Abandoned to Christ

When someone sets a standard and I reach it only to find they just increased their requirements, I get frustrated and even angry. Will I ever be good enough to please that person? Or will I always fall short?

Jesus doesn’t treat me like that. First, He loves me just as I am. “God shows His love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. (Romans 5:8, personalized) He didn’t wait until I was a better person, or until I was perfect, which couldn’t happen anyway. His love never depends on me; it is about Him. He loves because He is love. This is the love that Paul is talking about in these verses:

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

Paul was impelled, motivated, urged to action because he was controlled by the love of Christ. Do I know what it means to be motivated like that? Is the Spirit of God moving my life in that same unhindered way?

At best, I can say ‘now and then’ which then suggests I consider what else motivates my actions. Is it the desire to impress? Is it a human love which is more concerned about results and personal benefit than what the love of Christ might do for others? Is it fear, or guilt? Most people don’t like to talk about their motives. We either know that they are selfish and wrong, or we have no idea why we do what we do.

However, when Christ comes in and regenerates our hearts, the focus begins to change. By the Spirit of God I started to realize what God had done for me and that I should be a witness to others about the marvel of being made a new person by the power of Jesus.

Yet it takes time to realize that there is a deeper witness, not a witness to what Jesus can do. Instead He calls me to being a “witness unto Me” – this is showing that all of my life belongs to Him.

It is also a witness to the reality that everything that happens to me is actually happening to Him. This includes praise and blame, persecution and commendation. It is standing for Christ under the motivation of His majesty, His power and grace.

Chambers says that this kind of motivation is all that matters, but strangely the last thing realized by Christian workers. Being compelled only by the love of Christ may result in negative responses and persecutions, but because I am living and doing what I do only because of His love, I will not care. Without any sense of self-protection or promotion, I can speak of God’s judgment and Christ’s love without any personal concerns.

It is not hard to see that such abandon to Him will bear fruit. It always points to the holiness and power of God, never to me. But I’m not there yet. I just know God pushes me toward something much greater than anything already reached. What is most amazing is that no matter how high His standard, He is pleased with me whether I reach it or not!

---

The only things to report today are that Bob loves chicken soup (Jewish penicillin) and needs to eat lots of it, plus whatever else I feed him so he can regain the 15 lbs he lost in the last month.

How to love the world . . .

Just as location is vital in the real estate business, context is vital in the understanding of literature. A small example: “The dog ate my homework” takes on one meaning on the lips of a child who didn’t do the assignment, and quite another for a writer who left the only copy of his manuscript in reach of his teething puppy.

Context is vital in understanding the Bible too. Theologians do word studies, but sometimes they are not helpful. For instance, how can “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) make sense compared to these verses . . .  

“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)

The word used for “world” is the same. It would not be too outlandish to say both speak of giving one’s life for the world. Yet the concepts are entirely different, made so by the context in which they are used.

In the first example, the attitude of God toward sinners who live in the world was so filled with love that He sent His Son to die for our sin that we might have eternal life.

In the second example, the attitude of sacrificial love for the world is not about saving sinners but about indulging myself. These verses do not make the world an evil place, but do say human lust toward forbidden things is an evil attitude.

Again, this is a finely tuned passage. It is not saying human desires are evil either, only those that become twisted when the love of God and the will of God are left out of it. For instance, food, sex, sleep, and other comforts are blessings from God, but if I let them control me by ‘loving’ them for selfish reasons and to that degree, then I become a slave to cravings instead of a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The lust of the eyes probably describes the nice things of the good life. The original readers of this passage may not have had cars or time-shares, but they might have had jewelry, gardens, and other fineries, or at least wanted them. These things are not wrong in themselves, but looking at them with greedy or covetous eyes is not God’s love toward the world. That becomes very practical when considering activities like window shopping or trying to have everything the neighbors have.

The pride of life points to self-sufficiency and independence, that attitude that I don’t need anyone and I can do this myself. God’s love isn’t like that either. Although He alone is complete in Himself and does not need us, He did not dismiss sinners. He sent Jesus to die for us.

Regardless of how sufficient I might be, loving God and others means relying on Him to work in my life, to help me be like Jesus and be identified as one who sacrificially gives rather than self-centeredly relies on and thinks only of me.

Loving the world is a huge spiritual danger. It is fed by the media, but also by my own imagination. If at any time my desires and pride go unsatisfied, I can think of a million ways to fill that void. My television says I’m worth it. All the advertising tells me I need it. However, this is worldliness because the love of God relies on the love of God, not on whatever I can come up, purchase, or invent to satisfy my own self.

I know that history is not an endless cycle but is moving toward a conclusion willed by God. The world is passing away. Loving the world to satisfy my own desires puts my affections on a temporary foundation. Loving the world as God loves the world changes everything. 

Life’s greatest fulfilment

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:13–14)

Don, a brilliant young man with high IQ and love for Jesus Christ, read the book of Ecclesiastes and came to a conclusion that I’ve not heard from anyone else. He decided that it was written with joy! That is, Solomon had tried it all, found everything a vanity (like vapor), then joyfully understood that the meaning of life is only found in knowing and serving God.

Spurgeon might like that idea. He writes that nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own self. The older I become, the more I see the same reality. God’s people try to find fulfilment in many things, but we tire of all else. Better to realize that Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to make experiments for us all and not do it ourselves. He had the resources for these things, some that we cannot or should not do in our own search for fulfilment.  Here is Solomon’s testimony:

I said in my 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)

He tried everything and concluded that life’s baubles were just that — mere baubles. Nothing lasts, and nothing truly satisfies. His conclusion:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

The New Testament completes this decision. Our satisfaction is in a person, not in popularity, achievement, status, or any other thing. As Spurgeon says, “To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in his love, and be fully assured of union with him — this is all in all.”

Just as some children must touch the fire to believe it is hot, some people must try other ways to live, yet in all the beautiful places I’ve been and seen, there is nothing that can compare to my Savior’s face. I’ve had the comforts of life, but without Jesus and His presence, all is wretched and a burden. In contrast, I’ve been in pain and trials, but because the Christ was with me in those dark places, they were not only meaningful, but He gave me joy.

I understand what Don concluded. Life’s good things as well as its horrors can be laughed at, not because of madness or a detached insanity, but because the Lord Jesus Christ can make a dungeon a paradise. He can enter our trials, obscurities, famine, or persecutions and give us joy. In Him, there is peace.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

*********

Lord, You enter the battleground of my mind with such good thoughts. Yet even more, You are in my life — bringing me Your joy and peace. No matter what life splatters on me, or how I perceive the daily struggles, I can take heart and I can have great peace — because You have overcome all of those things — and because You live right here in my heart.

Grace equals zest for the ordinary

When Christ came into my life more than thirty-five years ago, I was living on a farm with my children. Keeping the house clean and caring for my family seemed a never-ending task. As a new Christian, I was grumbling about it even though I knew I shouldn’t.

On one of those long days, God spoke about my attitude. He said, “Do it for me.” He taught me something with those simple words. Motivation makes a huge difference. Doing ordinary chores for the King of all Creation changes how I feel about what I do.

Sometimes people complain that they are bored, or that life is tedious, or even that they have nothing to live for. Doing anything for our own pleasure can eventually wear out and get old. A bigger reason for living and a new motivation for doing tedious daily chores is needed.

This morning I woke with the attitude that I didn’t want to get up. The “same-old, same-old” was getting to me. Had I forgotten who I was living for? I must have because the Lord promptly gave me this from my devotional reading . . . 

For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (Romans 14:7–9)

We live to the Lord. I live to serve the Lord. He only whispered (sometimes I need Him to shout) but instantly, my attitude changed. Whatever I do today, doing it for Him makes an immense difference.

If that makes no sense, consider what it is like being in love. There is nothing you wouldn’t do for the one you love and each action is done in joyful delight. I am in love with Jesus Christ. Serving Him is delightful. Motivation changes everything.

***************

Lord, I’m dismayed at my forgetfulness. I left a newly baked cake on the counter last night without covering it. The dirty preparation bowls were still in the sink this morning. That is not my normal routine, but even worse is momentarily forgetting why I am here. You could have taken me to heaven when I first believed, but You didn’t. I remain here to live for You, to proclaim Your goodness in the land of the living. I’m not here to grumble about getting out of bed in the morning or about the routine chores of life. You have taught me that nothing is boring when consecrated to You. Thank You for recharging my motivations and renewing my zest for life — on this very ordinary day.

(Image source)

To Live is Christ — even in the ordinary

A big challenge of the Christian life is balancing or reconciling the reality of eternity with the nitty-gritty of daily life. I am going to live forever. What does it matter that the floors get swept or the car gets washed? In light of forever, how important is most of right now?

Since we tend to polarize such issues, people take one of two options. I could tie into life with the attitude that we are only here once and for a short time, so make the best of it. Grab what I can and enjoy it because I cannot take it with me. Or I could neglect all but the essentials like brushing my teeth, and spend my days preaching and teaching others about God, perhaps losing my family and gaining a yard full of weeds in the process.

As an ordinary person with ordinary responsibilities, I’m aware that some of what I do is temporary. It has value for the moment, but no eternal impact. The things that I possess will not go into glory with me, none of my books, none of the quilts that I make, nothing from my computer files will last forever. While some of it could be enjoyed by those after me, eventually all of it will perish.

What is eternal? The human soul lasts, with its eternal location determined by each individual’s relationship (or lack of it) with Jesus Christ. Things done in the power of Christ will have some sort of eternal reward too. That may indicate that those actions will live on.

Words could be included. God’s Word lasts forever. If I speak in the name of the Lord and by His enabling power, will my words have some sort of eternal value too? The passage I am reading talks about the things that abide forever.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22–25)

From these verses, it seems to me that anyone who has been reborn through the eternal Word of God has the potential to love others with a pure heart. Although my flesh is like grass as are the successes I might experience in this life, that kind of love contrasts the temporary stuff. That is, I may accomplish great things, become famous, have the respect of my peers, or gain many possessions. Nevertheless, these are the “glory of man” and will wither. However, the Word of God endures forever and so does the love of God.

My question is: What if that love of God is expressed through my life? It seems safe to assume that no matter the vessel, God’s love is an eternal thing. It will endure when all else fades away.

This is where the daily things of life come in. All those things that seem temporary and without eternal value can be infused with that which lasts for eternity. In other words, when I do what I do because the love of God compels me, then those actions have eternal value. At the very least, they can change current situations and affect them for eternity.

In contrast, I could do what I do for my own glory or gain. If motivated by selfish ambition rather than love, or pride rather than love, or the desire for personal comfort rather than the love of God, then whatever I have done will not go with me into glory.

To live is Christ means to live every day with meaning — because His love gives everything significance. My life or the lives of most people may seem ordinary, but with Jesus, all life has purpose because what is done in Christian love makes an impact on life everlasting.