Faith and obedience are partners

 

MacArthur starts his devotion by saying how unpopular it is to speak of the Bible as a book of commandments, even though the Bible says:

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; (Psalm 19:8)

Obeying God identifies true believers:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: (1 John 2:3–5)

Even Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments . . . . Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15;21)

God’s commands are “pure” and “enlighten the eyes” meaning Scripture (and the work of the Holy Spirit) brings spiritual truth into clear focus. Not every passage of Scripture is easy to understand, but taken as a whole, the message of the Bible is clear to the regenerate mind.

This showed up this morning. A woman in the education system is under fire for posting two photos on social media. One was a group of children waving swastikas, and the other was a group of children waving rainbow flag. It was captioned, “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”

Knowing what the Bible say about these matters is one thing, but having the courage to repeat it is noteworthy. However, today’s newspaper printed a letter from a liberal church leader condemning her for saying she was obeying the Holy Spirit. He obviously didn’t get it.

As MacArthur says, the Bible is clear to believers, but unredeemed people can’t understand it. To them it’s foolishness because their minds are unenlightened. Some will even used it to support their sin. God knows this:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

At first, that letter made me angry but soon God reminded me that any ability to understand His Word is a priceless gift. Yes, I can mess up, disobey, and so on, but He keeps working on me to take advantage of what He says by reading and studying it daily. As He expands my Bible knowledge, His expectations of obedience also increase.

I praise Him for giving that woman a command to speak out against the way our school systems are teaching kids that sin is okay and speaking against it is not. The woman who obeyed can say with the psalmist, “Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.” (Psalm 38:20)

God’s prophets also speak out against calling evil good, even if God’s people do it:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not. (Jeremiah 4:22)

I know the power of spiritual blindness. I also know that I cannot convince someone of truth because only the Holy Spirit does that. I’m just thankful that I can pray for this woman who bravely obeyed and suffers for doing what God told her, and for the man who cannot see that saying sin is okay. May all of us be open to what God’s Word says. His ways are holy, just and true and if sin is not sin, then Jesus did not have to die.

PRAY: Without You, Jesus, I’m not sure what sin would ruin me, but I know that the saving power of Your Word is both humbling and painful, yet liberating as it opens my eyes so I can see the difference between grace and license. No one lives without sin except You, and knowing it means loving, trusting, and obeying You — and in that there is great clarity and freedom.

PONDER: While the natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God because they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned, I know I can be like that if strong ‘I wants’ and opinions take over and ruin my focus on Jesus. I also know that the spiritual person judges all things, and others cannot judge me concerning my obedience to You. My prayer today is for those who speak up about the will of God. May all obey the Spirit’s leading with the mind of Christ, even if the whole world thinks we are evil instead of good. They thought the same about Jesus.

 

 

Being like God includes . . .

Exodus 38; Proverbs 14; John 17; Philippians 1

Hubby’s first words this morning:  “My mouse isn’t working.”

Since I am the computer geek in this household, I went in my pjs to see what was wrong with it. Since it was the beginning of a new day, I didn’t want to be fixing his computer. My attitude began to slip. However, I discovered several devices said “driver failure” so reinstalled them including the mouse which fixed it, but my attitude didn’t get fixed.

Every time I am called upon to fix hubby’s PC my default setting seems to be frustration and even resentment. After preparations for today, I came to my Bible and read this: “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” (Proverbs 14:1) Ouch. This annoyed attitude is not good for building a home.

To clarify, I looked up the meaning of “folly” and was even more convicted by the article in a dictionary of Hebrew words. Here is an edited and personalized version:

The word ʾĕwîl means fool or foolish and could be derived from an Arabic word meaning “be thick,” and therefore “thick-brained” or “stupid.” Ouch. I identify myself as foolish as soon as I open my mouth without thinking first. A fool does not avoid strife but has no restraint and will display her annoyance at once.

This word refers to what is sinful rather than to mental stupidity. It describes me having no respect for God’s wisdom and being impatient with discipline. A wise woman will accept godly instruction, but a boastful or babbling fool will get into trouble by the predicaments she makes for herself. Because a fool feels that her own way is without error, she does not seek counsel but will be overbearing in her attitude since she has all the answers. Ouch again; this is me when I’m doing my techie role.

This foolishness flouts responsibility as a godly wife and this attitude does not win friends! A good pounding will not fix this. I have forgotten or neglected the command of God to be a helper to my hubby and respect him instead of getting annoyed at his weaknesses with the innards of a computer. (This was not in the dictionary but clearly implied.)

The OT describes people whom God says are foolish:

“For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” (Jeremiah 4:22)

Walking in the flesh means being stupid and without knowing what to do, even if I think I know what I am doing. The only solution to that is walking in the Spirit which requires confession, repentance and obedience.

APPLY: New attitude needed. I’m his helper, not his boss/instructor/slave or whatever is bringing out that annoyance, likely as simple as a selfish “don’t interrupt my plans for the day.” Being a helper is an elevated position, a gracious summon of God to serve my hubby but to serve God also. It is a term used many times to describe how God is my helper. I need to confess to God and apologize to my hubby, not just for today which wasn’t as severe as other days, but for those other days too, and ask Jesus to fill me with His Spirit, the Spirit of helpfulness.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” (John 14:16)