In Acts 16, Paul arrives in the city of Philippi. Not long after his initial contact with Lydia, he and his companions were on their way to prayer when they were confronted by a slave girl who was demon-possessed. Unlike the demon possessions in the gospels where the victims were unfit for society or stricken with physical ailments, this girl had the ability to foretell the future … kind of. But she was able to bring in a handsome profit for her owners. In verse 17, she loudly proclaimed, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

She was one hundred percent correct.

Paul and his friends were absolutely servants of the Most High God. Most High God was a regularly used Old Testament name for God. And the whole reason that they were in Philippi was to preach the gospel, the way of salvation. She nailed them. So why was Paul so irritated with her?

It was the demon talking, not the girl.

But the demon was telling the truth. Isn’t that a good thing?

Actually, it presents several problems which may give us some insight as we carry out the gospel.

Since the demon was saying the same kinds of things Paul was saying, the hearers would have a hard time seeing the difference between the occultism the girl and her masters were promoting and the life-transforming gospel Paul preached. The logical conclusion then is if the words were the same, then it really didn’t matter which one you followed, right? It’s the “all religions are the same” argument that we still hear today. That argument is patently false. Christ alone saves us by His atoning death as a result of His great grace, mercy, and love.

Second, Paul refused to accept the “help” of demons when it came to spreading the message of Christ. Granted, Romans and Greeks put a lot of stock in divination and having their message “certified” might have opened doors for Paul and his team. However, he was determined to seize the opportunities God presented him and to walk through the doors the Holy Spirit opened. He had enough discernment and faith NOT to partner with those who would ultimately undermine the gospel, no matter what kind of promotional advantage they offered. Even when it resulted in a riot, arrest, and jail. We, too, have to be wise and discerning as we carry out the Commission Jesus gave us.

Finally, no matter what the girl was saying, the reality was that she was in bondage, not to her owners, but to the demon that controlled her. Her “testimony” was empty and meaningless. Paul knew that until she was free of the demon and her heart changed, it didn’t matter that her words were true. We encounter people all the time who can use all the right “church-y” words but their hearts and lives show no evidence of transformation. We like Paul need to recognize what the root problem is. While we may not be able to command the chains to fall away, we can pray to the One who can.

So what can we learn from Paul’s encounter with a demon-possessed girl in Philippi?

The gospel stands alone among all other religious systems and messages.
In carrying out the gospel, make sure the only spirit helping is the Holy Spirit.
What’s in the heart matters, not the words.

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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Stress, anxiety, and worry are all inescapable facts of life. But you might have already guessed, stress is complex, and it can actually benefit us. In fact, we’ll look at good stress (eustress) recognizing distress (bad stress) and Biblical strategies for dealing with all of it.

Understanding Eustress

Eustress is the positive stress that challenges us and helps us grow. For example, you may challenge yourself to run a half marathon and commit to the training. Or you may decide you want to learn Spanish, so you take on the challenge of the class, learning the vocabulary, and passing the tests.

Put in the framework of your Christian life, you make take a step of faith and agree to teach or lead a small group. You may go through a crisis like a job loss that forces reliance on God, and you see that He proves faithful to His word.

All of these things cause varying degrees of stress and anxiety. There may be frustration and even thoughts of giving up. However, sticking with it, accomplishing the goal or looking back, we can see how God was working and how we’ve grown as a result of the challenge.

This is the kind of stress James has in mind when he said:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Notice all the benefits of getting through the eustress: Steadfastness, perfection (that means maturity, more that being perfect), completeness, lacking nothing. In other words, you become more unshakeable in you faith and your commitment to Jesus Christ. You are matured, experienced, wise. You are no longer a novice. Admittedly that’s a good feeling. Eustress is worth it.

Recognizing Distress

Distress, on the other hand, is the negative stress that can weigh us down and lead to anxiety and worry. It’s the type we feel where we’re afraid of failure, or when there’s family tension.

In your Christian life, it may show us as questioning God’s promises, wondering when (or if) He’s going to intervene. It may include things like watching the evening news and coming away with lingering concern about the way the world is going.

The key distinguishing factor with distress is that it lingers and it has negative impacts. If it’s on your mind constantly, if you lose sleep, if you recognize that you’re short-tempered and cynical, you may be feeling distress.

Scripture tells us that kind of stress is hard on us.

Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad. Proverbs 12:25

The verse has the idea of weighing the heart down with burdens. If you’ve experienced that kind of stress, you can identify with the heaviness that comes with it. But this verse also hints at the solution.

Balancing and Managing Stress

If you are feeling stress, take some time to figure out if it’s eustress or distress. If it’s the good kind you can agree with Paul

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,” 1 Timothy 1:12

The good stress is there because God counted you faithful. He’s guiding you into a deeper relationship with Him. Keep your eyes on Him and embrace the challenge.

But if it’s bad stress, we can lean on some other words from Paul. Philippians 4:6 instructs us to rely on prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Prayer includes any and all communication with God. Supplications are the requests we make and petitions we submit. Thanksgiving underscores the attitude we bring. It is an attitude of humility and dependence, recognizing the need for God to intervene.

This is key advice because we have a natural tendency to withdraw when threatened. We need the opposite. We need to keep the communication lines open with God. Further, 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us that God cares about us and about the concerns we have. One of my favorite Scriptures in times of distress is Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

Don’t be afraid.
God is with you, not watching from a distance.
Don’t be dismayed. There is hope.
God says, “I am your God.” That is amazing. Think about that one for a minute.
He will strengthen you.
He will help you.
He will uphold you. That means He will give you the support and strength to stand.
His righteous right hand means He will bring His moral authority into the situation.

Stress is real. It is hard, but as believers, we don’t have to face it alone. Good stress, eustress helps us grow. Bad stress drives us to God. The key is not to let stress drive us to despair.

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He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. Daniel 2:22

According to a study published in 2017, the average person is holding on to at least thirteen secrets, five of which they’ve never told another living soul. These aren’t what-I-got-you-for-Christmas kind of secrets, either. They are heavy, burdensome secrets like lies told, trusts violated, marriage vows broken, and crimes committed ranging from theft to assault. Thirteen of them.

We expend tremendous mental energy to keep them hidden, only to have the memory and regret assault us in our quietest, private moments. The guilt and shame associated with the secrets come out as anger and irritability. Secret-keepers can become bullies or manipulators, protecting the secret at all costs. Sometimes, the cost is loss of relationships. Sometimes, it’s loss of health. Occasionally, tragically, secret-keepers have taken their own lives rather than face exposure.

We have lived in fear of exposure of our secrets and our sins since Eden. But we don’t have to.

We are invited and encouraged to bring those secrets to Christ. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus called for all who were burdened to come to Him for rest, whether burdened by the standards of the Law or burdened by failure – even secret failure – to live up to it. Peter echoes that in 1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Letting go of our secrets requires humility. We have to own our secrets and the failures behind them. Primarily I mean owning them before God. (There are undoubtedly times when confession to others is in order, but public humiliation is rarely helpful.) When we do, God does an amazing thing — He covers them. He doesn’t hide them again under layers of shame, but He covers them with His love and His righteousness. Theologically, this is called atonement. God acted it out when He covered Adam and Eve with animal skins. He gave it to Israel in an object lesson when the broken law tablets in the ark were covered with the blood of the sacrifice. He completed the covering when Christ died and atoned for our sins.

Letting go of our secrets requires trusting God. We have to trust that He will keep His promise to cover the secrets, (He will) and that He won’t cast us out when we ask. (He won’t). Romans 10:11 and John 6:37 assure us. God knows all of our deep, dark secrets, and He has taken action to deal with them, beginning with Adam and Eve and continuing to the present day.

Letting go of our secrets requires letting go. It sounds obvious, but sometimes this is the hardest part. We have long memories and much more experience with the conditional, incomplete forgiveness and acceptance that others offer, rather than the total atonement God gives us. In Isaiah 54:4, God promises He won’t shame us again. For those of us who have carried secrets as an integral part of our selves, it takes time to grasp that God has taken them, and we no longer have to carry the burden for ourselves. It can be a hard habit to break. Added to that, one of Satan’s lines of attack is to try and convince us that we still deserve our shame.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we have a Great High Priest as our advocate, and as a result, we can boldly and confidently approach God’s throne to obtain (not just ask for, but receive) grace and mercy when we need it. (Hebrews 4:14-16) Even … and especially, when it comes to dealing with our secrets.

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If you go shopping this weekend, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any remnants of Easter. Oh, maybe a few picked-over decorations or some leftover candy in a bargain bin somewhere, but summer’s coming, and we have to make way for lawn mowers and grills and lounge chairs and flags.

However, I’d guess if you go to church this weekend, you won’t have it any easier. Easter is over, and we, for the most part, are over it.

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33

It wasn’t that way in the beginning, though. If you read the first few chapters in the book of Acts, you’ll find that the Resurrection was the central focus of the believers’ faith. It changed everything for them. Approaching God was no longer about rituals and routines. It was a relationship, vibrant and bold, full of life and joy and purpose. Every illusion of the power that death or hardship had over them was shattered, replaced by the irrepressible reality that Jesus was alive and they, too, would live forever. Their lifestyle was culture-changing. Their faith was contagious. Their devotion was unwavering.

I, on the other hand, tend to live my life navigating from one crisis to the next. I tend to view the Resurrection as an event rather than a reality. I’m more likely to water it down than talk it up. I focus more on what people will think of me than what Jesus did for me. I rely more on ‘I hope so’, than on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m much more concerned about the years I have on this earth than the eternity someone else will have apart from God.

Instead, I need to adopt the lifestyle and mindset of the first century. Paul sums it up in Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Dead to self. Alive to Christ.

Finally, I need to remember no matter what happens today, tomorrow, or next week, the Resurrection proves that it is God who has the last word.

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

The post Beyond Easter appeared first on Paula Wiseman.

On a night not unlike this one, the Son of God, God Incarnate had one last meal with the men He had taught and trained for the previous three years. Before the meal, He gave them one final object lesson. After countless other meals, after countless other opportunities, He chose this moment for this object lesson. He washed their feet. Once.

Peter protested. Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” (John 13:7)

Certainly, it was a lesson in humility and service, and the rest of the conversation in the upper room focused on the love the followers should exhibit for each other, but it was more than that.

The Teacher took on the role of the lowest household servant, not because He had to, but because He chose to.
The Anointed One took on flesh and became a man, not because He had to, but because He chose to.

It was an act of pure grace. Imagine being in the room, realizing what Jesus intended to do. Flushing with shame because it never occurred to you to wash your own feet, much less anyone else’s. Jesus may have started with James the son of Alphaeus or John, who were likely the youngest of the disciples. Some speculate He began with Judas. As He worked His way around the room, the awkward silence was broken up by only the water dripping back into the basin. The recipients of this gift became noticeably more uncomfortable. As Jesus worked, the towel became more and more soiled.

Again Peter protested. Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” (John 13:8)

If this was just about hygiene or manners, that’s an inexplicably harsh penalty. However, for months, Jesus had been preparing these men for His death. Now He was illustrating the purpose, the necessity of His death. Within hours, Jesus was going to cross, not because He had to, but because He chose to. He would take not just the day’s road dirt making us fit to partake a meal, but He would take the blackness and rot of our sins and make us fit for eternal fellowship with Him in His kingdom.

Peter got it. Years later, he wrote, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

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“Let these WORDS sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. Luke 9:44-45

Before His death, Jesus spoke very frankly with His disciples about the coming events. He was going to be betrayed, handed over, and crucified, but He would rise again after three days. Everyone who heard Him understood the WORDS He was saying, but none of them grasped the reality of them. Even as the events unfolded before them, the disciples struggled with how things played out. Instead of clinging to their faith in Christ, in who He is, and what they had already witnessed from Him, that faith gave way to fear for their very lives. They heard the hatred in the mob’s cries and the religious leaders’ hypocritical disdain. They saw the brutality and the scorn of the Romans. That very natural fear led to doubts about this man they had given up everything to follow. Had they misunderstood? Was this the way it was supposed to be?

Surely, some of the longest hours in their lives were those between the Upper Room and the empty tomb.

The Resurrection changed all that. The doubts and fears gave way to the boldness and fire at Pentecost and beyond. The WORDS that Jesus said became real. Things that they struggled to grasp in those hours in between made sense at last in ways that were beyond their imagination.

Even now, with the Holy Spirit living in us, with the completed canon of Scripture readily available to us, and with 2000 years of church history to draw upon, we have the same trouble grasping the WORDS of Jesus.

Toward the end of His earthly ministry, He said, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” (Matthew 24:9) And we struggle to understand why culture is so hostile to our values.

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. (Matthew 24:7) And yet we trust treaties and military buildups to protect us and depend on science and technology to fix everything else.

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12) We’re still shocked at scandals that reveal the depth of our self-absorption and misogyny.

Jesus told us these things would happen, and now we are living in the in-between time like the disciples in those hours between crucifixion and resurrection. We wrestle with questions – Why doesn’t God do something? Is He even paying attention? Why is everything a struggle?

But when He comes again, and He will just as surely as He resurrected, everything will make sense. The questions and the frustrations will melt into worship and affirmation that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His words will be fulfilled in ways outside the bounds of our imagination.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Peace. He has overcome. We’ll know exactly what those WORDS mean. Just a little longer.

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