Like a starving baby . . .

Only a few volumes on my bookshelf have been read more than once. The most notable is a classic by L. E. Maxwell called “Born Crucified.” The gist of it is that Christians are given new life and the old is gone. It can take a long time for our awareness to catch up with this reality, but I died when Jesus died . . .

“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)

Maxwell affirms that this is true no matter how it seems. The issue is recognizing it and living accordingly. An analogy might be enlisting in the army. Whoever enlists is instantly a soldier — it just takes training and much effort to act like one.

The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) We say the process cannot be rushed when in reality, it is already completed. The problem is learning to act like what we are!

God’s Word offers much instruction for this. One of the major teaching is to put off all former behaviors, replacing them with godly attitudes and actions. For example:

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:1–3)

When first saved, I was like a baby. I was (and still am) hungry for the Word of God that Peter calls “pure spiritual milk” and like physical food, I deeply desired to have it as often as possible. However, I’ve noticed that desire can come and go. It gets replaced by other stuff that might even present itself as sustenance but fail to satisfy that spiritual need.

For example, Christians can get caught up in listening to certain preachers, or going to conferences, or making their fellowship group a substitute for God’s Word. Instead of studying, we get lazy or bored or distracted and stop feeding on God’s Word, relying only on what other people discover. Very soon, spiritual growth becomes stunted and that appetite for more is replaced by complacency. Being a Christian loses its excitement.

Bible study is often called a spiritual discipline. It is not the source of God’s grace as much as the conduit for it, as are the other spiritual disciplines like prayer and worship. Without this discipline, I miss God speaking directly to me. Not only that, putting off junk like malice and hypocrisy is difficult because I don’t know how to replace them. The Word of God is the food that teaches me how to live like I am — a new child. It is the food that produces spiritual growth. It brings out the reality of what God has done in my life.

If anyone reading this has tasted the goodness of the Lord but is not hungry for His Word, start reading anyway. Begin in the New Testament with one of the gospels, perhaps John. Read it five times, then Romans a few times. Reading increases your appetite for it!

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Lord Jesus, I’m so thankful that You left with us a record of Your life and interaction with humanity, but also declarations and instruction for all who have realized Your goodness and have been reborn to new life. May all of us be continually hungry for Your Word — it satisfies yet we cannot ever get enough!

The freeing fire of discipline

Today’s devotional reading suggests that the mind of Christ is both a disciplined and powerful thing. The more discipline a Christian has, the more we are set free from the superfluities of life.

When I am at prayer, I have pencil and paper handy for often that is when the best ideas pop into my head. When God fills me with His Spirit, I am more organized, highly creative and have more energy. The reading also says that a disciplined mind produces a more beautiful countenance on those who have it. I don’t know about that last part, but I do know that when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, they look wonderful. Joy is better than cosmetics.

Discipline also takes care of fears. Timothy was Paul’s young disciple, and from the two letters he wrote, Timothy seems to have had a tender and timid heart combined with his genuine faith. He was gifted, but his fears threaten the use of his gifts.

Paul wrote the following to him . . . “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:3–7)

The Greek word for self-control has also been translated as “having a sound mind.” This is about having the mind of Christ, because both self-control and love are included in the description of the fruit of the Spirit . . . “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control . . .”  (Galatians 5:22–23)

Power is also from the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) This power overcomes many obstacles, include fear. It makes those who have it a formidable force to share the good news with the world.

Another example is Stephen. He preached to the Jewish religious leaders, and “when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:54–60)

Stephen not only died with his eyes on God, he was quick to forgive those who killed him. Christians don’t get this way by living undisciplined lives. Paul told Timothy to “fan the flame” or rekindle his gifts, and get on fire for God. Such an attitude and the action that goes with it is both costly and challenging. However, the disciplined life produces a freedom that rises above anything it might cost. Not only that, “the disciplined mind is a beautiful mind.”

In harmony with His world

Near our home is a wildlife sanctuary. It isn’t famous nor does anyone charge admission. Instead, it is a deep coulee, heavily treed that runs from a highway on the south toward a main avenue on the north. This subdivision was purchased and built from a man who insisted these several acres be left in their natural state. Some have seen moose in this wild and tangled place, but it is inhabited mostly by birds and smaller animals.

The park has two paved trails going in opposite directions from the entrance across the street. I often ride my bike on these trails and am amazed that I can go from city traffic into a forest containing no motors and little noise. The most delightful treasures are the smells. I detect the perfume of clover, wild roses, tree leaves, mushrooms, mown grass (from homes on the park’s perimeter), and wild flowers. These will change as summer progresses, but return in every spring in May and June.

These stressful days under the discipline of God and the pressures of life, I am blessed when I get outside under blue skies and bright sun. His care seems nearer, easier to experience when the leaves rustle and birds sing. Today’s devotional reminds me of the power of wandering in a park even as God is working to change my life…

Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. (Job 5:17–23)

God’s blessings, even in His discipline are genius. He works to change my life, but in the working, He also brings great joy and peace. I can count on Him to bring June every year, with these aromas, the sights and sounds of renewing growth and nature’s pleasures, yet in Him they never become ordinary. These simple pleasures delight every heart that gives them attention. It is God hugging me with His great love. Is that what it means to “have a covenant with the stones of the field”?

The speaker in these verses is talking of those who trust in God, who are at peace with Him and entered into a covenant with Him. He is saying that if I am in league with heaven, then I will also be in league with the very stones of the earth.

I know that is true. Peace with God changes my relationship to the birds, beasts and flowers around me. Just as those in love say the sky is a brighter blue, being in a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ changes the attitude I have toward the world around me, even changes the way nature blesses me.

Those whose spiritual and moral state is base and in defiance of God tend to mock His laws and His person. They see no reason why they should not toss their garbage on the earth. While some of them hug trees and defend seals, they do it because they worship those created things rather than the One who created them. Godlessness puts the human heart out of harmony with tree and flower and summer delights. When I am at odds with the Lord, I am the same and do not even notice sunsets and gentle breezes.

Being at peace with God, even when God is reproving and wounding me, means having a comradeship with the created world. It means reading sermons in the trees of the forest, the grass of the plains, the stones of the field. This is not about the beauty of an artistic scene, but the morality and rightness of God’s handiwork that becomes a ministry to my heart, that blesses me and restores a deeper sense of His love for me.

Sadly, to be out of touch with God puts me out of touch with God’s ideal in all that He has made. Yet to be in tune with Him joyfully puts me in league with even the stones of the field.

Correction before instruction

Does watching crime dramas on television indicate a strong desire for justice, or does that strong desire come from watching crime dramas? Either way, I notice how often the perpetrator of a crime will say they didn’t know they were doing anything wrong, or they didn’t mean to hurt anyone. At the same time, had the authorities not caught and stopped them, they would have continued doing the crime, thoughtlessly or otherwise.

These television plots are fiction, but they illustrate the truth that every person needs discipline. We all do things that hurt and offend and need to be made aware of our thoughtless actions. One teacher in a class on human development said that if a little child is not disciplined by his parents, then correction will be left up to the next authority figures in his life, his teachers. If they do not, or cannot, do it, then it will be up to the police. At some point, God might move in and do it, but God does not correct everyone.

The Bible says that the Lord chastens those He loves, those who belong to His family. While I don’t like it, such correction from God is a good thing. He knows what I need, knows it better than even the most loving parents and caring teachers. In fact, “Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O Lord, the man you teach out of Your law” (Psalm 94:12).

The devotional for today notes that this verse says the Lord puts chastening before teaching. I know from my own experiences that this is reasonable. I do not hear God until He allows something drastic, or at least loud and clear, to get my attention.

One biblical example is the prodigal in the story Jesus told in Luke 15. This young man asked for his inheritance and his father gave it to him. Then he “gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.”

Sadly, this man had to be brought to his right mind by hunger, before he thought about his family. He had no heart to return until he experienced a mighty famine, which was God’s way of chastening him.

I’m like that. I will continue doing my own thing in certain areas of my life, not even realizing that I have moved outside of God’s will. I’ve no thought or heart to change until God sends something that makes me feel great need for change. It might be a sense of emptiness, but it can also be a reversal in prosperity, dismal failure, or any number of things that are designed to make me wake up and consider the will of God.

Then I have an ear to listen, and then God is able to teach me about change, and to be fruitful instead of selfish. He instructs me by His Holy Spirit, teaching me lessons for my eternal good out of His principles as recorded in Scripture.

This devotional writer clarifies that where Psalm 94:12 refers to the “law” he is not limited to the Ten Commandments or the Old Testament laws. He says (edited slightly)

The “law” has wide significance. In the original it means ‘instruction’ (using the word ‘Torah’ which signifies “teaching” or “direction”). This includes both Old Testament law and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ: “the perfect law of liberty” and “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” It is that law which was in the heart of the Redeemer, when He said, “I come to do thy will, O God; yea, thy law is within my heart” (Hebrews 10:7, etc.).

The Lord teaches me “out of the law” as I am able to learn it. Christ said to His disciples in promising the Spirit: “He will teach you all things” (John 14:25), but He cannot take “all” and show it to me all at once; I could not live with that. Instead, He shows “here a little, and there a little” as He chastens and teaches according to His knowledge of me, my need, and my ability to learn and grow. This is the blessedness of His discipline and teaching; it is always in mercy and grace, tailor-made for me and for each child of God.

A super-sized challenge . . .

God uses metaphors to describe spiritual realities that are not visible. A metaphor is a figure of speech that says something is something else. For instance, the church is the body of Christ of which He is the head. This gives readers a picture of how the people of God are an extension of the Son and under His leadership.

Besides the human body as metaphor, God uses architectural terms to describe how He builds the church. In this case, He wants readers to have a picture of the fact that He lives inside His people. Ephesians 2:19-22 is a good example:

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In the last part of this passage, the word “dwelling” connotes a permanent home. That is, God the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in His sanctuary on earth, the church. Since this is true, Scripture continual exhorts us to act like it. God lives in us and His presence makes a difference in everything that we do.

While most of the time the word “you” is plural, it is also true that this metaphor applies to individual believers. We put our faith in Christ on our own, not in groups. Therefore, each believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That means that by His Spirit God lives in me.

This makes a difference in how I live, or it certainly ought to. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

I’m to be careful not to defile my body; it is a place where the Holy Spirit lives. I’m to be careful not to defile my eyes by greedily looking after things, nor my ears by listening to worldly and carnal conversation, nor my lips by speaking guile, or indulging in silly or foolish speech, nor my hands by using them for anything that is evil, nor my feet by going places and doing things that are vain and useless.

A few weeks ago I decided that this also means that I need to watch what I stuff into the mouth of this temple. Does my eating honor and glorify the One who lives in me? Remembering who lives in me is easy when it comes to turning off an X-rated television show, or saying no to activities that belong to darkness and folly, but remembering Him when I open the refrigerator door or have a snack attack is much more difficult.

Sadly, many Christians seem to think their eating habits have nothing to do with serving God, but 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 has this to say: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Paul knew that if he let his body run his life, he was in danger of ruining his ministry. This issue can include many things, but certainly covers overeating. It is mostly about who is in control. When it is me, I indulge; when it is God, He goes for moderation. The One who lives in me wants me to be healthy, physically and spiritually. My part is to discipline my body so that He rules me totally, body, soul and spirit.

Today’s world has most restaurants overfilling each plate and super-sizing each order. Eating at home means doing the opposite. While it sounds easy, for me self-discipline and moderation are super-sized challenges!

In His Hands

Raising children is a challenge. Some families let their children go anywhere, do anything. Others are fearful and overprotective. I know one family that will not allow their two-year old a blanket for fear she will smother herself in bed.

Discipline is the most challenging. Some parents will not spank their children because they think it is cruel. Others are more like drill sergeants, or worse and beat their children. Still others pay no attention to the rude and destructive behavior of their children. I once read that if children do not learn obedience from parents, their school is the next instructor. If they don’t learn it there, the next teachers will be policemen. This is sad, but often true.

Today I’m reading in Deuteronomy about God’s promises of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. I thought about the words in Hebrews 12 about chastening, and that God does this because He loves us and wants the best for us. This is like a loving parent who rebukes a child for bad behavior, not to be mean but to guide the child for his or her own good.

Turning to today’s devotional in God is Enough I was surprised at the title, “Chastening but Loving.” It began with a definition from Webster’s Dictionary, “To chasten means . . . to inflict pain upon anyone in order to purify from errors or faults.”

Hebrews 12:5-11 begins with, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”

No wonder people become confused about the value of following Christ. According to this and other Bible passages, God inflicts pain on His people but doesn’t do anything to those who are not His children (at least not right away). For disobedience, we get the swat and those who do not follow the Lord get nothing. Does that make sense?

No wonder God inspired David to write in Psalm 37, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.” He wanted us to know this principle: God chastens His own people, but the fate of those who are not His people will become evident later.

Hebrews 12 goes on, “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

God disciplines me so I will be like Jesus. He is not mean. His hand, heavy at times, is on me that I will learn and profit from His guidance. Sometimes the only way I will listen is by experiencing pain, difficult trials, and even calamities.

It isn’t that those without Christ have easy lives. At the least, God might use disasters to get their attention, but for me those disasters have a good purpose. He uses them to strengthen me, and to bring out Christlike qualities that prove or verify that I do belong to Him. He also sustains me and proves that He is my God, the One who gives me all that I need in good times and in bad.

The discipline of God has to be confusing for some who might thing being a Christian solves all problems, or that God forgives our sin so therefore winks at what we do. It must be confusing for those who observe Christians suffering pain and trials and non-Christians experiencing success and happiness.

Another aspect of this perplexity is that I have on my prayer list people who profess to know Christ, but live as if He is not important. They seem happy and successful. God says He chastens those He loves, those who belong to Him. If these people really are His, why are they not experiencing His chastening and correction?

God’s answer is in Deuteronomy. He says that those who will not serve Him will serve their enemies (28:48). Eventually, those enemies will rob them of all that they care about including their prosperity, and scatter them among the nations where they will find no rest. When they are at the bottom, and it takes some a long time to get there, then they will remember the words of the Lord. Deuteronomy 30:2-3 says, “(and when) you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

Even when their lives appeared lost to God, He was using all that happened to eventually bring them to a place of repentance and returning, but first they had to find out (the hard way) that all those things that lured them from God were not as good as they appeared. They had to learn that turning their back on Him was foolish.

I don’t like being chastened, but the Bible is right; God does it because He loves me. I don’t like watching others being chastened, but have to remember that He loves them too. I also have to remember that those who claim to be Christians but appear to be merrily going their own way are also included in this loving process. God knows how to raise His family to maturity and I need to trust Him to use methods that work.