Abiding is related to being unable…

Piper’s devotion for today is a list of resolutions that he wrote for teenage children to help them determine to honor their parents. I chuckled a bit as I read them. Would teens have as much trouble keeping resolutions as adults too? They reminded me of the Laws of God written for His OT believers. They vowed to do everything God said, but wound up unable to keep them.

The NT says this about those laws: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:28) and the book of Galatians explains  that those laws cannot save but they do have a good purpose. They show both sinners and saints where we fall short, and how much we need to live by faith and be enabled by the Spirit of God. Without abiding in Christ, as Jesus says in John 15, we can do nothing.

So what is the point of resolutions? Good intentions? Do they not reveal the human inability to keep them? How slow I am to learn that my determination to obey God is not enough to make it happen. I need Him to be the governing force, the motivator who prompts me and works out that obedience.

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)

So if God is working in me to want His will and do His commands, why then the next lines?

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:14–16)

Certainly any grumbling or disputing is contrary to those prior words about pleasing God. They show me what does not do it, and therefore I cannot say complaining and arguing are obedience. I can resolve to do God's will, but if it does not fit the descriptions of His will, then I know I need to confess my sin and be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). I cannot excuse any of those negatives by thinking my mean-spirited manner is one way to tell the truth and use that as a claim that I’m obedient. 

The NT laws work the same way; they reveal selfish and fleshy attitudes and the sinfulness of my old nature. Confession is needed, but also being filled with the Spirit. God will fill me — as long as I’m empty. But herein is the rub; no one likes feeling empty and unable.

Those teens may want to do all the resolutions, but part of being a Christian is learning that I cannot do God's will apart from being yielding to Him because I’ve realized that I cannot obey just because I want to. He supplies the power only when I’ve admitted my lack of it. He calls me the light of the world and not to hide it, yet displaying it has a caveat: 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

I don’t take credit, or boast — I must obey in such a way that He gets the glory!

PRAY: Lord, just learning to give You glory is a challenging lesson, yet even more challenging is learning to live Your way so others do not put me on a pedestal. You must get the glory. I stopped making resolutions a long time ago, but I still desire to obey You and know I cannot do it without abiding in You. 

Weakness is not a horrible thing . . .

 

Life offers occasions when helplessness is obvious. Aging is part of it along with lack of sleep, exercise, or inexperience. Few relish being weak, at least not like Paul did.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

He knew how to live with that helplessness that realizes ‘I cannot do this’ without Christ. Compared to Paul, I’ve had only a taste of what Jesus will do when I admit to Him that I am unable. Right now, the issue is prayer.

I determined to pray more and found out how impossible that goal is without the power of God. These past few weeks have had more distractions, interruptions, excuses, and feelings of ‘I don’t want to’ than any time in my life. It is affecting me in odd ways. For instance, I usually sleep extremely well, but last night could not. Nor could I pray. I felt helpless, frustrated, even angry but with no reasons or explanations. This morning’s devotions offer this:

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9–11)

Did Paul ever feel that his efforts were worthless or that his life was too far below par to receive answers? Did his focus mess with his confidence instead of staying on the glory of God? He never wavered from God’s words to Ananias at his conversion: “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ ” (Acts 9:15–16)

Paul’s persistence makes me wonder if I will ever ‘grow up’ and fulfill that desire to pray without ceasing. Sometimes I wonder if my prayers even matter. However, a 98-year-old woman on my prayer list recently professed faith after years of loudly saying no to God. A family member is now sharing the gospel after a long time of not walking with Jesus. A man whose wife was planning his funeral last week is well and leaving the hospital. All because of prayer.

World events and massive loss of life is beyond me, as is the evil such as moms murdering their babies, families training their children to steal, stuff too awful to put in print. Like many, I often wonder where is God?

Then those verses from Philippians tell me to love with knowledge and discernment, pursue excellence, be pure and blameless, and I feel helpless in this world of ignorant cluelessness. Most seem content with mediocrity at best and pursuing evil at worst. Does the entire world deny Jesus Christ and totally ignore God? Many days I feel trampled by the herd rushing to get through that wide gate that leads to destruction.

MacArthur says, “Being blameless isn’t easy in a world that unashamedly flaunts its sinful practices. You must guard against losing your sensitivity to the heinousness of sin and unwittingly beginning to tolerate or even accept the sin that once shocked you . . . Diligently pursue integrity with a view toward glorifying Christ in all things until He returns.”

Then he points to this, and I am encouraged:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24–25)

Lord, You do not ask me to live for You in weakness but because of my weakness. I stumble; You pick up. I falter; You are my righteousness. I feel stressed and You grant joy. You tell me to guard my heart, but I cannot — You are my Savior, the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I am a mere and messy mortal who must pray about everything, bring my concerns to You and experience Your peace — and sometimes experience great surprises. If I am to be a person of integrity who is effective for You, it is only because of You and Your grace.

READ: Romans 7 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 again. Consider Paul’s conclusion about being helpless.

 

 

Strength is okay, but I don’t like being weak . . .

The events of our lives over the past few weeks are overwhelming. They have made my prayer list longer than it has ever been, and even though I trust God who is sovereign, weakness and helplessness are a daily companion. There is nothing that I can do to alleviate any of these situations. God alone is wise and powerful, so in weakness I am praying.

Today’s topic is strength in weakness. For the Apostle Paul, it was a “thorn in the flesh” which is not revealed except to say God allowed it to keep him from becoming conceited by the deep revelations God had given him. It was obviously a nasty thing and this godly man asked three times for its removal, but that didn’t happen. Instead, God said to him:

 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul replied: Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Some suspect this weakness was about his propensity to sin, others figure it was a health issue. However, it also could have been the solemn realization that “in my flesh I can do nothing.” He had been in a position of authority with power, a Pharisee with considerable influence. Yet he found himself incapable of doing anything apart from humble dependence on Christ. In another passage, he described some of his strengths and what he eventually realized about them:

“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: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 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 —” (Philippians 3:3–9)

Counting as rubbish all that we might put our confidence in is no small matter. It could be education, position, personality, achievements, reputation, all sorts of skills and abilities. Yet none of those things can do what God can do. God wants His people to rely on Him fully, Him only. There is nothing I can do, nothing I can say, even nothing I can imagine that will bring eternal fruit or even be a blessing to others unless it is done in faith and in full reliance upon Jesus Christ. Nothing.

This is the weakness. It isn’t about being a cripple, or physically incapable. It isn’t about losing your voice, or the constant battle with temptation. It is about fully realizing that I am only a glove; it is the Hand that does it all.

Even then, the Hand, the Lord Jesus Christ also lived and died that way — in weakness. He was fully God but also fully human:

“Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6–8)

Jesus is God, yet He took on human flesh and relied on the Father the same way I am to rely on Him — in utter weakness:

“For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.” (2 Corinthians 13:4)

Paul said that he wanted to “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” and his reason for saying it: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death . . . ” (Philippians 3:9–10) God revealed that the power of God only comes through weakness, the weakness of His Son and the weakness of His beloved followers, and Paul understood.

^^^^^^^^

Again, Lord Jesus, I do not like the feeling of weakness, but realize that asking You to remove it would be asking You to glorify me instead of bringing glory to You. I also realize that many, even many Christians, often react negatively when someone ‘gladly boasts’ in their weaknesses. They don’t want to go there. I try to imagine what this was like for You. In the end, even Your disciples misunderstood what You were doing and why. Perhaps that is the biggest reason for disliking weakness; it is a lonely place.