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All Things Are Possible To You

 

 

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”
1 Corinthians 6:17

 

No one argues with the Scripture which says, “. . . with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Yet the same New Testament also says, “. . .  all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

 

Are these Scriptures equally true? Could one be a statement of fact and the other a misconception? A falsehood? No! Both statements are fact.

 

All things are possible to him that believeth. It helps me as I drive down the road to say that. Whatever this year holds, I know You hold me. Nothing is impossible for You! It helps me when I face a seemingly impossible situation to say aloud, “All things are possible to him that believeth. And I believe.”

 

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You Are One With The Master

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”
1 Corinthians 6:17

 

The believer and Jesus are one. Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches . . .” (1 John 15:5). When you look at a tree you don’t think of the branches as one part. You see it as one – as a unity. All who believe in Him are one with Christ. Our spirits are one with Him.

 

How are you demonstrating this unity in today’s divisive environment?
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You Are A New Creature

“. . . but though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day”
(2 Corinthians 4:16)

 

In the New Birth, our spirits are recreated, our bodies are not. It is in our spirit where all things have become new. We still have the same bodies we always had. There is a man who lives inside the body. Paul calls him “the inward man of the heart” (1 Peter 3:4).

 

This man is hidden to the physical eye. No one can see the real you – the inward man. They may think they do but they only see the house you live in. You are on the inside looking out. The same thing is true with the people you know; you’ve never really seen the real man on the inside.

 

When a man’s house is decaying, the real man still lives. The real man never dies. It is this inward man who is born into the family of God, who is in perfect union with the Master.
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A Surrendered Soul – Part 1

 

We find ourselves again at a critically important moment of needing to bring unity to very divisive patterns of behavior. It’s understandable; we are sinful people trying to live in community with other sinful people, and that can get messy.

 

In one sense, this is nothing new. Jesus knew unity among Christians would be important, so much so that He devoted time in prayer to the topic the night before His crucifixion. In John 17, Jesus asks His Father to bring unity to all those who will come to believe in His message.

 

Believing that racism is outside of God’s realm has long been part of mainstream Christian practice in the US. Sometimes we want to contrast gospel work with social work. Not all social work is indeed gospel work, but all gospel work puts us right in the middle of the public square.

 

An academic concept called Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being touted as a method of understanding this divide. Some churches teach CRT is opposed to the Christian Faith and communicate that CRT is “At the center of understanding the theological implications and tenets of addressing race.”

 

Those for or against this concept ground their narratives in Scripture. The messages could not be more different, yet both are based on an interpretation of the same Christian faith:

 

“There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free
. . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28

 

Let’s break CRT into digestible bites.
First, A “critical theory” teaches truth is achieved by taking a critical approach to ideas, beliefs, and practices.

 

Second, adding “race” is intended to offer a critical perspective on the causes, consequences, and manifestations of race, racism, inequity, and power and privilege dynamics.

 

The combined concepts lead to the definition:

 

“CRT is the Idea that the law is inherently racist and designed by Caucasians to maintain or further their standing in politics and economics over minorities. As with Marxism, the idea is to have improvements and reform; conflict is necessary to bring about a resolution.”

 

 
As members of the faith community, we must view this definition from the balcony to remind ourselves of what’s really at stake – setting your mind on God’s purposes, not man’s.

 

Does this definition provide a theological perspective of Christ-centered otherness, or is it an attempt to defend or refute strongholds? St. Anselm defined theology as “faith seeking understanding. For it is not the replacement of faith with knowledge; rather, it is faith that motivates understanding and leads us in the pursuit of knowledge.”

 

Biblically speaking, racism is the sin of ethnic partiality or prejudice (James 2:8–9; Leviticus 19:15). As Christians, we know racism is wrong in society, as we are all one race in Adam (Acts 17:26), especially within the church (Galatians 3:28). We should be concerned about racism and aim to think biblically about it.

 

Allow me to take you to the balcony to bring nuance to this charged conversation.

 

Everyone sees things from their perspective and creates a set of beliefs to support their argument. On Sundays, 9 in 10 Christian churches nationally are predominantly of one race group, according to LifeWay Research. Is it the preaching style, musical preferences, or something else?

 

How should the church respond to the racism that many believers have endured from within their faith community? And how does the watching world respond to the Great Commission when viewed through the lens of our actions?

 

Three of the words could be viewed as problematic in this CRT definition and cloud a thoughtful analysis:
  1. The capitalized word “Idea” is code for I don’t believe this principle, and neither should you.
  2. The reference to “Marxism” puts the definition (and issue) into a frame of materialism and capitalism.
  3. “Conflict” is a code for disagreement with the status quo.

 

Instead of adopting secular methods and applying secular thinking to fix spiritual problems, Christians should look to the whole of Scripture to address relational behavior within the body.

 

We must be thoughtful about our actions and conversation, so we can deal with the underlying issue: the sin of self-interest and Satan’s efforts to continue to breed prejudice, mistrust, and chaos.

 

We understand the original Biblical idea that life gets better through difficult times, and we keep going because there is hope. It’s when we are tested that we learn who we really are. There is no better time than this Lenten season to access how we view our fellow brothers and sisters.

 

Take some time to do your own research on the subject of CRT. Then you can effectively engage with Part 2, as we will explore the assumptions made and how their interpretations may cloud or clarify a Christ-centered resolution to race within the church.

 

Most importantly, you will discover if you are operating from a soul surrendered to the will of God or the will of self-interest. . .

 

 

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Creating Space for Grace

 

“If you make yourself the main character in the story,

then you’ll evaluate everything that happens by its effect on you

not the affected.”

 

As Christians grapples with the issue of race, it has become apparent that many don’t perceive reality the same. Most are operating under different beliefs and stimuli which come from experiences, something heard, or something read. Facts and truth have differing definitions.  When we interpret through the lens of our self-centered view, the actions of others often make no sense, and frustrate, hurt or infuriate us. But can you see that it can cause problems, inhibit understanding and empathy. 

What you believe about a person or event will determine how you label them. The labels you use will allow you to project valence and dictate your actions to engage or disengage.

As used in psychology, valence means the intrinsic attractiveness (positive valence) or averseness (negative valence) of an event, object, or situation. It is typically easier to use the “other” as a projective object. Efforts, by Blacks, to change their conditions are labeled as social justice, Marxism, critical race theory, cancel culture, or progressive Christianity. Push back or disagreement by Whites is labeled as fragility, racism, privilege, or conservatism. Somehow, Christianity has settled into cultural norms rather than setting the standards for cultural norms based on God’s Word.  We abandon Kingdom conversation of unity for cultural dialogue that divides. America is becoming more and more multiracial, warranting a broader recognition of those who do not fit into a society’s clear-cut notions of race.

Language matters and there is a confusion of the slogan Black Lives Matter – a plea to secure the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans, especially historically wronged Blacks, with the organization called Black Lives Matter – which has a specific and stated agenda. Maybe a new slogan should be created to separate the movement from the organization. These three words are dissected ad nauseum. We have to unravel the narratives taught in some churches today that assume this movement of Biblical justice being worked out within society is about property and jealousy. Those that oppose the movement use “Thou shall not steal or covet” as the defense to ignore reality. Let’s be clear, the movement is about how you got it, not that you have it. Others say using the word “Black” as the presupposition ignores the transcendent God-ordained meaning of life – The Imago Dei. Some pastors are asking to whom and in what way does it matter? I’ve even heard pastors say that the phrase assigns guilt based on ethnicity which isn’t Biblical. We are all imperfect sinner who moves in faith.  These are brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s stop throwing other Christians under the bus from the pulpit. A mist in the pulpit can become a fog in the pews. Let’s not forget Sunday’s became and still is the most segregated day of the week.

These pastors cap off their messaging by labeling it ALL as Communism or Marxism. Using the old playbook, going back to the ’50’s and ’60’s, labeling any principle that attempts to obtain a level playing field for all. M.L. King was viewed as a Communist for calling out the situation people faced. The reality was that King’s view of Communism was that it was fundamentally incompatible with Christianity. The central issue King was calling out was the defense of the gulf between superfluous wealth and abject poverty.

As Christians, we cannot ignore or excuse the past sins. We must confront them, repent for them, and find ways to correct the actions that may allow them to continue. If you see God’s image in you as more valuable than the image of God in those different from you, you have lifted yourself to be better than the other person. That is about “have no other idols before God” and “thou shall not bear false witness”.  God’s summarized the commandments because we tend to prioritize to fit our needs – “Love God and to Love your neighbor.” One cannot say “I love God” but hates their neighbor or has nothing to do with their neighbor. Because God is love, we are able to love. Love pleases the Lord and makes one worthy of the Lord’s saving grace. From God’s love, mercy and compassion follow.

My prayer is that when our strength is fading in a world of moral decline, self-interest, and cultural confusion that integrity will shine as a light upon a hill.  Only by coming together across geography, race, class, denomination, age, across all the differences that really do NOT matter, will we be able to listen to each other. It’s only by embracing one another in a spirit of love and collaboration that we create space to grow in grace together.

 

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I Can’t Do This Alone – Part III

Dr. I. David Byrd,  March 1, 2020
Pastor Sheffield teaches, “To the disciples who were as disconcerted about their lives as we often are about ours, Jesus said: You don’t have to do this alone!

 

“The Holy Spirit will come and help you,
because the Father will send the Spirit
to take my place …
So don’t be worried or afraid”
John 14:26-27 CEV

 

The teaching in John takes us back before the crucifixion, when Jesus’ disciples were, perhaps, only beginning to realize the political realities of Jesus’ situation. It wasn’t any easier than it is for you or me for Jesus to fight “City Hall.” It wasn’t any easier than it is for you or me for Jesus to stand for right in face of wrong. It wasn’t any easier than it is for you or me for Jesus to make hard decisions. And the Bible never tells us it will get easier. What it does tell us is that when it gets harder, we can hold fast to God’s promise to be with us and not to leave us hanging out there alone. Jesus knew full well that those who hang in there sometimes get hung out to dry, and even hung on a cross to die. He is not denying that reality. He is pointing to a greater reality — the presence of God with you and me, knowing full well how hard it is for you and me to hear it.

 

 

English tends to limit our understanding of the role of God’s Spirit with us. The New Revised Standard Version translates the Holy Spirit as “Advocate”, one who stands up for us, who speaks out for us, who acts on our behalf. But even that doesn’t go far enough in telling us what it means to say the Spirit of God is with us. The Greek word parakletos, means to be with you forever. Yes, he stands up for us, but the “Paraclete” that Jesus promised is also the one who comforts us and holds us accountable and exhorts us to do the same for each other. To do the same for each other is to do what Jesus said, when he said, “If you love Me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you” (John 14:15 CEV). What He’s telling you is He’ll be there for you even when it seems in what you do, you’re all alone.”

 

Father, we are thankful for the earthly community that supports us in times of trouble. And we are even more thankful for the Holy Spirit you have sent to ensure we don’t have to live life alone. We repent for being so prideful to think we can handle life on our own; that we don’t need anyone with which to share our burdens.

 

In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
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I Can’t Do This Alone – Part I

Dr. I. David Byrd  February 1, 2020

 

The Bible says, “He’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” You believe in His Word. It’s the guiding principle of your life. But when faced with a severe illness of a family member or a uncontrollable, devastating loss you can become “conflicted” in your faith. It may seem like the current state is too much to handle on your own. You are supposed to press on physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually but you are exhausted and overwhelmed. Your burdens seem to be crushing you. It’s when we’re weary, exhausted and struggling, that we often tend to shrink back and isolate ourselves. We privilege silence without even knowing it.

 

To surround ourselves with the fellowship we need, we must take the treacherous step to be real and open. We must allow close friends to support us in the midst of our circumstances. We often do not want to admit our need for help. We are taught from a young age that we should be independent; conditioned to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness or failure. We struggle with pride and want to prove our ability in the eyes of the world. While this may be our mindset, it is not the mindset of Jesus.

 

Paul Tripp says in his book, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, “We weren’t created to be independent, autonomous, or self-sufficient. We were made to live in a humble, worshipful, and loving dependency upon God and in a loving and humble interdependency with others.”

 

I’m reminded that even Moses couldn’t do it alone. Exodus 17 tells the story of his friends having to hold up Moses arms to ensure victory for the Israelites.

 

“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning,
but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him
and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side,
one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”
Exodus 17:11-12

 

Moses hears from God and understands the responsibility God has placed on him by simply holding his hands up. Aaron and Hur couldn’t take his place. They couldn’t do his job. But they could support him as he endured what God had called him to do. God designed us to need people for fellowshipping, helping, encouraging and supporting one another. Regardless of how much power we have, ultimately, we need someone else to lean on. Someone else to lift our hands up, someone else to encourage us as we journey through our circumstances.  Don’t try to go it alone.

 

Dear Lord, I never realized the stress that I was bringing upon myself by assuming that I was capable of handling problems on my own. I must learn to trust your way and accept that I can’t do it alone. Forgive me for trying to do things apart from community. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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Faithful To Me

Dr. I. David Byrd, January 15, 2020

We have become so conditioned to the influx of marketing around New Year’s resolutions, that the word “resolution” itself has virtually lost its meaning for most of society. Researchers say that 89% of resolutions are dropped by the end of February. This can be your year to shift from resolutions to lifestyle changes. One of my favorite parts of turning the calendar to January is seeing all the blank spaces to be filled.  An opportunity to restart, reset or readjust my life plan. I’ve heard it said that life is to be lived looking forward, but it is to be understood looking backwards. So, before we begin to fill in the spaces with our resolutions, goals and to dos, let’s pause to reflect and give God praise for 2019.

 

 I can confidently say, God has been faithful. In my life I find that through every pain and every tear there’s a God that’s been faithful to me. When friends turned their back and walked away, still He has been faithful to me. I admit that in my heart many times I questioned His will and I failed to believe, but He has been faithful to me. When my strength was all gone and when my heart had no song, still He was faithful to me. When my heart looked away from Him. The many times I could not pray, still in life He proved faithful to me. The days I spent so selfishly reaching out for what pleased me. Still He has proved faithful to me. The lyricist said, “morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand has provided. Great is they faithfulness Lord unto me.”

 

I hope you can start 2020 by recognizing He has and will be faithfulness to you in the midst of all you will face.

 

Dear God, You have done so many things for me, saved me from so many dangers, toils and snares. As I go through this year, may I be so filled with Your praises that I cannot help but tell others what You have done for me!

 

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God

 

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Can We Just Talk?

 

Dr. I. David Byrd, December 1, 2019
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.”                 Col 4:6
Civility dies when you give up the right to have dialogue without trying to destroy the other person. The starting point for repairing our fractured country is how we interact with others.

 

First, our conversation should be an instrument of grace even to those who we don’t think deserve it. Paul uses the word “grace”, which most often refers to unmerited favor for those who are ill-deserving. Paul anticipating our sinful nature qualified this phrase with “always”.

 

Second, our conversations should be seasoned with “salt ”. Salt makes meat acceptable to the discerning palate and is a preservative that draws out bad organisms that can cause meat to decay. Once salt loses its chemical properties it is of no value. If the “flavor” of our conversation is saltless we are useless to God, of no value in bringing out people’s best tendencies and preventing their worse.

 

  • Deliberately seek to influence the people in your life by showing them the unconditional love of Christ through good deeds (Matthew 5:13)
  • Demonstrate the counterculture to language that demeans, degrades, divides and leads to societal moral decay. (Mark 9:50)
  • Witness to unbelievers being well prepared and focused on building others up according to their individual needs with purity of motive. (Col 4:6)

 

What a privilege God has given us to be in dialogue with others. Use it for God’s glory. It’s the evidence of the call upon our lives.

 

Father,
Your Word tells us we are to be a people set upon a hill; bringing light to the darkness of this world. Help us to live out the grace you provided to us. To not withhold conversation from anyone You put in our path.

 

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God
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Beware of Strangers

Dr. I. David Byrd, November 15, 2019

 

“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13:1

 

Reflect on the ways in which you demonstrate love for others, even those that are different than you. Scripture calls us to love strangers and to bring them into our family. To receive and embrace those who do not share our faith and our values. The greatest way to get to know someone and evidence the love of Christ is to demonstrate biblical hospitality. The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenia, which means “lover of strangers”.

 

A relationship with Jesus is the sole source of hope for the world and God longs to use us to love the strangers around us so that they might enter into relationship with Him. Apart from God, our natural propensity is to avoid interacting with anyone we don’t know. But that is not the life our heavenly Father calls us to live. We are not called to keep this free gift of salvation for ourselves, but to share it with those strangers God is beckoning to himself.

 

It’s been said that food can unite, strengthen community bonds and help maintain a common identity among a group of people. Food will be the center of attention at most upcoming holiday celebrations or parties. The dinner table is a time to pause and relish in the ritual of passing food and sharing stories. Demonstrate Biblical hospitality by inviting someone who does not look, think or act like you to your holiday dinner table. It’s not just about opening your home, it’s about opening your heart.

 

Father,
Thank you for loving and pursuing me. Place a name, or even a few names on my heart that I might invite to the dinner table in order to hear their story and tell them your story. 
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link  myTime with God