Genuine repentance…

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. (Exodus 10:12–20)

Evangelicals often say if we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness, that means we are saved and our lives changed. This did not work for the Pharaoh. Odd, and many are offended that the Bible says God hardened his heart:

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. (Exodus 4:21)

It is a bit shocking, but the Bible says that God knows the human heart and those who try to manipulate God with confessing sin so He will do what they want Him to do are only fooling themselves. Note, this man wanted forgiveness “just this once” indicating a lack of true repentance.

Some say that having a hard heart is the natural result of sin. In other words, if a sinner does “not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gives them up to a debased mind” (Romans  1:28) and if they resist the Spirit, He “takes his holy Spirit from them” (Psalm 51:11). That is, if anyone sins against the light He gives, He withdraws that light. If anyone stifles their natural affections of kindness or compassion, it is a spiritual law that those affections wither and decay. This could be what happened to Pharaoh. It was not so much God's abnormal interference with his attitude, but the natural effect upon his soul when he faked repentance to get his own way. He was not after forgiveness, only wanted the locusts taken away. 

True repentance is about yielding all to God, about accepting His way of doing things. I cannot say, “I will serve You if You remove my problems” as if salvation involves a bargaining chip. My example is Jesus:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. (1 Peter 5:6)

Jesus, saying yes to You means yes to all things, trusting You to either use them or lose them, depending on Your perfect will, not mine. I can fight and resist the enemy’s lies, but I cannot fight or resist Your will or what You do in my life that makes me upset or uncomfortable. It is yielding to You in faith that brings peace.

 

Who or what motivates me?

 Exercise and prayer are on my to-do list but both require great determination. Exercise is hard and so is extended prayer. This morning, I’m challenged to think about both, first as what motivates me to consider them necessities, and second to rate them accordingly.

First, the Bible says: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) While eating and drinking are necessities, exercise and prayer (especially prayer), are high on the list. By this verse, do I do these things for His glory? What should that look like and what difference would it make? I’ve questions to answer.

Is God asking me to do either one? Prayer is a given. All the Bible says about exercise is that every athlete exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable reward. (1 Corinthians 9:25). And while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8) While not commanded, exercise is not forbidden, however self-control in food and activities tends to aid control of ‘self’ in other areas. But exercise to have a fit body should not be an obsession  or be the sole goal of life.
 
Charnock challenges me to put the rule of God and His glory as my main motivation.  He points out that people will abstain from excess and other things that will ruin their health, not because God told them not to do it. It is merely being kind to their health, not respecting or observing the rights of God to say, “Thus saith the Lord.” 

Not only that, demons may be subservient to God but not on account of loving obedience to His will or sovereignty, totally unlike Jesus who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

Obedience is also to be sincere and to only God. 

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” (Matthew 4:10)
So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. (Acts 4:18–19)
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23)

Also, I cannot pick and choose among His commands. This would be choosing what I want, and treating His authority as if He is only half sovereign. He is Lord of the world, and His laws are to be obeyed in every part of the world, not just in a particular climate or territory.

Obedience must be indisputable too, as illustrated by the centurion that had obedience from his soldiers who did what He ordered. 

For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:9)

It is even more fit for me to I obey promptly when God gives me an order. I may not understand some of them, but He is sovereign, and therefore it is without dispute that I am to obey Him for no other reason than: “Thus saith the Lord.”

And the last point that speaks greatly to my situation regarding prayer and exercise is that my obedience must be joyful, not dull, feeble, sour-tempered or sad. This would suggest that His commands are grievous, without the peace and pleasure He proclaims to be in them, and that He deserves no respect from me if I obey him only because I must, and not because I will or because I love Him. 

Obedience is submission, an act of the body, not just of the mind and heart. David wrote: “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” (Psalm 119:24) This should be true for me also.

PRAY: Lord God, as soon as I read this, I confessed to You my failure of attitude and right motive to do what You call me to do. Not always, but enough to reveal the selfishness of my heart and how that spoils the joy of doing what You ask. This may seem small to others, but I am aware already of a deep change of heart from listening to Your voice and agreeing that my attitude is not always what it should be. Thank You for Your forgiveness and Your power to cleanse and change, to make a difference, and to bless me. Amen.

Choosing Humility

 

At times I’ve wondered why God left us with this old nature that is so contrary to His Spirit and to the way He wants us to live. The obvious answer is that this is not heaven, not the place where God’s people will be perfect. But there is another reason; whenever I fall back into trying to live in my own strength or doing things my way instead of His, and it fails as it always does, I am deeply humbled. And God blesses humility.

The Bible describes humility and shows how God humbles His people and why. Their wanderings through the wilderness after being delivered from slavery was both humiliating for them and yet for their good:

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

God fed them in the wilderness with manna to humble and test them, to bless them. (Deuteronomy 8:16) However, He expected them to humble themselves, to seek Him rather than sin. He said:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Nebuchadnezzar figured it out. He said, “Praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel understood it too and was rewarded as the angel of the Lord said to him, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 4:37; 10:12)

Jesus gave an illustration: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4) and a reason for humility: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) He also set the ultimate example:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

The NT is clear that, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) Humble people know they cannot run their own lives, but instead run to Jesus for everything. He is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, justification, my fortress, strength, and hiding place. Without Him I am nothing and can do nothing. The problem is: even though I know it, I forget it, or take it for granted, or assume my latest idea or plan will work, or simply try taking back control for some silly reason only to fall flat on my face.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (including doing my own thing). I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:17–26)

PRAY: I thank You for the wonder of forgiveness and the price paid for my salvation. I praise You for new life and the ability to humble myself and choose obedience. It would be wonderful if that came easily under the pressures and desires of my old nature, and sometimes it does, yet too often am humbled by failure and the wrong choice rather than letting You lead me, so again, thank You for the wonder of forgiveness.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

READ: 1 John 1:5-2:6. What does this say about how to humble myself?