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!

The only real freedom

No one wants to be a slave, yet some people often feel as if they are slaves to their job, or their family, or to various passions and appetites. Many talk about freedom in terms of not being under the thumb of anyone and able to do whatever they want without restrictions or rules over-riding our desires.

Is that freedom? If one of my desires is to eat as much chocolate cake as I want, or drive as fast as I want, or play computer games all day, rationale tells me that is not really freedom and more like bondage.

I’m convinced that defining freedom does not mean doing what I want no matter what. Those I-wants have consequences, mostly unwanted. Besides, the Word of God tells me that no matter what, I’m a slave to something or someone . . .

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. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:13–18)

It seems that being a slave to God and to righteousness is the better choice than being a slave to sin, but that is not as easy as it sounds. For instance, even ‘religious’ people can find a way to call themselves righteous and hold their head high yet are in bondage to the sin of pride.

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (John 8:31–33)

Jesus answered them in much the same words as the above passage from Romans. He said that anyone who practices sin is a slave to it. Their sin at that time was in their plot to kill Him because He was telling them the truth; they were sinners with a self-righteous pride that kept them from admitting it was true.

The truth is in Christ. When He speaks to our hearts, we are to respond in obedience, not think we don’t need Him and push Him away. Tozer’s story of a boy who memorized Jesus’ entire Sermon on the Mount illustrates this well. This child quickly and easily learned that passage of the Bible. When asked how he did it, he said, “I would memorize a verse and then trust God to help me put it into practice. Then I would memorize the next verse and say, ‘Lord, help me to live this one, too.’”

That was the problem of those Jews who challenged Jesus claiming they were not slaves. They had a long history of hearing from God but not obeying Him. For generations they know what God wanted but prided themselves in being His chosen people. They did their own thing, thinking they were righteous but without obedience.

I can relate to this this ‘knowing but not doing’ — as most people can. One pastor called this the ‘obedience gap.’ Yet there is good news. Our ‘doing’ does not make us righteous anyway. The Gospel clearly says faith in Christ is counted as righteousness. Righteousness is a gift and it is in Jesus Christ.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . .  (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Why do good then? It is not to earn ‘brownie points’ with God but to live out what God has put in. When I do His will, I am demonstrating the power of God that sets me free from bondage to sin. Besides the glory given to God, obedience makes me happy. “If you know these things, blessed (happy) are you if you do them.” (John 13:17) Isn’t that the freedom I really want?

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, grant me today the grace to put what I know into practice, living out what You have given to me. And I thank You for the blessings You give as the result of doing Your will but more importantly, Your blessings are the only reason I’m able to obey You in the first place.