would come to Christ for salvation?  Anything so far sound like He wasn't taking His mission from His Father seriously?

We will give an account of our lives before Jesus.  Everything, our careless words will be known again. Our thoughts said and unsaid. Our actions taken and those we refused to take.  Everything. This too is for us to understand and receive with all seriousness.  This is our mission from the Father...to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit. To love your neighbor as yourself. To seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. To take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus. 

That's what life not being a joke looks like.  Examine yourself.  Ask the Spirit to search your heart and to see if there be any wicked way in your life that shouldn't be there.

Take your training in righteousness seriously and don't run from it.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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