We Need Time Off

 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mk 6:31 NIV

We are under so much pressure, so overwhelmed. That's just how it is in this life.

In the Old Testament, God prescribed many days of rest, but even holy days can put pressure on us.

A world-renowned church leader in the Pentecostal movement had founded a church that simply grew massively and planted a network of missions around the world.

But not everything in his life was okay. His wife was overwhelmed and his marriage fell apart. 

God spoke to the preacher. He needed to have one day of rest per week and rebuild his relationship with his wife. Sunday was not a day of rest for him, and on Saturday he had to prepare everything for Sunday. 

Monday became his day of rest, and his marriage was restored.

Some insist that we must strictly obey the Sabbath commandment to this day, but this is by no means clear in the Holy Scriptures.

Paul and John wrote several epistles to non-Jewish Christians, and I find no mention of the Sabbath commandment in them at all. Theft, murder, lying, idolatry, adultery, and greed are strictly forbidden in these epistles, but there is no mention of the Sabbath commandment. 

Of course, the Sabbath came from God, and the Sabbath remains a great blessing for many Jews and some Christians to this day.
 
But more important than the day is the principle. We need time off, time off for God, time off for family and friends, and time off for relaxation and rest.
 

You can strictly observe the Sabbath but neglect important loving relationships.

About ten years ago, I was very active in a church and attended two services every Sunday, but I had a guilty conscience. I was in church three times a week, but I didn't even visit my elderly father once a week. 

For many Christians, church services and meetings can be anything but restful, although they are intended to be refreshing. You can strictly observe the Sabbath, but never learn to simply relax. 

For some Christians, relaxation is a sin. They are always busy. Doing nothing would be idleness. Sleeping late means being lazy. 

But if you are overwhelmed, traumatised, even exhausted, you need real time off.
 
Otherwise, you could get burned out or even in hospital. Some people think this is shameful, but it is not.

If you need help and rest, you need help and rest.
But shouldn't we expect our help only from God?

Sure, but if our misguided Christian attitude has only continually entangled us in duty and effort, and if we find little support or understanding in the church, then God provides us with other means of help. 

There are Christians who are misled by non-believing therapists, but there are also Christians who find more understanding and help in psychiatry than in the church. 

Thank God for good churches, good pastors, and miraculous healings! 
But I also thank God for good doctors, and good therapists.
 
In God's order, everything has its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecc 3:1 NIV

Jesus Wants You to be Free

 Jesus died to set you free.
Jesus died to save you from eternal death, to free you from despair and endless hopelessness, without God, without friendship, without comfort.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSVue
 
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1 NRSVue

Jesus died to free you from your twisted, selfish human nature.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor 5:17 NKJV

Jesus died to free you from loneliness.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NIV

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 Jn 1:7 NIV

Jesus died to free you from sickness.

… “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Mt 8:17 NRSVue

Jesus died to free you from legalism.

Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 
Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them.

 Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.

 Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.
Those who do not eat meat do so for the glory of the Lord, and they also give thanks to God. Rom 14:1–6 NRSVue

Jesus died to free us from authoritarian leadership.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21 NIV

Submission is mutual.

 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19–20 NIV

Here Paul teaches through the Holy Spirit that Christians have the right, even the duty, to resist arrogant, authoritarian, or cruel church leaders. 

God sacrificed Jesus to free women from the arrogant rule of men.

 The extreme subordination of women was not God's intention in creation. After the Fall, God sadly predicted that because of sin, women would be enslaved by men.

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Gen 3:16 NIV

But in the new covenant, women are free.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 NIV

It is wonderful that Jesus wants to give us freedom, but we do not receive that freedom automatically.
 
There are people everywhere who do not believe in freedom, even in the church.

 There are many people who do not want to allow you to be free.

But Paul says:

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 NRSVue

Christians Bullying Christians.

 So many Christians are bullied by other Christians. 

I was once the victim of bullying. Sadly, victims often also become bullies. As a child I bullied my younger brothers and am sorry to say I became a harsh controlling step-father. I am now friends with my brothers and step-sons.

Jesus spoke very harsh words against the sin of Christian bullying.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Matthew 24:48-49 (NIV)

There are also religious bullies who don't get drunk or indulge in sins of the flesh but is Jesus suggesting that bullying is just as bad as getting drunk and indulging the flesh? or worse?

Religious legalism often leads to bullying.

What is legalism? It is an attempt to prevent or correct sin using human rules and punishments.

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV)

Jesus spoke more strongly against bullying and legalism than any other sin.  

I am not against pastors. There are wonderful pastors and I know some as friends. Pastors too can be victims of bullying. I have seen this several times and it is horrible.

The Apostle Paul was also very strong in condemning bullying. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers. Why? Not for sexual sin. That was in his first letter.
He rebukes them for submitting unconditionally to bullying preachers.

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19-20 (NIV)

Any pastor or preacher who demands unconditional and total submission is a false shepherd.

If a pastor responds to criticism or disagreement with threats or intimidation, why not just leave?

If a leader imposes his will on people to the point that his word is law, he is usurping the lordship of Jesus.

There are many Christians who feel uneasy, resentful or secretly angry towards over confident, controlling leaders but they believe they must not resist because that would be the sin of rebellion.
This is a false understanding of scripture.

When King Saul tried to kill David, David fled for his life.

 If you are bullied in church, you are entitled to leave the church. It may even be your duty to leave.

You cannot serve two masters. 

If you submit to a bully, you are submitting to a false spirit, because the Spirit of Jesus is never cruel, but kind and loving.

Supposing you are imprisoned by religious parents or a ruthlessly controlling husband. If you leave the church, you could become homeless or lose your children.  

You can be like Joseph in prison who cultivated a secret relationship with God.  

He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 (NIV)

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV)

It is good if you can talk back to bullies and it is not a sin but sometimes a soft answer is better.

In extreme cases, the strongest answer is a stubborn, determined silence, especially if you are expected to agree, express submission or apologise when you believe you are not in the wrong.

When Jesus was on trial for his life, He answered many aggressive questions and accusations with silence. His silence was the strongest answer.

 

Following Jesus with Childlike Trust

 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)  

 Moses was the light of his generation. After forty days alone with God, Moses came down from Mount Sinai a changed man. His face shone. 

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light ... Matthew 6:22 (ESV) 

When a woman is in love, her eyes shine. Her whole face lights up. If we love Jesus and we are living in His presence, we are like young people in love and the world can see it. This love is not based on achievement or good work. It comes from the revelation that God loves you with all His heart. 

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (ESV) 

CHILDLIKE TRUST
How does a child grow up? By experiencing his parents´ love and trusting in their guidance. 

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Mark 10:15

In a healthy family, the parents exercise sacrificial love and the children enjoy that love. It is in enjoying the love of God, that we shine like lights in a dark world. Nothing makes a person’s face like up like the enjoyment of loving because you know you are loved. GOD IS LOVE. 

If we focus on our own striving to keep God’s commandments, we lose the childlike enjoyment of God, which is our source of love, joy and power. 

But isn’t obedience also important? 

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. John 15:10 (NKJV) 

Disobedience is not childlike trust in a good Father. Jesus spoke about good works that draw unbelievers to His light. 

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? Matthew 25:37 (ESV) 

And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40 (ESV) 

When we heal the sick or carry a shopping basket for an old widow, kindness motivated by the love of Jesus shows the goodness of God to the world. 

The obedience that Jesus loves is not based on an obligation to a ministry. Jesus is not impressed when we strive to win approval, escape criticism or please leaders. 

And he said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Luke 22:25 

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matthew 23:8-9  

Preachers who intimidate and control are trying to make people good but they destroy the childlike love, joy and faith which is the real source of Christian goodness.

Fear is the opposite of faith. The fear of man (including church leaders) actually undermines trust in God.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 (ESV) 

Should preachers always be soft and comforting? Jesus was not. Godly ministers lead, teach and challenge but they do not control people with guilt, duty and intimidation. 

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 

Any ministry which is not leading you into an enjoyment of Matthew 11:28-30 is not for me and I hope not for you.
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Jesus Died to Set you Free

Jesus died to set you free.

Jesus died to save you from eternal death, to free you from despair and endless hopelessness, without God, without friendship, without comfort.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Rom 8:1 NIV

Jesus died to set you free from your twisted, selfish human nature.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Cor 5:17 NRSV

Jesus died to free you from loneliness.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NASB95

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 Jn 1:7 NLT

Jesus died to free you from sickness.

Jesus healed all who asked for healing.

 “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Mt 8:17 NRSV

Jesus died to free you from legalism.

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.
One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.
Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. Rom 14:1–6 NIV

Jesus died to free us from authoritarian leadership.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21 NIV

Submission is mutual. We must not submit to leaders to demand unconditional obedience to themselves.

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19–20 NIV

Here Paul teaches through the Holy Spirit that Christians have the right or even the duty to resist arrogant, authoritarian or cruel church leaders.  

God sacrificed Jesus to free women from the arrogant rule of men.

The extreme subordination of women was not God's intention in creation. After the fall of man, God sadly predicted that women would be enslaved by men because of sin.

To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Gen 3:16 NKJV

But in the new covenant, the woman is liberated.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 NKJV

It is wonderful that Jesus wants to give us freedom, but we do not receive freedom automatically.

There are people everywhere who do not believe in freedom, even in the church.

There are many people who do not want to allow you to be free.

But Paul says:

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 NASB95

No one Knows it all.

 Are you the kind of person who is always right?
What does the Bible say about this?

Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.
But whoever loves God is known by God. 1 Cor 8:2–3 NIV

The apostle John said of Jesus that he was full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:14 NIV

Truth is so important. Bible knowledge is essential because the Bible is God's Word.

But if Bible knowledge is your first priority, if you think your assignment from God is to always rebuke Christians who think differently, where is your humility? Where is your love for your neighbour?

John didn't say Jesus was filled with truth and grace. He said Jesus was filled with grace and truth.

Grace and truth, not truth and grace.

What did Paul say about Christians with different opinions?

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.
One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Rom 14:1–5 NIV

Perhaps you are a trained Bible teacher with excellent spiritual gifts. You have a calling as a pastor or church leader.

But be careful! Being opinionated is not a virtue. Know-it-all attitude does not come from God!

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Cor 13:2 NIV

Do you always know better?

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 1 Cor 13:9 NIV

Here Paul includes himself, confessing that he did not know it all.

But maybe you're not a trained church leader, but your pastor or an elder behaves like an infallible pope. You are not obliged to always give in.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 NIV

If the leaders in your church or denomination are dictatorial, if they demand unconditional submission, if they always put you down when you express your own thoughts, then just leave ...

But Paul himself could also be very harsh and dogmatic. He was particularly tough on legalism and lawlessness. Some thorny issues are important and others are not so important. We need the wisdom that only comes from God.

But if you experience bullying in a church, just leave ...

Paul himself admonished Christians not to give in to spiritual dictatorship.

In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:20 NIV

Christian Empathy or Cruel Judgement

There are Christians who have been horribly abused. There are women who attempt suicide because of domestic violence and cruel domination or who need weeks of care in a psychiatric clinic.

There are boys and girls who flee their family home because of abuse. Then they are often just as badly abused on the street, or sometimes worse.

I once spoke to a young man who was begging on the street in winter. I asked him where he sleeps. He said he sometimes spends the night with some client.

Many Christians try to help these people, but without God's love and wisdom our attempts are often in vain.

Tormented women are often told by pastors or counsellors that they must simply forgive. Of course we must forgive. Jesus taught that, but just forgive? Simply?

Does that mean she must stay with the husband who rapes and brutally beats her?

Jesus often spoke of forgiveness, but also of justice, compassion and practical help.
Harshly controlling women are often told to stay with their cruel tormentors because of wedding vows, even if the violence is against her small children!

For some abused women, Bible-based religion is like a torture chamber. They do not experience the love of God, but the Spanish Inquisition.

There are women who find prostitution more bearable than the captivity and slavery of a brutal marriage.

Some Christians refer to the strong teaching of Jesus against divorce. Jesus was addressing the brutal oppression of women, because rabbis allowed men to divorce their wives for any reason or no reason.

Jesus also said that the law of God should not be implemented to destroy people.

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mk 2:27 NIV

We could also say: Marriage was made for the good of man (and woman)  and not man (and woman) for marriage.

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?

In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Mk 2:25–26 NIV

The priest in the Old Testament defied God's law concerning holy bread, so he could help extremely hungry people, and Jesus judged the priest's actions as righteous.

Some Christians are harshly judgemental, as the pharisees were in the Bible, but there are also many Christians who are wonderfully compassionate, as Jesus was in the Gospels.

I know Christian women who visit brothels who share the love of God with genuine kindness. Teen Challenge is an international ministry that restores drug addicts with Christian love.

Many Christians provide practical help to homeless people who are often struggling to survive on the streets due to abuse or mental illness. I thank God for this help. I am personally acquainted with Christian women who used to be homeless.

I am convinced that our attitude towards broken marriages, runaway children, drug abuse and prostitution should not be one of moral condemnation, but of empathy and compassion.

No one Loves like Jesus

 In the Bible we see how some very strictly religious Jews were anxious to obey all of God's commandments.

It is curious that Jesus was cruelly persecuted and his most fierce opponents were strictly religious Jews.

Jesus agreed in some ways with these religious men that we must all obey God's commandments.

But Jesus had a very different view of God's commandments. For the strictly religious people, sin could be avoided altogether by always following a list of rules.

Jesus taught that you could by no means be sinless with this view.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. Mt 23:25–26 NRSV

Jesus taught that the root of sin is not in external actions, but in our soul or heart.

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Mt 15:18–20 NIV

If you not only always speak only the truth and never lie, if you always proclaim God's truth and always do so with wisdom, love and compassion, then you are righteous.

But if you boast about your own virtue and criticise other Christians critically and without compassion, then you expose yourself as a self-righteous sinner.

Only Jesus was without sin and no one else. He is our role model.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Mt 14:14 NIV

How should we understand Jesus' deep compassion? In the original Greek text, the word is ``splagchnisthḗsomai‘’.

What does that mean?

The suffering of the sick aroused such compassion in Jesus that it turned his stomach.

If we want to understand what God's justice means, we should recognise that God's love must determine and shape our character.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 Jn 4:8 NIV

If you think you have no sin, you must ask yourself if you love like Jesus.

“...‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
…. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:29–31 NIV

No one loves like Jesus. That is why we all need God's grace and forgiveness every day.

Jesus can be your Therapist

 Many pious Muslims live under the storm clouds of fear. They never know whether their submission will be enough to save them from the flames of hell.

Some compare themselves to not-so-virtuous nominal Christians and they feel proud and superior.

Others compare themselves to extremely religious Muslims and they judge themselves as failures.

Then they can become extremely fanatical because they can never be sure whether their religious virtue is enough to save them from hell.

Unfortunately, there are also some Christians who live in such a religious no-man's land.

There are Christians who are trapped in pornography addiction. They feel helpless to escape from slavery and are full of fear of God's judgement.

There are other Christians who believe in Jesus, but they have never realised that they can only receive their salvation as a gift from God. They live just like Muslims, with the belief that they must earn their salvation.

If you think like that, you can become very strictly religious and look down on Christians who are not so strictly virtuous. That's exactly how the Pharisees were.

Or you can judge yourself as inferior because you fail again and again.

If you are addicted to porn or gambling, you urgently need help, from God but also from understanding people.

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Jas 5:16 NRSV

Many Christians need deliverance from demons and many need good counselling or a good therapist.

Jesus did not come to burden us with guilt complexes. On the contrary.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Jn 10:10 NRSV

Such a life is only possible in close fellowship with God. God is love. Only those who experience God's love on a daily basis have access to this abundant life.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

How do these morbid religious attitudes arise, whereby legalism, pride or guilt complexes keep us away from the love of God?

Legalistic religion, tradition, inflexible or manipulative parents or pastors, fastidious moralistic culture.

Sin, perversion, abuse, shame.

I know Christians who were molested or abused as children. That can lead to all kinds of feelings and thoughts, all kinds of wrong turns in life, so that we are full of shame.

If you can't get rid of wrong thoughts and feelings, you must know that Jesus loves you unconditionally. Let Jesus be your therapist. He wants to help you and not judge you.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

Help for Broken Hearts

 Only Jesus understands the wounds in your soul. Only God can heal your heart. Jesus was despised as a child and subjected to the mockery of his neighbours because he was conceived before his parents' wedding.

Did Mary and Joseph explain to everyone that God was the real father of their son? Imagine if someone said something like that. Today they might end up in a mental hospital.

When the shepherds visited the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem, they worshipped God's Son. For Mary, this was a confirmation of the revelation given to her by God, but she did not share her thoughts with others, except perhaps Joseph.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Lk 2:19 NIV

Are you often misunderstood? From an early age, Jesus was misunderstood and disregarded. You need help, but please be careful. Not everyone can understand you or help you.

Maybe you go to a devout Bible believing church. They teach that the psychology of emotional disorders is all worldly heresy. The cause of all your problems is simply your sin.

Is that true? Jesus must have suffered a lot even though he had no sin.

Our hurts and disorders can come from our own sins, but they can also often come from abuse you have experienced, that is, from the sins of others, sins against you.

None of us is without sin. Even the Christians who want to advise you.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:8–9 NRSV

But it is useless to confess and change only our outward actions if our offences come from a depraved or wounded soul.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Gal 6:1 NIV

Anyone who rebukes someone with gentleness must understand that only God can heal a wounded soul. Only God can heal a corrupt heart.

Jesus had difficult problems with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were legalistic. They focused on outward behaviour instead of understanding that God cares about our heart and soul first.

Many strict Christians today make similar mistakes. They torment weak Christians with harsh criticism or they torment themselves with guilt complexes.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Mt 23:25–26 NIV

If you need counselling or therapy and your church only talks about rules and Bible texts, you must seek help elsewhere.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 NIV

The Leading of the Holy Spirit

 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Cor 3:5 NIV

It is very dangerous to be led by impressions or feelings without having firm grounding in biblical truth. All kinds of deceptions can lead to shipwreck. So many sects and false religions have arisen because of this.

Our foundation is God and his truth. Without the Bible, we are groping around in the dark.

Jesus himself said:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Mk 13:31 NIV

We may be guided by our own thoughts, but we must submit to God's truth, and this truth is found in God's Word.

Paul wrote the above verse. He had a problem. He knew the Old Testament by heart. Contact with non-Jews was strictly forbidden in God's law. A Jew was not allowed to eat with non-Jews.

But Jesus had given the command:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  

and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mt 28:19–20 NRSV

How was Paul to fulfil this commandment? Jesus lived as a Jew and so did his disciples, but many of the newly converted Christians were not Jews. Many were slaves who always had to obey their unbelieving masters.

If their masters ordered them to work every day, they were not allowed to observe a holy day. A man was allowed to simply execute his slave for disobedience.

Paul had to be guided by the Holy Spirit. For Paul, God's law was still holy. In his letters we find commands against idolatry, theft, murder, adultery, etc. That is, the Ten Commandments, but if we research Paul's writings in detail, we find only nine commandments. The commandment to keep the Sabbath is missing.

We must hold fast to God's Word, but like Paul, let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Is a Christian allowed to visit a pub or a brothel? If we look in the Bible for fixed laws, perhaps we can make a rule against it. But there are Christians who do mission work in pubs.

But there are Christians who do mission work in pubs or brothels and win people for Jesus. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. For many Christians, such places are terribly dangerous, but there are some Christians who, like Jesus, have the grace to be a friend of sinners.

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor 3:6 NIV

We must never deviate from the truth in the Bible, but we must also, like Paul, be led by the Spirit of God.

We must read the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we read with our own minds.

We can then become humanistic theologians or legalistic Pharisees.

If we understand the New Testament as an inflexible law book, without the guidance of God, we go wrong.

Let go of old thinking.

 Jesus has commissioned us as believers to help people who are suffering. Through God's love in our hearts, we must be guides so that all those around us find the way to Jesus.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Mt 28:19 NIV

A Christian wants to serve Jesus and be a missionary, reaching out to people in the street. He is not an ordained pastor, but he has meetings at home.

People from the street with troubled lives are converted.

They want to be baptised. The home group leader thinks a pastor should baptise and he seeks help from pastors. Every pastor will gladly baptise a new Christian if he joins his church, but the new Christians only want to stay in the house group.

Then the house group leader makes the decision to baptise the new Christians himself.
Then all hell breaks loose. All the Christians in the neighbourhood avoid the house group missionary. Nobody welcomes him.

But please. Where can you find a text in the Bible that only authorises ordained pastors to baptise Christians?

There must be order! But whose order?

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” Lk 9:49–50 NIV

I believe a powerful worldwide revival is coming. The established churches and even the non-denominational churches will not be able to cope with the multitude of newly converted Christians.

We need to get rid of our old limited ways of thinking so that the Holy Spirit can accomplish the work of God in the end times.

Only Jesus is Faultless

 Who is absolutely faultless? Only Jesus.

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. Jas 3:2 NIV

Who has never spoken a wrong word? Only Jesus.
Who wrote this truth in the Bible? James, the half-brother of Jesus, a son of Mary and Joseph. He knew that he was a flawed human being. He was not a believer before Jesus' resurrection.

Sometime after the resurrection of his half-brother, he turned back and became a disciple. He then became the church leader of the new church in Jerusalem.

God gave him the privilege of writing a book in the New Testament, not because of his natural kinship with Jesus, but because God called and chose him to do so.

James became a man of outstanding character. When such a man says that we all often make mistakes, that Peter, John and he himself also often made mistakes, then we never have to pretend to always be right as a father, mother, pastor or manager.

As a parent, church leader or manager, we never have to expect flawless perfection.
If I am flawed, then my children are flawed.
If I am flawed as a preacher, then my listeners are also flawed.

Should I accept my mistakes lightly? Should I ignore or gloss over my sins? No.
But fanatical perfectionism is also a trap.

I know a young Christian woman who is wonderfully gifted. She wrote an excellent textbook on spiritual gifts, but she didn't want to publish the book because it wasn't completely flawless in her eyes.

If we think like that, we will only read the Bible, and maybe not even the Bible, because there is no perfect translation.

I know a manager who always criticised his employees very harshly. Once he held a staff meeting and criticised himself for not finishing the meeting on time. He was two minutes late.

There are young teachers who cannot exercise authority because they only think about their own mistakes.

There are managers and preachers who always look down on their subordinates or listeners and always act as if they are always right. That is cruel and ridiculous.

There are churches where everything is tolerated. Where sin is not taken seriously, can you find God's blessing?  

But there are also churches where perfectionism has led to cruel legalism.

Holiness is essential, but if you are not allowed to make mistakes, the love of God is blocked and suffocated.

Set Free from False Submission

 There are Christians who think they must fulfil all expectations and instructions from their family, their church and their boss at work, as if everyone around them were an officer in God's army.

When Jesus preached and ministered in his earthly life, he saw how so many Jews had to carry heavy burdens.

God had given the Jews more than 600 laws and rules in the Old Testament. It was almost impossible for a flawed human being to obey everything perfectly. Only the sinless Son of God was able to do this.

But for the Jews in those generations it was even worse. The rabbis and Pharisees had laid down countless additional rules.

For example, it was forbidden to work on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees had invented detailed rules whereby it was forbidden to minister to the sick through prayer on the Sabbath.

Jesus confronted the religious leaders directly by healing the sick on the Sabbath, in public services. There are still some Christians who are indignant when miraculous healings take place in church services.

The rabbis also required women to be extremely submissive, just like many strict Christian fundamentalists today.

Then came the Roman occupation. A Roman soldier was allowed to order a Jew to carry his luggage. If Jews resisted the Roman occupation, they were often crucified.
Most Jews were heavily burdened and many were traumatised.

Jesus did not abolish the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament by any means, but he wanted to open the way so that everyone could come directly to God, so that everyone would receive God's loving help.

One woman shared her story on Facebook. She was mercilessly harassed by her husband, but in her church she was told to just obey, submit, fast and pray.

She obeyed for years until she could bear no more. She was just about to kill herself when her mobile phone rang. God had moved a friend to save her.

She could finally understand that Jesus did not want to enslave her, but to save and free her.
She left her husband and her church and now lives as a liberated Christian woman. 

Jesus has a simple solution to our problems.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mt 11:28–30 NASB95

Jesus does not mean that we should live our lives like lazy people in a rocking chair without any problems, but Jesus wants to accompany you as a friend in the midst of your problems.

There may be some in your church, family or workplace who want to dominate or manipulate you, but Jesus wants your trust so that you can follow his loving guidance.

Many of us are enslaved to a spirit of submission that is not from God, the spirit of false submission.

God Feels your Grief

Who should expect comfort from God? Can we expect God's comfort only when we grieve over sin? When your beloved pet dies, do you think God is not interested in your grief? Jesus just loves you.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted! Matthew 5:4

Who can expect comfort from God?

According to some commentaries, this only applies to people who grieve over their sins and want to do repent, or to Christians who grieve in a close relationship with Jesus because of sins in the world.

It is undoubtedly true that God forgives and comforts us when we hate our sins and want to repent.

It is also true that Jesus weeps over the sins in the world. When we weep in close communion with him, we experience the consolation of his tender love.

But should we only expect God's consolation when we mourn over sin?

When your child or sister dies, are you happy? No. You are devastated. It has nothing to do with sin, but God is love. He loves you deeply and He wants to comfort you.

When your beloved dog dies, do you think your grief is not important to God?

I appreciate good Bible commentaries. I have been an avid student of the Bible for years.

But beware of pious teaching that focuses on sin from a narrow religious point of view.

This religious mindset too often leads to a critical attitude towards neighbours and colleagues.

With a narrow focus on virtue and sin, you can become unwittingly judgmental, like the Pharisees in the Bible.

This way of thinking also often leads to loveless religiosity in congregations and painful guilt complexes in Christians who are afraid of offending God.

Meanwhile, a crowd of thousands had gathered so that they were treading on each other's feet. Then he began, saying first to his disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Lk 12:1

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147,3

Whatever your reason for suffering, Jesus wants to comfort you. If you choose to believe in His love and trust Him, you will experience His comforting love.

Am I saying that your sin is not an issue for Jesus?

God forbid! Jesus died to take the punishment for our sin. Jesus feels your pain; He loves you unconditionally just as you are, but He not only wants to forgive your sins completely, He wants to set you free from them.

He wants to help you live a whole new life and enjoy His loving friendship.

Danger of Legalism

 There are Christians who sincerely strive to remove all sin from their lives.

There are other Christians who are not overly concerned about sin.

• There are Christians who consider sex before marriage normal.

• There are Christians who are hooked on pornography.

• There are Christians who are lazy in their jobs and often tell lies.

Who is right? Surely the zealous saints must be on the right track,

But it's not only the careless sinners who cause problems for God. Some who strive to live without any sin are true saints, such as the apostle Paul or John Wesley.

But there is also a great danger in perfectionism. 

Those who think they can live completely without sin do not understand God and do not understand themselves.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8–9 ESV

Those who truly love Jesus are on the path of holiness and love, but we have not reached our final destination. We are all on a journey.

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, Philippians 3:12–13 NLT

Paul sometimes had to correct careless sinners in the church, but he did not look down on anyone. He knew that he himself was on a journey.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 ESV

• Jesus is the way. We are on a journey.

• Jesus is the truth. We are all on a learning curve

• Jesus is the life. Only his life is flawless.

Perfectionism often leads to legalism. Heavenly perfection is impossible here on earth. 

If we do not understand this, we can focus on our outward behaviour, where we can at least appear to be perfect, but God is not so easily fooled. He looks at our secret thoughts.

Jesus had no stomach for such a religious attitude.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Matthew 23:25–26 ESV

I know a church where the leaders controlled people with strict rules.

A young man was not allowed to sit with his girlfriend until they were married.

A young man was converted in this church, but six months after that he was expelled from membership because he was still smoking cigarettes.

In terms of discipline in the church, Paul is our role model.

A man in Corinth had to be expelled from the church because he was in a sexual relationship with his stepmother and refused to stop.

On the other hand, there were some men in the church who were seeing prostitutes. Paul criticised them sharply, but they were not to be cast out. Hopefully they would repent.

We are all on the way. The main thing is to allow Jesus to purify us inwardly and lead us in His way.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20 NLT

Grace before Law

 God has given us a conscience to warn us against sin. Without a conscience, we are lost in darkness.

But without the truth in the Bible, our conscience can be twisted by our culture. There are religious people who murder their daughters because they have supposedly sinned. A twisted conscience can even justify murder.

God gave us his laws because our conscience needs to be trained.

God wanted to teach us that we should not marry our close relatives. That's what we read in the Torah, the laws that Moses received from God.

But before the law came God's grace.

Abraham married his half-sister, but God blessed her.

Moses' parents were close relatives.

Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. Exodus 6:20 NIV84

Before the law, this was not a sin. Before the law, we see the grace of God.

When missionaries went around the world, they found married couples who were brother and sister. Sometimes these couples were forced to annul their marriage.

Sarah was the half-sister of Abraham. Were the missionaries right?

Of course everyone should learn to obey God's rules about marriage, but should already established marriages be broken up? That is another question.

God's commandments are a light that enables us to see God's justice.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 NIV84

On the other hand we can try to obey God's Word, but fail again and again. We need not only God's written word, but also an open heart to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NIV84

I was once gripped by resentment.

I used to be in a church where the pastor was very authoritarian over everything and everyone. He had tried to solve problems in my family, but he had been very bossy and manipulative.

I felt helpless and angry because the pastor had disrespectfully controlled me and my family.

I played a kind of video drama in my imagination, in which I firmly contradicted the pastor.

This was repeated over and over again. Each time I repented because I knew I had to forgive.

But my repeated prayers of confession did not change anything. My wounded feelings were not healed.

Finally, I talked openly to God.

"Dear God. You see all my thoughts. What do you think about it?"

Immediately the answer from God came to my mind.

"You cannot forgive this man because you have not forgiven yourself. You should have resisted then, and you blame yourself for your weak submission."

I saw immediately that God was on my side. I forgave myself and I felt truly liberated.  

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Galatians 5:1 NLT