Practicing what I preach

 

Yesterday the Lord provided circumstances for me to put my morning’s devotional thoughts into practice. The quilter’s group in the community arranged a monthly sew day and it happened yesterday. For some reason, my old nature didn’t want to go. It was 7 hours, had to pack up a lot of heavy stuff to work on, I had other things to do, blah, blah, blah.

I prayed about it, understanding that all my negatives were not from God and with a great deal of them pounding at me, went anyway. I refused to let those ideas and I-wants rule. I like to sew, but didn’t want to do it all day. I like the people in the group, but small talk is hard for me. Again, blah, blah, blah. But I prayed again.

As soon as I walked into the sewing room, the Lord took over. My attitude became positive. The I-wants fell away. Any sinful possibilities like being competitive or critical, simply didn’t happen or enter my head. It was a wonderful day with some Christian fellowship, much love shared, and open conversations that drew us closer together. 

The big value in this experience is always asking for the Holy Spirit to help me, fill me, give me what He wants and boot out of my heart and mind all that is of the world, the flesh, and the devil. This trio of enemies try to make me shun what God wants and miss the joy that goes with His will and His goodness.

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:27)
O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. (Isaiah 26:12–14)

While He tells me what to do, such as. . . .  

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

. . . . and if I am obedient to do this also. . . .  

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)

. . . . He makes an incredible difference so that I am able to think right, say words that bless others, hear words that bless me, and do things that are kind and helpful. It just happens.

And after years of failing, falling, practicing, and knowing Jesus more deeply, I’m now wishing I could have more decades to do what I’ve been told rather than just hearing it, even agreeing with it, but not realizing the wonder of it through personal experience.

PRAY: What can I say to You except thank You for Your incredible patience and persistence with this stubborn child. 

Who is doing the work?

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)

This interesting NT passage begs the question: what is my part in doing the work and what is God's part? How do I know for certain that God is working in me? The answer may be obvious to some, but there are other verses that make this question more complicated.

Another passage from the OT quotes the people asking God a question and then His response. They said, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” God answers:

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? (Isaiah 58:3–5)

They were going through the motions so it looked like obedience, but God could see the motivation of their hearts. Their fasting was useless, even harmful.

I’ve tried to illustrate this with taking a pie to a new neighbor. I could be truly wanting to welcome this person and demonstrate the love of God, or I could be seeking a compliment on my pie-baking skills. However, the last time I said this, those listening tried to make my selfish reason a virtue! They did not see it as God saw the fast described in Isaiah 58:3. Were they blind to the subtlety of walking in the flesh that is intent on glorifying self?

God’s grace is a gift that enables us to do His will. It is like the hand in a glove. We do the work, but He supplies the will and the ability. This should make me say things like:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:29)
For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:18–19)

God wants me to press on by grace and in the motivation and power of the Holy Spirit, not according to my flesh, whether the latter is overtly selfish or hides that motivation under a pious pretension. I am not to think highly of myself but be content and even glory in my weaknesses that His power may rest on me. In other words, being Spirit-filled and enabled may mean that I am not even aware of His power. Only others will see Him because He is my focus.

PRAY: Jesus, faith is conviction about what I cannot see, not a vision or focus on what I want or how I am performing. It is a deep desire for Your will to be done, along with the understanding of my great need for grace. Apart from You, this glove is totally useless.

 

Eagles or Horses?

Writers love using familiar events or illustrations from nature, science and other human experiences to illustrate spiritual truths. The Lord is my Shepherd is a familiar one. Some verses liken the care of God to a mother hen spreading her wings over her chicks. Today’s devotional uses horses and eagles.

I have both positive and negative memories for both. My horses were my best friends, but one of them took a notion to run under a tree. My head hit a hefty branch and I lost my memory for a time. Another stepped in a badger hole and both of us went head over heels.
As for eagles, my best memory is seeing one in Alaska being harassed by a crow. Finally the eagle convulsed as if hurt, but it wasn’t. It had tightened its talons and the crow dropped from the sky.

Today’s devotionals cites two passages. One is about eagles…

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31)

This powerful bird illustrates the strength God gives to those who wait for the Lord rather than moving forward without His guidance or strength. Like an eagle, we rise above our fatigue and the feeling of being weak and unable.

The other passage is about horses…

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. (Isaiah 30:15–17)

Instead of waiting, if I pick something else that I think will accomplish the task at hand, I will find that I cannot escape the problem. These word pictures not only spell out the folly of taking matters into my own hands, but that God can use me as an example for others to show them what not to do — like a flag or a signal on a hill.

Another passage comes to mind...

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord! And yet he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together. (Isaiah 31:1–3)

Egypt points to bondage and the power of sin to enslave. If I trust the things of my old life that appear to be powerful and fail to consult the Lord, I’m relying on flesh rather than Spirit. Another prophet warns: “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:5)

The NT states this clearly:

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 8:5–8)

PRAY: Thankfully, the next verse says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:9–10) Jesus, I rejoice in the new life and in Your gift of being able to soar like an eagle and see the trials of life fall beneath me and into Your hands. Thank You so much.

Help myself? I don’t think so . . .

Psycho-Cybernetics is a self-help book written by Maxwell Maltz in 1960. Many motivational and self-help experts in personal development base their techniques on this book as do many athletic trainers. When I met him, my hubby also believed these ideas. He told me that if he regulated his self-concept, he could become whatever he thought himself to be.

He was trying to convince the wrong person. To me, these ideas were nonsense. Years before I heard of psycho-cybernetics, my dad was reading a similar idea in another well-known book, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” I told him that no matter how positive my thinking, I would never become an opera singer. He’d heard me sing. He tossed the book.

Yet there is a connection between how I think about myself and my behavior. For years, I felt like a rejected person, unable to make/keep friends and unable to do very much of anything. My attitudes showed in my actions. Then the Lord got hold of my life and His Word said that I was now a new person and I was to put away the attitudes and actions of my old life. Some of the following didn’t fit me, but the general idea was this: I am a new person because of Jesus Christ and can now live like it.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:5–10)

“Put on the new self” is not an idea that comes from me, an imaginary hope that I can be or do anything I aspire to. It is God’s reality. He caused me to be ‘born again’ or made new by the power of His Holy Spirit and the reality of His Son who now lives in me.

The challenge for me was a faith issue; did I believe God? As He began to change me from the inside I also began to change on the outside. My desires changed. My behavior changed, not because I worked at it, but because God worked at it! I began to be convinced.

The Lord told me not to be like those who have no faith in Jesus. He says:

They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:19–24)

This is a great description of how it works, like psycho-cybernetics but with a different source of power and a reality rather than a personal ambition. If it was about opera singing, I would be doing it because God changed my voice — yet it is far greater than that. He changed my heart. He put Jesus in there and because of that, I am different, genuinely different.

The verses in Ephesians talk about mind renewal. I don’t have to make up a new reality — God changed my reality and tells me to understand myself in that new way. Drop the old. It is no longer valid. Put on the new and start thinking and acting accordingly. I am created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness!

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

Lord Jesus, this is powerful stuff. When I’m thinking as You tell me to think, there is a balance of sinner/saint that fills me with both humility and great confidence. As Your Word says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), but it is not in my own ability or the power of my mind. It is because of You!

Today’s thankful list . . .

Being a new creation in Christ Jesus.

The desire and power to recognize and ditch old ways.

An incredible day, sunshine, no wind, cloudless sky.

Seven hours in the beautiful Butchart Gardens — no weeds, no trash, natural perfume, and gorgeous everything.

Mexican food.

My smart phone that takes exceptional photos.

Love Me as I have loved you . . .

The sermon today told me that to show my love for God, I need to love others. This is His commandment and it fits with the focus He gave me. I am to humble myself to do His will, loving others and not being concerned for myself. He will take care of me.

As I read the above passages, I can see the contrasts. In Genesis, the entire population had given itself to evil – except Noah . . .  “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5–8)

Then God told this man that He was going to make an end of all flesh, so Noah was to make an ark. God gave him the exact directions including dimensions, told him what to put in the ark for food, and to take two of every living creature as well.

I cannot imagine the mirth of Noah’s neighbors. The earth up to this time was watered by a mist. They didn’t know about rain or floods, but Noah persisted in building it anyway. Then God told him to go into the ark with his wife and family, and “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22) After the ark was full, God shut them in and the rain began to fall.

Noah was righteousness in that he believed God and did what he was told. He could have worried “what will people think?” but he did not. He could have laughed at the threat of rain and a flood, but he did not. He could have worried about the fate of his home and possessions, but he did not.

Noah stands in contrast to Solomon who was called the wisest man. He said, “I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees . . . And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6, 10–11)

This man was filled with “I” and thought only of what would give him pleasure. He didn’t listen to God for much of his life and wound up feeling empty because of it.

Last are the words of Jesus. He says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven . . .”  (Matthew 6:1) This touches on another kind of selfishness, the performance of a Christian that seems to be serving God but is only in it for themselves. Such service wants to look good rather than turning from self to obey God.

After several examples, Jesus seems to cover the folly of Solomon and the righteousness of Noah with a simple statement: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21)

Noah lost much in the flood, but by obeying God, he and his family escaped the judgment that destroyed everyone else and all they had. Solomon gain gold and silver, countless wives, horses and other treasures, but he lost all joy and learned the hard way the value of humility and obedience.

All day, God has been warning me about loving Him in order to impress others. Instead, I’m to love Him by serving others, even if it costs me everything. Jesus loved me so much that He died for me -- and His love is my example.

Self-denial eventually benefits those who deny themselves

A man named Simon was in Jerusalem, no doubt for the Passover. He was in the crowd watching another man carrying a cross on the way to be crucified, not an uncommon sight in this city under the rule of Rome. Since then, the idea of “cross-bearing” has been associated with punishment, endurance, and even death.

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. (Matthew 27:32)

Most of the time, bearing a cross gets a bad rap. Christians talk of some difficult task or person in their lives that is painful to endure, but they must accept it as part of what God wants for their lives. It is their “cross” and they assume they must heroically bear it for Jesus, using these verses to justify the sacrifice they are making.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23–26)

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38)

John Piper, in his book Desiring God, invites readers to think about this in a different way. Instead of thinking self-denial as a strong indifference to what we want for ourselves and not caring whether we are destroyed, he sees this as a strong desire for something better. Being willing to bear a cross is more about a deep longing for true life, a better life, something greater than what we already have.  First Peter 3:10 says this desire for a “good life and better days” should motivate us to speak rightly and move away from evil. The same desire ought also move us to “deny ourselves all the lesser pleasures and comforts of life” so we might have something better. 

That is, if self-denial is a hatred of self, then Piper says we would be “indifferent to the value of God’s gift of life” and “would dishonor it.” He suggests that our longing for life should be measured by the amount of comfort we are willing to give up to get it. The gift of eternal life in God’s presence is glorified if we are willing to ‘hate our lives in this world’ in order to get it that better life.  

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

This is how self-denial is God-centered, yet is still about what is best for me. It means that I give up the short-term benefits in favor of the long-term benefits. It is similar to what I do when saving money for a big item instead of spending it on immediate temptations, or when I eat less to lose weight. I do these things because I care about myself, not because I hate myself. I see a greater value in self-denial than in self-indulgence. 

This is what Jesus did when He went to the cross. He accepted the horror of it because of the greater glory that was coming beyond it, and bids me to think the same way...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2)

Jesus denied self, but knew a greater glory was coming. For that glory, He endured the cross.

Simon didn’t have a choice when it came to carrying the literal cross of Jesus Christ. He was conscripted without any promise of a reward. On the other hand, God says that when I choose to deny short-term gain, or personal glory, or even what I assume is a safer way to live, then God will reward me. Do I want the very best? Or am I content with lesser rewards?

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Lord, daily You offer options. Do I take up whatever will reward me now, or can I fix my eyes on the rewards that will come after I deny myself to follow You? I also know that self-denial is not always about enduring pain or difficult people and circumstances. Instead, it is about walking so close to You that I can take on whatever You ask me without thinking that I might be missing something else if I refuse.