I should not have done it. This morning I read the newspaper before I read my Bible. A few blocks away, a condo burned leaving two couples homeless. Fires burn out of control northeast of our city; homes have been lost. A man shot his wife and daughter before killing himself. Someone shot two dogs, family pets, and put them on railroad tracks where they were mangled by a train. My stomach knots as I feel the pain of the people involved.
The list goes on. Extortion, robberies, the usual about CEOs taking more money than anyone else thinks they are worth, armed conflict, protest rallies, and rebellion of every stripe. The world inside my home and family seems like another planet compared to the world out there. I’ve peace and joy, and almost feel guilty about it.
To have this peace, the world needs Jesus, but I’m not a Billy Graham. How can I make Jesus known? How can I make the Gospel attractive? I feel like such a small grain of sand on a huge beach that is hammered by troubled waters, skepticism and confusion.
My devotional reading today is from Paul’s letter to a pastor in Crete. There were problems in the first century too. Reading between the lines in Titus, crime and difficulties are obvious. It isn’t too difficult to see that the Gospel was not appealing to everyone back then just as people reject it now.
In those days, slave-master was the norm rather than employee-employer. Some slaves stole from their bosses just as some employees do now. Some were rebellious and loudmouthed. Some were also Christians. The Gospel had reached their hearts, and like anyone else, God expected them to act like servants of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to Titus and told him to . . .
Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. (Titus 2:9-10)
Unlike employees today, slaves back then had little status in the community. They were mere property, yet God gave them great respect and responsibility. Slaves, yes, but they still had the ability to make His teaching attractive by the way they lived. By being different from the average slave, they could adorn His truth in every way.
That is an encouragement to me. The world may not know or care that I don’t shoot people or pets, or that I don’t steal from anyone, or scream in protest at everything I don’t like, but the teaching of Jesus can be adorned in ordinary things by above-average responses.
For example, obey the little laws too; no speeding, even if everyone else speeds. Don’t cut others off in traffic. Give back the money when over-changed at the till. Smile at the grumbling clerks and show that I care about their well-being. Be polite. Be kind. Treat everyone with consideration, strangers and family alike. Be faithful in what I’m responsible for doing, even going the extra mile if appropriate. Say encouraging words. Notice those who hurt. Give hugs when hugs are appropriate.
I’m reminded of the adage, “It takes so little to be above average.” These days, the average line is badly sagging. The Bible reminds me that even a slave can make the world notice how Jesus can make a difference. By living as He wants me to live, I can too.
Suffering takes several forms. I’m now on Face Book and notice the various complaints made by my friends. Some of them suffer with common human problems, such as stress at the workplace, difficulties with family, or physical issues like headaches and head colds. Some are brokenhearted over relationships that have gone sour. A few struggle with things that happen to them. Some struggle with consequences from their own poor choices.
While it is possible, I’ve not heard anyone connect their suffering to their spiritual life. The Bible speaks of “suffering for Christ” but in this part of the world, this seldom happens or is not very obvious. Persecution is common in other countries, far away, but not here.
The classic passage on comfort is found in 2 Corinthians 1. It says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
Comfort here means “exhortation,” “encouragement,” “cheer.” This word is also translated “consolation” and it is for those who experience tribulation, distress or affliction. It says God comforts His people in “all affliction” and the purpose of God’s comfort is that I can comfort others with the same comfort He gives me.
“All affliction” has to mean what it says. I first thought not, that God doesn’t offer comfort when I do something stupid in disobedience to Him and suffer for it. But He does. He comforts by first showing me whatever I have done to cause my own suffering. Then, as I agree with Him (confess it), He forgives me. That is a comfort. The suffering may stay, but the guilt goes.
The implication is that when someone moans about the consequences of their sin, I’m supposed to offer them the same comfort that God offers me, and in the same gentle and loving way. God points out my sin, but when He does it, I am glad to admit it and turn my back on it. Doing that for someone else takes a great deal of Holy Spirit help. Think of bringing someone with a hangover to a place where they not only agree that they caused their own problem, but also decide to stop drinking!
Verse five stands out as an almost totally opposite type of suffering. “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:5).
“All affliction” covers our own foolishness, but this passage seems more about people who are afflicted in the same way or for the same reasons that Christ suffered. Jesus never did anything wrong; He suffered for being godly. People were enraged because of His claims and His holiness and responded with violence. This does not often happen to even the most devout of His followers, at least not in North America, yet God offers comfort for that too and it is the same comfort that Jesus experienced.
Jesus’ suffering was never a “poor me” kind of moaning. He loved people so much that His mind was always occupied with others, not Himself. When nailed to the cross, He called out asking His Father to “forgive them; they know not what they are doing.”
Yet Jesus was also comforted in all this. Hebrews 12:2-4 says that when I suffer, I must fix my eyes on Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.”
His comfort was in knowing the outcome. Jesus knew that His suffering would bring salvation for sinners, eternal life to those condemned to perish. Because He loved sinners so much, He was willing to suffer unjustly that humanity could have forgiveness and eternal life. He was aware that each person needs to accept this offer, but for Him that was not a risk; He knew that it would be worth it. Doing this for us was all that mattered.
Maybe most of us only suffer for lesser reasons because we are not as convinced of our rewards. Maybe we don’t suffer as Christ suffered because we do not love sinners as He did. I’m not sure about the reasons. I only know that whatever tribulation, distress or affliction that I experience, I can count on Him to come alongside and give me what is needed.
From reading this today, I know that I can also count on Him to give me opportunities to share that comfort, in whatever shape it comes, with others who suffer the same way.
Quoting another speaker on Sunday, our pastor said, “Preaching is not about performance or passion, but God using the Holy Spirit and His Word to transform lives.”
I’m preparing a two-hour presentation to be given to a group of women at the end of this month. It is not preaching, but it is instruction and encouragement from the Word of God. I’ve worried about the style, what the visuals and handouts should look like, and of course the content. I want to say things that bless and build up their faith. When I heard the pastor say that, I instantly agreed that some of my concerns are superficial.
The more important issue is that I am “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). If God doesn’t use what I offer, it doesn’t matter how polished or pretty the presentation. What counts is His involvement in it.
My devotional talks about these things again today. I’m to be concerned about what God is doing, not about what I look like. Today’s devotional is about the last phrases of this passage:
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death... (Philippians 3:8-10)
I know Jesus. Do I know the power of His resurrection? What does it mean? The obvious answer is that this power raised Him from the dead. He had eternal life; death could not hold Him. No matter what happened to Him, He could not help but walk out of that tomb.
This is the kind of life that Jesus also gives to me. It is a powerful life, not the ordinary human life that is born, vital for a time, then dies. In fact, Hebrews 7:16 says of Him that He “has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.”
The fact of human death casts a shadow on everything we do. People spend time, energy and money trying to preserve life, to keep looking and feeling young, to protect themselves from aging and death. All plans we make consider the passing of time. For me, I think Will I live long enough to finish this project? Or Will I have enough life (or energy) to start this one?
Endless life isn’t worried about those things. Certainly, when I leave this world, I must also leave the things of this world and the Bible gives no indication that I can ride a bike, or quilt, or draw pictures in heaven. Maybe or maybe not, but that is not the point. The point is that I will live by the power of His resurrection life then and will live forever, but not only that, I can also live by that same power now!
The resurrection life is fearless, not concerned with temporal things. It depends on God for guidance, strength and endurance. It is the life that draws everything from the vine, abiding in its Source for all it needs. It is the promise of renewal for those who wait on the Lord, the reward of obedience, the joy and contentment of trust. This life is the life of Christ, the life He gave me!
In my anxiety, I’ve suffered. My heart skips beats. My body needs more sleep. I want to snack all the time. The enemy attacks me with doubts and accusations. Yet God says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
This too is resurrection life; not the worry part, but the part about being able to take everything to the Lord with thanksgiving, and the part about peace. Because of His resurrection life, I can experience those things. Whether or not my requests are granted, the endless life of Christ gives me incomprehensible peace, peace that stills my heart and quiets my mind. Because of His life, Jesus assures me that He is my fortress and my shield; He has the power to take care of all worries and concerns.
If you asked me, I would never say that I am trying to earn God’s favor, but why then do I get so upset with myself when I think I have failed Him? I’m not talking about sin, but performance.
Part of it is conditioning. In high school, my marks were high enough that my parents, teachers, and classmates expected it. If I didn’t get the grades they thought I should, they were openly surprised. Some of the other students teased me. I felt great pressure to perform then and sometimes still feel it today.
Part of it is wanting to please people. Getting a “well-done” from anyone is important, particularly to a self-esteem-threatened teenager. That desire persists into old age. Thinking negatively about my relationships might be all in my head, but I tend to do it and assume that no one cares. I’m the typical pessimist concerning what people think of me.
Part of it is pride. Doing well often results in praise, or some sort of peer appreciation. Being on a pedestal does have its pressures, but even with the pressure, I still like the glory.
All of it is self-absorption. As the author of “The Purpose Driven Life” says, the Christian life is not about me. The Apostle Paul knew this long before Rick Warren wrote that book. Paul even made a list of every credential that he had, then he said,
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)
Being a Christian means that I not only know Jesus Christ, but also have His righteousness, His holiness, and His virtue imputed to me. This makes me right before God, not the stuff that I do. The Bible even says that all my righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
In his life before Christ came in, Paul religiously tried to please God by strictly following the Law of God, but when Christ confronted him and he saw the reality of redemption, he traded all his self-righteous, external morals, good works, and religious rituals for the righteousness that is given by grace through faith in Jesus.
Paul then looked at his own reputation as garbage. He was eager to reach or gain the pure and incorruptible righteousness of Christ and make sure his standing before God. This is God’s gift to the sinner, God’s gift to me. I don’t need to prove myself.
While Christians sometimes say we have head knowledge rather than heart knowledge (meaning we know spiritual truth only intellectually), I think the opposite is more of a problem. My heart knows the truth about His imputed righteousness; I have it. However, that knowledge sometimes gets blocked from getting into my head and I still think like the old me.
Paul also wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
Paul knew the dangers of self-absorption and the need for a new heart. He also knew that the mind needs renewal too, even total transformation. Deep inside, I know that Jesus is my righteousness and that I cannot please God with anything I do. I know that my failures will never make me a write-off in His books, but because my head is too often swelled with personal pride or preoccupied with worldly junk like pedestals and human praise, I do not think or practice the truth that I know in my heart.
Christians are like sheep. These animals are easily frightened, prone to wander, seem to ignore danger, and are far better off when they stay with other sheep. I sometimes wonder if God created them so He could use them as a metaphor for His people!
However, there are some advantages of being compared to a sheep. Ancient shepherds didn’t herd their sheep; they called them, even called them by name. This was important because various flocks of sheep might be pastured together. At night, when it was time to bring them into their specific enclosures for protection, each animal went through the gate of its owner’s fold because it knew his voice. He called them and they responded. Once inside, they were kept safe for the night.
Jesus used this to illustrate faith and His power to keep His people eternally safe. He said:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:27-28)
As one of His sheep, I know when He is talking to me. I also know that other Christians have that same awareness. When we are together and sharing what God is doing in our lives, it is exciting to recognize the power of His voice to get through to us, even when we wander off or seem to be resisting Him. He calls and we hear Him.
He also knows me. This isn’t a mere knowing my name, or who I am and where I live. He knows everything about me: my thoughts, my needs, the desires of my heart, and even understands motivations and deeper matters that I might not know or understand myself.
This also is a comfort. When I wander and His rod or staff corrects me, I can be sure that He pulls me back because He knows what is good for me, knows it far better than I know myself. When I need to be comforted, or encouraged, or taught lessons, or given a hug, He knows. Even more than that, because He is God He is able do something about it. He can give me what I need, sometimes doing it Himself, and sometimes doing it through another sheep.
Jesus also says that His sheep follow Him. Oh, I might stray for a time, or stumble. My gait can be sloppy and I often seem to be following a different shepherd, but because I belong to Jesus, the trend of my life is toward Him. I’m going where He goes and as He says in these verses, it is because I have what He has.
Jesus possesses eternal life and He gives this life to His sheep. I have eternal life. As He says, I will never perish. No one can snatch Him away from me or me away from Him. Nothing can separate me from my Shepherd. We are inseparable because we share in eternal life.
This intimacy of relationship is described in other ways, but I like the sheep and shepherd metaphor. I once owned a flock of sheep. They were difficult, paid no attention to my voice whatsoever, and needed constant and vigilant care. They were silly and mindless. Remembering what it was like makes me laugh, but it also humbles me and fills my heart with gratitude at the patience and salvation power of my Shepherd.
Author Frank Peretti created books that vividly portray spiritual warfare. While some do not agree with his theology, these books helped many Christians realize that we are involved in a battle with invisible enemies. Although we cannot see them, we know the reality of a spiritual attack.
Yesterday I was hit at least twice. I’d spent several hours with two other Christian women, and whatever was said, Satan didn’t like it. After both, I was physically and emotionally distressed and after both I said to God, “If this is from You, please clarify what is going on. If it is from the devil, please take it away.” Each time, my distress quickly disappeared.
Today’s devotional reading is about victory in spiritual battles. Paul wrote about the enemy’s plans to make God’s people disobey God. He wrote about spiritual unrest in his own heart, yet no matter what troubled him, he knew that Jesus wins. He described that victory using the image of a Roman triumphal procession. When a Roman general won a battle, he led his army and the captives in a parade down main street. Right behind the general were priests who dispensed incense, so the parade had a fragrance associated with it. Paul writes . . .
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
In my battles, God leads me through the parade of life as a winner. Jesus has defeated Satan, who is like a chicken with its head cut off; he still flaps around, but he is a loser. Those who are saved from sin and death smell the knowledge of Christ and the success of this battle. We rejoice that our parade will eventually take us over the threshold into eternity.
Those who do not know Christ cannot stand the aroma of our victory. To them it smells like death, and in a way, they are correct. To win my spiritual battles, I must yield to God. I cannot resist the devil unless I have died to having my own way and doing my own thing. This goal, while not always achieved, is a stench to those who put themselves in the driver’s seat of their own lives. In their mind, giving up their own way is not only undesirable and even impossible, but it actually smells bad to see someone else do it.
If those who perish respond that way to the people in Christ’s parade, it is little wonder that the devil wants to ruin it. Just prior to this (2 Corinthians 2:11) Paul tells the church in Corinth to forgive a repentant sinner “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
He knew what unforgiveness could do in the church. He knew that Satan is always trying to ruin the glorious relationship Christians have with God and each other. His “devices” (thoughts, methods and plans) are often subtle yet always designed to gain the upper hand and stop the parade.
James 4:7 says, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Again, this must happen in this order. If I am fighting God (whom I cannot defeat), I will not be able to resist the devil, who can defeat me, at least temporarily. By giving God the right to control my physical and emotional well-being, He used that submission to create another victory, and the enemy lost — because Jesus won — again.
This Sunday, the topic for my ladies class is discerning God’s truth from the lies of Satan. In my preparation, again I’m reminded of how subtle this enemy can be and how easily I can be deceived.
Some of the notions that he suggests are, “Did God really say that?” and “Does God actually want the best for you?” He tries to convince me that disobedience won’t hurt anything and that “everyone is doing it.” He also says things like, “You messed up again. How can you expect God to forgive you one more time? You are under condemnation, for sure.”
While I don’t let my mind park in his territory, this evil spirit is a real and powerful force not to be taken lightly. The Bible tells me that I need to know his tactics and resist him as I obey God and remember truth from His Word. Otherwise, Satan and his lies can drag me into sin and darkness, ruining my joy in Jesus and my testimony of His saving grace.
I know these things yet sometimes find myself becoming fearful without reason. Satan is at work. Or sometimes I doubt that God is listening to my prayers or acting on my behalf. I start looking at my situation instead of His promises, or forget His faithfulness in the past and wonder if He is really here for me. Again, Satan is at work, but God comes to my rescue. He takes me to verses like this one:
(Christ) has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (1 Peter 3:22)
or this one:
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ answers all the suggestions and lies the devil can throw at me. Through His death, Jesus declares God’s love. His sacrifice covers my sin. The accuser can throw whatever he wants at me, yet even when I am guilty, my sin is forgiven — all of it.
Of course God wants the best for me. He wants me to be just like Jesus. He even promises to use all things for my good, to transform me into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). This includes things that might seem bad at the time, but He can use them for my good. What could be better than that!
Also, it might be true that nearly everyone else is sinning and unconcerned about pleasing God, but God calls me to be like Jesus, not like everyone else. He has taken me from sin and condemnation to a new life with forgiveness and total redemption, no matter how many times I mess up. Such goodness encourages me to walk with Him, not follow the crowd, not keep on making a mess of things.
There is no confidence stronger than the confidence of one who knows the outcome before it happens. This is the assurance Christ offers me. He has already won over the power of sin and death. He has already defeated the lies of the enemy. Even though Satan accuses me day and night before the throne of God (Revelation 12:10), Jesus lives forever to intercede for me saying, “Do not listen to him; I have died for that sin.”
Because I’m taking the offensive this week, the spiritual battles seem strong, but because Jesus wins, I know that I will not be defeated. Romans 8:37 says that I am more than a conqueror through Jesus who died and gave Himself for me. How cool is that!
