“By Any Means”

“By Any Means”

“...that I may know [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection...I press on...” [Phl 3:8-14 NKJV]

“By any means” is a phrase of desperation. (No one ever says “by any means” if they have a viable plan B.)

“By any means” tells me to throw caution to the wind; to go for broke; to do or die.

“By any means” tells me that my objective is more valuable than my life.

“By any means” tasks are only carried out by those who are all in.

This verse was written by a guy named Paul who had a lot going for him. He was well educated. He had connections. He was smart. He had passion and drive. Yet, Paul is throwing all of those things overboard like excess baggage on a sinking ship.

Why do such a thing? Paul ditched his own glory that he might be “conformed to [Jesus’] death”. The word translated “conformed” in our English Bibles means “assimilation”.  Now this is not some spooky Star-Trek borg-ish “resistance is futile...you will be assimilated” assimilation. This is a desire on the part of a believer to become indistinguishable from his Savior in both death and Life.

Jesus’ death was totally voluntary.

His life was not taken. It was given.

His blood was not spilled. It was poured out.

Paul understood this, and he too is voluntarily surrendering his very will, his very life, conforming himself to Jesus’ death, considering himself already dead to this world.

Paul is just following Jesus’ example...

So that “by any means” he could “know [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection,” he explains.

It’s a brutal truth, but it is truth: The more we live in the power of this world, the less we live in the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Even the great Apostle Paul did not claim to have reached the great and difficult goal of self surrender. He did, however, understand the importance of dying to self and was “pressing toward the goal”. His admonishment to the Christians of his day rings true for us as well:

“...forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind…”  

Ultimately, Paul did lay his life down for the sake of the Gospel and will someday rise in the  glorifying power of the Resurrection to stand among the redeemed in the presence of the Savior.

May it be so with all those who name the name of Jesus Christ.

"You get'em God!"

Pain, fear and rejection welled up within Jeremiah as he prayed bitterly against his enemies:

"...Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight...deal with them in the time of your anger." -Jeremiah 18:23 

It's not a particularly gracious prayer, but the sentiment is one that most of us have probably felt ourselves at some point. I'm guessing you have either seen or experienced one of the following:

• She is left holding the fragments of a broken marriage while he plays the fool, leaving town with another woman.
• A faithful employee is given the "pink slip" just months before he is vested in his retirement.
• A bride is left at the altar while her cold footed groom runs for the door.
• A pastor pours his heart and soul into a congregation, only to be betrayed and run out of town in humiliation.

And on and on it goes. Embarrassment. Anger. Humiliation. Fear of the future. Powerlessness. Then, in desperation, the aggrieved party prays, "God get'em." 

Certainly God doesn't give any sin a pass. All sins will be judged in time, but what He really wants is repentance on the part of the offender, not the administration of justice. Fortunately for all of us, God's patience far exceeds ours. In fact, a few chapters later in the Book of Jeremiah, God is describing the coming "New Covenant" that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Using Jeremiah's own words from the prayer we just read (note the underlined words), God says,

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ... And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." -Jeremiah 31:31, 34 

So if you've been hurt, embarrassed or otherwise mistreated by some rotten jerk, I get it. I really do. You'd like to strike back, or better yet, you'd like for God to administer a bit of justice on your behalf.

Here's the thing, the "New Covenant" that Jesus purchased with his death and resurrection make equal provision for anyone who will turn to Him. It's even available to the dirty rotten jerk who did you wrong. 

I know. I know. It's not an easy thing to do, but rather than pray a "God get'em" prayer the way Jeremiah did, it's better to ask God to bring the offender to a place of repentance. Jesus said, 

"...Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." [Luke 6:27 ESV]

So, you may ask, how am I supposed to "love...do good...bless...pray for" that rotten crummy person? Honestly, it usually takes a little time. Ultimately Christians do the right thing because that is what Jesus told them to do, not because they feel like doing it. 

So if you are still experiencing the sting of a bad event in your life, please, let me give you a little direction on how to pray. Ask the Lord to bring your offender to a place of repentance. God is still a God of miracles and your prayer for that person just might make an eternal difference in their life.

Go ahead. Do the right thing.

What happens when I pray?

"The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." Psalm 72:20

Now there's an odd verse.

King David was dying, and Psalm 72 is his prayer for his son Solomon the new king. As the author recorded the final prayer of the great king he or she concluded the psalm by stating that David's prayers "are ended", and so they were, from an earthly vantage point.

But that doesn't mean they were gone.

If we go to the Book of Revelation chapter 5 the scene is set in heaven. Around the throne of God we find "...golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." (vs.8) Then, in chapter 8:3-4 we read,

"And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel." [Revelation 8:3-4 ESV]

Did you see that? "...the prayers of ALL the saints...rose before God..."

Here's the thing: if you are a child of God, your prayers don't go away once they "are ended". They linger before the Lord long after you have quit praying. I am convinced that many spiritual successes we see are the fulfillment of prayers long forgotten by men.

For instance:

• An old man bows before the Lord in repentance, and the prayer of his long dead mother is answered.
• A mission work suddenly begins to blossom, fulfilling the vision and prayers of missionaries who died long ago.
• A church flourishes with evangelism and discipleship, bearing fruit from the seeds of prayer sown by a pastor and congregation decades before.

How can this be? Acts 10 gives us a little window into the way prayer works. In this passage a man named Cornelius has been praying and an angel appears to him telling him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God."

That's right, God memorializes our prayers. So keep praying even if it seems that there is no answer. There is an entire side of this thing that you and I cannot see. It turns out that God keeps our prayers, and they are continually before him.

Keep praying, my friends. Keep praying!