I cannot save myself

I’ve been told it was a common practice in ancient Israel to worship God while sitting under a fig tree. This explains what happened when Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus . . .

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” (John 1:47–48)

Nathanial had no idea that the One he worshiped was standing before him, but Jesus knew it and He knew Nathanial’s heart. He ‘saw’ that he was not a shrewd, deceptive, or crafty person. If Jesus was looking for character qualities in making His choices of disciples, this man had integrity.

Chambers takes a bit of a leap to apply this. He connects what Nathanael was doing before Jesus came along to what we do in our ‘hidden, personal, worshiping life’ before a big event. He then concludes that those big events, usually involving crisis, reveals the stuff we are made of.

This is often our experience, but Chambers adds that most people imagine being given what we need in that big crisis, but says “the big crisis will only reveal the stuff we are made of, it will not put anything into us.”

His main idea is that if we are doing the right things in the ordinary days, then when God brings us into a crisis situation, we will rise to the occasion, but if not, then we will be revealed as unfit, because the crises always reveals character. However, sometimes the crisis reveals something else.

I’m reminded of Corrie Ten Boom who relates her concern as a child that she would not be able to handle the events of life. Her father reminded her about their train rides and how she received her ticket just when she needed it. He said God was like that and would give her what she needed at the time she needed it.

Private worship is important, but I do not agree that the onus is on me for victory in trials. Chambers seems to suggest I must earn or deserve enabling grace by having good habits in personal worship, but my question to this idea is: who is my Savior?

Like Corrie’s father, my experience with any crisis is that God comes to my rescue. Sometimes those challenges reveal a need in my life, yet victory never depends on me, but on the Lord Jesus Christ who lives in me.

Some people might say, ‘I can’t be expected to live the sanctified life in the circumstances I am in; I have no time for praying just now, no time for Bible reading, my opportunity hasn’t come yet; when it does, of course I shall be all right.’

Of course they will struggle in trials, and perhaps that trial might help them get their devotional life in order, but our ability to stand firm is not our ability. It is a gift from Jesus. No matter how ‘well prepared’ I might be, trials always catch me by surprise, are always beyond my capacity, and I’m always surprised when God brings me through them anyway.

Taking every thought captive

The motivational gift of teacher (Romans 12) has been defined as “having a deep desire for people to think biblically.” This ‘gift’ involves gathering information and presenting it in a way that empowers Christians to think with the mind of Christ. Of course those who have that gift must think biblically themselves.

For me, this means knowing Scripture and focusing on truth from the Word of God. It means not being “conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewal of my mind” so I can discern the will of God. (Romans 12:2) It also means obedience to Paul’s exhortation about how I think:

“Finally . . .   whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

This is a challenge. Satan uses lies tangled up in media, memories, and appeals to unmet human desires. Just as he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he nags at me and I need to fight back, but must remember . . .

“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . . .” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)

Besides putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18) which includes prayer, I need to recognize what I am up against. From 2 Corinthians 10, Paul summarizes a worldly and sinful thought life . . .

Arguments = logical conclusions reached by false reasoning, arguing with words that are not true.

Lofty opinions = an exaggerated evaluation of who I am or what I have done, particularly in competition with what God says about me and my deeds.

Thought = the content of what I am thinking about.

These three cover any sort of logic that goes against the Word of God, anything that flows out of pride rather than humility, and whatever else I might think about that motivates a resistance to God. Remembering why Christ died helps me with some of it, as does reading the Bible and worshiping God in words and singing.

Dreams sometimes mess with godly thinking. One college professor told me that if a person remembers a dream, it usually means that dream relates to unresolved issues or conflicts in their life. This is helpful because dreams can push me to examine stuff that I have pushed away.

“We are apt to forget that a man is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation; he is committed to Jesus Christ’s view of God, of the world, of sin and of the devil, and this will mean that he must recognize the responsibility of being transformed by the renewing of his mind.” Oswald Chambers

Another wise person told me that Christian maturity requires bringing to the conscious mind that which was repressed, and then rethinking it biblically and putting it back. Since subconscious thoughts affect behavior, this process helps me understand why I do things. It also is part of what God does in renewing my mind.

But I cannot do this myself or make it happen, or even want it to happen. Only the Holy Spirit knows what and how to do it, and when. He can bring up repressed thoughts and events, help me examine them in the light of God’s Word, and gently resolve those buried issues.

This is what the Bible says about using divine power to destroy strongholds and bring every thought captive. 

The battle for my mind

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:3–6)

These verses are about the Christian war against anything that resists obedience to Christ, including our thoughts. This battle may not be constant, but it is certainly very real.

Chambers’ devotional reading for today puzzled me. He claims that Christian’s spiritual warfare “is not against sin” because Jesus deals with sin in redemption, but it is a “conflict is along the line of turning our natural life into a spiritual life . . . done only by a series of moral choices.”

Yet Scripture says our battle is with Satan’s lies — which are intended to entice my desires and lure me into sin. The sin is in desires that go against the will of God and they are common to human beings.

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14–15)

The Bible refers to the natural person as one who does not know God or spiritual realities. This natural person is a sinner. It also refers to the human nature of a Christian using the term “flesh.” While God gives us a new nature in Christ, this ‘flesh; is the source of our struggles. My Greek dictionary says: flesh is the “aspect of human nature which is characterized by or reflects typical human reasoning and desires in contrast with those aspects of human thought and behavior which relate to God and the spiritual life.”

This means I have a human nature that goes against God and a redeemed human nature that does not. One is sinful, the other is of God and needs the Holy Spirit to function.

I’m not sure how Chambers defines ‘the flesh’ but I do know that “in my flesh dwells no good thing” and that I cannot change my natural human nature into a spiritual entity. This is what God does in redemption and it isn’t about me making moral choices.

Now that I am redeemed, that “flesh” or old nature battles my new nature in Christ. To come out on the right side of that war, I need to power of God to fill me with His Spirit and give me the ability to walk with Him in the Spirit as He says in these verses:

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” (Galatians 5:16–17)

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:12–13)

Certainly sin is forgiven and cleansed by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, yet we are left with that old nature until we die. We are told to put it off, not yield to it, and resist the enemy who tells us lies in his efforts to produce sin from it. As Chambers says, these battles are moral but apart from the Holy Spirit’s power and grace, I will not make ‘moral choices’ but will go down every time. It is God’s weapons for spiritual battles that make victory possible.

Submission to God is important toward victory. God says I must yield to Him and resist the devil. When I do that, the devil flees (James 4:7). He has no power over a person who is submitted to the Lord.

Not only that, worship defeats that old liar. I cannot sin when the Spirit fills me with awe and wonder at the person and power of God.

I was puzzled at Chambers saying our “conflict is along the line of turning our natural life into a spiritual life” because this makes no sense. If the natural life is not sinful, why does it need to be changed? Jesus lived a perfect natural life, but He did not sin. The rest of us do sin and that makes us susceptible to the attacks of our enemy. He knows how to get at us, and if he cannot make our actions outright sinful, he will lure us into doing ‘good’ things for sinful reasons.

Again, to win every battle, I need the power of God, not only to make the right choices, but to recognize that I am even fighting those battles.

Finding Living Water

I grew up on the prairies with vast stretches of land almost level and an overturned cup of blue sky above us. We knew snow and rain, but also months of sunshine and often very dry days. I had a horse and I knew a place. It was on the slight hill west of our farm, not on our land but there were no fences so I rode there now and then.

I’d discovered a depression gouged out of the flat hilltop. It contained the most marvelous thing — an artesian well that bubbled up to wash away the soil from sandstone beneath it, then ripple over the sandstone and go back under the earth from which it came. Someone had put a pipe in the flow so if you bowed on your knees and cupped your hands or laid on your belly beside it, you could drink the purest and sweetest water — especially wonderful on those hot, dry summer days.

This is the image that fills my mind when Jesus talks about living water . . .

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13–14)

It is not a river. If you are not looking for it, you will not see it. If you are not willing to lower yourself you cannot drink from it. If you do not capture the water it will return to the source from which it came.

Chambers talks about being a source for this living water, but since God does not let me in on when He is doing that, it is easier to think about those others who have been a fountain of living water for me. This is a long list that includes my first mentor, several pastors, a few friends, many authors, the Word of God of course, and of course Jesus Himself.

While Jesus wants me to be a center through which He can flow these living waters to bless others, I need Him as my center in order for that to happen. Like Chambers says, I cannot be like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out. What He gives me is not just for me, but if I suppose it is and cling to my blessings, then others will not be blessed.

Corrie Ten Boom, strong Christian and holocaust survivor said, “I have learned not to hold on too tight to anything, for it hurts when God pries my fingers loose.” Nevertheless, it is the human tendency to hold tight to the good things. We are fearful of losing them, but is it not true that if God wants me to have even what I give away, He will supply more of the same?

Even in the worst of years, that well never ran dry. I’ve often wondered why the farmer who owned the field where the well was located did not put a fence around it to keep away animals and people. Or why did he not built a large sign pointing to it and put a machine in place that took money for each sip?

But he didn’t do that. It is free, but must be sought, just like the water of life offered by Jesus.

Living Water

Dehydration kills those who are lost, in a wilderness place, or anywhere without water. This deadly thirst has several phases. It begins with eudipsia which is “ordinary thirst.” The next phase brings bouts of hyperdipsia or “temporary intense thirst.” Last is polydipsia or “sustained excessive thirst” that drives people to drink anything including urine, blood, even poison.

Besides physical thirst, there is a thirst of the soul, a deep longing for a drink of a better life, of a certainty about the big issues such as what happens after I die? And can I be forgiven and start over again?

Jesus call all those with this thirst to satisfy themselves in Him. Not only that, He will use any who do this to satisfy others who are thirsty.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” (John 7:37–38)

I know what it means to be satisfied in Jesus. He answers my questions and fills me with confidence about my eternal destiny. The part that I don’t fully realize is being a source of living water for others. I’ve sensed their spiritual understanding and satisfaction at times, but never felt that I had much to do with it.

Chambers says that “a river touches places of which its source knows nothing.” By personifying the river, I can see the reality that my life has little to do with the outflow. Its source is God. Living water is His doing, and He rarely allows His people to see the blessings they bring to others.

Chambers also describes the persistence of a river. Whenever the flow comes to an obstacle, it might pool up and be unable to go on, but not for long. The river makes a way around whatever is blocking its path. It may go underground, but will emerge later. His flow of living water is like that.

The lesson here is to keep drawing near to the Source and He will either take me around obstacles or remove them. I’m not to pay too much attention to whatever gets in the way, but give my attention to God and His Word. Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, He will widen the power of the water He flows through me, and that living water will flow into the lives of others.

These are wonderful analogies that bless me. I cannot see what God is doing but I can rejoice in His promise to make use of my life as I trust Him.

A great concluding thought comes from a quote by John Flavel. It concerns the place where this living water and my life is going. He says, “As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the congregation or meeting place of all the waters in the world, so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet.”

Amen!