A good way to end the year

In the latter years of his life, the Apostle Paul expressed that his confidence was not in himself or his many credentials and accomplishments. He had a powerful life of influence yet his confidence remained solidly in Jesus Christ.

“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more . . . . But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:3–11)

Not too many days ago, I could fully relate to these verses. At least, my confidence seemed to be in Christ and I had my usual level of energy and ambition, but today, I realize how easily I can put my confidence in my health and energy levels. About two weeks ago, my heart went into mild A-Fib again. This had not been a big issue because it didn’t slow me down much. However, last night and today I feel as if a truck is sitting on my chest. We are sitting in an airport waiting for our flight to take us home, and I feel as if I am waiting instead for Jesus to take me home.

Perhaps this is just fatigue, the kind you feel if you sleep with a pillow over your head and cannot get enough air. I hope so. Yet regardless of what is going on, the psalmist gives me words of comfort.

 “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” (Psalm 73:23–28)

Paul also said about his confidence in Christ:

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us . . . . our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:12–21)

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, right now the prospect of having my lowly body transformed to be like Your body is appealing. Maybe a couple days sleep will change things, but at the moment, I am particularly glad that You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Also, this is a good note on which to end 2017 and begin a new year — the note of helplessness and being completely dependent upon You.

Total contentment

A sales person called a few days ago. He was vague about who he worked for and claimed that I had answered their ad on the Internet. Since I knew that was not true, I began asking him questions. His pitch was to “help me make more money” using their free software whereby we would go into an online trading partnership. Of course, I was promised great return if I would just listen to his sales pitch.

I told him I was not interested in making money but that was the only appeal he knew. For about twenty minutes he tried to convince me of the benefits of having more money and I kept telling him that I had no need for more money and was perfectly content. No matter what he tried, I told him how well I am doing without more money. He didn’t know what to do with me and I was inwardly smiling — everything I said to him was true, but he had a hard time believing me. He thought I must be a billionaire.

Then he tried another tactic and said if I would listen to him, I’d never have to work again. I told him I wasn’t working now and never had worked. That is true also, and he had trouble believing me. As his frustration grew, I kept telling him that I was totally content and had no need for whatever he was selling. Finally, I asked him to take me off his phone list. After five or six requests, he realized he was wasting his time with me.

When the call ended, I felt that peace that passes understanding —everything I said was true. In Christ, I am secure and taken care of. No one can threaten the love of God who has blessed my life with great abundance but more so, with great contentment. As I read today’s Scripture cited in Fortner’s devotional book, I could shout a loud YES to the psalmist’s song of praise . . .

“Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Psalm 111:1–10)

The caller could not understand my responses to him, but the congregation of God fully understands. Together, we know the great things that God does, and that He is wonderful and completely righteous, gracious and merciful. He provides for His people and shows us His power. We know He is faithful and trustworthy.

^^^^^^^^^^

Dearest Lord Jesus, this psalm expresses it well, but those who do not know God cannot see the wonder of You. I remember those days when my sin and self-efforts blinded me to Your greatness. I could not see what the psalmist sees, nor what I see now. I’m thrilled that You opened my eyes, but also that You came into my life and gave me Your peace and a contentment so deep that it baffles those who think security and peace depends on the thickness of their wallet. I am truly grateful that I can rely on You to take care of everything I need.

What about that unseen world?

There is a segment of Christianity that focuses heavily on the idea that Christians have authority over demons, that demons are behind all ‘bad’ events and actions, and that we must claim our authority over them. Some who are caught in this have also been caught up into occult practices, taken captive by the very enemies that they claimed power to conquer.

As creatures of extremes, there are others who totally deny all of the above and who reject that there are evil forces at work. This group would say that ‘bad’ things happen because we did something to bring them on, something like Job’s ‘comforters.’ This extreme view does not accept that there are unseen entities that roam the world, at least not in our time.

Not wanting to be caught in a power struggle with demonic forces, or duped into thinking they do not exist, Bible passages like this one bring balance to the two extremes. The following is at the end of an event that happened just after the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. He had been revealed to three of the disciples in all His kingdom glory, hinting that soon there would be an end of sin and evil, but the kingdom had just begun for those evil forces were still harassing people . . . 

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:25–29)

This event speaks to both extreme ideas about evil spirits. For the first one it shows that even the disciples of Jesus are not always able to conquer evil spirits. We are given some authority, but it is not total. This particular task was not for His followers; they needed to take it to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer.

As to the second view, Jesus Himself knows there are demonic forces causing grief for humanity. This little boy was mute and had seizures, but Jesus identified the cause as a “mute and deaf spirit” and commanded it to leave the boy. They do exist and they can be ordered to leave.

However, the disciples who failed to help this child had forgotten a small phrase. It is included it Paul’s declaration of what he had learned about doing anything . . .

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

The phrase is “through Him” and the principle is that we do have power and even authority to do things in the spiritual realm, but we cannot do them apart from Christ. No matter what I try to do, even with faith, my failure rate goes up if I neglect taking the problem to God in prayer.

Even with prayer, I sometimes pray out of duty or with a formula or rote prayer, such as: “God bless this food,” when my eye is on the table settings, or “God, bless the missionaries” when I’ve no clue what I am asking Him to do. Prayer ought to be a firm declaration of who I am trusting. It is about the heart, and about my weakness and humility. It is also about the problem at hand.

The text does not say if the disciples tried to heal this boy to gain the respect of the crowd, or to show off their new-found powers, or any other self-centered motive they might have had, but I know that when I try to do anything in the name of Jesus when it is really all about me, my efforts are in vain.

Instead, I must be willing to fall on my face asking for His help. All the Bible study and doctrinal degrees I might gain will not equip me to fully understand that unseen world or give me an authoritative power over it. To fight evil, or even recognize it, requires the illumination of the Holy Spirit and the mighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, landing on either of the above mentioned extremes is both dangerous and simply not what the Scriptures reveal.