What I really need…

 

Every morning the news brings stories of great tragedies and often great nonsense. As I read Proverbs this morning, these verses touched my thoughts about some of this news and the motivations that cause it:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)
The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. (Proverbs 14:15)
The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. (Proverbs 14:18)
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)
A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. (Proverbs 14:30)

Some of the world’s leaders seem to think that they are above anyone else’s ideas. And there are people who believe everything they hear without checking out the facts. Otherwise social media would have fewer postings. On a larger scale, political leaders need to respect the advice of others without going off on their own and creating chaos. 

The last two speak to me as well. I can talk all day about how much work I have, but talking does not get it done. For me, ‘poverty’ is life without any accomplishments just as much as it is life without money or other resources. Talk will not do it for me or for anyone else. Sweat and effort are required.

Last night I was tired and feeling overwhelmed. While some of the things on that to-do list are self-imposed, it seemed I will not live long enough to deal with so many responsibilities. I felt quite stressed and prayed that God would grant me peace of mind. This morning the first answer was this, the verse for today on Logos:

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)

Then I read the one above from Proverbs 14, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot” and hear the Holy Spirit telling me two things. One: Rest in the presence of the Lord and Two: watch my motivations for what I am doing. If envy is there, it will kill me.

This may seem like a simple thing to some, but anyone involved in creative activity is subject to the temptation of envy. I am a quilter. I belong to one large guild and two small groups. It is easy to fall into the sin of comparing myself with others in these groups. One of them praises me for my creativity and the other one makes me feel as if I don’t have much of it.

Comparing my work with others is not a great idea. It can inspire me to do well, move me to keep working, or make me wish I could do as well or better than they do. However, the NT says:

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

This verse is in a passage where Paul says he is humble yet bold, humble to not walk in the flesh yet bold in the power of God. He reminds me that the confidence I should have is that I belong to Jesus. I have weaknesses and strengths, yet they are of no account. I can only feel confidence in that I am doing what God gave me to do. Paul winds up saying:

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (2 Corinthians 10:17–18)

I’ve some clues that the people I sometimes envy also envy me. How silly we are. To each God gives gifts that He uses to bring glory to Himself. This means that all that is on my list may or may not be from Him, but getting it done isn’t so I can gleefully put a check mark on the list, but so He can somehow be glorified. Part of that will be the display of a tranquil heart, rather than a frantic feeling of envy that pushes me to try and do more than He asks.

PRAY: Jesus, forgive my sinful comparing — for it takes my eyes and motivations off You and puts me on a competitive mode that does not glorify You. Resting in You changes all that, and being content says far more about Your grace and power that winning a frantic race of accomplishment. Thanks for Your reminders and these words that change anxiety to peace. Amen.

Changing my mind?

 

This morning the news tells that 200 books will be banned from the libraries in our province. These are mostly sexually explicit and the banning is to protect young minds. I ran a search “history of book banning” and AI gave me this:

The history of book banning is a recurring phenomenon driven by political, religious, and moral motives, with examples ranging from ancient China to the present-day United States. Key historical moments include China's Emperor Shih Huang Ti burning texts in 259 B.C., the 1637 banning of Thomas Morton's New English Canaan in America, the Comstock Act of 1873 against "immoral" materials, Nazi Germany's book burning, and the apartheid era in South Africa. Recent trends show a significant increase in bans, with organized groups challenging books on topics of race, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, and sexuality, highlighting the ongoing struggle for control over ideas and narratives.

The search result gave the reasoning: “to control public thought and enforce religious or political ideologies, suppressing dissenting views.”

My first thought is that the Word of God could easily, in some minds, fall into this category. While even many Christians do not realize it, the ways of God are “dissenting views” to the ways of the world. We are told:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

The Bible also says:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

My next thought was that the ideas of banning books to change the way people think and act may have an effect, but only God can do a true mind-renewal. He can change how a person thinks, as well as change their entire life and behavior. This is not a DIY project. His Word says:

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)

God says that only those who put their trust in Him have the full guarantee of being able to live this changed life He calls us to. I noticed these two verses today because they illustrate the contrast between our thinking and His:

The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. (Proverbs 11:23–24)

God's way is opposite to ours. He even says that devising anti-God schemes may appear to ‘win’ for a time, but their end is not what is expected. Those who are generous may appear foolish to others but in the end, God takes care of their prosperity and contentment. On the other hand, the stingy of this world never stop wanting more and are never content. As far as banning books goes, that will not change human nature either.

However, urging readers toward wholesome material, even to reading the classics written by those who love and trust God could change the trajectory of their lives, but only if the Creator touches their heart and mind in mercy and grace, and does what we cannot do on our own.

PRAY: This is my prayer today, Jesus, that You will use this book banning for good, and also protect Your Word from being included as a book with “dissenting views.” It certainly goes against the way the world thinks, yet the goodness and love of God is revealed in it. What folly it would be to try and keep Him from all who are showing signs of a deep need for the One who can provide all that we need. I am encouraged by Your promise: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

Hall of Fame

How many important people can most of us remember? Like who won the MPV in 1998 for football, or baseball? Or who are the ten richest people in the world? Or who won Miss America in 2021? Stats lovers might, but I don’t. But ask me who made a difference in my life and I can remember those.

The first is the woman who mentored me in the early years of my Christian life. And of course my parents whose sense of humor and loving instruction never leave me. Or the aunt who let me sleepover and put me in the highest, softest bed in her home. Or the teachers at Bible school who reinforced my theology and challenged me to think and act more like Jesus. And my hubby who is an amazing example in many ways.

As author Phil Callaway says, “Standing ovations end. Applause dies down. Awards collect dust. Things we thought so important today are forgotten next week. ‘Failure,’ perhaps, could be defined as succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”

Every sport has a hall of fame. Musicians too, and others skilled in their line of work are in museums and art galleries, but who would be in my hall of fame? It has to be those whose lives accepted me and led me deeper into the goodness of God. 

Turning that around to what God wants from me, it is easy to see that His hall of fame is filled with people who listened to Him and in faith did what He said. Read Hebrews 11 for a good number of MVPs in the kingdom of God.

As Callaway says, success has to do with the direction we point others who follow us. From God’s hall of fame, I most often think of Moses, not so much by what he did but because of what he didn’t do:

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. (Hebrews 11:24–28)

This man refused entitlement and personal glory. He accepted being ‘one of the people’ and all that went with that, rather than wanting what he could have had as a result of the opportunities that sin would give him. He chose boldness rather than fear and obedience, rather than letting the opinion of others govern his actions.

I also think of Joshua who led the people and obeyed God’s almost laughable command. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” (Hebrews 11:30) These two OT men, plus Isaiah and Jeremiah, have shaped my life even though they are not alive on earth today.

Yesterday we had lunch with two people whose words were a blessing. We haven’t seen them for a long time so how did they know the words they said? It can only be explained that they were listening to the Holy Spirit and He put His encouragement on their hearts.

So have some authors. Stephen Charnock has changed my life and is still doing it, more than 100 years after he died. John Piper and other contemporary Christian leaders also affect me. So do those ‘iron sharpens iron’ people in our church, sometimes with words, sometimes with actions. Our pastors are amazing and it is easy to tell them so. These actions are not about headlines or statistics, but about simply living in the power of the Holy Spirit and doing what He gives each of us to do.

PRAY: Jesus, from all this I am even more certain that to bless others, I need to listen to You, be filled with Your Spirit, and in His leading, just say and do what You put on my heart. It might not make sense to me, but You are able to use it to enhance the hall of fame in the lives of others, just as You have used others the same way to edify and encourage me. Walk by faith in the simple life of: “He has told me what is good; and what does the Lord require of me but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with my God?” (Micah 6:8)

Planning retirement?

 

Retirement has been on our minds, yet hubby is still working because calls for his expertise keep coming. He is about fifteen years past the usual age to quit and some of his friends retired much younger.

Along with that, I think about dying too. Not because of physical symptoms but in relation to my to-do list. I’ve dozens of plans and often joke that I need to live until at least 250 to get them all finished. But no one knows when Jesus will call me home. 

Reading today’s sections in Psalms and Proverbs, I could hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in several passages. The first one is about trusting humans, but it says something about death and my ambitions:

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. (Psalm 146:3–4)

One day, my to-do list will hit the round file and be no longer relevant or important to anyone. As my son asked, “Mom, when you die, what am I supposed to do with all this fabric?” We laughed, but that is a valid question. I have an answer for the fabric, but not for my ambitions and hopes.

The next verses shape an answer, first a warning and then the promises of God. . . .  

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:32–33)

How do I get wisdom? I know the answer, but the next passages are a reminder, and one with a promise:

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, (Proverbs 2:6–7)
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. (Proverbs 3:1–2)

Length of days will not add up to 91250 of them, but this is encouraging. In this community where we live, I know several women that are nearly 100 and still able to think straight and be active. God connects this on listening to Him and being obedient.

The last passage is familiar and one central feature is humility. I’ve too often thought I had some smarts, but need to be like a child and let my Father guide my life:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

The next passage affirms the promise and translates wisdom with a feminine pronoun. This is not gender bias. The Hebrew word for wisdom is feminine and this book contrasts wise women with foolish, sinful women. It is a literary device to make personal the truth of those warnings. For me, it also speaks to the precious value and the rewards of wisdom: 

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. (Proverbs 3:13–16)

After reading these, the Lord popped into my mind this well-known passage from Psalm 90. It is easy to write as a prayer:

PRAY: Lord Jesus, all my days pass away under the reality of sin, suffering, and death. I think of the end with a sigh. The years of my life reached seventy, and even by reason of the strength You give me, I am now past eighty, even though all those years included toil and trouble. Yes, this life seems soon gone. I will eventually fly away. So many fail to considers the power of Your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you. So teach me to number my days that I may have a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:9–12) I want those days well spent and of value to Your glory. Amen.

God's Goodness…

Talking to a refugee who just received an answer to prayer, I said, “God is good” and he replied, “All the time.” No matter what the circumstances, no matter if we like what is happening, no matter if we are comfortable, God is good all the time.

Charnock’s section on God's goodness is long and rich. He lays out his reasoning from Scripture and experience. For example, because God is good, we may expect His instruction:

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. (Psalm 25:8)
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (Psalm 143:10)

More astonishing is that because God is good, He removes the punishment due our sin, and bestows benefits not due to our merits. Grace always runs downhill.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (Psalm 86:5)

His goodness is more ready to forgive than our necessities make us desire to enjoy it. Job impatient in his suffering cursed the day of his birth, but God's goodness passed that over in silence, extols him for speaking the thing that is right, and then charges his friends for not speaking of him the thing that is right (Job 42:7).

As His Word says, “His eyes are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry” (Psalm 34:15) because He fixes His goodness upon His people, is pleased to behold us, and listen to us as if He has no pleasure in anything else. He loves to pour out goodness to those who seek Him, and the more I do that, the more He pours out His generous goodness.

 I can get tired of those who often want something from me, but God is not like that. His goodness is bottomless while I might discourage others to go elsewhere. With God, I don’t need to fear that I will waste His goodness or that He will get tired of giving it. 

 The startling reality is that the oftener and nearer I come to him, the more of His goodness I experience, just like the nearer the sun, the more I feel its heat. This encourages me to keep coming, to keep praying, to keep experiencing more of Him.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

He extends goodness to all, yet much more to those who take refuge in Him. Not only that, if the whole earth were filled with His goodness, that part in heaven will never be emptied. I’m blessed just thinking of what that tells me about Him, never mind the wonder of experiencing it.

God’s goodness delivers the righteous, and His justice puts the wicked in their place: “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.” (Proverbs 11:8) This means that if my enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) overpower me, He gives to them the same treatment they tried to give me. Truly the Lord is my Refuge and Deliverer. 

The Lord’s goodness is above any of my efforts to be good. As Charnock says, we are at best shallow streams, whereas God is like a teeming ocean that can fill the largest as well as the narrowest creek. Several creatures answer several necessities, but our one God can answer all our wants. He is a universal fulness to fill our universal emptiness. He has the sweetness of all good while we have a small measure that vanishes when we cease to exist. Nothing or no one can rob God of His goodness. He is the same forever and ever.

PRAY: All this is more motivation to seek You, Lord. There is no other goodness worthy of my supreme love, no other goodness worthy my deepest thirst. How can I express the hunger created in my heart as You reveal to me the wonder of You? Not only are You the greatest good, You desire to grant that goodness to a sinner such as I. What a great blessing to receive Your great goodness and grace.

 

Choose carefully. . . .

   

Last week Jesus had me doing something for a family I met that day and will likely never see again. The person who brought their need to my attention took pictures of the results. This, and the occasional time I’ve seen certain “Christian” television shows, raised a question: Is serving God a spectator sport?

Piper’s devotional raises a similar question. Is it God’s will to advance biblical truth through human institutions such as seminaries, colleges, parochial schools, mission agencies, publishing houses, journals, newsletters, hospitals, relief agencies, musical groups, drama troupes, conferences, camps, counseling centers, evangelistic associations, coffee houses, and radio and television networks, stations, and programs?

Piper reasoned that institutions by nature develop self-sustaining power as opposed to God-sustained power. There are human expectations, human employees, procedures, traditions, money, brainpower, real estate, facilities, reputation, and a constituency. These all can keep an institution going even if the Holy Spirit has withdrawn. In other words, the rules and traditions that are not part of God's will too easily become part of the way these institutions do things to the point that He is no longer the divine power behind their activities.

This happens in individual lives too, but not always and if the people are involved and growing in their faith, He will address it just as He spoke to His OT people. The danger is not so much that anyone can slide into human motivations and methods, but that the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater. We need to see opportunities rather than slide into sinful behavior.

I recall a discussion about serving God and one man said that the curling rink was his mission field. He got involved in that sport as a means to meet new people and share the gospel with them. Another said they did the same with their activities. I belong to quilt groups and realize that these are also mission fields, but also realize how easy it is to ‘enjoy the sport’ and forget about sharing Christ.

The Bible warns against relying on anything but the Lord, but does not forbid me from using outside help as He leads. These verses speak of where I must get my strength:

The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. (Psalm 33:17)
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. (Proverbs 21:31)

That is, institutions like those above, or sports, or even quilting can be a vehicle to share Christ, but don’t rely on the vehicle; rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s leading. He could have put me in the art world, or even into showing my horses, but His leading has me where I am. The point is to “bloom where planted” and not decide where that is or how to use it without His leading.

Piper’s point is to be aware of the line between God-ordained, Spirit-sustained institutional life and human-designed, human-sustained institutionalism. That goes for all of life, not just institutions. I can quilt to bless those who receive them or I can quilt to glorify me.

PRAY: Lord, I know the line most of the time. My current challenge is what to do or say to those who think I do this just for the enjoyment I get out of it. They have no idea that serving You brings sweat as well as joy. Yet defending that puts the focus off Your goodness too. Wisdom is always needed, as is a heartfelt reliance on You rather than feeling I should be put on a pedestal. I want You to be glorified.

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1–2)

 

Improv in God's planning?

 

In the quilting world, improv techniques are becoming more popular. This means no plan, making it up as you go but keeping good design principles in mind. It is not only popular but also fun, even relaxing.

In the back of my mind is a chart that shows the process God might take a person through from being a sinner who is ignorant both of God and their sin to a redeemed saint who hates sin and loves God. The things God reveals and brings into a life differ as the changes happen and as the person responds, or does not respond. But the goal is the same, both for salvation and for judgment. 

I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 24:14)

As in yesterday’s post, I realize that God’s repenting is not like ours. This is based on the fact that He is God and sinless. “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.” (Jeremiah 4:28)

This is perplexing in places. In one verse He says He is not a man that He should repent, but in the same Bible book, He also says that He repented for making Saul a king. How can both be true? Piper writes that there is a sense in which God does repent, and there is a sense in which he does not. Those verses in the latter category are usually intended to show us how His regret or repentance is not like ours. 

For one thing, He is not surprised by unexpected turns of events like I am. He knows the future. Nor does He sin and need to repent and turn from sin like I do. Piper explains that the turn of events (which he himself has ordered—Ephesians 1:11) make a different attitude more fitting now than would have been the case earlier. God’s mind “changes,” not because it responds to unforeseen circumstances, but because He has ordained that His mind fits with the way He himself orders the changing events of the world.

When I was lost in sin, God’s Word says that I was headed for destruction. However, the Lord worked in my heart so that destiny changed at the moment Christ came into my heart. His plan for me then called for a different way to deal with me, not as a lost sinner, but as a redeemed member of His forever family. As He works to change me into the image of His Son, His methods change. Now I am more confident in His love and goodness and He is showing me glimpses of what He is doing, a privilege I did not have in this degree as a new Christian. God did not change, but as He changes me, He changes His methods to suit the growth He is producing. The word ‘regret’ does not fit this because God never regrets the grace He shows to sinners. He only regrets that far too many do not experience it. 

PRAY: Lord, because You never change and Your goodness is relentless, I can change. Your will is the reason, Your goodness leads me to repentance, and because of Calvary and the gift of new life, I am not what I used to be. If You had not changed me, the outcome would not have changed either. Your grace and the way You “relent” is a wonder, a surprise, and a delight for which I am so thankful. 

How does God repent but not repent?

Twice the Bible says that God repented for something he had done in the past and at least eleven times it says he repented or would repent of something he was about to do in the future Nevertheless, the Bible also says that God will not repent.

In today’s church, two ideas are expressed about repentance. One suggests it means being deeply sorry for sin. The other says it means turning from sin to a godly way of behaving. That is, I could be deeply sorry for lying, and I should turn from that and always tell the truth.

But God is not a human and He cannot sin. So when the Bible says God relents or repents it is not suggesting He regrets doing something wrong. However, if read carefully with that in mind, these Scriptures mean His heart is grieved and yet He will accomplish His good purpose another way.

I get it. Yesterday I started to make a quilt from scraps. Because of one mis-cut and a mis-count, it wasn’t working according to the design in my mind. I was grieved (mildly) that the plan had to be changed and yet I did it, with good results. While my mistakes could be called sin, the repenting was more like God’s repenting than it would be if I’d lied or did something else He forbids.

In other words, when God repents, His plan remains the same. It could be described that God never changes His mind or alters His purposes, though He sometimes changes the course or the way He causes things to happen. He knew of the resistance and the downfall of man before He created man. His original purpose was for Adam and Eve was to live in the garden, cultivate it, and be prosperous. Then, when their sin happened, He put them out of the garden and altered the course to eventually accomplish the final result. Sin gave Him sorrow but did not turn Him from what He wanted.

This is not like me. Sin gives me sorrow, but repentance is turning from the sin and fitting in with God’s plan, not coming up with a new way to have my own way. Repentance on my part is not manipulation, or at least repentance properly defined and understood.

I suppose part of the problem is imagining how our sinless God can feel deep sorrow for things that happen. Why didn’t He use His power to not allow those events in the first place? Yet the way all things work out, how would we know His love, goodness, wisdom, or persistence, or anything else about Him if He never created people capable of sin like Adam and Eve, or me, and if He ordered all things perfect in the first place?

Again, God’s “repentance” is not an acknowledgement of failure, as it is for me. His  righteousness and judgment is complete and perfect. He does not change His plan but in grace, alters the details to accomplish the result. When He “repents” His purpose for us is revealed. And I must remember that redemption happens, but sadly so does judgment.God’s view of sin and His plan to deal with it have never changed.

LORD, Your emotions are hard to understand, probably because so many of mine have a sinful and some sort of selfish root, or are not related to You, like fear or doubt. What did Your tears mean when Lazarus died? What did Your anger mean when You cleansed the temple? I know what Your word says but cannot relate to the purity of what You feel without thinking of my own reasons for how I feel. Yet You are God and I can believe and trust Your goodness and be content to know that I don’t need to know everything unless or until You reveal it to me.

Why trust God?

 

The foundation of trust in God begins with knowing He exists and being convinced that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). That trust is attacked when circumstances challenge it. Is God rewarding me when people treat me badly? Or when my body is suffering with pain? Or when doubts come about His goodness for any reason?

The Word of God says He never changes, that His goodness is firm and everlasting. But human faith fluctuates when I stop thinking about God as He has revealed Himself and start measuring Him by the world’s ideas, the comfort level in my life, or the whispers of spiritual enemies that are contrary to what He says.

And yet the principal foundation of faith is not the word of God, but God himself, and God is good, the rewarder of those who seek Him. The Bible says, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) and by this same goodness, He also leads me to reliance. 

I recall many ‘little’ things, like parking places, workmen fixing without charge things we didn’t know were broken, encouraging phone calls at just the right time, finding the answer to problems when I called out for His help, and how all of that came from His goodness.

If I don’t believe God is good, how could I believe anything that He speaks or promises? If anyone else made a promise to me, I’d trust them only if… but when God makes a promise, His goodness gives credit to what He says. Years of seeing Him come through for me builds my faith, yet His goodness is always there, even if I cannot see it.

Some people acknowledge the power of God, yet without seeing His goodness motivating His power, He is not trusted. Actually, power without good intentions is dangerous, yet as Charnock says, God’s good will without power would be useless. Those who ‘mean well’ but never follow through do not create confidence in themselves, but because God does what He does rooted in His goodness, I am learning to deeply trust Him, even when His powerful actions make no sense or His wisdom in what He does escapes me.

Much of OT faith seems to be built on God’s power. However Hosea wrote: “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.” (Hosea 3:5) Their fear, meaning faith and worship, would be seen flowing from His goodness.

I’m learning to trust God’s power and wisdom, yet also His goodness. This makes faith deeper and more certain. If I do not understand the means or the why, relying on His goodness in all that happens becomes vital. This wonder and truth settles me far more than any glimpses of knowing why this action or event is happening. As my mother often said, “We must need it or we would not be getting it” and I can rely on ‘whatever’ with greater assurance knowing that God is good and whatever “it” might be, it comes from His goodness.

PRAY: Your Word says much of Your goodness and how that goodness satisfies Your people. I am glad to know that goodness is behind all that You do. “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” (Psalm 27:13) I also rejoice because: 

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7)

Because of You, I’ve access to this goodness and not only that, this is the fruit of Your Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and my life can be lived with the same motivation. This is a most humbling thought and a great blessing. Amen.

Practicing what I preach

 

Yesterday the Lord provided circumstances for me to put my morning’s devotional thoughts into practice. The quilter’s group in the community arranged a monthly sew day and it happened yesterday. For some reason, my old nature didn’t want to go. It was 7 hours, had to pack up a lot of heavy stuff to work on, I had other things to do, blah, blah, blah.

I prayed about it, understanding that all my negatives were not from God and with a great deal of them pounding at me, went anyway. I refused to let those ideas and I-wants rule. I like to sew, but didn’t want to do it all day. I like the people in the group, but small talk is hard for me. Again, blah, blah, blah. But I prayed again.

As soon as I walked into the sewing room, the Lord took over. My attitude became positive. The I-wants fell away. Any sinful possibilities like being competitive or critical, simply didn’t happen or enter my head. It was a wonderful day with some Christian fellowship, much love shared, and open conversations that drew us closer together. 

The big value in this experience is always asking for the Holy Spirit to help me, fill me, give me what He wants and boot out of my heart and mind all that is of the world, the flesh, and the devil. This trio of enemies try to make me shun what God wants and miss the joy that goes with His will and His goodness.

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:27)
O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. (Isaiah 26:12–14)

While He tells me what to do, such as. . . .  

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

. . . . and if I am obedient to do this also. . . .  

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

. . . . He makes an incredible difference so that I am able to think right, say words that bless others, hear words that bless me, and do things that are kind and helpful. It just happens.

And after years of failing, falling, practicing, and knowing Jesus more deeply, I’m now wishing I could have more decades to do what I’ve been told rather than just hearing it, even agreeing with it, but not realizing the wonder of it through personal experience.

PRAY: What can I say to You except thank You for Your incredible patience and persistence with this stubborn child. 

Weapons for war…

 

As I read through the OT, I can see the parallels between the nation of Israel’s history and the history of God’s people since Jesus came. They were taken from bondage in Egypt and after wandering in the wilderness were delivered to the promised land. There they fought enemies and after that fell into a mixture of obedience and sin.

Our salvation still involves faith and obedience after deliverance from the bondage of sin. We also wander and fight our enemies (sin and Satan’s lies) and then, as Israel did, fall into a mixture of obedience and sin. This is described in Romans 7.

The biggest difference is that our eternal salvation is assured by the keeping power of God. He will accomplish all that He promised and eventually we will see Jesus face to face. However, while here on earth, the people of God are in a war against sin. The world, the flesh, and the Devil try to tempt us to sin and not live to the glory of God. Piper offers weapons that help us win those battles.

Consider the flesh as dead and unable to dominate. 

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:11–14)

Realize that sin is my enemy. It wants to destroy me.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:13–15)

Instead, rebel against all anti-God ideas, lies and manipulations. My weapon is God’s Word and using it often.

Assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:21–24)

Do not plan anything that puts me in danger of temptation.

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:27)

Watch my thoughts. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Be involved with other like-minded Christians who encourage one another to live for Christ and not for self, who love Jesus and not the world, and who are aware of Satan’s devices. 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24–25)

Persist in choosing godliness.
Beware of “duty” vs. Spirit-filled obedience. That means being filled with the Spirit and listening to Him rather than “works of law” or all other pressures. None of the above can be done without Him. That means feeling helpless and being glad of it.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

Be patient. It takes time to learn how to recognize the flesh, realize lies, see the world’s ideas — and to learn how to live by His power.

PRAY: Lord, getting through this life with a strong and confident faith is Your work, yet You ask me to cooperate with You, not ignore Your voice reminding me to read the Bible, pray, spend time with You and Your people, and do those things that You whisper to me, in faith and trusting You to use me to glorify You. I’d rather have had all those lessons much more quickly, yet in the process have realized that Your way is absolutely the best way to live. Thank You!

Being Salty

The community where we live has a monthly dinner, each with a theme. Last night was “Pub Night” and I worried about salt because it affects my health. However, the food was amazing and not overly salty. By God’s design, today’s devotional reading gave me this:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 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 5:13–16)

I’m to be the “salt of the earth” and that is not garlic, paprika, or sugar. Jesus used salt to illustrate my role as one who preserves and fends off decay, who heals and soothes with medicinal value and who brings flavor and enhances other flavors. Yet salt only “works” when it’s out of the saltshaker. I cannot hide in my sewing room, or leave this to others by doing my own thing. 

These verses talk about losing saltiness, not just a word to me but the entire church family must guard against a loss of vision, passion and flavor. This happens when we do not deal with the sin remaining in us. Lest anyone think there is none, note what Paul wrote:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 3:12)
But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (Romans 7:23)

Jesus even said we must pray asking God to “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) and John wrote: 

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)

Other NT passages tell me to put to death the deeds of the body meaning what is earthly or sinful in me. I will not be perfect (like Jesus) until I see Him face to face, but I cannot be complacent about this battle lest I lose whatever “salt” He has put in me.

This goes for the entire family of God. I pray for others who are in this battle, and also for those who have not yet received the righteousness that comes by faith. Some are continually paralyzed by guilt and constantly assaulted by “the accuser of the brethren” about real and imaginary failures. They need to remember, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

Others are troubled by old wounds, pain and grief, abuse or other trauma. They need wisdom, love, patience and kindness, all fruit of God’s Spirit. 

Some struggle with obsessions and addictions such as pornography and other sexual entanglements, chemical and drug abuse, eating disorders, self-righteousness and legalism, greed, gossip, preoccupation with physical beauty, and so many other conditions for which the gospel alone provides sufficient power and grace to overcome.

Others are burdened by the demands of caregiving or other situations that deplete them emotionally, financially, spiritually, and physically. Salty Christians must pray for those who have lost their zest for life by the struggles of life.

PRAY: Lord, I have much on my heart and much to pray about. Fill me with the hope of the gospel and the energy of faith that trusts You for all needs, mine and others. I sometimes ask God to make me be salt and light to the unsaved, but I realize that Your dear children also need salt and light, as well as support in prayer. We are in this together. Stir our heats, restoring all of us to full gospel sanity, full joy in You and in Your plan for us, for our church, and the world around us.

The Purpose of Life

Certain rules govern our planet. For instance, what goes up eventually gets pulled back down. If I just fall asleep for a nap, the phone rings. If I sleep late and am still in my pjs, the doorbell rings. Far better, reading Phil Callaway makes me laugh. Besides the many rules of golf (some are funny), he writes about the more serious rules God gives us for living well and how stubborn people such as myself must learn them:

It’s not easy explaining to a two-year-old why eating four pounds of Swiss chocolate may be a bad idea. But as you hold his head over the sink an hour later, he understands. If you’ve stood by “the sink” with others who have been broken by the consequences of their own sin, you understand. What we sacrifice for momentary pleasure is astronomical. What God requires of us is for our best. Our Creator knows and loves us. As surely as the planets and stars function best within His laws, so will we.

In the garden, the first sin happened when Satan suggested that God’s one rule for His people was not good, and this is the lie repeated in every heart from the time we can think about choices until the day we draw our last breath. Satan’s efforts are to turn us from God's will and trust our own. However, God knows and defends His reasoning for His many commands:

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good. (Deuteronomy 10:12–13)

The word “fear” is not being terrified and obey for fear He will visit me with disaster. It is more like “awe” at the wonder of who He is, His power to do anything, but also His persistent love, a love that wants my eternal best and is always there for me.

“Walk” in His ways is about all of life, not just Sunday morning church and then do my own thing the rest of the week. I now have a sign in my work area that says: “SELFISHNESS: a fantastic way to be miserable.” This is true. The result of selfishness is like having my head held over the sink.

“Love” for God is demonstrated by the second command: “Love your neighbor as yourself” — meaning that same love that God has for us — wanting the eternal best for others and doing whatever I can to love them like God loves them. 

“Serve” is about selfless activity and takes more forms than space to write them. One of our church leaders said “…serving in ways seen and unseen” which covers visible ministry like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham and unseen like many nurses, janitors, and prayer warriors. The task, no matter what it is, is done in obedience to the Spirit of God, with His enablement, and for His glory. Not everyone does the work of a servant in faith. Instead, “with all your heart and soul” means no selfish motivation, no desire to impress or make money, no manipulation or personal agenda. It is all about obedience and glory to Jesus.

I try to imagine a world filled with people who live like that. The only word that comes to mind is “heaven” and these thoughts increase my longing to one day see Jesus face to face and hear Him say, “Welcome Home.”

PRAY: Lord, there is much to do here in this place. I’m glad that You spell it out for me as an individual. I can pray for much but can do so little. Yet You have an army of faithful servants who love You and have figured out that the surest pathway to joy comes through obedience, in service to others and to You. I can pray for them as well as my own walk with You. Thank You for a wee taste of eternal glory as You teach me about Your incredible plans and give me a small glimpse of why I am here. 

The bigger picture. . . .

 

On television, world leaders can look smug or confident, worried or perplexed, grim or determined. Their faces sometimes belie their words or reveal their hearts, yet do any of them read passages like this and take it to heart?

Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah (Psalm 49:7–15)

Everyone is terminal, even those who make a great mark in the world and their names are remembered for generations. As the Word of God says, we are like beasts that perish and those who want to ‘rule the world’ will eventually be overruled by the grave.

Why do I write about this? Because so many are watching the wars and rumors of wars with fear and trepidation, and just as many have shut their ears to all dangers and are not prepared for what may come. 

We have family living in tornado zones. People in such places prepare for the worst even as they hope for the best, but not all of them. Some assume they can ‘stick it out’ regarding hurricanes and such. Others assume they will always be okay, and have no plan if a tornado  or wildfire bears down on them.

Does this mean living in fear of what might happen? When our children were small, my hubby refused to let them ‘what if?’ But that does not include keeping property in good order, knowing where to go for shelter, buying a fire extinguisher, or preparing for retirement. Prudent people consider what could happen, do what is necessary, but are not obsessed or overcome by fear. Nor are they like some of our world leaders and billionaires who live as if they will never die.

The rest of the psalm speaks to those struggle with the shenanigans of the rich and powerful. Then only a page or so later, God tells me to focus on Jesus who died and then whose body began to breathe:

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:16–20)

Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:22–23)

Thinking people who consider the realities of life — and death — and who want truth to govern their choices are the most apt to be shown what really matters. A saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ puts all of human ambition in its proper faith and puts my eyes on eternity. Yet even before doing that, He reminds me every day that trusting Him  means that I will also conquer death. No, money or anything else I might gain here will go with me, but when I go, I will spend eternity very much alive with my Savior.

PRAY: Jesus, these are good thoughts for a Monday morning and the challenges of the week ahead, and the challenges of watching the senseless sparring out there for power and more money and more stuff. I’m so thankful for eternal life and the great contentment that goes with it. Not only that, You provide every need and guide my steps through this complex maze of life on this messed up planet. One day all struggles and fears will vanish into the glories of eternal life!

Why are men happy? because they cleave to God. Why are men miserable? because they recede from God. It is then our own fault that we are miserable; God cannot be charged with any injustice if we be miserable, since his goodness gave means to prevent it, and afterwards added means to recover us from it, but all despised by us. — Charnock.

When human thinking ceases …

 

Two stories about abortion illustrate how human thinking apart from what God says is rather confusing. It is okay to abort in parts of the world, but in several parts of the world if someone murders a pregnant woman, it is considered two murders. So it is legal to kill an unborn baby as long as it is not illegal. Huh?

The legality depends on the will of the mother. If she does not want the baby, she can have it destroyed. We watched an episode of Inspector Linley last night in which the unwanted baby was allowed to live but was sold to someone who wanted it. Later, the mother of that child arranged another baby to be sold so she could profit, but that mother wanted the child so she murdered the first woman. Huh?

Human ‘I wants’ make life messy. In the OT, this phrase is often seen: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6) In our world, the prophets could say, “In these days there is not much faith or obedience to God. Everyone does whatever they want to do.” Huh?

“Not much faith” grants that the God who created us is still at work. There still is some faith, but daily news does not broadcast how thousands put their faith in Jesus Christ as they repent of their sin and are forgiven and have new life and a life-changing relationship with Him. Those who meet Jesus are changed but their family members are upset and try to kill them. Thousands flee for their lives and many others die for their faith. Huh?

God is still at work even as His work seldom hits headlines, and if it does, humans may get the credit, or mock it, or misinterpret it. Today’s verse for the day comes from a passage that describes the kind of God that is being neglected and rejected:

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.” I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (Hosea 14:1–9)

Reading it slowly, it is a surprise. The people of God had not only sinned but were guilty of apostasy, yet God says, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.” Huh?

This is the God who longs to restore those who turned away. He welcomes those willing to  confess their guilt and how they had taken credit for what God had done, but vow to not sin like that any longer. 

For those who have not slid away and remain as His faithful servants, this is a passage of hope. God does not change. He can heal the mess in our world, open blind eyes and turn away His anger. My role? Listen and be faithful to what He says. Tell others. Challenge darkness with prayers of full faith. My Redeemer is not dead — He lives and He is still able and willing to change lives.

PRAY: Jesus, just as You called Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and You called Your faithless people to come to You for healing, my prayers are for those near and far — that You will call and continue to call people from darkness and extreme, God-playing thinking to repentance and faith in You… for that will produce in them blessings that they will never otherwise realize or understand apart from Your great grace.

Expressing Love?

If a child is disobedient, some think discipline is needed while others criticize discipline as abuse. In today’s devotional, John Piper writes about limits to love. Perhaps a better term would be ‘expressions of love.’ If children are loved, parents do not want them to grow up thinking it is okay to do bad things. God is like that with me. Although He accepted me as a selfish, sinful person, He loves me too much to leave me that way. 

The question is, how does He express that love? I’ve often said, sometimes it is with a hug and sometimes it is with a 2 by 4. For instance, I remember hubby sending me on an errand that I didn’t want to do. When I got to the place of business, the owner came out with the items I was to pick up and he was homely, smelly, and repulsive. Then he said something that glorified God. I felt hugged by his words and kicked in the head at the same time for my attitude. 

In other situations my sinful attitudes were more serious. God loved me to repentance by allowing me to experience the consequences of my selfishness. Ugh! Even though He didn’t publicly shame me (love expressed), He taught me lessons and keeps working to rid me of thinking, saying, or doing things that are shameful. Again, those harsh lessons are rooted in love.

Piper asks, how do God’s command to love others, even our enemies, work toward loving incorrigible sinners? Jesus said, 

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43–48)

Add to that these words about how to treat those who hurt us:

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19–21)

God may be planning vengeance according to His wisdom and justice, or He may use acts of love for enemies to turn their hearts toward Him. This is not for me to decide. I’m simply to love others, all of them.

And yet Piper points out that forgiveness has a line that should not be crossed, at least in regard to praying for someone who is in sin: 

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. (1 John 5:16–17)

God knows who has a heart of stone and totally refuses His goodness and grace. I don’t know that. Therefore, it is not up to me to judge, but pray — at least until He indicates otherwise. His love may mean He is at work in that person to rescue them, but it may mean that He has reserved them for judgment. 

PRAY: Lord, all this means paying attention to Your Spirit and allowing You to direct love and the expression of it. You sometimes surprise me with grace to forgive and even grace to rebuke. I’m to speak the truth in love, and that means knowing truth, and knowing how to express it as You want me to. Sometimes it is the opposite of what I think it should be.

Robbing God?

 

Anyone who has given a gift and watched the receiver become deeply excited about it, but didn’t even say thanks experiences a taste of how God’s goodness can become more important to us than He is.

God gives me good things to draw me to Himself but those good things can easily become the object of my affections and trust. Instead of giving Him glory, I get all wrapped up in unwrapping His gifts.

Ezekiel 16 tells how God’s people became noted among the nations because of the splendor God bestowed on them, but they trusted that splendor to the point of idolatry. The NT also describes this trait:

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… (2 Timothy 3:2–4)

One writer says that “Self love is the root, and the love of pleasures the top branch, that mounts its head highest against heaven.” He goes on to give examples of how we humans will “wade through many inconveniences, venture their souls, and contemn God” by glorying in and thinking ourselves safe and happy by such good lives that we enjoy, rather than being thankful to God. It comes out in prayers that might thank God for sunshine, warm clothes, food and so on, but deep worry and even annoyance if anything He blesses us with goes missing. This is a betrayal to God’s goodness by making His benefits contrary to the reason why He sent them. 

Israel did it: “And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. . . .  Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars.” (Hosea 2:8; 10:1–2)

God warns against this through the OT prophets and NT writers:

They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. (Hosea 7:14–15)
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17–19)

How easily this happens in our world, particularly when the people of God enjoy “the good life” and often go along with the world in considering this the result of hard work rather than gifts from the hand of God. We eclipse the glory of Divine goodness, by setting the crown that is due to it upon the head of our own efforts, as did the king of Assyria:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.” 
Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. (Isaiah 10:13–16)

Pride in my heart robs God when I set up myself and make His goodness my footstool. How foolish. Pride also robs me of seeing the truth, that I am not the hand but only the glove because any good in who I am or what I do comes from Jesus. 

PRAY: “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:12–14)

In a joyful place…

Yesterday brought great joy. Someone needed a sewing machine. God led me to ask a friend who had the very make and model he needed. We delivered it. Another person asked for prayer about a job interview. God gave him the job almost on the spot. The joy of seeing answers to prayer is faith-building. Often prayers that seem to be unanswered need a boost so these helped  me remember that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Actually, what we can see may not be a true reality. Someone told me of cult members and atheists who are “such nice people” yet God describes them differently: 

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. (Psalm 14:1–6)

How easily sight can override faith or make the Word of the Lord seem false. Yet even answers to prayer for sewing machines and job interviews verify the declaration of the psalmist:

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. (Psalm 17:6)

Answered prayer is special because it encourages me during the times I cannot see what God is doing. Now and then, He reveals Himself dramatically. This psalm is how David experienced faith becoming visible:

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. (Psalm 18:6–18)

The rest of this psalm reminded me again the importance of keeping short accounts with God and being obedient. David claimed that God rescued him because He delighted in him according to the cleanness of his hands. Can I claim that? If not, my spiritual well-being takes priority over answering my prayers. It isn’t that obedience earns answers but that God wants those who ‘play His music’ to be in tune with His will so our prayers fit with what He intends to do.

I had no idea where to find a Juki 9010 nor did I know anything about the job offer, but God pointed me to a friend who had that machine and wanted him to have it. He prompted me to  pray that if this was the right job, my friend would be hired. Being in a “prayer-place” is not about me, but about Jesus Christ and how He has changes lives. As David said…

For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?— the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. (Psalm 18:31–36)

PRAY: You, Jesus, are my rock and You show me how to pray and teach me what to say. Without You, I would not be able to claim righteousness nor know the words to say when asked to pray. You are also my rock and my God. 

Trusting God’s Goodness

Looking at the power struggles in the world and hearing the desires of ambitious leaders, I wonder if they ever stop to think that none of what they want will go with them when they die. 
As I read Steven Charnock’s amazing book, I also wonder how many of us belittle the goodness of God by trying to run our own lives and make personal wants our rule for each day.

The end of Job’s story showed that even this man that God called ‘righteous’ was guilty of forgetting who God is and allowing the disasters he experienced tell him lies about God’s goodness.

Charnock writes extensively on this topic. His words are a challenge to condense, but have me thinking about how the world, even the church, and also myself react to the events of life and to the daily news. He points out how the devil, by his temptation of Adam, envied God and the glory of Him creating goodness. 

Even more, those who challenge God in any way forget that He sent His Son to suffer for us, and His Spirit to enable us, both expressions of His goodness. Refusing to live accordingly is a great ingratitude and a perilous sin. It refuses to admit or repent sin. It may think that if God loves His humble children, He is okay with those who rule their own lives, and thus appreciates human effort. This also denies His holiness and righteousness.

Those who trust Him suppose He is good, no matter what our eyes see, but any who distrust Him see evil based on what they do see. Why else call events like storms “acts of God” and refuse insurance for those who suffer from hurricanes and the like? Job expressed some of this suspicion in his misery: 

I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. (Job 30:20)

Many who profess faith in God ignore what He says, blame Him (or the devil) for all things uncomfortable, without considering that trials can be rebukes, tests, or disciplines. The Israelites thought their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and their security in the wilderness was intended to prepare them up for slaughter.

Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3)
They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe. (Psalm 78:41–42)

If a day is cloudy, do I distrust that the sun will not shine any more? If I have an ailment, do I distrust my doctor for the ill-tasting prescription given me? If I worry instead of pray, have I stopped believing that God cares? Or is my problem lack of humility?

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

To reject God’s goodness in favor of ‘I want what I want’ becomes foolish when I say such things aloud. Yet how do the leaders of this world react to such ideas? It is a wonder that any human can refuse to “lift up their eyes to heaven, and solicit nothing but the contrivance of their own brain and the industry of their own heads. They disown Divine goodness, and approve themselves as their own gods and the spring of their own prosperity. They run not to God in their necessity to crave His support, and deny either His power or the disposition of His will to sustain and deliver them. They must have very mean sentiments, or none at all, of this perfection, or think Him either too empty to fill them, or too churlish to relieve them; that He is of a narrow and contracted temper, and that they may sooner expect to be made better and happier by anything else than by Him. As we contemn His goodness by a total omission of those duties which respect our own advantage and supply (such as prayer) so we condemn Him as the chiefest good by an omission of the due manner of any act of worship which is designed purely for the acknowledgment of Him.” (Charnock)

Yet those who profess faith can do it too — built churches, hospitals, give great sums, as if God will free them from sickness, give them riches, and make them always happy, as if God will not to part with anything unless He in some measure is paid for it because He will not grant goodness without a bribe.

PRAY: I echo the psalmist and modify what I say to You from Psalm 9: “Arise, O Lord! Let not our foolish ideas prevail; let the nations and Your people (me included), be judged before you! Put all of us in godly fear, and let us remember that we are but sinners who need Your saving grace and who need to trust You and Your incredible goodness.”

 

Best Friends…

Reading Job is a good thing for it reminds me that not all trouble that others get into is caused by something they did wrong. Job’s ‘friends’ started out in silence because of the shock of seeing this righeous man in such terrible condition. He had lost his children and all his possessions, then his health. However their empathy soon turned to judgment. He must have done something sinful or God would not have treated him like that. Job was trying to figure out the reasons too, but only angered them by claiming innocence. His friends were not good friends.

Then I read another devotion, this too was about friends. The writer said that ideally each of us needs three kinds of friends: one that we can enjoy being with, one that we can rely on, and one we can help. 

The writer goes on with examples. David and Jonathan hung out together. “… the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” (1 Samuel 18:1) Abraham was called “the friend of God” (James 2:23). God is the friend who will stick with me when others walk out, the one I can hang onto. He will bring friends into my life to help me through the tough times and others who I can help.

Jesus is called “the friend of sinners” so He is my best friend who fills the role of the first two  as someone to be with (He will never leave me), and to rely on (He will never forsake me), but is not the one I can help. He is my helper, enabling me to serve Him by serving others. 

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)

Our church leaders speak often about the importance of community, of living and doing things together as family in the kingdom of God. The key word is together. Putting this idea of friendship into the mix, I’m experiencing the blessing of those to hang out with, those I can rely on, and those I can help. This is a God-thing, the intention of much of the New Testament and certainly in the OT where I am warned also about unworthy friendships:

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, (Proverbs 22:24)

The NT also warns about another kind of friendship to avoid: “. . . . Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

Out of the three kinds that are biblical, today has already given me time with a friend I can rely on, and we discussed mutual ways to help other friends. I sensed the will of God running through our conversation. How lovely!

PRAY: Lord, help me to be there when others need me. I would love to be accused one day of being a friend of sinners and, most of all, am thankful that I can be Your friend. This means we can talk anytime, anywhere, about anything. I can rely on You always and when I obey You, I’m not helping You. I can help others only because You are helping me. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for there is great delight in this. (Psalm 119:35)  Amen.

Call for revival?

A Christian friend tells of how some professing believers turned a Bible story into a play that portrayed the characters as modern oddments, making the story meaningless and mocking the truths it conveys. She was in tears as she shared her outrage. Later, another person told me how some believers give only to get a bonus on their income tax. 

For these and other reports, reading Job this morning felt like a punch in the gut, the same punch I feel watching world news. It declares to me the same truth that God gave a loyal servant thousands of years ago:  

If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (Joshua 24:20)

Only this time, it applies not just to Israel but to all His people everywhere. Nearly 200 years ago, a loyal Christian man wrote this: “While we obey, his bounty shall shower upon us: and when we revolt, his justice shall consume us.” 

While some protest saying God loves all people, seems that too many professing Christians forget that God curses as well as blesses and His justice seems even more heavy when His blessings have been given. Steven Charnock says “Justice is never so severe as when it comes to right goodness, and revenge its quarrel for the injuries received.”

When the world turns its back on God, we acknowledge that sinfulness and might even rejoice when God judges it, but what about when the church of God ignores our responsibilities? How about enjoying His mercies and forgetting the One who granted such grace to us? What about justice for taking all He gives but failing to honor the Giver? The OT addresses such failure:

They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, (Psalm 106:21)
And she did not know that it was I who gave the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on silver and gold, which they used for Baal. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax. . . . and no one shall rescue them out of my hand. (Hosea 2:8–13)

So also does the NT: 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. (Romans 1:18–24)

Should God not make us uncomfortable when we ignore His goodness and even claim an injustice when He withholds it? We have so much and His goodness is poured out in many ways. That goodness is fully disclosed by His Word and yet many are not reading it nor discovering that   He expresses it in many more ways than by just satisfying our comfort. Instead of seeking His face, we pray for more than we already have. Can I be thankful for what He takes away because I enjoyed it a long time, or do I whine because I possess it no more?

Sin says I think I am better than God instead of honoring Him, or being thankful I am in His care because He is wise in all He does. This echos the Israelites who “murmured against God,” that had strengthened the hands of their deliverers; “despised the manna” he had sent them, and “despised the pleasant land” he intended them (Psalm 106:24). Distorting the Bible as a source of plots for entertainment shows contempt of God and his unparalleled goodness. Yet those who profess to love Him do the same every time we try to replace His will with our own.

PRAY: Jesus, I am thankful for what You are doing, even for the way You deal with those who ignore Your goodness. It hurts to see such behavior punished, but hurts far more when You are ignored.