Self-effort vs. God’s ‘rest’

Numbers 6; Psalms 40–41; Song of Songs 4; Hebrews 4

God instructs me in dreams. Not verses and chapters, but usually to show me the issues in my life with greater clarity. I’ve been trying to purge the not-used, not-needed stuff out of my home, yet most of it seems like hangers in an empty closet — it multiplies in the dark — like rabbits and ants!

Last night the dream was two rooms, one with a bed and the other with stacks of furniture. I was trying to make room for all the furniture but the bed was in the middle and that room already had tables and desks around the perimeter. I woke up and my mind could not stop trying to sort it out. By the time I was fully awake, this dream had overwhelmed me.

God talks about Christians entering His rest. I know this means ceasing from my own labors to be a godly person and by faith trusting Him for salvation. However, the salvation message is not just a one-time incident. Colossians 2:6 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

This means my Christian life is also one of trusting Jesus to save and keep me in this life, just as I trusted Him for eternal life. Obviously, that involves realizing my works will not do it and humbly admitting that I cannot save myself. In fact, I cannot do anything with success apart from trusting Him and walking in the Spirit. The flesh (my sinful self) cannot profit in any way. Jesus also said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

All this is subtle. The dream tells me that in a subconscious manner I am trying to simplify my life and enter that rest that God talks about. To ease the clutter means to remove the burdens, but I’m certainly not at rest in the process.

Hebrews 3-4 says that the OT people of God did not enter God’s promised rest because of unbelief and disobedience. They trusted their own rationale (“there are giants in the promised land, too big for us”) instead of trusting God to do what He said He would do and wound up wandering in the wilderness for a long time.

Last night was a wilderness experience. I know that because the Word of God has separated my fleshy efforts from the work of the Holy Spirit. I can see this from reading this!

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:11–13)

“Strive” should read “eager” because it does not mean ‘try harder’ or put effort in. It simply means to want the rest that God is talking about, a rest of obedience and walking with Him AND He uses His Word to expose what is flesh and what is spirit. The people in the wilderness may not have defined their sin this way, but they knew what God told them to do and decided God didn’t know what He was talking about. Yikes. I know it too and feel exposed — by a crazy dream too.

The answer to all this comes a few verses later. It tells me that Jesus knows what it is like to live in a human body and battle the temptation to humanly solve issues, but He didn’t give in to that . . .

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 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 4:14–16)

APPLY: When I am tempted to do anything without first drawing near for the grace needed, I must recognize and confess the flesh trying to overrule the Spirit. I’m to walk in Him, trusting and obeying Him. Otherwise, the flesh profits nothing and the efforts to do whatever I want to do are in vain.

Jesus gives me all I need . . .

Of the last five New Testament epistles, three are one short chapter each. These five are concerned with false teaching and the way Christians should live. 2 Peter and Jude warn against those who scorn the authority of the Lord and His Word. John’s three letters are written against Gnosticism, a teaching that had strange views of Christ and other important matters. John called this the “spirit of antichrist.”

Years ago, a man told me of visiting the Franklin mint where there is a wall of counterfeit money displayed under glass. He said to an official, “I can imagine you must study these very carefully.” The official replied, “Not at all. We study the genuine money. That makes it easy to spot what is fake.”

As I think about the topics of these books and am aware that many of these false ideas prevail even today, my plan is not to dwell on or analyze the false but look in these books for what is true. The very first and most delightful reality is in the first chapter of 2 Peter. He writes:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:1–4)

God says salvation is by the righteousness of the Lord, granted to believers by His power. I am given “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.” This is how I can escape the corruption of the world rather than be snared by its sinful desires! God says there is no other way.

Yesterday in discussion with others, we agreed that our most constant battle is that “I can do it” notion concerning all of life. In other words, I tend toward the foolishness of thinking that I do not need God or His grace or divine power, at least not for certain things. It is easy to be quite happy to consider Jesus my Savior because I know I cannot save myself from sin, but I too easily drift toward thinking I can handle most of life all by myself.

This is not true, yet it takes a lifetime to fully realize it never mind reach it. The life of radical faith takes seriously the words “all things that pertain to life” and learns that even ordinary things like shopping, household chores, and so on are included. When I rely on “divine power” for the ordinary, life is transformed. For instance, last week I learned the why of a nosebleed in the plan of God. He is teaching me to be on the alert for His hand in everything and because of it, life’s events have meaning I’d otherwise not see. Instead, God gives me adventure in matters that I’d otherwise find ordinary or even irritating.

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Lord Jesus, this passage in 2 Peter is precious. It gives me an image of Your power pouring down as I run from sin and from trying to handle ordinary life without You. I can also clearly see that You lead me into a life where You hold my hand and give me grace and peace. No false teaching can even come close to what You do for Your people!

Today’s thankful list . . .

- having all I need to live for Jesus.

- forgiveness for the many times I fail to rely on Him.

- knowing Your power and grace that gives meaning to even ordinary events.

- getting outside into fresh air.

- lots of exercise today.

- being able to record and watch the World Rugby Bronze medal game.

What will people think?

One of the largest battlefields in the war of life concerns identity and acceptance. No one wants to be picked last for a game of soccer, or never asked for a date, or rejected at job interviews. Politicians run for office wanting to change the world yet those votes affirm their value. Tozer says this desire to please people deeply implanted within us and asks how it can be uprooted to shift our life-drive from pleasing others to pleasing God? Fear of what people will think of us or do to us is a constant Bible theme.

“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:13–17)

Tozer’s answer to shifting our life-drive is not by doing it alone, or with the help of others, or by education or by training. He says this requires is a reversal of nature, a supernatural act.

My analytical mind processes his answer this way . . .

Sin brings a sense of guilt, of not measuring up. While the human heart might not realize that “all fall short of the glory of God” that sense of falling short is there. Because of it, the human heart, either in ignorance of God’s remedy or in rejection of it, tries to rid itself of this undercurrent of guilt. Many methods are used from doing as much good as possible to making as many friends as possible. The idea is that human acceptance will make this sense of guilt less real and less important. However, the more we apply our human solutions, the greater becomes our sense of it. Those efforts wind up a vicious circle because they do not work.

The only solution is dealing with the guilt by acknowledging our sin and seeking forgiveness and cleansing. He is the only one who can wash it away and He does it by a total acceptance of us, just as we are.

Why then do Christians still struggle with people-pleasing as the above verses suggest? Herein is the rub and the battlefield. My spiritual enemy tells me in a myriad of ways that God does not really love me. I am challenged by this lie continually and every time I fall for it, I want love affirmed. A call from a friend, a text from someone who is praying for me, anything that jogs my illogical thinking back to the reality of God’s amazing love. If that does not happen, instead of turning to God in trust and confessing my faith lapse, I might try people-pleasing, fish for a complement, anything to make sure I am accepted, anything that might give that sense of being unacceptable a push out the door.

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Lord Jesus, Your work is gracious assurance. You have a host of ways to show me I am being duped into trying to please others instead of putting my focus where it belongs. The bottom line is that You do love me even though the sense of that love will always be tested. However, because You died for me and because that is a done deal, Your love is a done deal, established at Calvary, established forever. There is no need to be worried about ‘what will people think’ because what You think is the measure of all things.