Only God?

If put in a dark cave without food like the soccer boys in Thailand, and even without another person to talk to, would I be at rest knowing that God is with me? Some days, I think I would be okay with that, but I cannot know for sure unless it really happened. God promises to be enough for me yet could I be content with having everything else taken from me?

Tozer says, “Being lonely in this world will only drive you to a closer communion with the God who has promised never to leave you or forsake you. He is altogether good and He is faithful. He will never break His covenant or alter that which has gone from His mouth. He has promised to keep you as the apple of His eye. He has promised to watch over you as a mother watches over her child.”

His Old Testament people were able to praise Him in many situations. One high moment was when they were delivered from bondage in Egypt. Moses and God’s people sang a song that included these words:

“The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2)

Life does have its high moments, but there are rough spots too. In the ups and downs of life, my worship tends to a similar pattern. There are great times of sensing His presence and focusing on nothing else. There are lows when I am stressed, forgetful of His faithfulness or worse, indifferent to His promises.

Thankfully, God is not like me. My estimate of my spiritual condition can be based on emotions, thoughts buzzing through my head, or the circumstances around me, but God never does that. He evaluates who I am and what is true about me according to Jesus Christ. As a current favorite chorus says, “I am a child of God.” As the Bible says, I am a new creation, redeemed and safe in the arms of Jesus.

Some days, a strong poke in the ribs or a slap on the side of the head is needed to remind me that God is my strength and my song, that Jesus Christ is my Savior (I am not), and that I ought to be praising Him rather than feeling blue or feeling sorry for myself. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be lacking anything — even if I was alone, in darkness, and without anything or anyone else.

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, there are days when I feel alone, abandoned, helpless and hopeless. You promise to never leave or forsake me. You are my strength and can put songs in my heart. You have saved me from sin and I need to use the energy You give to praise You and lift Your name on high — in or out of the valleys.

Just Do It

These days, many people allow emotions to rule over truth. For them, what feels good is more important what is right or the best action.

This way of thinking also happens in Christian circles. Those who are gifted with a great deal of compassion are often drawn more to whatever will produce emotional stability or whatever is practical. They do not like confrontation or emotional stress. This is part of the gift of compassion, but it can tip too far. For instance, when faced with some decisions they show their desire for calm waters, they start asking like, “How will it make me (or us) feel?” or “Will it divide?” or “Will it offend?” instead of “Is it true?” or “Is it the will of God?”

To be fair, those gifted in teaching focus on the principles of Scripture and thinking right. Those who are servers see the Bible differently than those who are gifted in leadership. Our gifting does give us the ability to see what others might miss, and we are to serve one another with those gifts. However, we are also to use them rightly and in ways that honor God.

I need compassion people and I like to feel good, but I also need to make sure of what the Bible actually says. I cannot bend it to whatever I or others might want it to say, and when I read it with an open heart, I know that life will not always feel good, even when I am obedient to God. For instance, 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

To live by what feels good could put me in direct disobedience. I need to be more concerned about what is true and right. Luke wrote the book of Acts and told of a group of Jews that were concerned to find truth. 

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:10-11)

The words “fair-minded” are literally “noble-minded” because they were interested in finding truth, not good feelings or pleasant circumstances. They did not have a “what is in this for me” attitude.

Not all people are like the people of Berea. My devotional reading points out that far too many people go to church today to get a certain feeling rather than think or weigh what is said and make sure it is true (using the Bible, of course). By letting their emotions rule instead of right thinking, their spiritual lives are certain to become unstable.

These believers in Berea received the Word of God with readiness, eagerly welcoming the truth. They also wanted to find out if what they were hearing matched up with what the Scriptures said. This is interesting because the New Testament was not yet written. All they had was the Old Testament. Many modern day Christians tend to mentally separate the two sections of the Bible, forgetting that the early Christians had nothing else but the older Scriptures. By careful study, these early Christians could compare what they were hearing (and what we can now read) with what they already had. The Scriptures were their measuring stick, not their emotions.

While that kind of Bible study takes work, I can imagine what it did for their faith. They could see the hand of God throughout their history leading up to the days they were living when Jesus walked this earth and died for their sins, all described and foretold in their sacred manuscripts.

Bible colleges offer courses in Bible Synthesis, but Christians do not have to go to Bible school to discover the harmony between the two sections of the Bible. What we need more is that noble-mindedness of the Bereans who gladly did their homework. That would help all of us, including me, better live by the Word of God and abandon this feel-good philosophy that keeps us from being lights that shine in a dark place.

Spiritual growth

A maker of quilts writes this in her blog, “I learned one thing, never try to quilt in the ditch without using my ruler.”

From this statement, I know that she is not a bad driver who does her quilting off the road somewhere, nor is she a beginner who needs a ruler to draw a straight line. This person is an experienced and knowledgeable quilter.

“In the ditch” is a term that describes quilting stitches that are on the seam lines between quilt patches. The need for a ruler to do it refers to those who use a longarm quilting machine, a huge and expensive piece of equipment most beginners would not know about or even consider. The person who wrote that line not only knows the “lingo” but has at least some skill in using an industrial quilting machine.

Learning how to quilt is a bit like learning how to live as a Christian. In the beginning, I was just delighted with it all. I purchased my first book because I loved the pictures of the quilts in it. As I grew in my ability, I began to realize that first book was for experienced quilters, not a beginner. I also learned that quilting isn’t as easy as regular sewing. Challenges and making mistakes have taught me much.

Today’s verse is about growing as a Christian, which also involves both knowledge and practice. It hints that there are beginners, intermediates, and experienced people who follow Christ, just as there are beginners and those more experienced in quilting. The verse says:

I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)

The author of Truth for Today says that his experience has taught him about the different levels of spiritual growth described in this verse and its context. As a spiritual babe, he too was taken up in the euphoria of knowing God, but he didn’t know much theology, just as I was taken up in the excitement of learning how to quilt without realizing what I was getting into.

He also says that at that time he was easily influenced by anyone’s teaching, but later, as he learned the Word of God, false doctrine no longer deceived him, but made him angry. I cannot find a parallel to that in quilting, but I also came to a place in my Christian life where I realized not everyone was sincere or telling me things that came from the Bible. I felt the same anger at false teaching and wanted to correct it whenever I heard it.

This author also says that now he has grown in his knowledge of the Bible his greater desire is to know God more intimately. He calls this the final level of growth, where spiritual “fathers” not only know the Bible, but also know deeply the God who wrote it.

I agree, and this is where the parallel with quilting falls away. Somewhere in the past few years my desire to collect information, compare teachings, and solidify my theology has taken second place to better knowing God. I used to worry about getting things biblical, using the best methods, having the right words — and I know those things are still important — but now I’m more drawn to God Himself. He guides me and shows me what to say and do. I simply need to be near Him, listening to Him, talking to Him.

In today’s verse, the experience of the “little children” and the “fathers” sounds much the same. Both “know” Him. I can see how that works too. I’ve come back to that same sense of wonder that I had as a new Christian, the wonder of knowing God. However, now I have a foundation of learned theology (including how to overcome the wicked one) behind and beneath that awe, making it much deeper, less based on my feelings and lighthearted emotions (my emotions are richer and deeper now) and more grounded in the amazing truth of who He is — my Father and my God.