He is both merciful and just…

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 
Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. 
For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. 
(Isaiah 61:1–9)

Sometimes I feel like a teeter-totter. On one end sits a pessimist who tends to see the worst and can even dip into a depressive thought that nothing good is happening and nothing good will ever happen. Yet that thinking flies away when God gives me passages like this one. He is not done with sinners and the optimist end of the see-saw rises and laughs at my foolishness. How can I forget the promises and plans of God?

Nothing is too hard for Him, yet I have to be on the high side to see it. Getting there requires deeper thinking, focused thought, determination to know what I know, and confession of all unbelief that allows that pessimist be the heavy weight in this battle.

The very next verse in this passage tells me how to think, how to defeat that negative thinking:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

 And the NT has much to say about this spiritual war with the flaming arrows of those evil ‘principalities and powers’ that are determined to overthrow my faith:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. . . .  (Philippians 2:12–16)

Having God work in me includes giving me the will to do the work He asks. I know my helplessness and have realized that it is in that helplessness that He not only works but is glorified. The pessimist gives Him opportunity to declare His hatred of sin and the optimist states the wonder of His grace and mercy.

Jesus, when people ask how I am, I often make this hand gesture /\/\/\/ for it is true that life is that way because You teach me who You are in both the sunshine and the storms, the ups and downs of life. Many only want the ups with its optimism yet I know You better because of the downs, and either way, that You are with me and working out my salvation for me so that I shine and don’t grumble.

Abiding is related to being unable…

Piper’s devotion for today is a list of resolutions that he wrote for teenage children to help them determine to honor their parents. I chuckled a bit as I read them. Would teens have as much trouble keeping resolutions as adults too? They reminded me of the Laws of God written for His OT believers. They vowed to do everything God said, but wound up unable to keep them.

The NT says this about those laws: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:28) and the book of Galatians explains  that those laws cannot save but they do have a good purpose. They show both sinners and saints where we fall short, and how much we need to live by faith and be enabled by the Spirit of God. Without abiding in Christ, as Jesus says in John 15, we can do nothing.

So what is the point of resolutions? Good intentions? Do they not reveal the human inability to keep them? How slow I am to learn that my determination to obey God is not enough to make it happen. I need Him to be the governing force, the motivator who prompts me and works out that obedience.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

So if God is working in me to want His will and do His commands, why then the next lines?

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:14–16)

Certainly any grumbling or disputing is contrary to those prior words about pleasing God. They show me what does not do it, and therefore I cannot say complaining and arguing are obedience. I can resolve to do God's will, but if it does not fit the descriptions of His will, then I know I need to confess my sin and be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). I cannot excuse any of those negatives by thinking my mean-spirited manner is one way to tell the truth and use that as a claim that I’m obedient. 

The NT laws work the same way; they reveal selfish and fleshy attitudes and the sinfulness of my old nature. Confession is needed, but also being filled with the Spirit. God will fill me — as long as I’m empty. But herein is the rub; no one likes feeling empty and unable.

Those teens may want to do all the resolutions, but part of being a Christian is learning that I cannot do God's will apart from being yielding to Him because I’ve realized that I cannot obey just because I want to. He supplies the power only when I’ve admitted my lack of it. He calls me the light of the world and not to hide it, yet displaying it has a caveat: 

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 5:16)

I don’t take credit, or boast — I must obey in such a way that He gets the glory!

PRAY: Lord, just learning to give You glory is a challenging lesson, yet even more challenging is learning to live Your way so others do not put me on a pedestal. You must get the glory. I stopped making resolutions a long time ago, but I still desire to obey You and know I cannot do it without abiding in You. 

Making good choices . . .

 

1 Kings 11; Psalms 92–93; Ezekiel 41; Philippians 2

King Solomon had everything: great wealth, heritage, privilege and the promises of God, but he had a great weakness: women.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:1–3)

His father David was also blessed with much, but he had a problem with women too, at least one of them. When Bathsheba caught his eye, he forgot God’s commands and took her, then had her husband killed. The difference between this man and his son? Solomon was greatly blessed but allowed God’s gifts to dominate his affections without repentance. David realized his sin. His heart-felt confession is recorded in Psalm 51.

God gave abundantly to Solomon but even though he had great wisdom he didn’t do well with temptation and set his affections on forbidden things such as multiplied horses and multiplied women. He was qualified to live life successfully but chose not to do so. The point is that a godly life does not come automatically with the possession of wisdom — we must apply that wisdom to our lives. That is, spiritual success depends not only on insight but also on choices.

How can a person make good choices in the face of overwhelming temptation? Pat answers abound, such as “run” or “stay out of those places” but as Jesus said, the problem is with the heart, not our location: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19) Dealing with the heart means having a new one installed. God promised it:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)

Only through faith in Christ, does God change hearts so that we can love and obey Him. Because of this incredible ‘new birth’ we have the capacity to choose rather than give in to sinful and selfish desires. Making good choices involves my will plus the power of God. He tells me to think like Jesus because He has given me the mind of Jesus. I’m to look out for others rather than focus on me. I’m also to:

“ . . .  work out my own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in me, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that I may be blameless and innocent, a child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom I shine as light in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:12–16, personalized)

In ‘working out my salvation’ I’ve discovered a very strong aid to making good choices; praise. It is impossible to sin and praise God at the same time so I start the day with praise and try to heed this advice:

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, (Psalm 92:1–2)

APPLY: Grumbling, questioning, giving into temptation fade into the background when I am thanking God, singing praises, declaring His love for me and remembering His faithfulness. Praising God also humbles my heart because it focuses on His worth and my failure to measure up, but also on His grace to give me a new heart and new life with the ability to choose His goodness rather than go the way of temptation. The enemy is strong with his lies and schemes to sidetrack me from this, but God keeps on working in my will and actions, giving me many reasons to be thankful and to simply trust Him rather than complain, want more, or have to have answers to all the puzzles of life. Thank You, Jesus for loving me.