This and That Heart Keeping 092112

Duties Included in Keeping the Heart

Flavel, John (2010-08-03). Keeping the Heart. Kindle Edition.

1.    Frequent observation of the frame of the heart.  The heart can never be kept until its case be examined and understood.

Proust wrote, “No man is a mystery, except to himself.”

How many times have you thought, “I can’t believe I did/said that!”  Well, there ya go.  We need to examine our hearts regularly.  But we need help to do it well.  We talk of being able to do all things through Christ who is our strength.  Well, here’s one of the “all things” we avoid. 

Means:  Make a list.

·         What makes you laugh?  What makes you cry?  What hurts you and provokes anger?  What brings you satisfaction?  What brings you security?  What do you ache for?  What do you fear?

·         Which of those things are in line with your profession – or not?

·         Why?

2.    It includes deep humiliation for heart evils and disorders.

OK, “humiliation” is a tough word – but it is also a good intervention word.  Flavel is talking about what you may have just discovered in the above exercise.  These “evils” and “disorders” have to be robbed of their power in your heart and the best way for that to happen is to lay them out before God.

Consider the sacrifice Christ made for those things.  Consider how He did so to enable you to humiliate them – to see and acknowledge their shameful presence in your heart.  BUT – do so ONLY if you are firmly aware of the fact of God’s grace in your life.

This isn’t about beating yourself up.  It is about beating the bugs out of the rug – the evil and disorder out of your heart.  Denial is so easy and so seeing becomes hard.  Denial is so easy and so dealing with evils and disorders is so messy.  The longer the evil and disorder remains denied the longer it works against your growth, stability and comfort.

I knew a man who after a year of literally living on OTC indigestion medicine finally went to the doctor.  To his horror, he had stomach cancer and it was too late to really do anything curative about it.  So it is with the evils and disorders that live in our hearts – though we are alive “in” Christ these things make our hearts dead to Him.  They are like the veil in the Temple were it to be repaired.  We cannot fully know the comfort and security of being His because of these things.

Means:  From the list take the evils and disorders you find to the throne of grace. 

·         Confess them and confess their hurtfulness to your spiritual health. 

·         Ask God to help you to begin to remove (humiliate) them. 

·         Ask Him where to start. 

·         Perhaps even keep a list in your wallet or purse so that when you pray you can always have a reminder of your deep heart need

3.    It includes earnest supplication and instant prayer for purifying and rectifying grace when sin has defiled and disordered the heart.  “Whatever thou deny me: give me a heart to fear thee, to love and delight in thee.”

This is praying “for.”  Above we took the load to Him.  Here we ask for what we need, “purifying and rectifying grace.”

Means:  Good ole regular and strong, “on your knees” prayer.

·         Make use of David’s prayers such as we find in Psalm 23 and following.

·         Make use of the recorded prayers of others as can be found in the book, Puritan Prayers.

Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride, at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee. But Thou hast given me another master and lord, Thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness, my life speeds as an arrow from a bow towards complete obedience to Thee. Help me in all my doings to put down sin day. Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining, and delight to be not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.  Anonymous (2010-07-01). Puritan Prayers (Kindle Locations 105-110).  . Kindle Edition.

·         Write out your prayers.

4.    It includes the imposing of strong engagements upon ourselves to walk more carefully with God, and avoid the occasions whereby the heart may be induced to sin.

This is head work.  How do you avoid those things which encourage, sustain or implant evils and disorders in your mind?  It is not only a matter of what you decide to forego or abstain from, but a matter of what you will take up, engage in and practice.

What will you choose to replace that which you find to your detriment?  How will you fill the minutes, the hours?  What will serve you to your benefit and growth in godliness?

These are not “laws,” but choices.  These do not determine “if” you are His but rather “how” you are His and how you give His Spirit the means and opportunity to heal, restore and strengthen you.  It can be as simple as not watching a TV show to as complex of breaking off an relationship.

Where upon your path do you stumble?  What is it that you stumble over?  Who is it that is a stumbling block to you?  These are the things concerning which you need to make strong resolutions – choices.

Though God can use these things, He cannot bless them.  Their use is limited to His conviction of your heart.  The blessing comes from taking the medicine He prescribes.  Though the medicine taste bitter, even nasty, we know it is all and only for our good and His glory.

Means:  Make a list, pray about where to begin and then begin.  Do so being as gentle and gracious with yourself as is He.

·         Who

·         What

·         When

·         Where

Choices have two ends: the choice to “not,” and the choice to “do.”  As we choose to not we must choose to do.  In that list, make a column of what will replace that which you have marked for elimination.  Prayer, study, fellowship with other believers, worship – all these are good and godly replacements.

Our modern age supplies us with countless opportunities for choosing good things (as it does for evil).  I know that when all else fails I listen to sermons by Alistair Begg or read books written by one of the Puritans.  These choices may not be for you, they are but two options.

5.    It includes a constant and holy jealousy over our own hearts.  He that will keep his heart must eat and drink with fear, rejoice with fear, and pass the whole time of his sojourning here in fear. All this is little enough to keep the heart from sin.

This is a choice as well.  You must choose to save your heart for God and godly things and resent that which works against it. 

You who are fathers – would you have less concern for your heart as you would for the safety and purity of your children – your daughter?  You mothers, would you feed your newborn from a dirty bottle?  Young people, would you allow harm and evil to come to your dearest friends?  So, as you would wish yourself to be in regards to these who are so dear to you – be so to your own heart.

Pray to live knowing that it is not only your heart, but it is His as well.  Think of the price He has paid so you might walk after Him in security and confidence.  Would you cheat on one who was so dedicated to you, who had given so much for you?  Consider those times when someone you considered close shunned or betrayed you – what was that pain like?

Or think of something in which or of which you place great meaning.  Would you allow someone to damage or destroy it?  Are you cautious about who uses it – perhaps even who sees it?  What greater meaning can any “thing” have than the redemption of your heart and His promise of His provision?

It is not sin to be selfish with your heart which He has redeemed.  It is sin to allow it to be used and abused, tarnished or torn by sin and the agents of sin.  We may give our hearts to others through Him but for no other reason than His service.

Means:  Who or what would draw your heart from you – from Him?  They have no such right, no such authority.

·         Keep your heart from their influence and certainly from their grasp.

6.    It includes the realizing of God’s presence with us, and setting the Lord always before us.

This well could have been the first on the list for it is certainly the most important.  The old quip that “character is what a man is when no one is watching,” is not off the mark.

God is always watching – and He knows our suffering and difficulties.  He knows our grief.  He knows our needs.  He knows our weakness.

He wants His highest good for our lives here as well as in heaven. 

It is hard to really understand, but true that God is our truest friend.  He will never forsake or abandon us.  He is always at work for our betterment in His grace and glory.

He is the one who can not only search our hearts, but heal them and strengthen them as well.

Urged by my need, invited by Thy promises, called by Thy Spirit, I enter Thy presence, worshipping Thee with godly fear, awed by Thy majesty, greatness, glory, but encouraged by Thy love.  Anonymous (2010-07-01). Puritan Prayers (Kindle Locations 121-122).  . Kindle Edition.

Bless me by revealing to me more of His saving merits, by causing Thy goodness to pass before me, by speaking peace to my contrite heart; strengthen me to give Thee no rest untiI Christ shall reign supreme within me in every thought, word, and deed, in a faith that purifies the heart, overcomes the world, works by love, fastens me to Thee, and ever clings to the cross.  Anonymous (2010-07-01). Puritan Prayers (Kindle Locations 125-128).  . Kindle Edition.

Peter's Pen 1 Peter 2:17

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.   (1Pe 2:17)

Honor?

This is a busy word.  We find it 55 times in the NT.  It is applied to much, from “God”  to “everyone.”

So we may rightly struggle with its meaning.  Fundamentally it means to value, esteem.

I consider it to be a word whose meaning and import is define by what it is applied to.  Much like the word lust.

Certainly, we must see that there is a difference in the value and esteem we place upon God and that which we place upon everyone.

But I think the Holy Spirit is clear here in this verse that we are to honor everyone – even the emperor - yet we are to fear God.  This is a value/esteem far beyond mere honor.  This gives an edge to it.

Notice the distinction:

HONOR – everyone and the emperor
LOVE- fellow believers
FEAR-God

Note also:
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.   (Rom 13:7)

What we need to do is to pray and work through to whom what is due.  This is not something we regularly (if at all) submit to prayer, the Word or our minds and hearts.  We can’t just read it and assume we will do it – at least not well.

I think that praying over the question, “What is due to who?” is a very important topic for much prayer.  Living in an age where “celebrity” is much more meaningful than it merits it is easy to find our attention and praise directed wrongly and even over energized.  When uneducated “celebrities” (especially unbelieving ones) at paid attention to and their opinions and views are given force just because of their celebrity – Houston, we have a problem!

I encourage you – even challenge you to look closely at those whom you honor – especially why and how you do so.  Pray – please!
I am reminded of that song, We Don’t Need Another Hero.  We never have needed a “hero” and perhaps we are wrong in looking at anyone as a “Hero.”  Certainly people do things we can consider heroic but once it’s done they are once again just people.
What we need, we have, a Redeemer.  He wasn’t a “hero.”  He did nothing out of character, nothing extra ordinary for Him – He simply did what He intended to do since forever.  There is nothing special about the Redeemer redeeming or the Savior saving.  Seeing him as a “hero” somehow diminishes that.
OK – back on point –
Honor, love and fear.  Pray about this verse and it’s meaning and demonstration in your life.  Are they in order?  Properly and biblically applied?

This and That – Us in Him 0908112

Well – tomorrow night is the night, 6 pm is the time and Caribou Coffee is the place.

We are prayerfully offering Him an opportunity for Him to bring folks to a place and time where they can learn of Jesus.  We’ve worked very hard to stay out of His way in this and to only move when we were confident in His leading.

Of course all the typical fleshly stuff has raised its head.  Will anyone come?  Will they come back?  Who will come?  Will it be “successful?”  Who do we think we are?  Where do we get off starting a study?   But – we’re pretty familiar with all these questions and the doubt and fear that come with them.  For the three of us, they are old nasty companions.

What I’m asking of you – is that you pray that we will not forget for a minute that this is an offering to Him, for Him and about Him.  “We,” are just secondary instruments for Him to work His providence.  It ain’t about us – it’s about Him.

Don’t think for a second that your prayers are a requested as some “vote for us” kind of thing.  We know many things we need to be careful about but YOU know some we don’t.  It is those things we ask you to pray about.

Oh, EGO – (whatever that really is :-&).  Pray that our flesh will not interfere with our service !

We all have hopes and dreams concerning the study.  Our imaginations run hot and cold.  Pray that our imaginations will be sanctified by His Spirit and that they do not become, in any way, the controlling factor in this.  This must be His work or it will not work!

Pray that in all ways and all circumstances He will be glorified in what we are doing.  We know He has equipped each of us and us as a team to do works of ministry.  Pray that we do not forget that our gifts are His to be used for His glory and honor.

We have invited, “The wondrous, the wondering, the wandering and the wounded.”  Pray that we are enabled to be with and for them what He needs us to be.

We are keeping in mind:

2Co_4:1  Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

2Co_5:18  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co_9:12  For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

And

Heb 13:18  Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 2:1-3

1Pe 2:1-3  So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.  (2)  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-(3)  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Peter has repeatedly affirmed our assurance in Christ and is now moving us into some practical and surprising areas of living out our faith.  He has already called us to love one another earnestly based upon our union with the Lord.  Now he moves on.

“put away”

No, this is not “work” but it is part of our growth in Christ.  We are never called to do what we cannot – but we cannot without His power. 

When we read a command or an admonishment, we are often tempted to put it on “the” list and dig into the “doing.”  Though the high motivation is a good thing springing from a pure heart, the rushing into the “doing” might not be so wise.

Commands or directives are not challenges thrown out for us to “prove” our love for Him.  Rather, they are intended to draw us closer to Him first seeking His direction and power to obey.  If commands and directives are intended to “prove” anything, it is to prove that we need Him and that He is faithful to provide what we need from Him to follow.

In Romans 1:5 Paul writes about, “obedience of faith.”  Many a late night has been spent where the meaning of this is debated and analyzed.  But if we can just accept the simple fact that faith (trust) changes our actions, we will be a lot closer to understanding what Paul is saying.

Jesus calls us to “trust” His faithfulness and His power and His love for us.  He calls us to “do” so we might be in a better position to see His trustworthiness.  The more we act, trusting Him, the broader and deeper our trust grows.  I have trusted Him (not always well) for over 30 years and He has never failed me.  Where the bumps in the road come for me is in not paying attention and acknowledging that in every circumstance and situation He has been the source of any and every ability to obey.  

Just this morning I was mulling over our present circumstances and wondering whether we had provision for the future.  I had to laugh at myself because we have much more provision for today than we could ever need.  All our needs are met in Him today – I can rest in Him – today.  But friends, today is all we ever have.  Tomorrow is just impending today – when it gets here, it will be today.

I’d love to write about our souls longing for eternity – an eternal “today.”  But I’ll save that thought.

Peter calls us to, “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”  Now we might – possibly – be able to put away these things on occasion, but Peter nails all of us when he says we are to put them ALL away.  That ALL is the clincher – the crusher. 

I don’t even see these things all the time – I engage in them and then later remember.  If I don’t notice them ALL, it’s not likely I’ll put them all away.  Here comes faith/trust!  He can enable me to notice and stop.  He can make me sensitive to their potential in every situation.  He can shut my mouth and ears. 

Peter tells us how to embark on this “putting away.”

V 2:  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-

“Like” new born infants!!!!!!!  How dependent is a new born?  That’s how dependent we are to be upon Him.  But, what’s  great is that what we need is provided – we need to desire it!  It is, “the pure spiritual milk,” that we grow by.  Milk – “Got Milk?”   What in the world is Peter talking about?

1Co 3:2  I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

Heb 5:12-14  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,  (13)  for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  (14)  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Ahh – perhaps this is why Peter ends this reference to milk with, “that by it you may grow up into salvation.”

Jesus is a gentle teacher and a loving friend.  He knows we are weak and frightful.  He knows everything about us – and He provides us with what we specifically need when we specifically need it.  In this instance, we need “milk” to grow us as we “put away” these sinful things. 

Remember, the picture here is of infants not big strong strapping adults.  Remember, too, that this is not just about our bodies but about our hearts and minds as well.  It’s called humility and it’s a tough thing.  We have to learn that we can’t – He can.  We need to pray that we will humble our hearts and accept our infantile needs in Him and allow Him to feed us that “milk” which we must have to grow.

Milk first and fundamental - as He shows you what and how and enables you to do so.

I suspect that the toughest part of this whole passage is:

“Like newborn infants”

Peter's Pen 1st Peter 1:8&9

1Pe 1:8-9  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,  (9)  obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

I once had someone tell me that the gospel was unbelievable.  I agreed.  For the “world,” it does seem unbelievable.  When you and I were dead in our sins, blind to the things of God, the Gospel seemed unbelievable.

But – God didn’t let that remain the case for you and me.  He made us alive, restored our sight and we believed.  Now we are His forever.

In this passage Peter is acknowledging the unbelievableness of the Gospel.  We have never seen Jesus and yet we love Him.  We don’t see Him now yet we believe in Him.  We aren’t in heaven yet – but we rejoice at the firm promise of it.

Oh yeah – we’re nuts.  Folks even thought Paul was nuts:

Act 26:24  And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind."

Paul even writes:

1Co 1:27-29  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  (28)  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are,  (29)  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Do you ever feel alien?  Do you ever have a sense that you aren’t meant for here?  That is very appropriate.  Even more so to feel a little godly "foolishness."

But this passage does not stand alone.  We haven’t “seen” Him yet we love Him.  We don’t “see” Him yet we rejoice in His promises and faithfulness.

But Peter goes on in the next section -

Peter's Pen 1st Peter 1:1 (b)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,   (1Pe 1:1)

“Exiles”

Παρεπίδημος;  parepidēmos

Thayer Definition:

1) one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives

2) a stranger

3) sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner

4) in the NT metaphorically in reference to heaven as the native country, one who sojourns on earth

Now this is interesting.  The word “exiles” usually makes us think of a people who have been forced out of their home country into another.  I prefer the words stranger or sojourner.  It is absolutely possible that some of the folks to whom the letter was written were forced out of their home countries or provinces.  But Peter is telling us something very important here.

Let me start in a strange place.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.   (Heb 11:13-16)

The writer here is telling us that even those who had faith in Christ (the Messiah) before He came considered themselves “strangers and exiles” on the earth.  For them, home wasn’t here.

Now before we get too weird let’s get a perspective.  There are two “kingdoms.”  There is the Kingdom of God and the Not Kingdom of God (some call it the Kingdom of Man).  By God’s grace we are:

fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,   (Eph 2:19)

--------------

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness

and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  (Col 1:13-14)

Citizenship always has its opportunities and obligations.  As citizens of the Kingdom of God our opportunities can be summed up in our being God’s workers, His lights, His representatives here and now.  Our obligations are summed up in our submission to God as our Sovereign.

For many of us, the idea of having a Sovereign or King is unusual and maybe uncomfortable.  We are used to participating in our governance, having a “say.”  So coming to grips with serving an absolute Monarch is outside our experience.  It’s a new thing and one in which we are going to struggle – but He knows that.

One of the verses that I use to help me keep my submission to Him in focus is the following:

Do not love the world

or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father is not in him.   (1Jn 2:15)

This verse helps me remember that my affections, my commitment is not “to” this world but “to” Him.  Though I live here, my affections and my loyalty are first and foremost with Him.  This is not an easy thing and it is normal for us to have to work on it.  I use the following verses to help me in keeping my loyalty where it is best placed:

For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.   (1Jn 2:16-17)

Like those folks we read of in Hebrews, I work on looking to a better country, His Kingdom.  I don’t always do it well but with His grace and mercies and my brothers and sisters I keep plugging away.

I know many of you struggle with this, too.  James tells us that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.  The Spirit, Prayer, the Word, Worship and Fellowship are His provisions for us in this.  The more we take advantage of these opportunities the more we will long for our entrance into that Kingdom not made with hands – His Kingdom.

Peter's Pen 1 Peter 1:1

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,   (1Pe 1:1)

OK, think about this.  Peter, under the power of the Holy Spirit, wrote this to you and me.  So, in some way his address to them back then must apply to us now (and tomorrow).

We, believers, are “those who are elect exiles of the dispersion.”  Peter uses a phraseology more familiar to Jewish folks than to Gentile so his original audience was probably a mixture of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.  Two words are important for us (ok - not just two but I’m focused on two).

Elect and Exiles

What’s up with this “elect” thing?  Well, take a look at this –

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.   (Eph 1:3-6)

Now how that works, I’m not sure.  Can I “explain” it?  Probably not well.  But Paul writes it as fact – not fantasy or fiction, not metaphor or hyperbole, a fact.

So instead of worrying about “how,” what if we just accept it as the truth?  No bells, no whistles, just a truth.

“Us” of course refers to believers and Paul writes that believers were chosen before the foundation of the world.

OK – a little thought on “time.”  With God there is no before or after.  With God there is no yesterday, today or tomorrow.  “Time” is a part of His creation intended to aid us – not Him.  We see time progressively.  God isn’t limited to that – as He says, He Is.  So when Paul refers to, “the foundation of the world,” it is to help us understand God’s sovereignty as well as the assurance we have in Him.

If being “in Him” was dependent upon me – I’d be in real trouble.

Yes, this idea of “the elect,” is a tough one to chew on.  Thousands of books, sermons, lessons, etc. have been produced addressing it, and appropriately so.  But even though I’ve heard them and read them (just some), I still come back to, “God said that through Paul to me.”  What a blessed assurance!

We can struggle in this verse by asking, “Why me?” or “Why not xxxx?”  Well, I may have assurance of my faith but it isn’t for me to have assurance of someone else’s.  Not that the spiritual condition of another is of no consequence but rather that leads me to questions in which I can get lost.  When, in the last chapter of John’s gospel, Peter asks Jesus about John's future, Jesus basically tells Peter that John is not his (Peter’s) concern rather Peter has a calling he is to fulfill as John has his.

“Why” is not a question for which we always find an answer and that can really obsess us.  The danger there is that we become so focused on the whys we get unfocused on our calling and growth. 

A couple of good works to address this issue are:

Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul

Election and Free Will: God's Gracious Choice and Our Responsibility by Robert A. Peterson

Next we will explore the idea of “exiles.”

Us In Him 1

What is "Us In Him?”

UIH is a ministry dedicated to helping believers new and old grow in their knowledge, understanding and living out of the faith and to equipping them to use their gift for the works of service He has prepared for them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  (Mar 10:14)

and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.   (Mat 18:3)

The two verses above are at the heart of UIH.  Call it: Basic Christianity, Christianity 101 or Christianity ReBoot. 

Two things parents have taught me.  Children want to know “Why?” and children upon learning the word love, “No!”  Of course they are curious, creative, inventive and persistent. 

Children are fascinating.  Though it’s sometimes hard for grownups, listening to children is amazing.  Art Linkletter had a section on his old TV show called, “Kids say the darndest things.”  I don’t think I’ve ver had such wonderful bouts of laughter in my life. 

Without filters, with few social strictures and boundaries kids in their naiveté have a perspective and insight we sadly lose as we grow and mature.  The greatest thing about kids is they ask a lot of questions.  Sometime we think the question is simple only to discover that there is more to it.  Question – answer and then another question. 

The struggle for us comes when we try to give a single definitive answer.  Kids don’t have all the data we have so a single definitive answer is rarely an answer at all to them.  They need patience and attention as they ask and ask and ask.

When Jesus talks about becoming like little children I think part of that is His encouragement to us to keep asking questions and working for that answer that we understand.  There is an element of letting go of our knowledge and presuppositions that we need, to allow us to ask and answer well, so we can out put it all back together based upon the truth, His truth.

I came to Christ in college and brought all my knowledge and stuff with me.  It was hard to ask what felt like dumb questions.  I had a college degree, I ought to be able to figure it out  I can remember so many times when I had a burning question but held it back because I was afraid of looking dumb. 

UIH wants to be a place where there are no dumb questions.  A place where everyone takes on the demeanor of a child and allows themselves to engage in, well, Christ-child talk.  Every question is important – and important for us all no matter where we are in our walk.

I once worked in a music store where they repaired instruments.  The owner decided that he wanted me to learn to re-cork woodwind instrument – mostly clarinets.  As the repair guy taught me I felt really dumb.  He could do it with his eyes closed.  I watched him do about a dozen intruments and it was amazing.  Then one day I went in and he handed me a clarinet and told me to re-cork and re-pad it.  I went to the work station and began.  When I was done I took it to him and showed him my work.  I can’t remember his exact words but what comes to mind was, “That’s the worst repair job you’ll ever do.”

He expected me to make a mess of it.  He wasn’t surprised, he wasn’t angry he was actually pleased.  Why?  Because in showing him my mess I showed him what I could do and what I couldn’t do.  Now he could work from there in guiding me towards where he needed me to be.

This is the “vision” (I really don’t like that word) of UIH.  The assumption is that we all need guidance, encouragement, correction, admonishment – as Paul says:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17)

And the author of Hebrews writes:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.   (Heb 10:23-25)

UIH is a place where wounded, wandering, wondering and wild followers of the Master are sought, invited and welcomed.  It is meant to serve the church – it is simply where 2 or 3 gather in His name to to grow.

. . . . like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,  (1Pe 2:2)

Walk with P & me 12

Walk with P & me  12

Another weekend of net mending and To Do’s.  But what’s new is prayer. 

We had been remiss in our prayers together and had been talking about fixing that and we did.

Patti is a silent prayer and I, being used to offering public prayer, am not – but I can be.  So we hit the middle ground.  We discuss what we have on our hearts and then we kneel together and pray silently yet simultaneously.  It’s a meaningful time for us and it’s without struggle.  We are blessed.

I have just finished reading Let Us Pray which is a book of articles from various sources like R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and John Piper.  It has been a real blessing is getting my focus back on prayer and back in prayer. 

The one thing that really stands out is that all the authors touch on the model prayer.  Now I know this isn’t news to most of you and it wasn’t “new’ to me but reading through this work crystalized a very important point.  It is the context set in that model that needs to be in our minds as we pray.

It begins with “Our Father in heaven.”  That’s the “to.”  He’s the one to whom we take our prayers.  I know – duhhhh.  But I had never thought of praying about that short phrase and it meaning and import.  So I began to take time in prayer to actually pray about my Father in heaven. 

It is interesting to me how all the “needs” on the list want to get out in front of doing that.  It takes work – at least for me – to focus on Him and tell my “needs” to hang on.  But it has been a great help in calming my head and heart and focusing on all the blessings I have.  Doing this even brings one to the point where in light of all the blessings I’ve enjoyed and in some cases abused I am a little abashed when I get to my “needs.”

Next I pray about, “Thy Kingdom come.”  That’s kind of a two pointed prayer.  It brings to mind His Kingship in and over me as well as the promise of being in His eternal Kingdom for real one day.  This too brings thanksgiving and conviction.  Thanksgiving for the eternal security I have in Him and conviction concerning my struggle to live as a good citizen of His Kingdom.

Finally I pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Here I am amazed at the conundrum of His will being done.  Greatly thankful for His sovereign will,  I struggle against my flesh wanting my will to be done or at least His will to be done my way in my time. 

Through this I find I am able to get myself out of the way and then pray without pretext.  I am able to yield (?) – yeah, yield my petitions to Him knowing He know and will do what is best.  Don’t get me wrong, I still make suggestions but He and I don’t pretend they are right –  they are just my ideas – or struggles.

I am growing more convinced that we can never pray too much and we tend towards doing way too much.  I used to read of the old saints and the time they spent in prayer and thought they were – well, kind of weird, kind of monkish.  But I am growing more and more jealousy of time to pray – to sit and shut out everything and take the cares on my heart for His people and His work to Him and have a talk.

Well, that’s where we are in net mending – pray we will grow more and more jealous of time to pray and that we will indeed stay in Him as we do so.

Here’s a prayer that I find very helpful when I have too much on my mind to pray well.

From:  Puritan Prayers

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ.  Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction.  Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.

Anonymous (2010-07-01). Puritan Prayers (Kindle Locations 5-15).  . Kindle Edition.

Walk with P & Me -03 More about me than us

Husbands, love your wives,

as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor,

without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,

that she might be holy and without blemish.

(Eph 5:25-27)

Pretty much an old “Yeah duhhh,” verse – right?  Well somehow it grew teeth for me.

As Patti and I walk together through our “next steps” I thought of this verse and several things bit me.

The first was, “and gave himself up for her.”  Boy that was a punch in the gut.  We, husbands, tend to feel we “give up” a lot for our families – and we do.  But here we see that we are to give up our self for our wives.  OK maybe Sunday night football or a round of golf – but myself?  Ouch.

It’s interesting how that got twisted over time.  We talk about a wife’s sacrifice for her husband – her making a home, raising the kids.  Yeah, I know, that’s biblical.  But just like that’s gotten all out of whack in our culture so has the sacrifice we husbands are to make.

It’s a specific sacrifice – it is “for her.”  Not security, not things but for her.  Which makes me wonder what Patti needs for me to sacrifice about me; and how do I give up me?

Reading or shooting is one thing – me is another.

This has made it to my “Huh?” prayer list.  That’s the list of things I need to pray about that I don’t quite “get” what I need to pray about.  I know that if I asked her she’d say, “Nothing,” with that sweet Irish smile but also that raised Jewish eyebrow. 

This is, at least to me, a bit beyond, “Honey what can I do to help.”  It’s also beyond, “What’s one thing about me you’d like me to change?”  This my fellow husbands looks and feels like, well, the Word and the Spirit stuff.

No, not some airy-fairy, incense and weirdness thing but a search my soul thing.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that this looks and feels like something bigger than either of us could discern – especially in our flesh.  This is – ginormous!

So – do you have a “Huh?” prayer list?  You might want to start one and put this down first.  So far my mind wants to go to all the worldly happy things that I could do for or provide for her.  But I think that would miss the mark.  I want Patti to enjoy the full assurance of her redemption and the full joy of serving Him.

Read the verse paying particular attention to what follows:

Loves….her

that he might….her

so that he might….her

that she might….

Oh, that we might that our wives might.  We can, but only in His might.

I am grateful in a new way for His forgiveness and for His instruction.

No, I don’t know how to give up me for her – I’ve got some ideas but I don’t want to let my flesh feed my function – soooo  it’s prayer time.

Walk with Patti and me . . .01

but they who wait for the LORD

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

(Isa 40:31)

This is a tired old verse – isn’t it?  It’s been used and abused since I can remember. 

As I read it today, though, I was struck by the conditional part of the verse:

they who wait for the LORD

That word “wait” is interesting.  Zodhiates in the, Complete Words Study Dictionary writes:

The root meaning is that of twisting or winding a strand of cord or rope,

but it is uncertain how that root meaning relates to the idea of hope.

Curious root.  Of course, the word “is used to signify depending on and ordering activities around a future event.”  However, for you and me it is ordering activities around Him, not an event.

Is the root meaning telling us that there is work to be done even while we wait?  I think so.  In our current – well – predicament – Patti and I are caught between furious and meaningless activity and – well – just waiting.  Neither has much appeal or a positive outcome.

I wonder, if indeed He is leading us to a new thing (or trying to teach us an old thing), whether there are things directly related to us and Him that we would could be doing and not just tapping our feet or drumming our fingers.  Not to ignore the common things one needs to do in this type of situation, but do along with those things.  We certainly have more time together.

Ok – you know me and how I love metaphors, analogies, even hyperbole and I have to be careful that I don’t get carried away.  But that “root” keeps picking at my mind.

It makes me think of an unraveled rope that needs to be repaired.  Or a fishing net with tears in it that need to be fixed.  It makes me think that regardless of the end of the circumstances, we need to be about repairing something – something regarding her – me – us and Him.

It’s natural to sit and imagine, “If God just did this or that everything would be OK.”  Tempts one to go buy a lottery ticket.  But God is never not working for His children.  He doesn’t nap or go on vacation.  However, that is, much to my dismay, what I do (when I’m not “keeping busy” at nothing.)

In times like this, one is tempted to sit very still and be very quiet and think good thoughts;or to take up some work that He will like and hence come through for you.  Neither of these (having been there) make a lot of sense to me.

What does make sense is repairing that which binds us to Him.  Not the stuff He does but the stuff He calls us to do.  I mean the personal intimate stuff of being His children.  Maybe that’s what the rope or net signify. 

I am thinking of Job right now.  My favorite thing is when he proclaims:

Though he slay me, I will hope in him;

yet I will argue my ways to his face.   (Job 13:15)

Job isn’t going to just sit there and stew.  Now exactly what he means by, “I will argue my ways to His face,” is a little troubling but we’ll get to that another time.

Job was going to take action that would bring him into direct and intimate contact with God.  That, my friends, is always life changing!  Sitting there without anyone to “cheer” him on, he goes to the source.  He may do it via the conversations he has with his buddies.  But he is really talking to God.

In “twisting the rope,” there is one thing Patti and I want to remain aware of and that is the very real threat of the world, the flesh and the devil.  This unholy triad is opposed to our goal of trusting in Him and growing in this time.

The flesh accuses us of all kind of sin and unfaithfulness.  Like scurvy, it opens old wounds.  It not only blames but shames us and pours the accusation of unworthiness down out throats.  It seeks to poison every moment of joy and kindness.  It seeks to breed undue sensitivity and suspicion between us.

The world – well the world just has to be the world.  It too accuses and shames and it distances itself across a line calling to us to compromise with it and accept its philosophies and ways.  It also works mightily on the desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes and pride in possessions (1Jn 2:16).  With its definition of success and good, it shames and woos at the same time.

 OK – I may get smacked here but I have found upon occasion that the standards the world has set for “normal” productive people is alive and well in the body of Christ.  Where the world has been accepted into the church, the same shame and seduction is offered by the church (I speak in generalities).  But, let me ask you to consider what your congregation’s response is it to those upon whom calamity falls.  Or, as I’ve seen a few times, is it just not appropriate to ask for help?

Then, the devil.  Well, somewhere along the way I must have missed the class on how he does what he does.  I know he has power but I know that power is limited by the hand of God.  I know he has helpers but I know they are limited as well.  So what do we do about this part of the threat?  There is, as far as I can see, but one strategy:

Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Jas 4:6-8a)

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

No, I’m not missing the context of these verses – they are indeed part and parcel of sustaining our hope and growing through this.  But these words are, I think, inclusive of the rest.  We submit to Him, resist the other and then – and what a wonderful thing it is – draw near to God.

Submission to God is a no brainer but not a simple thing.  Submission to God indicates duties toward God.  Duty is a work we don’t hear much in the church.  It smacks too much of legalism but it also makes obedience unavoidable.  But, in the King’s service there is our duty.

Keeping it simple, we have a duty to pray, study, fellowship and give.  Yes, I know there’s more to it, but why complicate things.  As a soldier has his daily duties, so do we.  These four are not occasional things but regular things, common things.  So daily, Patti and I will be about these things.  How?  What method?  Well, we’ll have to discover that by trial and error not out of a sense of finding our “comfort zone,” but rather finding our “consistency zone.”

Of course in our circumstances, “giving,” will be a toughie.  Not “giving” per se, but giving as the flesh play its games.  But, just the other day a young man I see regularly at my “office ;-}” who has CP came in on his electric chair.  His name is Michael so we hit if off even though communication can be difficult.  Anyway, he whispered and asked if I would do him a favor. He did not have the bucks to get his regular drink.  Without thinking I turned to the Barista and told them I’d cover Michael’s order, and I did.

OK, this isn’t "pat me on the back "time.  But the realization that I didn’t think twice about helping this sweet guy out was a real blessing.  I was so happy that even in our tight straights, I hadn’t gotten tight fisted.  We need money but that need, as I see it, is more a catalyst for mending our nets than being solvent.

Just an aside.  We are admonished to not love money.  Is the other end of the stick to not fear it either?   We’re are told that we either worship God or Mammon (god of gain).  So the elements or affections that apply to worshipping God must be looked for in our dealing with money – yes?  Awe, desire, fear, love – all these are part of worship; so, Patti and I will be  very careful to remember that money is ONLY a means – never a solution.

I’m almost at my self-imposed length limit so I’ll try to close.  Patti and I are “waiting” on the Lord.  We have a little more time and flexibility but more importantly, we have the desire to fix the frayed rope of our yoked service to Him and each other.  As I have been, writing she and I have talked about certain points in the article.  She’s always been my editor (the one’s she edits are the ones w/o typos) but now she’s also my collaborator and that is just wonderful.

Pray for us – we will be grateful.  First pray we will be dutiful in our net mending; second that we will be faithful in our care for others; and third – pray we are able to pay our bills – that Patti finds a lovely job, that I get more work and that we move forward in our ministry plans - following , not out running Him.