Be Like Jesus?

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. (Isaiah 50:4–10)

While the prophet may have experienced what he describes, many of these words describe events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. They also describe His attitude.

I’ve been thinking much about what it means to be like Jesus. The first thing is that Jesus came to us fully human and lived relying on the power of the Holy Spirit just as we are supposed to live. He did it perfectly…

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, 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 2:1–8)

This servant heart included the humility to be taught. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” (John 8:28)

I’m awed by this. God the Son didn’t consider Himself a know-it-all or even having any authority to speak unless the Father gave Him something to say. Because this is true, who am I to think I can blurt out whatever comes to mind? Being like Jesus means listening to the voice of the One who created me and it certainly means yielding all my thoughts and ideas to  Him. It also means total obedience.

Jesus, You know my heart. I can be selfish, wanting to do my stuff rather than listen and obey. Thinking this way seems impossible. Even as a redeemed person who wants to be like Jesus, I know that I cannot do it or even choose it apart from You and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Value a good reputation, but…

Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. (1 Samuel 16:14–23)

Last week during a monthly meeting with a small group of quilters, one person brought a small accordion shaped storage box made of cloth that someone gave her. It looked complex and we could not figure out how it was made. Finally someone said to me, “You are good at finding information, so see if there is a pattern for it on the internet.”

That remark pleased me. People can have a reputation for many things, from playing a lyre to finding instructions, but having someone value what I can do well made me feel encouraged to keep doing it.

A few days later, another skill was pointed out and when no one seemed interested, I concluded that happened to keep my pride in check!

David likely didn’t have that problem. At least I couldn’t see any record of him boasting about playing music for the king. Not only that, that same king repeatedly tried to kill him. 

As I watch world news, it seems that there is a danger in doing well because attacks eventually come. Others are jealous, or consider the well-thought of person is a threat. Those or other reasons can even go as far as King Saul did. He enjoyed David’s skill but eventually tried to kill him. God can use a skill to help others, but sometimes that skill brings out the sinful attitudes of those who envy them.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12)

Jesus, I realize times where You do not want me to reveal what You have done in my life, perhaps because my talk does not match my walk. I need to be on guard against hypocrisy as well as boasting. However, if and when I do good, You should be praised. May my deeds match Your will so that others never criticize or find fault with You but give You glory.

Finding a good church…

After moving many times and attending many churches, humanly speaking I liked best the congregations that made me feel welcome. All about me. Yet in deeper reflection, those that increased my knowledge and love for God were those that glorified Him the most. 

Feel good churches can be all about me. Glorifying God is far more important. Reading 1 Corinthians clarifies why this is important. A church that puts the emphasis on God will praise Him for a good message instead of boasting they have a pastor who is a good speaker. They will not compete with one another, nor will they boast.

Paul wrote to this church at Corinth to admonish them for their fleshy behavior. They were gifted by God yet boasted in themselves as if they were the source of these gifts. They argued about who was the best leader and teacher. Their focus was on human qualities rather than the glory of God. His words to them through Paul were sharp, yet given to put their focus where it should be;

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.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

When I hear someone critical of the church they attend, I want to say “Find a better one” because they do exist. Yet I hear of those who quit attending any church thinking they are all the same. How sad. Is it better to leave? Or to do what Paul did and remind them of the One that has given them new life and wants them to live accordingly?

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 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. . . . 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 2:1–16)

These words are both humbling and uplifting. They kick my pride and restore my thinking to the One who saved me from wanting to be “the best” to being glad that He is merciful. Our granddaughter, broken from a fall and covered in bruises, said, “I’m the dumbest smart person that I know” and that reflects a biblical truth. The Christians at Corinth had Christ and His mind, but they put the wisdom of God aside to boast about themselves. To this, Paul adds:

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:18–23)

PRAY: Just because I figured this out does not make me wise — instead it shows that You are my wisdom. I cannot know truth from You unless You reveal it to me. Pride in myself is a huge barricade to living for You and glorifying You. And it is one thing to know this — but the challenge is doing it — giving You the glory for all that You are and do. Rebuke me whenever I take credit instead of putting it where it belongs.

One who is greater…

In early life, I painted wildlife and often looked at the work of Robert Bateman or other artists, not to imitate them but to realize that I was not a hotshot in the world of art. Now I do the same with quilts by looking at websites with show winners so I will not get swell-headed with pride about my own work. There is always someone who excels in any endeavor to keep others from thinking they are at the top rung.

This morning, John Piper points to Charles Haddon Spurgeon who preached as a Baptist pastor in London from 1854 until 1891. This is thirty-eight years of ministry in one place. His collected sermons fill sixty-three volumes equivalent to the twenty-seven-volume ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and stand as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of Christianity. He read six serious books a week and could remember what was in them and where. He read Pilgrim’s Progress more than one hundred times.

Spurgeon added 14,460 people to his church membership and did almost all the membership interviews himself. He could look out on a congregation of 5,000 and name the members. He founded a pastors’ college and trained almost 900 men.

This man once said he had counted as many as eight sets of thoughts that passed through his mind at the same time while he was preaching and even prayed for his people during the very sermon he was offering to them. He used a small sheet of notes that he had written the night before and more than twenty-five thousand copies of his sermons were sold each week in twenty languages. Someone was converted every week through these written sermons.

His two sons became pastors. He founded an orphanage, edited a magazine, produced more than 140 books, responded to 500 letters a week, and often preached ten times a week in various churches as well as his own.

But he also suffered from gout, rheumatism, and Bright’s disease. For the last twenty years of his ministry he was so sick that he missed a third of the Sundays at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. He could have written this verse:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

He was a politically liberal, conservative Calvinistic Baptist who smoked cigars, spoke his mind, believed in hell, and wept over the perishing. Tens of thousands were saved through his soul-winning passion. He relied on God with great faith and said,“One thing is past all question; we shall bring our Lord most glory if we get from Him much grace.”

As with artists and those skilled in astonishing ways, I’m not to worship him or envy him or anyone else — because all achievers are too small for worship and too big to be envied or imitated. If I worship such achievers, I am an idolater. If I envy them, I am foolish. Such responses are sinful because all skill is given so I will marvel at the wonder of God who created all of us and can use us as He pleases.

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

PRAY: Lord, how delightful to spend a few days with people who exalt others without envy and who build up those who struggle to ‘do better’ and who need encouragement. I wonder if Spurgeon had prayer warriors in his shadow that will never be known by name yet someday will face the God who is greater, yet very likely will say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

All things means all things...

This week a twelve-year-old child told me that when a Christian sins, it draws them closer to God. In the context of that conversation, how amazing that a child figures out what many adults do not get.  Charnock’s book says the wonder of God’s wisdom is that He can take a sin that we consider fits us for hell and use it as an occasion to fit us for heaven. He can use it to produce in us a more humble faith and a more thorough sanctification. Such growth in grace prepares us for a state of glory. He is an awesome God.

Charnock illustrates saying how the stirring of corruption makes all the mud at the bottom appear, mud that I did not suspect was there. It comes out with the stirring and this discovers and separates it so I can confess it. Sin makes my conscience more tender. I am more watchful and realize that my enemy has more strength than I suspected. I become more diligent, more aware of the deceitfulness of my heart and better able to watch for and resist sin, “more careful of anything that may contribute to the resurrection of an expired disease.”

Another illustration is how a scorpion or a bee loses its sting when it bites, it becomes incapable of a second attack. Like Peter after his gross denial, he never denied his Master afterwards. That sin lost its power. In the same way, any sin that is undiscovered and then, by a fall, becomes visible, becomes more horrible to me and others, and causes those who sin to take a tighter hold on Christ and a greater determination to defeat sin. His forgiveness and cleansing results in more zeal and more strength because of have less confidence in myself, and more in God.

Charnock notes that David prayed, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:3) He was not praying for his single sin with Bathsheba, but realized more of his general sinfulness.

Also, a great fall sometimes becomes the occasion of a person’s conversion, just as God uses the sins of His people to bring a more extensive sanctification. The only wise God makes poisons in nature to become medicines in His grace and wisdom. Through the mighty working of the Spirit, He makes us more humble and humility fits us to receive even greater blessings: “He gives more grace…. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

In describing true repentance, the Bible says:

For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. (2 Corinthians 7:11)

I’ve realized that If evil were not in the world, we would not know what good is, nor would we understand the power of God’s wisdom, just as without night we could not understand the beauty of the day. Even though God is not the author of sin because of his holiness, He uses sin by His wisdom, and accomplishes His purposes by the iniquities of his enemies, and the lapses and infirmities of his friends.

PRAY: Jesus, just as You make this clear and as Ephesians 1 points out, You work all things according to the counsel of Your will, even our sin, so we might be praise of Your glory. May my faith in You run so deep then whenever sin strikes, I respond by confessing it and listening for what You are saying. Enable me to obey You accordingly, rather than making excuses or doing anything else that sinfully neglects to honor You.

God’s ways are higher than mine

 

During our group Bible study we were asked in which ways we were limited in our Christian lives by our past. The assumption was that our past contained sins and mistakes that we were not proud of. This is illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal. He asked for his inheritance and took off on his own:

And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ (Luke 15:14–19)

But when he arrived home, his father was overjoyed and threw a party to celebrate. No scolding, no questions even, illustrating that the past is not the measure of our acceptance by our heavenly Father. There is a great deal of joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. God forgives and puts our sin as far as the east from the west.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

On the other hand, some come to God with many assets. Paul was one of them, and this was his testimony about his past:

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— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death... (Philippians 3:4–10)

His past could be a hindrance if he let himself be proud of it and lord over others because of it. For some, a ‘good’ life, wise choices, wealth, high IQ and any number of other ‘successes’ are easily relied on by the flesh and like Paul, Christians with that kind of past have to learn to be joyful in weakness and rely fully on Jesus, not their old nature with its resources.

Today’s devotional reading points out that our strength lies in our helplessness. If I am helpless to do anything myself, Jesus can use me as He pleases. My past and whatever it includes, shame or pride or both, will not get in the way or delay obedience. The NT suggests the struggles of Paul to learn this may have been longer and more difficult than for those who were less endowed.

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. (1 Corinthians 1:25–29)

Humility comes easier to weak and lowly people for they have little to boast about in themselves. This suggests that pride in myself and what I can do may be a greater impediment than a shameful past.

PRAY: Jesus, You know that shame and pride both can ruin my walk with You. I’m so glad that You forgave all my sin, including the sin of thinking my way is better than Your way. Keep me in Your will that I may boast only in You.

How to be transformed...

 

Yesterday was filled with emotions. Unexpected help came regarding family reunion plans that thrilled me. Not only new ideas to help people enjoy one another, but a great deal of thoughtful and encouraging motivation expressed with it. Then our team nearly won a soccer match only to have it tied in the last minutes and lost in a shoot-out. And after that, a different kind of shooting with an attempt to assassinate the former US president. Then I had a long dream in which a false teacher, filled with nonsense ideas about the way people think, led two church services filled with thousands of people who thought she was wonderful. I woke up distressed at this depiction of the way our world is going. My emotions threatened to take my focus off Jesus.

Today’s devotional reading echoed some of the low points of the previous twenty-four hours. It speaks of self-centeredness saying again that the great sin that plagues us is our focus on me, myself, and I. To be calmer, more level, I needed to focus on Jesus, not think about me.

However, the Bible does say to examine ourselves. Like emotions, this can also get out of hand. Too much looking at me is not good either. Those emotions did that while biblical self-examination should be motivated by a desire to find and root out sin. Yet today’s reading warned that too much of it, or having a me-focus can lead to making excuses, feeling sorry for me, comparing myself to others less fortunate, or even pride that I am better than so-and-so.

(Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9–14)

Even reading this story and thinking I am humble can turn into pride that thinks, “At least I am not like that self-righteous Pharisee.” While emotions can put my focus on me, so can pride. I’m supposed to view life in humility.

Not easy. Rare is the truly humble person. Today’s devotional offers this spiritual discipline to push out those sneaky personal pronouns: “The commands to look to Jesus, to behold His glory, to have our eyes ever toward Him, are literal. When we are looking to Jesus, we cannot see ourselves, for if our faces are to Him, our backs will necessarily be to one another.” The Bible says:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Looking at Jesus not only takes my eyes off myself, my emotions, and my performance, but as this verse says, it is a transforming process. We are affected by what captures our attention. For instance, our family spent a couple years in a southern state around people with a drawl that produced a ‘you all’ accent in our children. What is fed into our minds does have an effect  on our lives. No wonder Jesus said,

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:48–51)

He was illustrating the importance of relying on Him as sustenance for life. Relying on me only leads to more hunger and even starvation. Focus on Jesus feeds me well.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, looking at You instead of at myself changes my days and my dreams. Your will and responses affect me, even bring great joy at the good ideas of others instead of envy, and glad for fair play instead of being a sore loser fan, also upset at violence instead of thinking a victim gets what they deserve (as some do), and make me upset with false teaching and the harm it does rather than dismissing a dream as only a dream. Keep my eyes and thoughts on You. Only You can transform my selfishness into clear thinking — and help me with humility.

God makes wise the simple . . .

 

God’s ways are not our ways. I used to look down on people with low IQ (this is a polite way to say it) and God had to show me how wrong I was. He started with these verses:

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. (1 Corinthians 1:26–29)

At first this felt like a slap in the face, however He kept verifying this truth:

Behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:14)

Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.” (Matthew 11:25)

I began to realize that what I knew about God was solely due to His revelation of Himself and had nothing to do with my so-called IQ. He says:

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple . . .  (Psalm 19:7)

Even the disciples who experienced Jesus and walked with Him realized that His Word to them was more powerful and confirming that what they had experienced of Him!

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:16–21, italics mine)

This truth was also presented to two disciples on the Emmaus Road. Jesus prevented them from recognizing Him, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27) showing how their faith and ministry needed to be based on Scripture, not merely on their firsthand experiences, no matter how profound those experiences may have been.

God’s Word makes the simple wise. It teaches undiscerning, ignorant, and gullible people profound truth from God applies to their lives and gives skill in godly living. As the psalmist wrote and as the Apostle Paul and others prayed:

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. (Psalm 119:98–100)

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9–10)

PRAY: Jesus, You tell us to humble ourselves. These truths are humbling and help me “not to think of myself more highly than I ought to think, but to think with sober judgment” and every gift and ability I have is from You. Each day calls for wisdom and I’m glad that when I lack wisdom, I can ask You and You “give generously to all without reproach, and it will be given” to me — through Your Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. (James 1:5) I’m very thankful.

PONDER Luke 24:13–35, noting the difference between how the disciples’ ‘wisdom’ interpreted things and how Jesus showed them the truth of what had happened.