Red Flags . . .

Flipping channels, I stopped at a program that I normally do not watch. It was one of those ‘women sit around a table and talk’ shows. One of the woman said something that caught my ear. “I learned that my biggest problem was ignoring the red flags in my life.” She said that by doing this, her life went downhill.

I thought about this in terms of how the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin. It isn’t a loud “stop that” or even a middle-sized poke in the ribs, but usually a very small red flag. Many times I’ve not listened.

The verse in today’s devotional is another reminder of God’s red flags. Job said . . .

“I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.” (Job 27:6)

In this verse, Job’s righteousness was his life lived in faith and the power of God. He knew that he was a sinner, yet like all who trust the Lord Jesus, his righteousness was a gift from God. More to the point, his heart did not reproach him, meaning his heart did not mock or treat him with contempt. He had a clear conscience, not because he never did anything wrong, but because he paid attention to the red flags.

This red flag story also reminds me of those men and women who stand at the edge of construction and repair sites with a flag to direct traffic away from the work and the workers. Their task is to protect both sides, those in the cars and those on the job. A spiritual red flag does the same thing. It tells me when to keep out of a place where God is at work because I’m not to be involved.

I’ve lots of examples. One major one was when the Lord was at work in my husband’s life to bring him to salvation. I had no idea what was going on, only that God waved a flag telling me to shut up and leave Him to His work. I finally listened and later no one was more surprised than me when hubby experienced redemption and new life in Christ.

Those who ignore red flags may be bent on having their own way or determined that their plans will not get them in trouble. This declares an ‘I know better than God’ attitude. They are ‘control freaks’ and most of us have been there in one way or another.

Another part of Job’s statement is in the context. He is defending himself against his ‘friends’ who are accusing him of some secret sin that supposedly is the reason for his suffering. Job says not and that they do not know what they are talking about. This is the way of red flags — they are not visible to those around me. God is not giving others information so they can attack me. If I ignore the flag and fall into sin, then God may direct someone else to restore me, but before that happens or if that does not happen, He keeps my temptations hidden. This is grace.

^^^^^^^

Jesus, dear Jesus, life is filled with buzzards flying over my head and evil thoughts banging at the door of my heart. They threaten to drag me into sin, yet I am with Job. I do not want my heart to mock me with any sort of stuff that takes over or any thoughts or actions that try to boot out the righteousness that You have given me. I know You will never leave me or forsake me. I also know that I can hold fast to my righteousness even if I do sin because my sin has already been forgiven! Thank You for the red flags that keep me on the right path and for Your great love that pulls me back whenever I stray.

Being nothing or being a blessing?

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19–21)

While God can speak through whomever or whatever He wishes (such as the remark of a godless leader or even a donkey), He challenges His people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to control what we do and say.

In the early days of the church, there was some confusion about that. On one trip, Paul came to Ephesus where he found some disciples. Apparently they were not doing much, so he asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (Acts 19:1–2)

This issue was soon rectified and these disciples received and were filled with the Holy Spirit. This was something any Jew should have expected had they been familiar with their Scriptures. Many passages make promises like this one . . .

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:26–28)

That prophet indicates that walking with God in obedience requires newness of life given by His Spirit. Actually, even being in the family of God and possessing eternal life requires having the Holy Spirit . . .

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9–11)

Today’s devotional writer draws attention to those who know the Bible, but do not know the Spirit or are not filled with the Spirit. He says the result of theological training without God’s Spirit is “refined ineffectuality.”

I know about that. I can spout off what I know, but unless the Spirit is filling my life and empowering my words, I am a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1) Without the Spirit, I’m without the love of God and the power of God. To those who hear me, I am just noise at best, and pompous pride, arrogance and terribly annoying at worst.

Because I believe in Jesus Christ, I am “God’s temple” and God’s Spirit dwells in me. (1 Corinthians 3:16–17). I am 100% a child of God, but I am also 100% a sinner. Which one rules my choices and my life makes the difference between being nothing and being a blessing.

Self-control is not really “self” doing the controlling . . .

In the world, self-control is a “bite your tongue” self-effort. In the Bible, self-control is yielding whatever is of me, even my own strengths, and letting the Spirit of God be in control.

In this study, the focus is how easily we can make an idol out of our own self-discipline, holding it up as the guide for life — instead of God. This “bite my tongue” effort might look and feel like a good thing, but when I am relying on myself for anything, I’ve put me above God instead of doing what the Bible says . . .

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

The first thing I notice in these verses is that God connects the commands to promises. He is not like the parent who tells a child to obey “because I say so” but offers reasons for obedience. Here, He says if trust Him, He will guide me; if I fear Him and avoid evil, He will heal me and give me good health.  

Added to those specific promises, God also rewards obedience in another powerful way. When I turn from my own understanding, I begin to see more of the power of God, a power I would not realize by insisting on doing my own thing.

Yet this ability to let God be the Lord of my life is literally impossible without His help. The Bible is clear that self-control is a faculty of the Holy Spirit . . .

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

This shows that I really don’t have the ability to control self. My sinful human nature resists that and wants to go its own way. Instead, I need the power of the Holy Spirit to have the power of the Holy Spirit! God is gracious and works that out by giving me what I need . . .

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. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (2 Peter 1:3–7)

The Bible is filled with examples of those who learned how to exercise self-control. Jesus is at the top of the list. He continually moved under the direction of God, saying “Not my will but thine be done.”

Self-control is vital. It is required in every other virtue, from patience to purity. It is particularly needed in the frustrations of life. Proverbs 16:32 says “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” indicating that self-control could be a major cure-all for today’s messy world.

Again, this is not the self-control that self can do. Eventually “gritting the teeth” will burst the bounds of human restraint and vent. Instead, biblical self-control is a yielded life that puts God in control every moment of every day.

In my desire for absolute surrender to God in all areas of my life, God is right with me to make this possible. This week, He showed me an example of self-control in one of His people that goes beyond anything I’ve ever thought or imagined. While I cannot share or describe a confidentiality, I can say that God changed something in my heart. Seeing Him at work in someone else in such a powerful way motivates me. Because of God’s grace, I’m filled with a deepening desire to never idolize any of my so-called strengths, but to lean entirely on God.

Motivated from the inside out…

Sometimes, when things in life become too confusing, or unbearable, or out of control, I try to imagine a clearer vision, an easier solution, or at least something I can control. This doesn’t work very well. For one thing, my imagination does not even come close to God’s solutions. For this, Paul wrote…

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21, KJV)

God’s view of life is not the same as mine. Where I see chaos and difficulty, He has a plan that is “exceedingly abundantly above” what I can ask for or even imagine. He knows which challenges to place before me that will draw out faith and strengthen my resolve to serve Him. My problem is that if these challenges are producing doubt and disobedience, then what do I do?

Today’s devotional points to the same verse as yesterday. It reminds me of a fundamental truth about being a Christian. My life is not about following rules or doing certain things, but about the motivations behind who I am and what I do. This motivation is not about me or about outside influences. It is about the One who saved and preserves me for Himself, the One who is closer than a brother…

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

I tend to have a fairly black and white approach to most things. As far as being a Christian is concerned, it seems there are no grey areas. That is, if the Spirit of God is not in control, then the flesh is. I am either filled with Him or filled with myself, standing for Christ or tipped over and useless.

Lately I’m rethinking this. I’ve had so many ups and downs that I often don’t know which way is current. I’ve had several things happen that could be seen as God at work or Satan trying to ruin my walk with Christ. When I ponder the reason for this season of mishmash, it seems related to being immersed in theological studies. The lectures and readings are so amazingly good that my spiritual enemy does not want me to learn and grow, so he is hitting me with all sorts of goop.

But there are other complications. I’ve had old habits  flare up that I assumed were conquered. The spiritual weapons used in the past seem powerless in the present. Not only that, my motivations keep changing. At times, I’ve wondered about my sanity, or is this some sort of dementia? At the same time, I’ve experienced deeper and richer Bible study, amazing messages from the pulpit, and richer and more transparent fellowship with other Christians than ever before. This is like riding a roller coaster, or being in a blender.

The author of the devotional reading says that Christians need strong motives for action and for resistance to temptation. We need them to counter the damaging rule of the flesh from within, and to oppose all that slams into us to crush our wills and fortitude from without.

Certainly, God gives basic truths that are clear and proven weapons. Jesus is my Savior and He WILL save me. With all temptation, God provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13) even as I struggle to find it. No weapon formed against me shall prosper because my righteousness is from Him (Isaiah 54:17), praise God. A thousand promises are given, plus the example of Jesus using Scripture to fend off the tantalizing offers from His enemy and mine. I have all I need to win this battle.

The devotional writer says that there is no better source for Christian motivation than today’s verse. It appeals to the “sanctity, responsibility, powers, and capabilities” implied in the inward presence of the eternal Spirit of God, the great gift of His new covenant, sent to me by Jesus Christ.

Apart from the Spirit, I have no resource in “moments of moral surprise” or depression, or when a felt sense of isolation threatens to take out my heart. Apart from the Spirit, I cannot respond when called upon to be daring, or to obey a difficult request. As the devotional writer suggests, these words be emblazoned on the walls of that inner temple of my heart. It is here inside my heart that I need Him for acquiring a clear vision, a firm grasp of truth and even more, the ability to make use of what He so freely gives me.