How to be discerning

Discernment is often the topic of discussion in the small group that I pray with and we agree how easily it eludes us. We sing on Sunday, “I am no longer a slave to fear; I am a child of God” and get fearfully worried about something on Monday. What happened to make that confident faith run off somewhere and leave us in bondage to fear?

One of my readings today offers a likely suggestion — somewhere between the song and the door opening to anxiety was a command that we knew we should obey but did not.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:17)

This short remark made by Jesus suggests that knowing and doing are more than connected. If said in the negative, if I know something and do not do it, I lose a blessing. While Jesus does not describe what that blessing is, the devotional writer offers this: When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more. That is, obedience produces discernment. If my spiritual life takes a dive and my ability to discern what God is saying to me, it could be that it goes back to a point where there was something I knew I should do, but I did not do it. At the time, it may have seemed not very important but as soon as the opportunity passed, so also did my perception and discernment.

When that happens, at the next time of crisis, I could be spiritually distracted instead of spiritually aware and therefore miss another opportunity to know and do what God wants.

This writer goes on to say that many Christians in that place make another mistake. Instead of confessing their disobedience, they work up occasions of self-sacrifice that God has not called for. This is easier than doing what God 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)

As the OT says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Obedience leads me forward. Sacrifice hinders progress, even halts spiritual growth. As that writer says, do not go back to what I once was when God wants me to be something I have never been. “If you will do …, you shall know.…”  Obedience is key to discernment.

The song and my heart knows that I am a child of God. Satan knows that if he can get me to act as if I am not, then my ability to know and grow is halted. Knowing who I am is based on what Christ has done. Acting as who I am is a huge part of that. I am not called to forgive others in order to induce Christ to forgive me; I am to forgive others because i know that He has already forgiven me. I am not commanded to be a follower of Jesus in order to become God’s child because I know I am already His child.

Every day brings challenges to rob me of the victory that comes from doing what I know. Satan never retires from trying to delude me and mess up my discernment and growth. Even disobeying what seems like a small request will do it. I need to put my faith in God in all situations to keep from being caught in my enemy’s lies. God can turn defeat into victory whenever I really trust Him and do what He asks.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:4)

PRAY: Jesus, You are the Savior and my faith AND obedience depend on Your grace and power, yet when both are given a big YES from my heart, You chase off the devil and You bless me — always with wonderful surprises and certainly with an abundant life. Again, You are so amazing!

Peace that makes no sense

Deuteronomy 10; Psalm 94; Isaiah 38; Revelation 8

This week I’m feeling like God’s spoiled brat, not deserving His blessings yet filled with His peace, even as we read the news and watch the disasters happening in the world. Talking to friends and neighbors, I realize that many people are fearful, filled with anxiety, and fretting about social isolation and many other events as if these are the worst tragedies possible. I’m not always sure what I should say to them.

It is true that many North Americans have had years of peace and prosperity. A generation or more have no idea what it is like to make-do, to struggle from day to day without food or income, or to live with few resources. The younger people today did not experience hardship like those who lived during the two great wars or other pandemics and plagues. Spoiled brats come to mind. Some complain that they have nothing to do, as if it is the worst possible thing that could happen. Others riot in the streets over one unjust act yet thousands of unjust acts are committed every day. Most of them never reach social media yet people suffer, such as millions of children forced into labor or the sex trade.

Today I read about a future judgment. No one knows when it will happen, but as with all biblical prophecies, I know it will happen. God’s record of fulfilled predictions stands at 100%. This one puts our current situation into perspective:

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” (Revelation 8:8–13)

The latest data I can find says Covid-19 deaths are about 5% of the population, not anywhere near the numbers in this scary passage. Even more staggering is the realization that 100% of the population will eventually die, virus or not. Heart attack, stroke, or not. Hit by a truck or not. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

These thoughts are not intended to increase the fear but to bring an eternal perspective to the daily headlines. Because death is a certainty, regardless of how it happens, doesn’t it make more sense to focus on that issue?

Trusting Jesus Christ for salvation erases that fear. He forgives sin and grants eternal life to all who put their faith in Him. This is an incredible thing, better than an antidote, antivirus, an aspirin a day, and staying out of traffic. It is not a popular choice, now or in the past. The psalmist struggled with foes and the daily battle against sin, but he could say:

Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. (Psalm 94:16–19)

Not all Christians are in the frontlines against evil yet all of us battle the source of it and in this battle, we have God’s incredible promises. As Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And as John echoed, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

APPLY: When I watch the news, emotions grip me almost as if I am there — in the struggles and sorrows, but the peace of God will not let me stay there. Jesus keeps His promises, those about peace and those about judgment. His steadfast love is holding me up and His consolations cheer my soul.

 

 

Forgiveness for selfishness

Last night I over-indulged in some junk food. I went to bed feeling unpleasantly stuffed and guilty. All day, I had been thinking about this verse:

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (1 John 5:4)

One of the aspects of loving the world is indulgence, doing selfish stuff. And I know better. Not only am I spiritual convicted, my doctors would frown. Jesus gives me the victory over such stuff by trusting and obeying Him but I did not exercise any faith and paid no attention to that still small voice telling me to not do it.

Some would think this is no big deal. The enemy uses that line. He also says stuff like “everyone does it” or “nobody is perfect” to give me excuses — when I know better.

In a sense, to ignore the Holy Spirit, I am denying that God is right and that He has the right to direct me in the way I should go. I’m essentially brushing off what He gives me — the power to overcome the world — as if He is lying to me. In that sense, this is a big deal. This is what John wrote about lack of faith and its connection to what I think about God’s words . . .

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:9–13)

Earlier in my Christian life, I wrote an article about how God prunes the sin out of our lives. I likened it to pruning a tree. He first lops off the biggest and most offending branches. Then He saws away all those things that interfere with fruitfulness in smaller ways. Finally He gets out a scalpel and picks at the offensive parts that perhaps only He sees but are nevertheless a hindrance to my spiritual life and walk with Jesus . . . things like self-indulgence when no one is looking.

I know that He forgives all sin, from the ‘big’ things to the picky things. That is not dragging me down because:

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)

Yet I feel down, disappointed by my lack of desire to please the Lord (and take better care of myself) in the small things, those disciplines that deny self in order that I might be more like Jesus — who I can safely say that He was never self-indulgent.

The other thing noted in the passage from 1 John 5 is that lack of faith in anyone is equivalent to calling God a liar. I suppose that some might say that they don’t believe the Bible is God-inspired or that God does not exist, yet in doing that they are calling liars of those who testify to the Lord’s work in changing their lives. One person said to me, “Oh, you just did it yourself.” If I did it myself, why on earth would I give all the credit to Someone else?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, because of You I have life. I also have victory over the world. I do not have to indulge myself and certainly do not want to insinuate You are  liar by behaving as if You have not given me the power to say no to selfishness. I know that You forgive me. You also promise to cleanse me from my foolishness. I wait on You. Self-discipline includes every part of life!

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God’s power and faithfulness to forgive and cleanse unrighteousness.

- the Word of God that lets me know the mind of God.

- the mind of Christ that lets me know His thoughts when His book is not open before me.

- His help in doing some chores I’ve been procrastinating over.

- Finding just the right gifts for my sister’s birthday.

- freedom

Failure is not the end…

Faith is easy when God answers prayer, when life is going as I hoped, when I can see His purposes being fulfilled. Yet if my life is to be like the life of Christ, I will experience failure.

Consider that Jesus’ brothers did not believe and mocked Him. Remember those times when He did no miracles because faith was absent. Don’t forget that in the end, the crowd that had cried Hosanna turned against Him and cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Then all the disciples left him and fled (Matthew 26:56). He was lied about in the judgment hall then mocked as the soldiers stripped Him of His clothes. Innocent and voluntarily helpless, He suffered the worst death known to man, and was buried in a borrowed tomb.

By human standards, the life of Christ was a misadventure and a failure. Isn’t much of our lives like that? Any success, and least measured by human standards, is a rare exception rather than the rule of life. We might hear about magnificent projects and brilliant hopes, but in the big picture, almost all fall into eventual ruin. Individuals who “succeed” eventually grow old and unable to perform. Business ventures encounter downturns and changes, mergers and crashes. Failure is inevitable.

I once read a book with the catchy title, “Failure, the Back Door to Success.” It was about learning from mistakes, but also defined success more like a spiritual discipline and failure as a test of faith. This makes me remember those times of enthusiasm in my heart that disappeared when I failed. Did my faith desert me too? When something goes wrong instead of right, do I feel like God has left me alone? Am I discouraged and ready to quit?

Today’s devotional writer suggests that when “failure” happens, I am appropriating half of Christ’s experience, that sense of failure, but not appropriating the other and more essential half, the persistence of faith. Because Christ lives in my, I have the power to defy failure, a power that can do this because this power is from God and is not my own.

Again, the life of Christ seemed a stunning failure, but it was followed by the most stunning victory that the universe has ever seen. What happened at the Cross is the example of all examples. Whatever God plans cannot fail. His proposals are firm, eternal, guaranteed. Regardless of any opposition, the things that are godly, honest, lovely, pure, and truthful have a vitality that cannot be destroyed or subdued.

What looks like failure in the life of a person of faith is only a triumph deferred. The energy and time spent in prayer and Christian service may not yield immediate fruits but whatever seed is sown is never lost. God promises to use it, and He keeps His promises. All may appear lost as it did at the Cross, but Good Friday was not the end…

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10–11)

I think about seeds sown in lives that seem hard and barren at the moment. God says that seed will sprout and grow. I may not live to see it, even die with my life seeming to have been a failure, but the work done in faith cannot perish. The work of Jesus Christ has transformed millions of lives and changed the world. His work brought the kingdom of God into this dark place and left us with this great promise,

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:4)

I’m encouraged by this Word. Success is more about trusting God than it is about results or answers to prayer. Those who determine to put their faith in Him and do whatever He asks, are successful people. Our reward is going to be incredible, far surpassing anything we could ever expect or imagine.