No Pretense

Last night’s dream was profound. In it, another person put together a massive truth that helped me understand many things that have happened in my life that at the time made little sense. It was an explanation of intimacy, connecting it to being open and transparent, a person without layers that hide who they are. Perhaps the dream was prompted by wallpaper on my computer yesterday with this verse:

. . . For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

In the dream, I heard that everyone seeks intimacy. If it is not present with parents, then the child seeks it with others, never finding it because most people project an image that is not who they really are and do it for fear they will be rejected. This desire to be fully known and also fully accepted is so strong that it drastically affects behavior and relationships.

Part of what I realized from this dream was how I am drawn to transparent people because of my own desire for intimacy. It cannot happen when I am layered up or other people cover their true selves with whatever they think is acceptable. While extremes get labeled as hypocrisy, even the ‘nicer’ labels ruin that closeness that all people desire.

We recently attended an NA meeting and were blessed with the sense of ‘no condemnation’ as those addicted or fighting addiction to narcotics told their stories. The love and closeness in that room was astonishing. It made me think of the opposite that I’ve seen in congregations who hear all the time  ‘unless you live right, you are not pleasing God’ and all the rules about living right. In those places, the sense of being loved and safe is missing. 

This does not mean that Jesus died while we were yet sinners, as the NT says, and simply leaves us that way. Like the Twelve-Step program of AA, NA and others like them, the goal is to be free from whatever enslaves us. That freedom is becoming a new person, and for that, God is enough. Self-effort does not cut it. Our efforts fall short. I need to think as the psalmist writes:

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah (Psalm 62:5–8)

PRAY: Oh Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve sought intimacy and called it something else, and for the times that I’ve look to my own devices or to other people to meet that need. You and You alone are able to satisfy the deepest desires of my heart — including the desire to be fully known and loved no matter what being fully known might uncover or reveal. This also is the heart of Christian fellowship. Help me to be transparent with others. It might shock some, or embarrass them, or drive them away, but at this time in my life, I’m realizing the opposite. Not only am I drawn to those without layers, but many seem to appreciate and are encouraged when I refuse to hide behind them. Enable me to be who I am — as You help me become more like You.

Walk in the Spirit . . .

 

 

READ 2 Corinthians 9-13

One confusing thing about Christians is that sometimes we act as if we are not. To the watching world, this is hypocrisy and our confession of faith is dismissed as mere pretense. For Christians, we know the war that goes on between the old nature (flesh) and the new (governed by the Spirit of God). Walking in the Spirit is real, not pretense, and the desires of the flesh are real too. Our struggle with sin is unknown to others who do not have that inner conflict:

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. (Galatians 5:16–17)

The NT is filled with descriptions of the differences. Some fleshy stuff is obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these as listed in Galatians 5, but a few are less so because even ‘good’ people can give in to them. Today’s reading hints at these . . .

The Spirit-filled person will give cheerfully, trusting God to supply any insufficiency or personal lack because of willing generosity. The flesh gives reluctantly or under pressure or in order to profit in some way. This may look the same on the surface but God knows the heart.

The Spirit motivates His people to care about others whose lives are being controlled by sin, but not to deal with it for reasons of embarrassment, fear, or shame or any other personal motivation, only to glorify God and help those caught by sin to escape that problem:

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:4–6)

The spiritual person can speak openly about their failures and successes, and how they rely on the Lord for all that they are able to do, while the fleshy person boasts about their own achievements, even comparing themselves with others less able to do those things. (2 Corinthians 10)

The spiritual person will be imitated, but any false teachers will be doing what they do in their own power. They might be skilled in speaking and persuasion, but they will put on airs, or take advantage of others, making slaves of them, even be unkind to them (2 Corinthians 11:16ff). On the other hand, those who live by the Spirit will feel too weak for that, realizing they cannot play the same game and pretend being good without Christ.

Paul told of all that he had been through at the hands of those who did not believe in Jesus. He admitted his weakness yet also told the reason for putting up with it; he had deep anxiety for the well-being of other Christians. A fleshy person boasts not of their weaknesses but of their strengths but this Christian man knew where true power came from.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he 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 12:7–10)

The spiritual person gives their time and energy to benefit others, saying things like, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” (2 Corinthians 12:15) Whereas fleshiness is more concerned that others love him or her and do what they can to gain favor, even to be a burden or take advantage of others by deceit. The flesh is not concerned about the spiritual well-being of others, or their eternal destiny. They will not warn people about sin or talk about Jesus. They are more concerned about popularity and their reputation than about the call of God on their lives.

There is more, but I see enough to convict me of the times I slide into ‘me running my own life’ instead of ‘Jesus fill me and be in charge’ wanting more of Him and less of me. Lord, this is not so I will look better to others, but so my relationship with You deepens and You are honored as You deserve to be honored.

 

Becoming a butterfly . . .

The dictionary says that metamorphosis, usually concerning insects or amphibians, is the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. In people, it means “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.”

I like that last definition because it agrees with the way the Bible uses the Greek version of this word. Here is translated “transformed” and is about being changed from the inside out . . .

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, emphasis mine)

The first eleven chapters of Romans describe salvation: why we need it and how God makes it happen. The next section describes how salvation transforms our lives. Those who have been given the life of Christ will do these things, beginning with presenting or offering their entire self to God, worshiping Him as living sacrifices.

A young missionary once said that “the only problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.” At the time, that seemed funny but true. Now I realize that it isn’t the living sacrifice that does this because it never has the desire to move away from Jesus. Rather, it is the old sinful nature pulling me away from being totally dedicated to the Lord.

The rest of this passage is a big clue to why that happens — my mind needs to be renewed. Like the caterpillar that goes into a little case and is changed to a butterfly, my way of thinking needs renovating. However, I cannot do that; it is a supernatural task that only God can do.

I’m going through written copies of my thoughts about God from years past. Some of them are solidly biblical and giving me a smack because I saw truth then but it didn’t change me at the core of how I think. Perhaps I didn’t obey or I didn’t spend enough time in silence and meditation. I allowed distractions to take me off somewhere else.

Whatever the reasons, eventually many of those lessons did change my life, but only after experiences and trials that pressed me again and again back to that altar. I kept crawling off because my heart resisted God’s ideas in favor of my own.

Yet these two verses have always held a special place. I know that change is about yielding to God and resisting sin. I know that transformation is about thinking His thoughts and recognizing the dangers and depravity of my selfish ideas. It is also about focus. The butterfly is formed when the caterpillar is motionless. It does not try to fly before God forms its wings. Then it struggles to get out and, in that trial, it is strengthened. I tend to resist the trials, rush to the next things, and not take the time to focus on what God wants to do with me.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, this process of sacrifice and transformation is the way to discern Your will. I try to find it the hard way (by foolishly trying my own way until I run out of ideas). Far better to let to take time to let You do Your renovating work in my mind. Only then can I be certain that doing things Your way is good, acceptable and perfect!

Today’s thankful list . . .

God gives me time to learn the lessons of change.

He also gives me the mind of Christ so I can think His thoughts.

Opportunity to help a young family move that has never moved before.

The wildlife reserve right beside our home with its walking trails.

After weeks of pain, my feet are not sore!

Progress on another quilt.

Costco’s seed and nut brittle.