Anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety is nothing less than the physiological effects of worry on the body and mind, and worry comes from being overwhelmed with the unknown, and thereby gripped and paralyzed with fear. For this, there is only one solution, and that is simply to acquiesce and accept what is and what shall be. Much of life’s anxiety comes because we are so set upon changing what will not change, or hoping against hope. Like a man who tries to move a stubborn stump from his yard, the one who lives life overwhelmed with anxiety and worry expends all their energy each day hoping to remove the stump, only to see the stump in the same place each morning when they awake. The one who will find peace must learn to be content with the stump, instead of spending all their energy worrying and trying to remove it. Paul said, I have learned that in whatever state I find myself to be content. Contentment oftentimes involves accepting those things that are not going to change, as though they are meant to be! As Paul awaited his immediate departure from this world, he had come to understand that it was the natural order and progression of things and ultimately of life itself, and so he embraced it, and yearned for it, instead of fighting it. If you want to deal with much of the anxiety in your life, quit spending all your energy trying to change that which will not change, instead of working to remove the stump, pull up a chair, and place your coffee cup upon it, and see the beauty which surrounds it instead!

 

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

8/7/2017

Let Love, Constrain Us!

Let Love, Constrain Us!

“For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.” (2Co 5:14-15)

 One of the most important questions we will ever ask ourselves is, why do we do, what we do? A flaw in the thinking of most people who consider themselves “believers,” is that they attribute the course of their life and actions to the pull, which our fallen natures in a fallen world exert over us. Certainly it is true that man has fallen, that we live in a fallen world, and by all we can discern, in a world that will continue to deteriorate until Christ returns. If this is true, then where is the victory over sin that Scripture speaks of? Scripture reveals that Paul struggled to bring every action and thought unto the obedience of Christ. It is for certain that Paul was not perfect, but one thing you never hear Paul offer, is an excuse for when he may have acted contrary to the purposes and will of the Lord. Paul understood all too well, the weight of sin, and the power of grace. But Paul also understood that he would be held accountable for every idle word he would speak. For it was Jesus Himself who said, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things. But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” (Matt. 12:35-36) The tension of being a fallen creature to Paul, was never sufficient, so as to excuse him for his actions. Although Paul realized his own imperfections, he saw something more powerful than the nature of sin he personally possessed, and that was his love for Jesus. Paul said that in every instance he was faced with doing what he wanted, verses doing what glorified the Lord, he was controlled by his love for Christ. To Paul, the power of his devotion to Jesus was greater than the power, which sin tried to exert over him. This leads us to one of the most important things we as believers must come to recognize, and that is, as long as we frame the argument for why we sin in the context of fallen natures, and a fallen world, there is no limit to the number of excuses we may offer ourselves for why we do what we do. On the contrary however, if we frame the argument for why we do what we do within the context of our love for Christ, we shall quickly find, there is never really any excuse at all!  

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

6/26/17

In the Presence of Mine Enemies

Just how do we deal with those who don’t like us, right or wrong? What is the proper view to have towards those who oppose you? Towards those who hate you the most, how should you feel towards them? Jesus’ answer was simple, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44) Jesus’ solution to our enemies, was never to have one! We must remember, there can be no enemy unless you create one. In addition, there can be no battle, if one is only left to fight with themselves. No matter what anyone thinks or feels towards us, as Christians, we are called to love. John was adamant in first John chapters 2, 3, and 4, where he said… “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness,” 1John 2:9,  and  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him,” 1John 3:15, but most importantly, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” 1John 4:20. The hallmark of those who know Christ, has been, and always will be, their capacity to love and forgive!

In a world filled with violence and hate, how important do you suppose it is that those who know the true and living God, show love one towards another? Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35) Understand, there can be no hatred or enemy where there is love, especially like the love Christ has shown to us! Remember,  “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23) So know, there can be no enemy unless you create one, and against our enemies, they can have no war if we refuse to fight one. The admonition to all God’s children is simple… “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the each other.” 1Jn 3:14 

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

5/30/2017

The Beam

There are two beams in Scripture worth mentioning. The first, is the beam our Savior died on. The beam which allowed our Savior to be lifted up, and so bear the sins of the world. There is another beam however Scripture speaks of, which is certainly as important to recognize, and that is the one we bear in our own eyes.

This beam we bear in our own eyes is important to recognize for many reasons. The first is, because of its placement. A beam in the eye is located in the worse of all possible locations. By virtue that it is in the eye, and takes up most of the room in it, it insures near, if not total, blindness, for the one trying to see through and around it. Another reason why it is important to recognize the beam, is because it is quite effective at shutting out most of the light as well. Surely the one whose eye is filled with a beam, sees darkly. In addition, the beam if not recognized, can cause the senses to adapt to this handicap, by looking around the edges, instead of at the center, and learning to be comfortable with less light. Like any malformation, in short, we find ways to adapt so that we might become more comfortable with it.  

Jesus said the beam in our own eye, is a hindrance to everything within us! Which brings us to the most concerning thing about the beam, and that is, to the one bearing it, it has a way, though large and overwhelmingly present, to make itself invisible, to the one being blinded by it. The greatest danger of the beam Jesus said, is that those who bear it, are unaware of its presence. To them what they see is light, for they have traded darkness for light. To them, what is spiritually lacking, is now the norm. To the one who bears the beam in their own eye, they now wear it proudly as a prosthetic limb, comfortable now with the new appendage.

Hence Jesus’ sobering words, “The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

5/1/2017

If Jesus Couldn’t Do It, Neither Can You!

If Jesus Couldn’t Do It, Neither Can You!

One of the less talked about events in Jesus’ life, is His baptism by the Holy Spirit. Immediately upon being baptized by John, the Scriptures say the Holy Spirit came down and abode and remained upon Jesus. Now many are confused by Jesus’ water baptism, but it is not a mystery. Baptism is always an outward picture of a proper inward disposition of the heart, in sinners this is achieved through genuine repentance. Baptism follows the aligning of one’s spiritual compass, something Jesus always kept pointed towards the Father, and so He was a candidate for baptism at any and all times, not due to the repentance of sin, but simply as a testimony of a right heart. When John questions Jesus’ baptism, Jesus simply tells him it is necessary to set a proper example (fulfill all righteousness) for all who will follow in His footsteps. Jesus was illustrating what Peter would proclaim… “Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” Act 2:38. A right heart, is a right heart, whether through repentance, or as in Jesus’ case, through a life always aligned with the Father, His purposes, and His Will! Jesus was demonstrating the pattern, sequence, and nature of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and so we should not be surprised that upon His baptism, He received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this as a picture of what would soon come to pass. This was clearly John’s understanding of the event as well… “And John bore record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and He abode on Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water, that One said to me, Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon Him, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” John 1:32-33.

So the question becomes, why? Why did Jesus receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and did Jesus need the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Well, they say that timing is everything, and it is certainly true on this occasion. Jesus is thirty years of age when He is baptized, and this becomes key to understanding its significance for Jesus personally. Jesus has managed to do some remarkable things so far without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He has grown in His knowledge of the Scriptures, confounding the elders at the Temple and in the Synagogue. He has also grown in favor with God and man, demonstrating a piety and grace few if any could match. More importantly though, He has lived sinlessly for thirty years. When He receives the baptism of the Spirit, He is the spotless, sinless, Lamb of God. So why now, and for what purpose does the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus. Actually the answer is quite simple. Jesus at thirty years of age is just now embarking on His earthly ministry, which will last only three and a half years. The missing years of Jesus, are missing, because there is nothing to see! The baptism of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus coincides with the beginning of His earthly ministry, the point in time when He officially sets out to do the Will of the Father.

You see, although Jesus could do everything mentioned beforehand, without the indwelling, the one thing He could not do, was faithfully complete what awaited Him over the next three and a half years. The Spirit indwelling Jesus gave His humanity the power to complete the race the Father had set before Him. Without it, Gethsemane would have proved too much for Jesus’ humanity.  Jesus had become the recipient of the same power He told His followers would come upon them, so they could be His witnesses. The giving of the Spirit in Jesus’ life was for the same reason it is given to us, to provide us the power to live supernatural lives, and this as it relates to doing the will of the Lord. From this lesson in the life of Christ we can infer a couple unmistakable truths, the first is, that those who possess His Spirit have been given the power and strength they need to be victorious in this life, we have inherited the power to lead supernatural lives and truly conquer what is before us. However, on the other side of that coin, is the sad reality of those who do nothing.  If the power of the indwelling comes upon us to fulfill the Lords will in our lives, it must at the same time serve as an indictment upon the millions who sit in our churches doing nothing! In Scripture, the surest sign of the lost is not their imperfections, but rather their indifference to the cause of Christ. We must remember that it is not a saint who sins that makes Christ nauseas, but rather a lukewarm church member!

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

2/20/2017

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What’s wrong with This Picture?

One of the most amazing things about the way we were created, is how sensitive we are to the world around us. For instance, we have the ability to see a single photon! The eye is so sensitive it requires a neural filter, so we do not get over loaded by all the input our eyes are able to detect. We can feel ridges through our fingertips as small as 13 nanometers, it is said that if our fingertips were as large as the earth, they could detect the difference between a house and a car. We can recognize over one trillion smells, and in our ears, sense the differences in atmospheric pressure as small as one billionth of one atmosphere. This is all pretty amazing when you think about it, but what is more amazing, is that the God who created us with such sensitivity, could come to dwell in us bodily, as through His Spirit, and most appear completely unaffected! The truth is, most who attend church and call themselves Christians, live a spiritual life that is completely subjective, in other words, they really aren’t sure of anything at all, and to them, that is what faith is for.

In Scripture, the sending of the Holy Spirit was meant to remove the subjectivity from the Christian life. It is completely illogical for Jesus to say that He sent Him so we would not be left alone as orphans, so as to comfort and direct our lives, and then us be left to wonder if He is really with us at all. Most will not define their experience that way, but it is obvious, Christ has little effect on most who say they know Him. Is it possible that we could be so sensitive to everything else, and yet so insensitive to the indwelling and presence of our creator? The question we need to ask is not, is what I see in most who say they know Christ today normal, but rather, is it possible that the very God of heaven could invade my life and Him actually have so little effect? You see in the Old Testament God shouted from the mountain, in the Gospels He spoke from the lips of Jesus, and now He reveals Himself as boldly in our inner man, as His Spirit comes to bear witness with ours. The power of God to reveal Himself on the mountain is actually meant to be no less tame, now in the spirit of man. The problem with most is very simple, they have yet to be born again, and they have yet to experience the presence of God! The presence of God in us was meant to be a transforming, transfiguring event, not a subtle ripple through our conscience. In the New Testament, the filling with the Spirit was a life shattering moment! The New Testament gives us a picture of what a genuine encounter with Christ produces, something far different from the counterfeit most have come to accept. Satan would have you to believe that His presence, is not really “His presence,” the same way he did when he said, “you will not surely die!”  

Everyone who says they know Christ needs to ask themselves a couple sobering questions. First should be, is what I see in Scripture the exception or the rule, for all those who encounter the living God? And secondly, is it logical or even possible, for the God who created me so sensitive to everything else, to live within me, and me be affected so little? If we say we have been saved, and we are not at the same time overwhelmed continually by His presence, we are lying to ourselves, for such is the true nature of being born again!  

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

2/13/2017

You Must Be Born Again!

You Must Be Born Again!

Just what does it mean to be “born again?” There is probably no subject misunderstood more than that of genuine conversion and entrance into the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately, people have come to believe that one is “born again” on demand. Most conceive that after reciting a sinner’s prayer and acknowledging a few fundamentals of the Christian faith, they are good to go. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. The issue between man and God is not facts, but rather faith, and genuine faith at that. God is looking for our reaction to the facts, not our understanding of them. Repentance is the irreversible transforming of the heart as a result of experiencing the full weight of those facts. This means that God’s focus is always on the heart, and not the head. That moment when the weight of our sin and sorrow, meet grace and mercy in earnest, and we are left wholly undone in the presence of Christ, crippled spiritually, broken emotionally, and now dependent upon Him eternally, as we now reach out to Him as our only source of hope, then and only then, have we experienced saving faith!  

Although being “born again” begins in this moment, experientially, it doesn’t end there. Scripture teaches that our being, now fashioned as the dwelling place of God after the shadow of the Tabernacle and Temple of the Old Testament, now cleansed by applying the blood of Christ, is properly suited for the Spirit of God to dwell. Now, like the Spirit would overwhelm and fill the Temple at special moments in days of old, we are now filled with that same presence forever. In that moment, the veil now lifted, in the inner man, we behold the Glory of the Lord, the very Glory Moses cried out to see at Sinai.

Now, a heart once crushed by the weight of sin and death, is flooded with rivers of mercy, while beholding unveiled the Glory of God, now, like Jesus told Nicodemus, we are left with an unexplainable, but unmistakable event, changing us forever, and thus is what it means to be “born again!”    

 

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

2/6/2017

Something for Nothing

Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing. Our problem, is recognizing and admitting when we are doing nothing. Christianity has become the watering hole of the lukewarm. If it were not for our piddling around the church, most would find it difficult to count their lives worthy in His cause at all. The danger we face is interpreting in our lives “nothing” for something. To see something, when in actuality we are starring into a void. When the faith that is said to move mountains, can barely stir us from slumber, how are we able to continue so contently in it. This occurs mainly because we refuse to admit that our something, is in reality God’s nothing. Who can forget the echo of these words from scripture, “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah; also David, and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the strangers. Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings; yes, more, of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise, for God had provided some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.” (Hebrews 11:32-40) We must beware of Satan’s magic, it is his ability to make appear in your mind, something, that is in reality nothing. More importantly, it is his ability to allow you to live contently with it, all the days of your life!

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.