Being the person God created…

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:1–3)

Hypocrisy is when a person says one thing but does another. This word is usually attached to morals. Example: A driver honks and screams at cars for changing lanes too fast, then cuts across three lanes without using his signal lights. In broader terms, it is giving rules for how others should live, but breaking those rules in my own life. Jesus says this sort of life eventually is exposed.

Christians are often called hypocrites. We know how God wants us to live, talk, even think, yet we do things, or say things, and even think the opposite. While that sort of problem has an explanation, so does the cure. First the explanation:

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20–24)

We who have a saving faith in Jesus Christ are given a new nature to live by, and though the old nature is termed ‘dead’ (that means ‘separated from God’ rather than unable to act, talk, and think), we do have a choice, not an excuse. It is simple:

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:14)

We need to change our thinking: “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)

Anyone who uses the accusation of ‘hypocrite’ know the difficulty and challenge of changing how to think or even admit the need to change. This not an excuse, but it is a matter of faith. Do I believe I know better than God? Do I even know what God thinks about concerning what I pray about? I have a friend who says, “Why pray when you can worry?” illustrating how easily it is to be a hypocrite if worry is a person’s habit of life.

Humility pops into this equation too. If I think I am right all the time (pride), listening to God’s view and putting it into practice is not easy. I have to see myself as weak, needy, and often downright stupid. This is not popular in a world that tells us we need to have a positive self-image. God’s ways are not our ways. Pride blocks them.

God, You know every thought I think or whisper and what opposites exist in what I say compared to how I live. You call it how You see it. I’m not to be as the Pharisees, but to be like Jesus, and the only way to do that is to keep my sins acknowledged, confessed, and abandoned, then be filled with Your Spirit and walk that way with no provision for the flesh. You give me what is needed. My choice is to believe You and live like it. 

Ignore the old — go with the new

 
I keep preaching it — mostly to myself. Always and everywhere, put off the old nature which my daily devotional reading calls the “I” religion, and put on the new nature that is marked by the life of Christ, not that it hangs in a closet and I must go get it, but that I already have it and foolishly live at times as if I didn’t.

Because I have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set my mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is my life appears, then I also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these I too once walked, when I was living in them. But now I must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk…. seeing that I have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1–10, personalized)

That new nature is already mine and it is now possible to walk in its fullness:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12–15)

This passage goes on to tell me to “let the Word of Christ dwell in me richly” and is parallel to Ephesians 5 which says, “Be filled with the Spirit” who brings the same results. If I’m to be what God wants me to be, these two things are necessary: filled with the Word and filled with the Spirit, and both require me to kick out all “I” stuff, including any efforts to appear pious.

I remember thoughts during worship service where I wondered if it would look better if I raised my hands. Or did people notice that I knew the words without looking at them on the screen. Or notice that I was the only one smiling. All “I” religion stuff. Put it off.

The odd thing is that Holy Spirit stuff cannot be cataloged in the same way. If I do it, it drops into that old “I” religion because any Holy Spirit stuff is not about me. It is about others and about Jesus. Yes, focusing on Jesus brings peace and joy, love for others, and the other fruit of the Spirit, but it is not given the same attention. I might notice it, but it will not let me say anything about it except “Thank You” or think more than simply marveling at the wonder of who God is and His amazing grace.

We are experiencing answers to prayers, even experiencing prayers that fill me with wonder that such thoughts are in my heart because I’m so often focused on me and my needs. God is incredible.

PRAY: Jesus, I could think today about fatigue, the to-do list that looms like a giant mountain to climb, our varied needs, but You keep filling my mind with the way You have changed the life of a young woman who was so far from You and now praising You and wanting to serve on the worship team at our church. And You have prompted me to pray for her and for another person who badly needs physical healing and salvation. Today, spiritual armor is needed because it is part of what I’m to put on instead of wearing those sinful and dead robes that are only about me.

Struggling to Focus?

1 Kings 16; Psalm 102; Ezekiel 46; Colossians 3

 My two computer monitors both have sticky notes on them with a †✝ cross and the word “FOCUS” — to combat the bugaboo of my life; a scattered mind. To help me focus, I found and began using a set of recipe cards that I made years ago. Each card has a spiritual discipline or a command or idea from the Bible that I’m putting on my to-do list for each day. Instead of jumping all over the place, this is a discipline of the mind, a retraining of my thought habits. God is using it because He wants me to be a focused person:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1–4, italics mine)

While my card file is helpful, this NT Scripture passage has more to say about focus than merely telling me to set my mind on things above. It adds further commands that explain how to do it. First, I am to kick out the junk that belongs to this world and to my former sinful self:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:5–10)

It seems obvious that if my mind and focus is on those things listed here, I cannot think about heavenly topics. If I am overcome with lust, impure desires, envy, anger, lying, evil speaking or any other sinful stuff, these things would not only fill my head but affect my actions.

My commentary says: “The Greek tense in this command suggests a decisive action, as if Paul said, ‘Mortify it! Do it now! Do it resolutely!’ Of course, God has already done it, but Christians are to know this, count it to be true, and act accordingly (see Romans 6:5–14). In other words, they are not to go on living as though they are still alive to sin when in actuality they are not.”

God says that those who believe in Jesus Christ are redeemed and reborn. We are a new creation. The old has gone. In the above passage He puts it another way: “You are not that kind of person anymore so stop doing all that old stuff and live according to the child of God that you are now!”

Then the passage goes on to describe what the new person is supposed to act like:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12–17)

With that, no Christian can complain of boredom or having nothing to do! This is a challenging to-do list. It requires focus and determination. The old way of life pokes and prods habitual responses, particularly in those of us who were saved as adults. Giving our lives to Christ makes all things new, but the sinful nature needs constant reminding that it is a corpse!

APPLY: Thinking godly thoughts helps. Reading the Word of God and daily prayer helps keep those thoughts central. Doing what God tells me to do reinforces what He has put in — the antidote to the GIGO principle that warns me also: put in garbage and garbage will come out. Instead, put in what God says and it will show up in my thoughts, words, and actions. This is a simple discipline yet even after fifty years of being a believer, I need to be reminded to focus — because the world, the flesh and the enemy continually pressure me to do otherwise!