Hold firm to God’s goodness…

 

Nearly every day there are news items that make us shake our heads. Why did this leader decide that? How could a politician think people want that? Of course we don’t know enough about all issues to judge them, yet I’ve concluded that those who reach prominence in high places forget, or are ignorant, about how most of the world lives. 

Solomon, with all his flaws, still was considered wise. He wrote many proverbs about life and this one hits my shaking head: 

A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge. (Proverbs 29:7)

A righteous man is someone declared righteous because of his faith in God. Instead of trusting his own way, he seeks God's will and His way. The wicked man describes anyone who is entirely self-centered and trusts his own ideas, shunning the ways of God. I’ve noticed this is true in my own life. If I have a bee in my bonnet about anything, and that bee is contrary to God's ways, I soon lose any perception of human rights and many other things — because I am thinking only of myself and what I want.

As for the rights of the poor, God honors those who know and care for them: “If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever.” (Proverbs 29:14). However. This requires paying attention to God.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18)

This is true for rich and poor alike. If anyone cannot see the ways of God or pays no attention to His will or follow His guidance in how to live, they will do their own thing without restraint. We all know people who have very little self-control yet a great deal of self-interest. They completely miss the vision that the Lord has for living under His incredible blessings.

Not only that, sinfulness and selfishness rob me of the ability to be just toward others. As the wise man once wrote. . . .  

An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. (Proverbs 29:27)

If I live the way God desires, those stuck in their selfishness find me odd, even disgusting. They do not understand me and might even hate me. This is described further in the NT, and even in the daily news as Christians are targeted, persecuted, even slaughtered — because of being misunderstood by those blinded by their sin.

PRAY: Dear Father God, You are able to protect Your people but also to open blind eyes and work righteousness in hard hearts. I pray about my own lack of vision, but also for those who need their eyes opened to Your goodness and Your desire for their good. Enable me to remain faithful no matter how I am perceived. Amen.

Education needed?

I belong to a few quilt groups. Most of the quilters are very skilled and their work shows good judgment with color, design, and other elements that make up a compelling quilt. However, some others have little money for good fabric, are mostly self-taught and seem unaware of basic principles concerning accurate seam widths, pressing, and other skills.

When I started this activity, I had sewn for years, but my first efforts revealed that I needed more education to do this art properly. I took twelve basic classes and many others, and still feel like I’m a beginner.

Piper’s devotional today is about the need for education. He says all Christians have reason for training our minds so we can read the Bible with understanding. I know I need the Holy Spirit to understand what I am reading even though several years of school taught me how to read. My high school literature teacher is fondly remembered for teaching much about books and understanding how words work.

For me, Piper’s statement seemed a bit obvious. I take for granted the preciousness of reading, yet realize not all cultures have a written language. Many people are not able to read even ordinary writing, like a newspaper or a simple book, let alone something as complex as Stephen Charnock’s writing or the Word of God that was translated into English, even though we have several hundred versions at various reading levels. Some are for children, others for those just learning English.

At least the translators realize how levels of reading ability are important. Otherwise, like quilts made without some instruction, the understanding can fall short of being a blessing. This happens because even with the ability to read and understand just the words and ideas expressed, some do not realized the importance of the Holy Spirit to interpret His words as He intends them. Even as I read, I need to read with this intent:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

This points to the need for renewal. Even the well-educated can assume sufficiency apart from God and from relying on His Spirit. Reading all of this passage is a good reminder:

Where is the one who is wise?. . . . Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. . . . these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. . . . For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:20-2:16)

PRAY: Jesus, while I need to grasp biblical thoughts, have learned the alphabet, grammar, syntax, the rudiments of logic, and how meaning is imparted through the connections of sentences and paragraphs, I cannot hear You speak without Your Spirit. That You give Him to me is pure grace. Thank You.

Distracted by a non-issue

God graciously explains the struggles of last week. He reveals that I was concerned about a “what if?” instead of something that was actually happening. The distraction was: “If you do all that God says, the enemy will constantly attack and you will be in a joy-destroying battle until the end of your days. To avoid such misery, you need to choose what you will do.”

This reminds me of a friend who wanted to go to the mission field with the caveat that where she was sent didn’t have a lot of big insects and other crawling critters. She soon learned that loving others meant dropping personal preferences!

Yesterday’s sermon was about cultivating love. The application: 1. Cultivate community…reach out to lonely people, go bless someone else. 2. Practice generosity. It is always a greater joy to give than receive. Besides, generosity is an act of worship. 3. Contemplate God’s love and be driven to gratitude. (There is even an app to help that!) Remember why I am here.

This made me think about my anxiety and realize I was supposing and fearful rather than facing any issues in faith. God was not asking me to do something difficult or make a great sacrifice, nor was the devil trying to stop me from any direct command. Fighting an imaginary war is like a nightmare; not real but still feels as if it is — for a shot time.

Today’s readings describes the wisdom of God in making Jesus our Mediator. He is fully God and fully man, not distant from either, near to both in nature, possessing all of both except without sin.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15–16)

Jesus had a nature to be compassionate to us and victorious for us, to pity us and be patient to bear with us. If he had been only God, he would not have had an experimental sense of our misery; and if he had been only man, he could not have vanquished our enemies; had he been only God, he could not have died; and had he been only man, he could not have conquered death.

The justice of the law had been honored by man’s sufferings, but in Christ the holiness and equity of the law had been honored by man’s obedience. Charnock writes that the life of our Savior is a conformity to the precept, and his death is a conformity to the penalty. The transgression of the law was condemned in the flesh of the Redeemer, and the righteousness of the law was fulfilled in His person, and imputed to the believing sinner.

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3–4)

As he died for us, and rose again for us, so he lives for us. His work is finished and now I can rest in it and not worry about anything. Worry is pride in action. That is why God says…

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

Today’s devotional says that our anxieties refer to “distraction of mind” but God’s care signifies “fixation of mind.” This speaks to me and my ADHD, mild as it is but a target for the enemy! He uses it on me far too often. However, this verse helps…

You keep (her) in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because (she) trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

PRAY: Jesus, this experience was something like a vivid bad dream, so vivid that it seems real after waking up and requires strong self-talk to quiet the emotions. The enemy hits my mind like that, producing vivid emotions. He hits my body too, but You are in my mind and have given me the will and a stronger desire to love and serve You. The cost of obedience cannot destroy any of my new life. It simply points to the reality that I belong to You and am Your child, and even my body is in Your total care and protection. Not my will but Thine be done.

God uses calamity for good…

My husband is spiritually gifted as a leader and drawn to watch the daily news. I’m an ‘information gatherer’ yet have little desire to gather that information. The difference between us is intriguing. He is big picture and I am details. However, today’s readings from Charnock give me more interest in world events. This writer explains how God, in His wisdom, brings disasters for His purposes.

Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. (Daniel 9:14)

First, His timing is always perfect. The judgment on Sodom was suspended until Lot was safe. The early church was not invaded by violent persecutions until established in the faith. Paul was secured from Nero’s chains and the nets of his enemies until he had broke off the chain of the devil from many cities of the Gentiles.

God’s wisdom brings good out of evil using even sin and punishment. The church is more like heaven when most persecuted; the storms of trials have often cleansed it. Job’s integrity was clarified when the devil was permitted to afflict him. God outwits Satan when He uses his temptations to purify us. He brings the clearest light out of the thickest darkness, makes poisons to become medicines. Death itself, the greatest punishment in this life, God has made to his people the gate of heaven, our entrance into immortality.

More examples: The Jews bind Paul and send him to Rome. His mouth is stopped in Judea, but opened in one of the greatest cities of the world, and his enemies unwittingly contribute to the increase of the knowledge of Christ by those chains where he was faithfully “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (Acts 28:31)

His bonds also encouraged others: “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:14) How often has God used suffering which appears like judgment to gain favor to the gospel among sinners? How often has He multiplied the church by death and massacres and increased it by those means used to annihilate it?

God could use supernatural means, but often does not. For instance, when Jacob’s family was facing starvation in Canaan, He could have turned the stones of their country into bread, but He sends them to Egypt opening a way for their their removal from that place and revealing His saving power.

God could have struck Goliath with a thunderbolt from heaven when he blasphemed His name, but He used the natural strength of a stone and the motion of a sling by the arm of David to confront the giant and free Judea from this enemy.

God can use anything from the veering of the wind to change the results of a naval battle or even the accidental stumbling of a horse to fling a leader in battle. The wisdom of God uses the natural order to work out His intended preservation of His people.

I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)

Charnock changed my interest in the news by saying “troubles and wars among a people are many times not destroying, but medicinal” and intended to cure people of the sin that is going to destroy them, sin often contracted during a long term of peace. This is not obvious, yet it makes sense and fits with God’s goodness.

PRAY: Jesus, I now better understand how and why the world is in such a mess. It seems to me that You are saying “You want to run your own lives? Let’s see how that works.” Yet this goes farther. You allow the turmoil to correct, or to bring out good, that many people will not experience the wrath yet to come. May Your will be done.

 

God knows all things

 

Pinterest is helpful for finding new recipes and getting inspiration for artistic endeavors. While searching for ideas for a landscape quilt, I discovered a photo of one of my quilts. The person who posted it claimed it was hers, made of silk and from memories in her own experience. When I tried the link to her website, it came up with “Forbidden” so I did a brief search to find she is a quilt instructor who lives on the west coast. I reported the photo as a violation of my copyright, submitting proof that it was my cotton creation, not hers.

Then I continued only to see two vile pornographic photos included in my search for landscape quilts. As soon as I reported them, they were removed. These incidents made me wonder about the human mind. What motivates a person who steals a photo and lies about it? What motivates someone to put explicit pictures out there for others to see? The Bible answers:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:9–10)

Only God fully understands what goes on in our hearts, even when we don’t understand ourselves. OT King David wrote this, a psalm with an ending that I often pray:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? . . . . Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:1-7; 23–24)

How many times have I said, “Why did I say that?” or “Why did I do that?” I don’t know my own self, but I do know the One who can not only show me what I’m thinking and why, but can renew my mind and put His thoughts in there to transform it!

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

For these truths, MacArthur says in today’s devotional that Christians are able to give godly counsel. We might feel inadequate, and in ourselves we are, but the Spirit of God makes a difference. He can give the wisdom needed to help one another with problems, and if not that, He can motivate me to pray for others so that the solutions needed are given to them directly.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 1:4–7)

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:8)

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14)

PRAY: Jesus, in my education and Bible study, You have shown me the difference between human psychology and Your understanding of the human heart. I agree with this devotional writer’s statement that professional psychologists are no substitute for spiritually gifted people who know the Word, possess godly wisdom, and are full of goodness. I thank You for the wise and all-sufficient counsel of Your Word. Enable me to share it as You give me opportunity, but also to apply it always to my own life.

PONDER: Read Psalm 119 and note what the psalmist relied on for his counsel and the reasons he went there for the help he needed.