Avoiding Burnout

Leviticus 6:13 "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." We have historical records of the perpetual fire of the Persians; the eternal fire of Rome' and the inextinguishable fire of the Greeks. In each of these instances the idea had been adapted from the Jewish altar. The altar symbolized the human heart. Note two symbols that instruct in avoiding burnout. First the symbol of the altar. The heart must be separated from sinful desires. The heart must be consecrated to service. and the heart must constitute a proper altar of worship. Worship is focusing on God and properly responding to Him. Second the symbol of fire. The fire symbolized true devotion. It was from God. Fire was the sign of His presence and the symbol of His holiness. This fire is supernatural. This fire is lit by the Holy Spirit and burns in the holy heart. It is purifying. This fire consumes wood, hay and stubble. It transforms what it touched. Its elements are love and light. It is to be inextinguishable. It is to burn everywhere and at all times. Wherever the Patriarchs went they built an altar. It is to burn under all circumstances. In prosperity or adversity, health or sickness, life or death. This fire is to burn forever. To secure this fire to the altar we must do several things. We must guard it from anything that would put it out. Prayer must stir it. Faith must sustain it. "The just shall live by faith." Here are some things that will put the fire out. 1. Anger. 2. Resentment. 3. Fear. 4. Worry. 5. Desire to dominate. 6. Self preoccupation. 7. Guilt. 8. Sexual impurity. 9. Jealousy. 10. A lack of creative activity for the Lord. 11. Inferiority. 12. Lack of love. An altar without fire will neither glorify God or bless people. How burns the fire of God on the alter of your heart? Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Corrected Vision

In speaking to the church at Laodicea the Lord informed them they were making Him sick and He was about ready to vomit them out of His mouth. His advice for them is "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" (Rev. 3:18-19) His solution is to buy three entities. They don't have to make a trip to the local mall to get these. There is only one market where these can be obtained, from Christ Himself. He counsels them to buy "Gold refined by fire." This is a biblical idiom for purifying ones life by removing sin (I Peter 1:6-9). Secondly, they are to purchase "White garments" so they may clothe themselves in Christ's righteousness. The third solution is to buy "Eye salve" from Him that they will apply to their eyes so they will be able to see divine realities (John 14:26). Our Lord calls upon them to be earnest and repent. This would be a decisive change of mind regarding their spiritual condition. This results in genuine confession of sin to God (I John 1:9) and a change in spiritual direction. A real change of heart and mind results in a change in our walk. Why isn't the church more effective in the world today? I don't believe the problem lies completely with with world. Part of the problem could be with us. Perhaps we need to repent of the mentality of tolerance and compromise. We need to rid ourselves of a "Don't disturb me, don't ask me to move out of my comfort zone attitude. When comfort drives our values we become a pathetic people. The Laodicean church was so "Luke warm" that Christ had been excluded from their fellowship. So He moved from the church in general and began to appeal to the individual believers on the inside of the church. He said "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). This is the promise of Christ's fellowship for any lukewarm believer who repents. Fellowship with Christ is priceless. `We have entered into an eternal relationship with a loving Savior. Nothing this world has to offer can compare to walking with the Lord. Henry Morrison was a missionary to Africa. One day he was coming home from Africa on a ship, which was also carrying President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt was returning from a pig hunting expedition. When the ship docked in New York, thousands of people were there to greet Roosevelt. But no one was there to greet Morrison. Henry Morrison had served the Lord for forty years in Africa. As he watched the crowds greet Theodore Roosevelt, he became dejected to think he had served the Lord all those years and yet no one was there to greet him. Morrison said that as he walked down the gangplank in a depressed mood, a voice whispered to him, “Henry, don’t worry. You’re not home yet.” Then he said he saw a vision of multiplied thousands of Africans standing at the gates of heaven, those who he had reached for Christ, applauding him as he entered heaven. If people are not recognizing you down here, if you are not getting applause right now, don’t worry. You are not home yet. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Genuine Faith

"Even one of their own prophets has said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.' This testimony is true. therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth" (Titus 1:12-15). Paul was saying it was time for the Church to stop paying attention to the world, (those who reject the truth). In December 1983, The Princeton Religion Research Center published a landmark survey conducted for The Wall Street Journal by the Gallup Organization. The researchers measured a wide range of moral and ethical behaviors, such as calling in sick when not sick, cheating on income tax, and pilfering company supplies for personal use. The results were disappointing, to say the least. However more disappointing was the finding there was no ethical difference between those who professed to know Christ and those who did not. The church and the world held to the same ethical standards. Someone said "When the Church influences the world we have revival, when the world influences the Church we have apostasy." If our faith life is not validated through our behavior, there is reason to question if we even have a authentic relationship with Christ. Genuine faith in Christ will affect our worship (object God), our walk (holiness) and our work (obedience to Christ). "If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come." (II Corinthians 5:17). The Apostle Paul didn't like what he saw in the believers lives on the island of Crete. They proclaimed Christ with their mouth, but their behavior looked no different than those who did not claim Christ. They needed to examine their lives in the light of the Scriptures. Pray that your faith is "proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7-8). Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.