Who's On First?

 I think it is safe to say all of us have either attended, watched, or personally participated in some type of baseball competition in our lives. From our children in pee-wee leagues to major league baseball most of us are familiar with the basics of the game. Even if you are not familiar with some of the jargon like backdoor slider, cutter, in the hole, or meatball pitch, you know at the very least, whomever of the two opposing teams scores the most runs, wins the game! And this, in many cases, is enough knowledge to get you by. Choosing to follow the crowd like standing when others stand, cheering when others cheer, and screaming in unison at the umpire, are enough to give the impression you know the game quite well even if you don't. Keep this thought in mind as you advance through this blog. Now, let's look at a few basic facts about the game of baseball. 

 

There are two teams that take the field.

Each wants victory. 

Each uses power players.

Each wants to win the hearts of their fans. 

Now let's look at the fans. 

Every die-hard baseball fan is devoted. 

Each believes their team is best. 

Each is faithful to support their choice all season long. 

With these simple facts, we can metaphorically compare the game of baseball with two opposing "spiritual" teams: Team JESUS and team Satan. 

Each team has powerful players. Each team has fans. Each team operates on a field. In a metaphorical sense, the "field" is the world. So each team operates in the world. Even if you are not a baseball fan, you know during a game there are not three teams on the field playing, a dozen teams playing, or hundreds of teams playing. There are only two teams. Today, I'm pointing out there are only one of two teams in the spiritual league which you can support: 

1.Team Jesus hails from heaven.

2.Team Satan hails from Hades. 

These two opponents are not playing for runs or a pendant, they are playing for souls. In my analogy today, it is the bottom of the final ninth inning! Following the rules of their game, you must choose which side you will be on. You can only wear one jersey and remain faithful only to one of those teams.

Here are some strategies for these two "spiritual" teams. Remember now, I am speaking metaphorically. Team Satan utilizes pitchers who can change speeds. His team uses deceptive sliders making you look mighty foolish when taking the bait by swinging at empty air and coming up empty-handed. All his pitches are to fool you and trick you. Satan also throws many sneaky curves, twisting the Word of God ever so slightly which can mislead and confuse you so that you don't know what is coming at you or how to deal with it. Is it a true straight pitch or did he throw you a curve? His ultimate goal is to strike you out and make you ineffective! He wants you benched, helpless, out of the game; lost. What does Team Jesus have in His arsenal? Blood, sweat, and tears! Jesus loves His team so much He actually goes to bat for you so there will be no strikeouts! He utilizes His characteristics to bring you safely to home plate! 

Let's see how the game goes between Team Jesus and team Satan. 

 

Team Jesus is at-bat. The score is tied zero to zero in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. It's do- or- die and it's your turn to bat. However, Jesus waves to His batter named Love to step up and pinch-hit for you. Love swings at the first pitch and hits a single because Love never fails. The next batter Jesus calls up is named Faith who also hits a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up is named Godly Wisdom. Satan winds up and throws the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looks it over and lets it pass because Godly Wisdom does not swing at the stuff Satan throws. Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom allows them to pass by and takes a walk to first base because Godly Wisdom can discern Satan's schemes.  Now the bases are loaded thanks to faith, love, and wisdom. Jesus is now going to use His star player. Up to the plate steps Grace! Satan's team takes one look at Grace and doesn't believe Grace looks like he holds much power so Team Satan relaxes when they see Grace approach the plate. Laughing in the face of Grace team Satan believes they will get the strike-out and have this game in the bag. 

Satan winds up and fires his first pitch. Another deceptive slider! To the shock of the crowd, Grace hits the ball harder than anyone has ever seen. Even so, Satan is not worried. His center fielder, the spirit of Fear, seldom lets few ever get by him. He goes up for the ball but it goes right through his glove like a flaming sword and hits him on the head sending him crashing to the ground! The ball then continues over the fence with ease for a home run!! The Lord's team has the victory!  Conclusion? Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom could not win the game by themselves. Why?? Metaphorically speaking, if Love, Faith, and Wisdom alone could have won the game then we might think we could earn salvation all by ourselves! The truth is, Love, Faith, and Wisdom will get you on base but only God's Grace can get you home!  

 

One final thought. The goal of both Baseball and Christianity is to get home safely but you have to know and follow the rules of the game to know the way. You simply cannot go along with the crowd, listening to what someone else tells us about God, His Word, heaven, or the salvation message and expect to know God's rules of the game. We face a mighty opponent, one that will throw you curves leading to loss of meaning, mixed information, and misinterpretation of scripture!  If you want to get home safely, you have to let Jesus pinch hit for you. Only His Grace will lead you home. 

Until He Comes,

-Pat-

Do Not Tempt The Lord Your God

 I was listening to the fourth chapter of Matthew on my audio Bible the other day and when I got to verse 4,5,6 the orator spoke these words, "Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." 

I immediately realized the same words spoken by Satan in Matthew 4 are spoken by David in Psalm 91: "If I make the LORD my refuge, if I make the Most-High my shelter, no evil will conquer me; and no plague will come near my home. For He will order his angels to protect me wherever I go! They will hold me up with their hands so I won’t even dash my foot against a stone."  How interesting I thought! Satan was quoting a verse to Jesus that had been written about 400 years earlier and recorded by David. (By the way, Satan knows and can quote scripture!).

David's 91st Psalm assures those who dwell in the shelter of the Most-High (the followers of Jesus) will be protected by God's order to the angels. Satan was "tempting" (trying) Jesus in Matthew's verse. How? By using scripture to entice Him to throw Himself off the top of the temple and therefore placing Jesus in a dangerous physical situation. Satan was basically jeering Jesus to prove The Word of GOD. Today we might describe that as Satan mockingly saying, "put up or shut up." Is David's Psalm 91 true? Is Matthew Chapter 4 true? Does God really order His angels to protect His own in every threatening or dangerous situation? God can and will protect us according to His will, but we are not to put the Lord to the test. We are to heed the words, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Just as Jesus refused to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and just as Daniel did not go lion-hunting, so are we not to intentionally seek out situations that require God’s miraculous intervention. What do I mean? As an example, some Christians believe they can walk carelessly among snakes and not get bit. They misunderstand the application of the verse, “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name, they will . . . take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.” To test God’s presence and power by purposely placing oneself in an unsafe situation is expressly forbidden in Scripture. Daniel 6:22 shows us how God delivered Daniel from the mouths of Lions. Daniel did not seek out the lions to prove God's ability to save him, but when he found himself surrounded by them through no fault of his own, he found God was there. Also, Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into a fiery furnace by others. Jesus came and stood in the midst of the flames preserving their lives! We trust God in dangerous situations but we should never purposely seek out danger and put God on display seeking a miracle.

We read in Acts 28:3-5 how Paul was never harmed by a snake bite, “Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. . . . But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.” Notice, Paul was not seeking out snakes to handle so as to prove Psalm 91 to be true. He was handling firewood and was bitten by a snake against his wishes. God intervened and miraculously protected Paul from the effects of the snake bite. Jesus’ words in Mark 16:17–18 gave His apostles the assurance that, as they faithfully served God in the spread of the gospel, He would protect them from anything that crossed their paths. Paul's "snake incident" was used as a testimony of God's faithfulness, not as a braggadocios encounter. Look what happened in verse 6, "Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him (Paul), they changed their minds and said that he was a god." There are churches today that literally practice handling poisonous vipers and have special services in which people actually handle venomous snakes, supposedly giving evidence that the church members are true believers who are empowered and protected by God. These types of incidents tempt God to perform, trying the validity of His Word! There is nothing wrong in trusting God for healing and for help, but we shouldn't purposely place ourselves in dangerous situations and then proclaim, "Okay God, now protect me."  Just as Jesus told Satan, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," it is utter foolishness to assume if you place yourself purposely in harm's way that the verses from Psalm 91 apply to you. Trying to force God’s hand by requiring that He perform an obvious miracle is more than foolish; it is sinful. 

If we assume, despite the evidence to the contrary, that Mark 16:17–18 does belong in Scripture, does it teach that we should be handling snakes in church? Absolutely not. Mark 16:17–18 contains no imperatives. The verse does not say, “Go out and handle snakes”; it says, “They will pick up/or take up snakes with their hands.” When danger approaches, we are able through the power of the Spirit to face and defeat dangerous foes. I ask, "Why not drink a vial of strychnine or arsenic and “prove” one’s faith that way? Why stop with the snakes?" See how purposely aligning yourself with physical danger is testing and basically mocking God to prove His Word? I recall another situation where Jesus was mocked to prove Himself found in Matthew 27:40. People passing by the crucifixion cross wagged their heads and yelled out at Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." They were mocking Jesus and testing Him to prove Himself. If you read 1 Corinthians 10:9 NIV it clearly states my point, "We should not test Christ, as some of them did-and were killed by snakes." We need to use wisdom and discernment when reading the Word of God. We are definitely supposed to trust God when we find ourselves in every situation that presents itself, not when we purposely place ourselves there to test God (Luke 4:12 NIV). God can and will protect us according to His will as we are serving Him. But we are not to put the Lord to the test. Just as Jesus refused to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, just as Daniel did not go lion-hunting, nor did Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego enter a furnace to test God, so too are we not to intentionally seek out situations that require God’s miraculous intervention.

Until He comes,

-Pat-