Alive and Dead at the same time…

At lunch with Christian friends, we discussed the value system of the world, particular some who are often in the news, and the difference between what they want out of life and what we want. Well, most of the time.

That difference mainly amounts to our realization that we “can’t take it with us” so most of what is important to many, like money, power, and fame, is not important to us. Well, most of the time.

This is because of a truth Jesus stated in verses like this one:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:24–26)

Piper puts it this way: “It doesn’t matter what happens to me. . . .  when I am dead, I will not care what they do with my body. It will make no difference to me. I will be home with Jesus. That’s the way it is now, too, if I have died already with Christ, which all Christians have: ‘Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires’ (Galatians 5:24). Crucified means dead. So in a profound sense I am dead on the earth and my life is ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3). So it just doesn’t matter what happens to me here on earth.

However, most of us can say what a young missionary once said: “My problem is that a living sacrifice keeps crawling off the altar.” We so easily forget that we are dead, that is, our old nature is separated from God, cannot bear fruit, and is useless. The world and the Liar cannot make appeals to our new nature, but both will attack and mess with that old dead one. It seems odd that dead listens to other dead entities. Our lunch discussion included personal examples of  this battle.

Piper IDs it by pointing out that we are to “hate this life in this world” at least in the sense that we don’t give it much thought or care what happens to us. It doesn’t matter because we are dead to it… like a dead person is not concerned about possessions, being lied about, being famous, having much or little, and so on. 

Instead, our concern is to follow Jesus. And we do, most of the time. When do we crawl off the altar or come down from that cross? I get side-tracked by ordinary stuff. One friend shared how she tends to second-guess what God tells her to do. Another says, “I just want things to go smoothly.” We have I-trouble and our ears sometimes do not hear that still, small voice. Short term memory loss? 

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Romans 6:11–13)

Excuses aside, it is a choice. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). “Like a grain of wheat, fall into the ground and die.” Choose it. “Hate your life in this world.”

The result is much fruit. Paul said, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things” (Philippians 3:8). Most of us know what that means. Yet many are not happy with the idea of suffering loss. This is what makes me less fruitful than Paul. Not that I live in a different era, or place, or am a woman, or need to take care of my home and family. The real reason is that I-trouble.

PRAY: Jesus, this is a sharp reminder that life is short and if any of it will have eternal value, it will not come from the dead old me, only from the new life that exists and is empowered because of You. “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.” (Romans 8:7) Make that distinction between dead to sin and alive to You even sharper, and remind me often. I need it, not just most of the time, but all of the time.

Who is on the throne of my heart?

 

Every morning before reading the Bible I spend time singing. My voice is not great but the lyrics are prayers as well as worship. One song today is fairly new to me: “Oh give me rest from Self” with verses like: “This cruel self, oh, how it strives and works within my breast, to come between Thee and my soul, and keep me back from rest.”

Today’s devotional reading says the same thing! It describes how most people think they are the greatest or the most important people in the universe with lives made up of endless variations on the word “me.” I know that problem. While the Bible is clear that my old self died with Christ and is separated from God, the desire to be the center of everything, or fulfill my dreams, or share my views and wisdom, or get others to follow my ideas, blah, blah, blah. I enjoy people but am content to be alone, which does not help this battle with self. What I know is mostly related to myself.

The reading quotes Solomon’s battle with self-made happiness. He said in his heart:

“Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 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. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 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 2:1–11)

In these verses, the word “I” is repeated more than a dozen times, yet at the end of his efforts, he realized that self rule did not profit him nor did it help anyone else. It was a waste of time and energy, a waste of his life.

Jesus  was not that way. He could pray, “Not my will but thine be done” because self was not the center of His universe — the souls of sinners were more important, and the will of His Father was at the top of the list. He spent all of His waking hours doing what God wanted Him to do — be with needy people, teaching them and being gracious unto them. His life was spent to redeem unworthy sinners such as me.

This makes Jesus the most important person in the universe. Without His grace, I would not even be alive and breathing, never mind forgiven and on my way to endless life with Him. He loves, heals, perseveres, is ever-present, all wise, full of grace and truth. To be like Him is to put the will of God front and center, knowing that my old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that I would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6)

PRAY: Keep my focus on You, Lord. It is too easy to consider my ideas and plans, even get annoyed if You bring interruptions to what I’m doing. How vain. Forgive my lapses into self-rule and enable continual trust in You, with all my heart and soul by Your grace, for You are the center of everything.

God’s Value System

Identifying human value systems is not difficult. Almost all television commercials appeal to what people want, whether it be bigger, better, more of money or stuff, or the eating of appealing food (not necessarily healthy), greater popularity, more power, and a deeper sense of importance.

Some of them appeal to our desire to be kind and well-liked — easy to do, just give your chocolate bar to someone else, or our desire to have fun — just serve the right drinks and everyone is happy.

At times, and as I age, I look at those appeals and reflect that most of them will not go to the grave with me. All such perks are temporary and Jesus did say not to lay up treasures on earth but be focused on eternal issues. The Word of God also adds this:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

As a Christian, my focus should be heavenward, yet I still live in this world and am bombarded with the appeals to my life here. More and more I’m thankful for the alternatives and the promise of Jesus Christ to grant me an abundant life that revolves around His value system. He gives simple directions about how to deal with the ads:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:25–33)

Solomon was extremely wealthy yet God says lilies are richer. Birds don’t have bank accounts yet their needs are met. How about people? The OT stories tell how their shoes and clothes did not wear out — and He still does that. I complain that I cannot justify a shopping trip because my stuff never seems to wear out, yet this is a testimony to the care of God.

Today’s reading uses the above passage to remind me that I do not need to strive to grow more like Jesus, that He just does it. It also reminds me that I don’t need to strive to have what I need. I’ve been blessed above and beyond any expectations because the Lord is taking care of what I need by putting my focus on eternal matters more than earthly stuff, and on sharing what He has given me by showing me that no one can out-give God. If I later need it, He simply restocks whatever I lack.

Sometimes I call myself “God’s spoiled brat” and realize not everyone experiences the same blessings, and that makes me feel uncomfortable with the many blessings God gives. At the same time, life has had great hardships, not to balance out the good stuff but to make me realize the value of seeking Him rather than putting my focus on whatever I can gain from this world and the things that have no eternal value.

PRAY: What can I say, Jesus, but Thank You. You have worked in my greedy, selfish heart and by taking away what I once wanted, You have given me far more than I could ever deserve. I truly am Your spoiled brat.

Verse by verse, hearing Him speak . . .

READ Luke 5-8

God speaks to me each time I read His Word. This is what He points out about Jesus for today:

Luke 5:1-11. When the disciples realized Jesus could increase their fishing catch at a time of day when it seemed impossible, they left everything and followed Him.

12-16. Jesus healed a man “full of leprosy” and when the news got out, “great crowds gathered to hear Him and be healed” but He withdrew to desolate places and prayed.

17-26. Friends brought a paralyzed man to be healed, but before Jesus healed him, He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” This shows that His priority is forgiving sin where ours is often being healthy!

27-32. When Jesus called Levi to follow Him, this tax collector left everything and did it. Such is the power of Jesus’ calling.

33-39. Fasting is for times of need, not a mere discipline for bodily control. That tells me this is not a diet plan but about being totally given to prayer that eating doesn’t come to mind.

Luke 6:1-5. Jesus guides my sabbath activities, not traditions, church or family rules, and not my own ideas of what it means to rest or to worship Him.

6-11. Jesus wants me to consider the bigger picture of loving others rather than be caught up in doing things that might make others impressed with me.

12-16. The bigger the decision, the more important it is to spend time with God and know His will.

17-19. I want people to reach out to Jesus. In touching Him, they will be made whole.

20-23. It is those of us who follow Jesus who ae poor, hungry, weeping, and hated. Yet we are also part of His kingdom, satisfied, joyful, and anticipating great reward.

24-26. Those who are rich, full, laughing now, and well-spoken of, that is all they will get. Later it will be hunger, mourning, weeping, and realizing they were blessed in this life only for things that have no eternal value.

27-36. This is what has eternal value:

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them . . . . But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

37-42. Add to that, forgiving and loving others rather than judging and condemning. Generosity, being like Jesus. Taking care of my own sin rather than trying to fix others because I am just as sinful as they are.

43-45. If my heart is right, so will be my actions.

46-49. Obedience gives a solid foundation for lasting goodness.

Luke 7:1-10. Faith realizes I’m not worthy. Faith knows the power of Jesus to hear my pleas.

11-17. Seeing Jesus’ grace glorifies God. Be sure to tell others of His power and goodness.

18-35. Even God’s prophets can have doubts. Share with everyone what I know about the things Jesus has done, even those who serve Him.

36-50. The more I realize my sin, the more I love Jesus for saving and forgiving me, and the more I am willing to pour out to Him whatever I have.

Luke 8:1-3. Forgiven people are generous with what we have, taking care of others.

4-8. Use parables to catch attention, remembering that . . .

9-15  . . . sometimes even other Christians may not ‘get it’ and need an explanation.

16-18. Let my light shine. Also remember the importance of listening to what Jesus says!

19-21. I belong to a physical family yet also an eternal family of those who hear and obey God.

22-25. Jesus controls the weather; we don’t.

26-39. Some of the craziness going on in the world is demonically sourced. Only Jesus can deal with demons. Unless He drives them out, nothing else can bring victims to their “right mind” and sitting at His feet.

40-56. No interruptions can stop Jesus from doing what He intends to do. I’m “not to fear, only believe.” He has power over all things, including death.

From all this, Luke 7:24-26 strikes me the most. I’ve sometimes been envious of other with better or more of this or that than I have, but Jesus says watch that I’m not putting too much value on things that will not last. Those who have them are able to enjoy these things in this life, but that is their only reward. I can be glad for their enjoyment, but envy is sinful. Being reminded of this takes a weight off me as I confess it and experience God’s grace to cleanse away that attitude. This seems like a heavenly Christmas gift  — and I thank You, Jesus.