We cannot even fake it...

The preaching in our church is such that a ‘pretend Christian’ likely would not stay long or at best stay that way. Transparent pastors who readily confess their shortfall from the pulpit as well as preaching grace rather than works puts a stop to Satan’s lie that we need to work hard to get into heaven. He tries to thwart the words of Jesus who said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

This ‘do it yourself’ idea is subtle. It appeals to our pride and to the world’s teaching about striving and about doing your best. It flies in the face of all sports and other competitions and enforces the idea of survival of the fittest. However God says:

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20–25)

This is verified in that those who consider themselves wise want to rule their own lives. The  Pharisees said they didn’t want Jesus to rule over them. The same is true of many who think they have life figured out and do not need God. This passage goes on to say:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

This also fits with the Lord’s response to Paul, now considered one of the ‘stars’ in the family of God. However, when he’d been given much understanding along with visions from God, the enemy came at him with an unnamed “thorn in the flesh” and he prayed to have it removed.

But (Jesus ) 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)

Being a Christian cannot be faked. Pretense is a pride thing, a desire to look good even when I know I’m not what I should be. Pride is the opposite of being weak, and weakness without pretense is required to being filled with the wisdom and righteousness of God. I cannot fake it. I cannot even fake being weak. Being “in Christ” is about thinking and walking in His way, His truth, His life. I cannot impress the wonder of new life to Him or anyone else by pretending, role-playing, or any form of doing it myself.

PRAY: Jesus, You know what it is like to drop all that You are and become a servant. You know the reality of weakness — Almighty God born in a manger, in a human form, able to control the wind and rain and rise from the dead, yet unable to disobey the heart that was willing to die for sinners. I face the rest of my life not knowing how it will end here, yet like You, there is joy set before me and the wonder of why You died becomes my strength in these days of weakness and not knowing. That You would fill me with Your same Spirit is both a mystery and a great amazement. I give thanks that in all this, I am never alone.

Walk in the life God gives…

 Today’s reading begins with an exhortation to give up all efforts to grow and simply let yourself grow. Leave it all to Jesus whose care it is, and who alone is able to manage it. Put yourself into His hands and let Him have His own way with you.

While this is true — that Jesus does the work, resting in Him does not eliminate spiritual disciplines, at least those rightly motivated. This devotional writer is not telling me to give up reading Scripture, worship, fellowship with other Christians, prayer, and so on. This exhortation is about self-effort and that frantic or pride-filled idea that I ‘must’ do this or that so I will grow.

Spiritual disciplines do not make me grow. I’ve sometimes called them places of grace. They are like getting in the shower if I need to clean up, not standing outside of it trying to take the dirt with my own hands. They are not self-effort with psychological gimmicks to get rid of guilt or reading how-to books to be well-liked. Instead, these disciplines are being where I need to be so God can do His work of changing my life.

Some of these involve actual places, such as going to church and being with like-minded believers, but most of them involve action or lack of action, such as Bible study, prayer, confession, and silence, fasting, and sacrifice. These are not motivated by ‘doing my duty’ but by wanting to love God and be closer to Him. As I do that, I know Him more as He is — and myself more as I am. This leads to conviction and confession, but also forgiveness and cleansing.

Even the OT, with its focus on God’s laws, has God’s gracious promises to His people when we have stoped growing. He says:

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. (Hosea 14:4–7)

Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. (Joel 2:22–25)

I cannot ‘earn’ these benefits but I can block them by running away from God and by refusing to unwrap the gifts that He gives me in my new life as His child. In that life is rest and growth without effort, yet crowned with glorious results.

PRAY: Choosing spiritual disciplines sounds like giving up ‘fun’ but that is not true. Jesus, being with You and motivated by the things You put in my heart to think, say, and do gives me an abundant life, a life of rest and trust, but also of surprise and adventure. I am humbled by things like pink tulips and well-timed phone calls, but those are only two examples of the many blessings You give. You are an incredible Shepherd and manager of my soul and the giver of peace and deep joy. You have changed my idea of what that word ‘discipline’ really means!

Love does not insist on its own way . . . (1 Corinthians 13:5)

 

Today’s devotional reading contrasts two tombstone inscriptions. The first one reads: “Here lies a miser who lived for himself,  And cared for nothing but gathering wealth. Now where he is or how he fares,  Nobody knows and nobody cares.” The second one says: “Sacred to the memory of General Charles George Gordon, who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, his heart to God.”

The obvious question is what do I want on my tombstone, but that depends on how I respond to the challenge in the rest of the devotional. It begins at the beginning when Adam and Eve replaced God with self and this attitude became the root of all sin. Why eat the only fruit forbidden? Because Eve believed the serpent’s lie that God was trying to keep her from realizing her full potential and invited Adam to eat with her:

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

The Liar’s tune has not changed. He still whispers that same lie to humanity, appealing to the idea that we can manage quite well on our own. So God sent Jesus:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Most of the time, going my own way does not seem like a terrible sin. I try to help people. I stay out of trouble. I am honored by others. Notice the “I”s —  that focus convicts me. It is not like Jesus. when two of His disciples wanted a special place in His kingdom, He said:

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:22–28)

Jesus’ life was a life of sacrifice — an important ingredient of loving others. It isn’t that He denied taking care of Himself, but He ate, slept, took time for prayer, etc., so that He could do His Father’s will. This was His only focus and goal. He said this often . . .

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:34)

I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. (John 5:30)

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father . . . . (John 14:30–31)

Unlike me, Jesus never sought His own comfort or gain but made whatever sacrifices were necessary to redeem lost sinners with a primary goal of showing the world that He loves His Father and that God loves us:

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

So what do I want written on my tombstone? I cannot answer that, partly because the love of God calls me to drop my ‘I wants’ and consider His will. Whatever is written is up to Him. My hope is that by the time He calls me home, my focus is on doing His will His way and life is not about me but about Him.

PRAY: My selfishness makes me sad. Jesus, keep my focus on You, Your will, and the ways I can fit in with Your will in this world that so badly needs to see how great You are and how much You love them.

PONDER: There are fifteen qualities of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. Consider how self-sacrifice relates to each one and confess any related selfishness that the Holy Spirit points out.

 

 

 

The greatest ministry . . .

Yesterday I was praying and lamenting that I’m not doing anything visible toward building the kingdom of God. The next thought was, “But prayer builds the kingdom of God . . .” and I started to think that my lament could be just a complaint; prayer is unseen, hard work. Any form of ministry seems more rewarding.

But God keeps nudging me. I’m blessed this morning by a definition from today’s reading: “Prayer is the purest exercise of the faculties God has given us — an exercise that links our faculties with our Maker in order to work out His intentions.”

Working out the intentions of God is a lofty idea, yet it means total surrender. The example of Jesus Christ consistently reveals what prayer is all about . . .  

Then (Jesus) said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ (Hebrews 10:7)

In Gethsemane and before going to the cross, Jesus spoke to His disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther He fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Then He found the disciples sleeping and said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” For the second time, He prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again, He found them sleeping, so left them and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. (Matthew 26:38–44)

On another occasion, He said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

People often say that Jesus changed the world because He is God, forgetting that He is God in human flesh, God who did not cling to the power of being God but became a man and relied on the Father, just as the Father also expects His children to rely on Him. That means total surrender. It means that God can do things through us to accomplish His will on earth. He does it by putting His will into a surrendered heart so that all our prayers are His prayers, and certain to be answered . . .

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7) The J. B. Phillips version says, “If you live your life in me and my words live in your hearts, you can ask for whatever you like and it will come true for you.” In other words, when I do what He says and live as He wants me to live, then He will do what I say.

A second thought is that prayer is the current ministry of Jesus Christ. He died, rose again, and is at the right hand of God, interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) How could I think anything else could be more important than what Jesus is doing?

Yet I know the real reason for hesitation. Prayer is spiritual warfare. The powers of evil do not want me surrendered to God saying, “Not my will, but thine be done” and be aligned with the Almighty in prayer. They will do anything to discourage prayer and to sidetrack me into sin or selfishness. Prayer is war.

Because of that, it is a lonely business. Many others are less inclined to pray for those involved in the ministry of prayer, for they too are subject to this continual effort to stop any sort of prayer support.

I’ve heard it said that prayer is the most difficult yet the most important task. Even though the rest of me resists and makes excuses, my heart says yes. If God gives me nothing else to do, this one thing I must do — pray.