A Vital Truth

 

After years of reading through the Bible and the past two years of reading Stephen Charnock’s incredible book on the attributes of God, I’m noticing one spiritual truth that seldom is preached or taught. I’m also noticing that out of that omission comes many misguided notions about God and about ourselves and our responses (or not) to His Word.

What seems to be absent is clarity on the meaning and application of this passage:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. 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 5:13–26, italics mine)

This is not a new teaching. The prophets spoke to God’s OT saints about their inability to please God because they were not filled with the Spirit, and were instead walking in the flesh.

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” (Jeremiah 11:7–8)
But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive. (Jeremiah 13:17)

This distinction is connected to the “rules” in the NT that are intended to show the difference made when walking in the Spirit or not. One application concerns prayer:

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:3–4)

God also told His people that they were set free from bondage in Egypt, but He had to give them “rules” because they were not living like they should. Isaiah defines sin as simply doing our own thing rather than obeying God. 

The NT picks up on that. We are set free from sin when we are born-again, then told to be Spirit-filled so we can obey Him. However, far too many do not realize how that works, or that  fleshy activity is really doing our own thing. It is only when selfish living deepens into grossly  immoral or illegal action that we call it sin, but seldom is “I will do it myself” called sin like it was called in the OT. For that reason, the NT is also filled with “rules” about how to live as a person set free from sin… we should know what it means to walk in the Spirit or at least know when we are not and confess it (see 1 John 1:9).

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The biblical truth that I should do all things for God and His glory. This includes giving thanks rooted in the excellency of the Giver rather than merely for His good gifts. If gratitude is more about answered prayer and personal comforts and desires, it is likely disguised idolatry. This is one example only. If the fruit of the Spirit is absent, something needs to be confessed.

PRAY: God grant me a heart to delight in You for who You are — so all my gratitude for Your gifts, all my decisions, words, actions and motivations are for Your glory — and I will not twist any of it to make myself the focus and dismiss or forget Your excellence. Amen.  

Why God put me here…

The devotional book I’m reading is divided by a reading plan that is not dated. In other words, it takes me through 120 chapters from the time started until the end of the year. Some days are one chapter, but some chapters are divided into three days. The reading for today is three sentences at the end of a chapter, not very helpful yet it has a line that prompts two thoughts. The line is:  “It doesn’t matter what happens to me if I can just live to the glory of his grace.”

Of course Piper makes that line the application for his readers. However, it made me think again of John MacArthur. His final sermon began with an outline of what he was experiencing; three heart surgeries and one on his lungs. Then he said almost the same thing as this line from Piper’s devotional. John was a humble man, and a fine example of living to the glory of God. He had his flaws, but his life shoots holes in any excuse that living for God's glory is impossible.

At the same time, I cannot say that this is a fine goal for a prominent preacher but not for an ordinary wife, mother, homemaker, etc. God did not save me so I could hide behind an apron.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:15–17)

These words of Jesus are packed with the reasons I am here, not behind a pulpit or in any position of prominence, but to bear fruit. What kind of fruit is He talking about?

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 5:22–26)

These attitudes are action words. Love may be a noun in Greek but it is a verb in practice. In my role as a wife, it is about the way I interact with the man I married. Loving him means wanting the best for Him (God’s will) and doing things that are helpful, edifying, and encouraging. 

Just in case anyone thinks love is an easy task that does not require being filled with the Spirit and bearing the fruit He supplies, the NT says this:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:22–24)

Some Christians believe this submission is a cultural thing and not for today, or that it makes a doormat out of a wife. However, doing it follows the model of Jesus who came here in humble obedience and did all that His Father asked for the eternal good of a sinful world. I am saved because Jesus submitted. I cannot use that excuse to have the final say in my home or even consider myself better, smarter, etc. than anyone else. Love is not about competition. And love is just one ‘fruit’ that I was chosen and saved to bear in the task of living for God's glory. The others, joy etc. also are impossible apart from the grace of God. 

PRAY: Jesus, no wonder these things are called the fruit of the Spirit — no way can I live like that without Your grace, input, and power. Pastor John and others prove it can be done, and You are the ultimate example. I bow my head at the many times my ‘fruit’ was shriveled, or not ripe,  or not there, or just rotten, instead of being genuine and produced from abiding in You. Fill me today and always remind me why I am here.

Confess, be filled, accept His will

When my husband was saved, we had a discussion with one of the elders in the large church we attended. He had a cup in front of him and used it to illustrate the Christian life. He held the cup upright and said that when we confessed our sin for salvation and for each sin after being saved, God would fill us with the Holy Spirit. The cup remained upright.

Then he said that each time we disobeyed God, the cup tipped over — or in other words, we were filled with ourselves and the Holy Spirit was no longer in control. He said that we needed to deal with that sin so we could be upright and again filled with God’s Spirit.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

A new Christian discovers the joyous wonder of what it means to be forgiven and clean. We realize the power of the Lord Jesus and become amazed at His ability to give us victory. We are  delighted that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

However, the illustration with the cup didn’t end there. The elder tipped it then set it upright several times, and said, “You have to realize that this is the Christian life and how God works to deal with the sin that He has saved you from.”

Today’s devotional writer points out that Christians tend to feel that a life of inward rest and outward victory is their inalienable birthright. We remember that initial joy that made us certain of victory but it isn’t long before our experience becomes one of few and fleeting victories and our defeats are many and disastrous.

I remember when my early visions of triumph grew dim and I began to match that overturned cup. My faith seemed to be an never-ending cycle of failure and victory, one hour sinning and the next repenting. I soon thought 1 John 1:9 had to be the most important verse in the Bible regarding Christian growth and victory over sin.

Then I started to think that this experience was more like being a soldier. Enlisting makes me one but in name only. Life would be the bootcamp where I learned to live like what I already was.

I had to learn this reality: Jesus came to save me now, in this life, from the power and dominion of sin and to make me more than a conqueror through His power. The Bible declares it in the purpose of His death and says it everywhere. Not one hint is given that this deliverance is limited and partial, nor that we have to be satisfied with continually being tipped over.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:1–8)

The solution is keeping short accounts, not accepting that tipped-over condition as the norm. I’m to set my mind on Him and consider the old me dead to sin and alive to God.

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)

PRAY: Lord, it is harder to set my mind on the truth of what You have done in me when my body is plagued with weakness and feels yucky. Help me keep short accounts and take care of myself without letting this recovery time fill me with fleshy self-pity. Of course I want the joy of the Holy Spirit but I will accept whatever You want for me.

Wait — there is more to the story

Being unwell gives me time to think. These devotions also prod thoughts. Yesterday I wondered about the promises of God’s goodness and blessing in contrast to this instruction from the NT:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

In most minds, trials and joy do not mix. Theologically they do. It makes sense that we learn most when most pressed to trust God, most pushed by difficulties that we no longer have any answers or ways to bring life back to normal or forward to better than it is with the trial. In other words, it is preferable to be comfortable rather than stressed, and when stressed it seems that our loving Father should remove the problem.

But what if He does not? Think of believers in places of persecution. Think of those whose children have incurable disease. Think of those who have lost everything. Even the Bible stories speak of unrelenting trials, like Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers and Job who lost his children and possessions as well as his health. In reading the total story, the good will of God shows up. Joseph seemed to wait for it. Job complained and questioned. Others suffered in silence.

Yesterday I thought about my lack of knowing what my suffering means, but one thing came out of the pondering; I may not know what God is doing with me or with my friends who are suffering, but I do know that He wants all of His children to be filled with His Spirit. This is where our joy comes from, not from the comforts of life. Today’s devotional says this:

The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ was meant to be full of comfort. Every newly converted soul, in the first joy of conversion, fully expects it. And yet it seems as if for a great number of Christians, their religious lives are the most uncomfortable part of their existence. Does the fault of this state of things lie with the Lord? Has He promised more than He is able to supply?

It goes on to say that we suffer from a great deal of over-advertisement and this tends to give many of God’s people the sense that Christ offered more in His gospel than He has to give. Why this? Has the kingdom of God been over-advertised, or is it only that it has been under-believed? Is part of our problem the fact that we have not arrived at the last chapter of our story and we are simply impatient? The Bible does say:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

God took Joseph into slavery and eventually into leadership in Egypt where he was able to save his people during a famine. As he told his brothers, they meant it for evil but God used it for good.

God never did tell Job about the challenge of Satan and the proof that the faith He gave Job would hold firm, yet at the end of his story, Job humbly admitted his failures, prayed for his accusing friends, and was given back more than had been taken away.

God keeps His promises. My problem is impatience and often the failure to remember that joy is not about circumstances but the fruit of the Spirit who will fill me with Himself no matter what is going on in my world. Yielding to Him and asking for that fullness is always the right choice. With Him in charge, the situation may not change, but I will stop feeling sorry for myself and experience His love and concern for others, expressed by: “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.” (Galatians 5:22–24)

PRAY: Jesus, You used a dream last night to show me how to stop those coughing attacks. What a lovely surprise, totally unexpected even though I’d asked for sound sleep. While I still don’t know the purpose of this trial, I do know that You are enough to bring good out of it. Help me be content with the fruit of the Spirit and not try to figure out anything other than just trusting You to take care of me and those I’m concerned for as You work in our lives.

Out of the heart . . .

 

An old Sunday school song has these lines: “O be careful little tongue what you say, O be careful little tongue what you say. For the Father up above Is looking down in love. So, be careful little tongue what you say.”

I’ve been in groups where people ‘walked on egg shells’ being careful what they said in fear of offending others or giving away true thoughts. This is not the intent of the song, nor does it reflect the intent of the NT verses such as:

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

Controlling what I say is not about wanting to make an impression. It is more about having a heart filled with the right things. As Jesus said,

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34–37)

Paul repeats it with, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29) These verses are saying that having our hearts right will result in having our words come out in a pleasing manner.

Last night our small Bible study/prayer group met for a barbecue. The conversations were a reflection of the care and unity of our hearts, a true example of Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” That does not mean we agree on everything, or that anyone was being cautious with their speech. Rather, the unity of our love for Christ and for one another flowed easily. We came home feeling blessed and cared about, without any qualms about words we said or words we heard.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Everyone knows how easily unkind words can slip out. James wrote:

 . . . . For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (James 3:1–12)

The answer is learned. The Spirit of God continually teaches me to let Him fill me so my heart is in unity and filled with love for others. As the psalmist said, this is incredibly good and pleasant, and it is also entirely possible — because of Jesus.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m so thankful that You live in Your people and we can visit with one another in freedom of speech, without needing to guard our tongues in fear of saying something out of place. Your Spirit is our freedom and the source of good, pleasant, kind thoughts that come out of our mouths. You bless us with such amazing grace and enable us to have “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” (1 Peter 3:8)

PONDER: Think about the wonder of God who grants such grace that His people can disagree about the best car, best hockey team, even about minor points of doctrine, yet love one another deeply and without needing to be anxious about saying the wrong thing and being sent to a corner or told to shut up. 😊

 

 

Who needs wine?

 

READ Song of Solomon 5–8

My parents seldom touched alcoholic beverages. Before I became a Christian, I had been married to an alcoholic and was divorced. Before the split, someone had to drive home so I didn’t drink, except once after a terrible event. I learned something from that: drinking too much did not erase the pain of that event but it did make it seem farther away, less hurtful.

After Christ came into my life, drinking liquor was even less interesting to me. The gift of God’s Spirit was far better in giving me whenever I felt a need for: joy and peace, confidence, or anything else that a shot of alcohol could promise but really didn’t deliver.

When the Holy Spirit came upon those first Christians after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, they were filled with joy and the ability to speak in other languages, but some of those looking on mocked and said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Acts 2:13) Later, Paul wrote:

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18–21)

It was more than fifty years ago, but I still remember sitting on my front step in the sunshine and thinking how wonderful to feel God’s joy. I was divorced, had two children to raise, no job and a large farm to care for, but the peace of God was overwhelming, much better than booze could do.

However, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the intimacy of being in love is described in comparison to drinking fine wine . . .

I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love! (Song of Solomon 5:1)

Your mouth like the best wine. It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. (Song of Solomon 7:9)

This feeling of euphoria that comes with booze, or even with love is the best a human writer can do to give any non-Christian reader a description of what it is like to be ‘wed’ to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think of the people I know that need a glass of wine to settle their nerves, or give them some sort of boost after a hard day, or to help them ‘fit it’ with everyone else at a party, or whatever it is that wine does for them — and the Holy Spirit does all that and more. Instead of thinking of my own need or issues, the Spirit sets my mind on the needs of others. He gives me a supernatural focus — and for me, a generally selfish, me-first kind of person, it is supernatural. Normally I don’t like small talk or crowds. I’d rather work alone than with friends. Some might call me an extreme introvert, but when the Holy Spirit takes over, I’m the opposite. Like being in love, it is simply joyful (unless I ruin it by turning that joy into a gift for me instead of for others, and glorying in it instead of in God who gives it).

Today’s reading ends with, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.” (Song of Solomon 8:7) There is nothing more valuable, more enduring, more delightful than the love of God poured out through a person filled with God’s Spirit. When I am around those who fit this description, it feels like the best of parties without the hangover and without a need for a designated driver. This is a party with unity, not loud arguments, and with a deep care for the joy of others rather than a desire for personal well-being. The only way to describe it is like Solomon did — by comparing it to two people who are madly in love with each other!