Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Welcome To Be Devoted Ministries-Video
A Word From The Founder And President of Be Devoted Ministries, Steven Swaim
Monday, January 7, 2013
WELCOME TO 2013
INTRODUCTION
My title sounds somewhat like a
bad 1980s or 1990s song, but it is what it says. The year of 2012 has moved on and is gone and
2013 is here to take its place. 2012 was
marked by some remarkable things this year that were both negative and some
very interesting positives. It was
filled with chaos and with strategic movements; a time of sadness and extreme
gladness. We witnessed the brutal
slaughter of people in the Colorado Springs movie theater and the horrific
heartlessness of a selfish, unkind butchering of small children as well as a
number of the staff at Sandy Hook Elementary.
We lived through one of the most brutal election years in the history of
our nation. And we see a nation that is
beginning to shift to a more socialistic way of thinking prompted by its
ongoing selfish desire to get something for nothing. But in the midst of it all there is God and
His goodness, providing for His people every day in every way. 2013 provides a place for a short stop to
review life in 2012 and symbolizes that life moves one with reckless
abandonment of the past. We can do
nothing about what happened in 2012, but with God’s grace and help we can move
into 2013 with the perspective of changing the world around us.
FOCUS
So in order to move forward into
a new year what should we do? Hebrews
12:1-3 gives us the answers:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. 3 For
consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that
you will not grow weary and lose heart.
There are four things that we can
take from this passage which helps us understand how to move forward
remembering what we have learned and lived through this past year.
THOSE WHO HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST STILL
CHEERING US ON
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,…”-v.
1a
You have to read Hebrews 12 in
the context of Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11
the writer had taken the time to note specific examples of people from the Old
Testament who walked with God in the Old Testament in faith. Some of these people lived life in the
mundane while others lived it in castles as kings. Some suffered and endured while others
prospered gaining notoriety. Yet others
died for their faith in some very tragic ways.
Regardless these saints believed, trusted God, taking Him at His word
that there was something better waiting for them in the life to come. They made it and now Abraham, Moses, Elijah,
Elisha, David, Isaiah, and others are declared by the author as cheering the
Jewish believers of his day on. They are
described as looking from the portals of Heaven yelling, “Don’t give up! Don’t give in! Don’t surrender! Keep the faith!” Those in the days of the writing of Hebrews
were being tempted to go back and serve God in ritualism, but the writer wants
it understood that service can only be done by faith like those of old. The Old Testament believers are raising their
voices in opposition to them quitting.
They demand that they move forward in faith and do it with recklessness
that screams out Who they belong to and the need to believe in Him for eternal
life.
LIFE IS A CROSS COUNTRY RACE NOT A 100 YARD/200 METER DASH
“…let us also lay
aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us,”-v. 1b
As a result of this cheering
crowd ushering them along they were encouraged to give up those things which
interfere with their life in Christ.
First, it notes that they were to, “…lay
aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,…” In the original Olympics those who were
training for a race would prepare with rocks tied around their feet. But when it came time to run the actual race
they would take these rocks off. Because
they had been training with heavy weights on their feet many times their ankles
and other areas of the lower calf would be strengthened, giving them more power
to run with. It also meant that when
they ran the real race without the weights they would run lighter. The writer encouraged them to do away with
“every encumbrance”. To his original
audience he is clearly telling them that the weight of the sacrificial law
needed to be set aside. The temple
ritual which they were being tempted to re-enter is classified as unnecessary because
of the cross of Christ. In fact the
author had already dealt with this in some degree in chapter 9:14, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse you
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” In other words Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross was sufficient enough to have a relationship with God when we trust Him
for salvation. The point goes even
deeper when we look at it from the point of view of Hebrews 11; none of the
saints mentioned started or cultivated their relationship with Yahweh through
the law, but rather through faith.
Second, the audience is told that
they needed to throw off any sin which may cling or ensnare them. The NASB translates it as entangling. The nature of sin, the propensity to walk
against God, is what separated them from God to begin with. The Law could not answer the issue, but made
things worse by bringing to everyone the whole issue of rebellious nature.[1]
But once someone becomes a part of Christ through faith then sin is something
that has been forgiven and should not have complete authority.[2] However humanity will slip and fall into
those things which the nature of rebellion will dictate and forgiveness will be
needed.[3] Here the exhortation is clear, do away with
the sin of faithlessness.
Third, they are encouraged to run
the race which was set before them. Not
everyone was going to face the challenges the way they were going to face
them. Each challenge was set for each
generation and specifically for each person based on the way God wanted to
proclaim through them His Gospel. They
were unique in one sense, but not so unusual in another.[4]
KEEPING OUR EYES ON THE GOAL IS IMPORTANT
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,…”-v. 2a
The author continues his
exhortation to those Jewish believers who are tempted to re-enter temple
worship by “fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Other translations state “looking to Jesus.”[5] However none of the translations capture the
full meaning that is given in the Greek.
The term that is translated as “fixing” or “looking” gives credence to
the idea of radical abandonment that was discussed above. It is the participle ἀφορῶντες (aphorontes)
which means “to stop paying attention to other things in exchange for giving
full attention to something else.”[6] In other words here the writer wants the
audience to stop looking at the distraction of the Law, temple worship, and the
persecution they are going through and start giving their full focus on Jesus.
Now the question may be easily
asked as to why they should do this? The
answer is given by the author, because Jesus is, “…the author and perfecter of faith,…” The faith of the Old Testament believers
which had been spoken of in chapter 11 was perfected or the maturated through
Jesus Christ. The same would be of those
who were presently being written to.
Their faith was given to them from Jesus since He is the source of their
faith (“author”), therefore He would be the reason that their faith would
continue to mature or be perfected or finished.
He becomes the soul source for their continual existence in sharing the
Gospel with those around them.
BEING MINDFUL OF THE SUFFERING OF OUR SAVIOR KEEPS SELFISH AMBITION
AWAY
“…who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured
such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and
lose heart.”-v. 2b-3
An even deeper reason is given
for this complete focus onto Jesus, His sacrifice. They are to stop and focus on Him not only
because of Who He is, but also what He has done. Jesus joyfully endured the cross. In other words He did not run from the cross,
but willingly went to it knowing what He was about to face. Because He knew that the outcome of the pain
and agony that He so desperately did not want to go through (“despising the
shame”) would have greater value than not going through it at all. The result would be that He would have His
place restored to Him in Heaven after His bodily resurrection. It was a place of distinguished honor and a
place of prayerful interceding for all of humanity, especially those who had
believed in Him. By focusing on both the
Person and work of the Lord Jesus the Hebrew believers would be challenged to
reconsider their actions dealing with their persecution. Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross
they are encouraged not to “grow weary and lose heart” amidst their situations.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?
For those of us who know Jesus
the application to the passage is relatively simple. In fact if we are not careful when looking at
this passage the applications can come too quickly. So let’s look at what these verses maybe
saying to us dealing with this New Year.
First, we need to remember that
others have already traveled where we are going. Someone at some time has already gone through
what we are going through or are about to go through. It’s important to remember this because when
we become discouraged we can turn to Scripture and find the comfort as well as
confidence that God will see us through our circumstances. For instance if God was with Joseph and
working through his life in the book of Genesis then we can conclude, if we walk
with God, the same is true of us. It is also
important to understand that everyone who has gone to Heaven ahead of us knows
what is to come in the future and is cheering us on to keep the faith.
Second, life is not a
sprint. It is a long cross country race. There are no short cuts, no easy life, and no
quick fixes. Things will happen and
people will treat us wrong. Life is
painful but God gives us the needed dynamics to run the race in a way that
pleases Him. What we need to do is not
allow the world around us or the desires within us to overtake us. If either or both of them do then we will
find ourselves running the race in a way that is displeasing to God and filled
with His correction. Those things which
encumber us and the sin with trips us up need to go and in each situation those
things are nothing more than acts of unbelief, a faithless moment.
Third, if we are to ignore what
the world is calling out to us and suppress our own sinful desire what are we
to do? Focus on the goal! Focus or give full attention to Jesus Christ
and what He did on the cross for us. The
race we run is filled with obstacles, but Jesus is leading the way. He is doing more than just standing at the
end of the track calling out our name, but He is running ahead of us
encouraging us all the way. As we run in
faith we also start carrying others with us.
If we deviate then we lose those who may have potentially followed. One of my favorite movie scenes is from Facing The Giants where a young inexperienced
football kicker’s dad rolls out to the end of the goal posts in his wheel
chair. He then stands with hands
raised. The son stops concentrating on
the must win goal that he needs to make and looks to his loving father. The kick is made and the game is won. While the movie is untrue the reality is that
our Savior encourages us on. If He gave
us the faith to trust Him for salvation, surely He can give us the faith to
trust Him in the long race we are running.
Forth, being mindful of our
Lord’s sacrifice on the cross can be humbling.
When there are things that we don’t want to do in order to build His
Kingdom, we must be mindful of all He did even though He didn’t want to do
it. Sacrifice is called for and is
uncomfortable, but it is necessary in order for faith to be seen. Paul calls us “living sacrifices” in Romans
12:1. Paul even notes in the middle of
the most beautiful passages of all Scripture (Romans 8) the ugly reality that “…we were considered as sheep to be
slaughtered.”[7] By giving up our lives, we live. And no one else would understand this better
than the Lord Jesus.
It is important that we do not
lose our focus. It is also important
that we understand why we should keep that focus. Either way we will be tempted and tested this
coming year. But we should always keep faith
by trusting that it is our Lord who will walk with us throughout the rest of
the long race we have to run.
Let me know what you think.
His Servant Together With You,
Steven Swaim
President and Founder, Be Devoted
Ministries
All Scriptures quoted are from
the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.
[1]
Romans 3:19-20; 6:19; 7:5,7-12
[2]
Romans 6:5-7
[3]
1st John 1:9
[4]
Paul notes in 1st Corinthians 10:13 that everyone is tempted with
the same things while the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 2:18 and 4:25 brings out
that Jesus was tempted in the same manner as we are.
[5]
ESV, NJKV
[6]
Stephen D. Renn. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Hendrickson Publishers,
Pebody, MS. 2005. Pg. 869
[7]
Romans 8:36b
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
I will be posting a New Year message in a day or two. But I am praying that each of you have a very happy new year!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
MERRY CHRISTMAS OR NOT?
When Tragedy Strikes
13 Now when they had gone, behold,
an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the
Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for
Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So Joseph got up and took the
Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He
remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had
been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out
of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then when Herod saw that he had
been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the
male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old
and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17
Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an
angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 “Get
up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those
who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the
Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when
he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he
left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city
called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the
prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew
2:13-23
INTRODUCTION
We often celebrate this time of year focusing on
a new born babe in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger surrounded by animals,
angels, shepherds, majestic wise men, Joseph and Mary. The scene is often paraded as a moment of
divine holiness and hushed amazement.
While I am sure to a degree that when the shepherds found Him on that
day and later when the magi bowed before Him there may have been a true sense
of awe, but awe must end. Once I made
the statement that Christmas was as much bathed in blood as it is in majestic
magnetism. When I said that people were
appalled and nobody spoke to me after the lesson. It’s a thought that we just don’t want to
come to grips with.
VIOLENCE AND THE CHRISTMAS STORY
Anyone who is familiar with the Christmas story
knows that the story presented in Luke captures what most of us are familiar
with. The announcement of the conception
from Gabriel the archangel to Mary the virgin; the discovery that she is with
child; the reason for the trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem; the birth of the
Christ Child; the angels’ announcement of the birth to the shepherds and their
journey to Bethlehem finding the Child laying in the manger.[1] But Matthew presents a story of
conflict. We have Joseph who is engaged
to Mary thinking about privately divorcing Mary when he discovers that she is
pregnant; until God intervenes and reassures Joseph that everything is okay.[2] We have a troubled king and city when the
magi appear announcing that they have arrived to worship the new born King,
giving the idea that He has already been born.[3] Then there was the conspiracy to assassinate
this new born once the location was discovered.[4] Finally the fateful night when an angry king
ordered his men to go to the small town of Bethlehem, only ten miles from
Jerusalem, and kill all the male children two years old and under. But God had warned Joseph to run for it. He along with Mary and the Child hid away in
Egypt for a time before returning to Nazareth.
That night the Christmas story was bathed in blood.
Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15 where the prophet Jeremiah foresaw this
awful event:
Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
As
I set here and attempt to write this my mind continues to go back to the
horrible moment that the students and staff faced at the elementary school at Newtown,
Connecticut last Friday, December 14th, 2012. So much is so fresh and yet my heart goes out
to the morning parents of twenty dear children who saw the horror and felt the
pain of death before they felt the loving arms of a God who created them and
loves them. My heart sinks deep as I
hear of the heroism of teachers, aids, and administrative staff who knew they
were facing death but did what they could to comfort and hide children as a mad
man took what appears to be anger against his mother out on a school full of
children. It is unspeakable to discuss the
sickness and sadness that I feel for the families when I read and hear these
stories. We can go the distance to
discuss all the different things that went on that day and all the terror that
was experience; but ultimately we are helpless to prevent such activities and
cannot bring back those who have been lost. These parents find themselves in
the same helpless situation and we as spectators find ourselves in the same disturbing
trance unable to help in anyway.
MERRY CHRISTMAS?
So
can we have a Merry Christmas after all of this? With our country tearing apart at the seams
and such senseless violence how can we?
This is where faith comes in with the comfort of the scriptures. The Psalmist writes, “Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”[7] The rod and staff were instruments which shepherds used to correct sheep and fend off enemies. In the same way we find comfort in God through His word as He discusses His work in the world. We also see that He controls events that go beyond our understanding for His purposes. We see this in the Gospel of Matthew when Matthew quotes Jeremiah the Old Testament prophet. God is clearly in control and what He does is always in conjunction with who He is.
I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”[7] The rod and staff were instruments which shepherds used to correct sheep and fend off enemies. In the same way we find comfort in God through His word as He discusses His work in the world. We also see that He controls events that go beyond our understanding for His purposes. We see this in the Gospel of Matthew when Matthew quotes Jeremiah the Old Testament prophet. God is clearly in control and what He does is always in conjunction with who He is.
So
can we have a Merry Christmas? Yes, we
can. Because Christmas is much more than
a story of a baby in a cradle, rather it is a story of the God who would become
the Man who would be born of a virgin. By
entering this world salvation would come through His death on the cross and His
bodily resurrection from the dead. Without
that Christmas morning salvation could never come to the souls of those who turn
to Him to escape from the damnation of their sins. Christmas means hope, even when tragedy
strikes.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Steven Swaim
President and Founder, Be
Devoted Ministries
All Bible passages are from
the New American Standard Version (NASB)
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. (Psalms 119:7 NASB)
Saturday, September 1, 2012
When Are We Going to Grow Up? The Juvenilization of American Christianity | Christianity Today
When Are We Going to Grow Up? The Juvenilization of American Christianity | Christianity Today
The attached link is a must read for young pastors, missionaries, and youth leaders. We may want to rethink the way we do ministry and why we doing what we are doing. The key point is that youth ministers and ministries should be to the whole body and not just to the sub-culture we have created.
Steven Swaim
President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries
The attached link is a must read for young pastors, missionaries, and youth leaders. We may want to rethink the way we do ministry and why we doing what we are doing. The key point is that youth ministers and ministries should be to the whole body and not just to the sub-culture we have created.
Steven Swaim
President and Founder, Be Devoted Ministries
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