Psalm 139:2 He understands!!!!!!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 

(Psa 139:2)

Think about it.  I know you know that God knows when we sit don and when we rise up.  But have you considered that He "understands" our thoughts?  That's not just our good thoughts or our thoughts about Him but He understands our less than acceptable thoughts as well.  He understands!!

Consider:

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.   (Heb 2:17-18)

He understands!!

I don't know how to express the depth and breadth of this.  It, for me, is overwhelming and kind of a scary comfort.  He understands!!

Consider - He was made like us- He was tempted Himself.  Yes, unlike us He did not sin but He "gets it."

Now, this can in no way be taken as some sort of an excuse for our way-ward and inappropriate thoughts - sin is still sin and error will always be error - but He understands!!

As Patti and I pass through this time of testing and trial we have "not so good thoughts."  Fearful thoughts, legalistic thoughts, hopeless thoughts, fleshly thoughts and murmuring thoughts.  They just come and when they do they distress us - greatly.  But I keep having some interesting thoughts as well.

I think, "Why me, why this,why now, why so heavy?"  Kind of like Moses I want to say, "Here I am Lord, send Aaron!"   Even, "Let this cup pass from me!"  But I am humbled when

I have the thought, "If not me, then who?"  I struggle to accept that this is His will for us right now.  Not to sound arrogant - but, He picked us for this and this for us for His glory and honor - not to mention our blessing.  This makes us no more "special" than any other believers - it just makes us the ones He is using where we are, in this circumstance.

With no Egypt there would have been no Exodus.  Without a crucifixion there would have been no resurrection.  No, I'm not elevating myself or my situation but I am trying hard to see it within the context of God bringing glory to Himself and strengthening me.

What helps is, He understands my fearful and anxious thought,s and though I know He desires that I overcome them by trusting Him, He is sympathetic to my weakness and frailty (which is part of what He wants me to see and appreciate so I will lean on Him).

Please dear ones hold tight to the truth that He understands all our thoughts!  Yes, He disapproves of many and worries for us over others but none of them come as some cosmic shock to Him.  He knew we'd have them and has provided relief for and from them because He understands!

Father my heart and my mind are weak and rebellious.  Only You can temper and tame them.  Knowing that You understand and that You sympathize and provide is such a comfort.

But Father, do not let me grow lazy or complacent concerning them.  Let me take hold of them and bring them to You for Your ministry and mercy.  Be gentle with me Lord for I am much like a little rabbit - jumpy and anxious.  Care for me by giving me the heart of a child when it comes to You.  Give me stronger trust and firmer assurance as each day passes and my imaginings and fancies prove false though frightening.

Let me know more and more Your lovingkindness and Your understanding and open myself to Your instruction and care.  Make me remember Your past mercies and provision and be deaf to the lies and cries of the deceiver.  Let me look only to You and hear only You as You minister to me through Your Word, Your Spirit and Your people.

Thank You for letting me know - You understand!!

Amen

Examine yourself - Contentment 003

Examine yourself -  Contentment 003

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11 ESV)

LEARNED

So, as a Pharisee, Paul had a very huge head start on us when it came to knowing God.  But you must keep in mind that a lot of what he believed as a Jewish religious leader before his conversion was - well - wrong.

And when he (Paul) had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 

(Acts 9:26 ESV)

Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, hence very well versed not only in the Word of God but the traditions, added by men PLUS the Holy Spirit equals one mighty servant of the Gospel.

We, on the other hand, come to Christ without a whole lot for the Holy Spirit to work with.  And - commonly - we start our walks by reading either books about the Word and the Faith or just the "good parts" of the scriptures.  The first can severely pervert our growth and the second retards it.  There have been many, many godly men and women but God only made one Paul.

But - that is no reason for us to shirk our responsibility to study the Word so that we might know Him and serve Him well.  Paul himself makes it plain:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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.  (2 Timothy 3:14-17 ESV)

OK - maybe few of us have the advantage of a godly home like Timothy, but that is still no excuse to not make the Word our primary (if not only) source of reading.

Over the years I've come to think of the Word as straw.  Huh????  Yeah - I came to Christ with a brain and some education - that's mud.  Now God wants to build me into a structure for His glory - that would be bricks.  Well, we all know that making bricks without straw is very difficult and frustrating (See Exodus).  So I add the Word (straw) to my current knowledge and understanding (mud) and the Holy Spirit makes good solid bricks. 

OK - all analogies break down if carried too far - so don't take mine further.  But I do not come to Christ stupid - He has provided for me to gain the knowledge and understanding I come with.  But He also knows that that knowledge and understanding is in no way sufficient - not even a little - to be of use to Him.  Actually, it would very probably be, on its own, very counter productive.

When Jesus says :

"It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"   (Matthew 4:4 ESV)

He wasn't just being cute - He actually knew that to be absolutely true.  That's not some snide shot at the Devil - that is a mighty shield to deflect the arrows of the Devil.  Note by the way, that even though the Devil "quotes" Words of God, he does so illegitimately.  It is the whole Word - the “every Word” that brings life - not just the good parts.

"But I don't have time."  "But I don't know Greek and Hebrew."  "But I'm not a pastor."  "Na nana na nana na -------."  What part of "live" in Matt. 4:4 did you miss?  Where Rome offered "bread and circuses" God offers "bread and Word."  The first was a means of political manipulation and control.  The second is the means of life.

When men began to work to translate the scriptures into their own languages, their vision was that everyone would be able to read the Word of God.  Well, by their blood they accomplished their task.  For a while men died to get the translated Word spread throughout the world.  And here we are today - the Bible is the best-selling-least-read book in history.  Ouch.

Examine yourself to see ---- 112712

   All that I am, all that I have - indeed that I am at all - is His.
Everything is placed in my hands for His purposes.
He kindly allows me to use some for my sustenance even my pleasure but it is not mine, it is His.

So when my mind wanders into the probability that what He has given me that what can be taken will be taken and I find myself growing inflamed with keeping it and/or defending it and I am cast down.

It is not my car or my house or my rights or my guns (ouch) - they are all His even to the smallest cell of the body He has given me.  I am obligated to use it wisely and well but I don't know that I am obligated to defend it - even if I could.

It was His to give and is still His after the giving.  It is never mine.  If through some secondary cause, for His purposes, it comes to a place where it is taken, even taken by force of arms or law or both am I to trust Him to leave me with what He would have me steward or am I to meet force (any type of force) with force?

I wonder if I am not to simply trust Him and allow Him to preserve and protect even my life.  Indeed the very history of our faith demontrates that there is a time and place where we must stand passive as we are persecuted and oppressed, even robbed by force of arms or force of law.

When they came for Him in the garden one only met force with force.  Not only was he foolish but he was wrong and the Lord undid the harm he inflicted.  It does, I hope, make one wonder.

We are raised to believe that we have three inalienable rights.  Life, liberty and happiness (which was originally property).  But I would ask where I am to find my right to any of these in His sovereignty and providence?  A right?  Then it is not grace or mercy but something the creator God is oblidged to provide and preserve?  And what text pray tell gives proof to that?

Paul counted all things as dung compared to the excellency of Christ.  But we, do we really count "all things" so?

Ah you will hack away at self-protection or self-preservation?  And what convinces you that you can, much less are obligated to preserve your self?  Are we not all utterly in His keeping?  Is not our very life His to give, to moderate, even to take?  Is He not sovereign, holy and good in all that happens in His creation?

He has blessed me with much - and I have much through my own foolishness and flesh.  He has allowed it but that does not mitigate my follishness and fleshness.  I have much that is there by sin.  Much.  I can not in good conscience hold that I have a right to keep any of it.  To use it for Him is my duty but that duty does not negate His right to take it away.

Job woefully lamented the loss of all He allowed to be taken.  Yet we read no claim made against God.  Naked Job came and naked he would leave.  Even if God took (or allowed to be taken) his very life Job committed himself trustingly to Him.  Do we - really?

Many do - when there is no choice.  But they simply accept what is happening instead of turning to Him promptly and praise Him for His goodness.  Salvation and a cadillac too was once considered cute - but as we have come to elevate that to the level of doctrine is it devastating.

What do we mean by "mine?"  I fear we mean something very wrong hearted.  I fear we mean "sovereignly mine" not merely mine to serve Him with and through.  I know I struggle against that heart dis-ease.

"He who dies with the most toys wins," is a sad statement for a believer to ever come close to making.  But even if we never say it, I fear we shout it by our lives.  James provides us with an important insight:

James 4:3-4
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.    ESV

He's talking to us.  He's talking "passions."  Not sex, not drugs although those certinly apply.  Rather he is talking about us wanting what we want when we want it how we want it FOR OURSELVES.  And not what He wants, when He want, how He wants for His glory.

He is talking about me, my, mine, ours.  Our passions NOT His passions.  Can you see dear ones the dangerous difference?  See the confusion - the confounding?

We ask for money to get what we want.  We ask for time to use as we want.  We ask for health so we can continue to do what we want.  Is this asking rightly or amiss?

Pau in Romans 7 writes out his turmoil - the flesh against the Spirit.  Which one do we listen to the most.  I see few of us (note I said us - that includes me) bewailing and mourning the opportunities we give the our flesh.

Not I but Christ.
Not mine but His.
What's the differentce?
Zip!

Examine yourself 112212

Examine yourselves ----

Are you "on board" with examining yourself?  It is quite clearly commanded in the Word and hence not some optional undertaking.

What would keep us from engaging in this command?

Do we fear we will find our faith to be false?  Then run to Christ in open and honest confession and need.

Do we fear we will find our faith ill-informed and or un-biblical?  Then run the the Word for clear and godly instruction.

Do we fear we will find our faith weak?  Then run to the duties and obligations of the faith which will strengthen it mightily.

Do we fear we will be overcome by our littleness in our faith?  Then run to the Spirit who is God's power in us for serving Him.

Do you not see that what ever the condition or quality of your faith it is none-the-less faith?  

Do you not know that be it but a mustard seed in comparison to others, it is enough to begin?

Do you not know that He knows well the condition of our faith and that His great desire is to strengthen, inform and use it?

Do you not know that nothing - not even a small and wavering faith which needs instruction, perhaps correction is enough to separate you from His love?

Have you not realized that Christ is not a cookie maker?  He does not spread the dough and simply stamp out identical cookies?  No!  As He knit you uniquely in your mother's womb so He would shape you and mold you as that unique creation the only same-ness being that we all be conformed to His likeness.

Has no one told you that you, weak faith, twisted faith, struggling faith - have a unique place and role in His will?  Has no-one told you that regardless and even perhaps because of your limitations, struggles, condition or circumstance you are no less His child even His servant in working out His will?

Have you not seen, in the very Word of God, that He takes all kinds and all conditions and makes then magnificent when they serve His purposes?  Do you not get the lesson that is there for you?

What have you to lose by self-examination except pride and sin and the distraction of baseless and fruitless worry?

Indeed, we have nothing to lose in self-examination except that which has hindered our confidence and comfort until now.  And could that be a bad thing?

Oh but you say, "I am a weak child of God!"  "I am a lazy child of God!"  I am an ignorant child of God!"  I am a blind, lame, depressed, bi-polar even schizophrenic child of God!" "I am an unworthy child of God!"

Let me ask you, "What part of child of God isn't good enough?"

There is the "faithful" child of God and the "unfaithful" child of God.  The only difference is dependent focus.  The faithful child of God dependently focuses on God and what pleases Him.  The "unfaithful" child of God focuses on themselves and others.  But - both are children of God.  Once His child - the choice is yours.  He paid the price for you to be made His child - don't let the small cost of living as His child cripple or hinder you.

Do not let your doubts about your salvation worry you overmuch.  If you do they will paralize you and keep you from making use of His great provision for your confidence and comfort.  Feelings are not facts - they are our responce/reaction to things.  What "so called" fact has wounded your confidence and stolen your comfort?  It is either God calling you to your next adventure in Him or it is Satan up to his old distractions and traps.

The "proof" of our faith is indeed in the pudding.  It is in the practice of the dutied and obligations of the faith that our faith and hence our confidence and comfort grows.  As we grow - it all grows.  But to grow we must be fed (by the Word) exercised (by the duties and obligations) and guided (by the Spirit).  which of these is missing in your life?  Reclaim is and use it!!

Examine yourselves!!

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. (2Co 13:5-6)

Examine:  peirázō = to ascertain the character of some hing, someone 

In the faith:  a true believer

Test:  dokimásō = to prove a thing worthy

Fail the test:  adókimos = prove to be spurious; unapproved

As I pray and study the Word and read the works of our Puritan fore-fathers I grow more and more convinced that somewhere along the way we have so cheapened and minimized the "Way" (Acts 19:9) that the designation "christian" is for all intents and purposes, meaningless.  

The term "christian" was originally used as a pejorative term intended to vilify followers of the Christ.  Today it most aptly commonly describes those whom can only be called false believers or hypocrites.  When someone asks you if you are a "christian" ask them what they mean by "christian."  My experience has been that what they describe bears little resemblance to the "Way" as it is taught by the Word of God.

What passes for common christianity today is but a sorrowful caricature of the true faith.  

Through what I see as the cultural compromise of the faith we have fallen into the condition of Israel at the end of the book of Judges.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  (Jdg 21:25)

Though it is still proclaimed as true, in almost every practical sense Christ is not held as King and everyone does what it right in their own eyes.  We have moved further into a faith that has no crosses in it.  We have moved deeper into a cheapening of grace and a rejection of God's sovereignty.

What passes for the "Way" is not the "Way" we find in the Word.  Indeed in our making Jesus our own, we have made a Jesus of our own.  In even supposing and implying that we "make Him Lord and/or Savior" we have, at the very first, denied God's sovereignty in the redemption.

To "accept" Jesus as Lord and/or Savior has come to mean that we "allow" Him to save us.  We do Him a kindness by accepting His death so He'll feel good about Himself.  It no longer means that we fall to His feet in utter recognition of our sin and our need for His salvation and His absolute right to condemn us.  No, we do Him a good turn by joining His team - by telling Him He, "did really good," so we'll let Him save us.

Let me put it plain and main - If you do not recognize the utter hopelessness of your sinful state before God and your deserving or His righteous condemnation - then regardless of what you "say" about Jesus, you are none of His.  Unless your heart has been broken by your sin and His taking it upon Himself on the cross, you are none of His.  Unless you have acknowledged that He has every sovereign right over all of your life - that he is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords - and you kneel before Him in surrender of your self to His authority, you are none of His.  Unless, by His gracious providence, the Holy Spirit has convicted you of the worthlessness of your every effort in redemption and sanctification apart from the provision of God and His power - you are none of His.

Unless, in relation to Him, you hate everything and everyone, you are none of a His.  Unless you live in Him, by Him, under Him and for Him - you are none of His.

Do you pray much, study the word much, examine yourself much, give much?  Then you may well be none of His.  Are you raising your children in the Lord?  if not you may be none of His.

Is your walk with God the absolute priority in your life?  If not you may be none of His.

I will say this - and I do so because have been convicted and I am convinced by the Word of God, that unless you are humbly, depending upon His promises and power, seeking to obey Him in all the duties and obligations appropriate to a citizen of His Kingdom you may well be none of His.

If you are not healthily obsessed with His glory and honor, you may well be none of His.

His Word and His Spirit must be working in His to enable them to serve Him with all their minds, hearts and strength - and we must know that our minds, heart and strength, apart from His providence and power, are never enough.  

Where is the zeal for Him and His Kingdom?  Where is the single focused commitment to be conformed to His likeness?  Where is the crushing conviction of our sinfulness and His graciousness?  

Where is that cry, "Not I but Christ!"

I do not have any pleasure is writing this for it is indeed as much about me as it is anyone else.  But it is about all of us who would claim He is our Lord - utterly.  It is not about your goodness but His.  It is not about our righteousness but His.  It is not about us but Him.

Are you a tare of a stalk of wheat?  Are you a sheep or a goat?  Are you His or are you still your own?

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 

(2Co 13:5-6)

Mind - Set

It is the trouble of troubles to have two inhabitants so near in one soul, and these to strive one against another, in every action, and at all times in every part and power in us: the one carrying us upward, higher and higher still, till we come to God; the other pulling us lower and lower, further from him.   Sibbes, Richard (2012-04-24). The Soul's Conflict With Itself: And Victory Over Itself By Faith. (p. 293). A Puritan At Heart Press. Kindle Edition.

What a great trouble that needs great attention!  The flesh and the Spirit battle it out.  But there is comfort and remedy for the distress this brings.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.   Rom 8:6-7 

We’ve covered this before.  I don’t know about you, but for me it’s a place I run to more often than ever before. 

I am growing more and more convinced that there is comfort and remedy in what Paul says here.

but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace

Ah, to set my mind.  Huh?  Well, the Greek word carries the idea of our: frame of thought, will, aspirations.

If you want to be picky the literal translation would be, “but the mind of the Spirit.” 

No, this isn’t the “Spirit’s” mind rather it is our mind in or on the Spirit.  So????

I’ve been reading Richard Sibbes’ book: The Soul’s Conflict With Itself: And Victory Over Itself By Faith.  It was written in 1635 and the language is “chewy” at best but well worth the work.  I do recommend it for there is much in it that will bless and strengthen you.

But my point is that keeping my nose in it (as well as the Word and other good books) goes a long way in keeping my mind “set.”  Even when I have to read a passage a couple of times to get past the old style of speaking it is a blessing.  Filled with solid biblical insights it keeps my mind set, it stimulates questions, it beings conviction, it brings relief, comfort and peace.

Reading the Word as well as good trustworthy books by very real believers is a consolation and encouragement.  You don’t have to be a “great” reader just a reader.  If reading is not your thing then there are Mp3’s and other tools to help you set your mind.  I’m biased because he’s a Scott but the sermons of Alistair Begg (Truth For Life) are excellent and very useful (and they are free!!!).  Buying a cheap Mp3 player or expanding your use of your smart-phone can be a powerful means of setting your mind.

Feed your mind with healthy food and the Spirit’s voice will grow louder, clearer and more comforting.

Puritan Prayers - recommended

Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.  Anonymous (2010-07-01). Puritan Prayers (Kindle Locations 37-39).  . Kindle Edition.

How blessed we are to have recorded for our benefit the honest searching prayers of those who have walked with Him before us!  How clear and deep are these pools of grace.  How sweet the waters held within.  How simple and yet mighty are these petitions.

If we but borrow these might not our prayers be altered, made higher from a lower place?  Might we not find in them that for which our hearts yearn to express?  Might we not more readily seek the Holy Spirit of God with a greater hunder and yearning?  Might we not be blessed beyond measure?

I believe these prayers are ours not by divine inspiration but by His providential preservation.  From Him to them and down to us they come to raise us up and join us to the saints now in His presence.  In them we are joined with the hearts of our forefathers in the faith and in them we find the depth of our need expressed.

They need to be prayed not merely read.  They might be prayed slowly, reflectively seeking how they might call from our hidden or murky needs. 

Who knows from what specific circumstance they were prayered?  And yet, who cares?  I do not need to know the writers need but rather to find his expressed need my own.

What assurance we find here:  that we are not alone in our struggles; we are not alone in our need.  That we are not alone and never have been in seeking to be more faithful servants, submitted to the King.  Indeed there is nothing new under the sun, not even our weakenesses and fears as His servants. 

We are told to be bold and of good courage and yet we shrink and cower.  It is in prayers like these that we see the remedy for this.  We see that we need only seek Him, to pound upon the door insistently while we await His providence.   He will find us, He will answer the pounding for so He has promised.

Borrowed prayers are not some spiritual form of plagiarism.  Not when we ask Him to make them our own.  Not when we ask Him to use them to dig deeply into our hearts and minds and where we find a lack of one thing asked for we cry out louder for its provision.

Often I do not know the “what” or “how “of my prayers.  I am confounded by the cacophony of the flesh.  Yet in borrowing these prayers I find the cacophony stilled and silent and I hear my need expressed. 

I recommend this little book to you all.  To keep by your bedside or bettr yet to keep with you at all times.  Some of the prayers will instantly lift your spirit and heal your wounds, while others at first may not touch your heart, they will as He makes you ready. 

Puritan Prayers

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 1:2

(1Pe 1:2)  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

You’ve heard the saying, “He said a mouthful.”  Well, Peter says several mouths-full in this verse.

Peter gives us a box in which we can see something about our lives in Jesus.  Our lives in Christ are:

1     1.  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

2     2.  in the sanctification of the Spirit

3     3.  or obedience to Jesus Christ

4     4.  or sprinkling with his blood

Look at each point this way:

1     1.  You are His and that is no surprise to God He knew it and if He knew it He brought it to pass.

2     2.  You are His inside and out, over and under and His “seal” of the relationship, the Spirit, is in you an        

             upon you – and that Spirit works in you making you like Him.

3     3.  We couldn’t and wouldn’t obey without 1 and 2.  Now we can and do.  Don’t go all legalistic on me 

            now - !

4     4.  Huh?  This means you are His forever.  His blood has cleansed you and made you His dear child – and 

            this blood will always have its effect. 

I would love to launch into a lot of information about the broad and deep meaning of this passage but I won’t.  What Peter is telling you and I is that we are His – period – not questions on His part and that ought to help us when we question it on our part.  He did it – it is done!

One little – kool beans part.  Notice that Peter tells us 1 and 2 were done for obedience and then he mentions the sprinkling of the blood.  For me that’s a comfort.

When I read “for obedience,” my flesh is very quick to tell me how poorly I obey.  I get this big spreadsheet of all the rebellious and unthinking ways I disobey.  I’m sure Peter knew all about this.  I wonder how often his flesh reminded him of his sins (see Peter in the Gospels). 

So knowing that we would iinstantly default to our weak and struggling obedience Peter with the Spirit’s guidance brings up the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

This knee jerk to our weakness/sin is what I call a “Romans 7 moment.”  Get your Bible and read Romans 7.  Ouch!  But please do not skip verse 25!!!!! 

From there Paul writes:

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.(Rom 8:1)

There we are – this are us.  This is YOU!

Brothers and sisters, “in Christ,” no failure is ever final.  No one and nothing can undo what God has done.  Our hope here and our hope for heaven is secured by Him – not by us.

“Walk behind Him leaning forward.  If you fall, fall in His direction.  If you smack the ground, crawl towards Him.” MS

Walking with P and me 10 Spiritual Detox

Walking with P and me 10 Spiritual Detox

My brother Sinclair down on the Toe of Texas has been writing about Spiritual Detox.  Yeah, it’s not exactly a biblical name but the concept is about as biblical as it can get.

I’ve worked with a lot of folks trying to detox and it’s tough.  In every way you can think of (and some you can’t) it’s tough.

Oh, I don’t want to start a fad here or add to all the weird stuff believers are encouraged to do.  Spiritual Detox, biblically, would be the removal of the world from you – another way of speaking of the battle between the spirit and the flesh.

What Patti and I are going through is very much a Spiritual Detox.  We are discovering how deeply the world has invaded our hearts, minds and affections – and how it works to remain there.

So much of our anxiety is over how people, believers or not, look at us in our present circumstances.  The “looks” we imagine are painful, humiliating, depressing, embarrassing – I could go on and on.  That’s one way and place the world has sunk its roots deeply.  Stupid, foolish, naïve – none of those are necessarily sins but the consequences, when viewed through the eyes of others, are devastating.

Hearing, “what people will say,” before they’ve said it is none the less painful for it just being imagined.  How do we know what they will say?  Shamefully I have to admit I’ve heard it said and I’m said it myself.  I have remained silent and opened my mouth in sin.  That’s how I know what people will say.

That’s a tough weed to root out – and rooted out it must be.  It’s dirty, hot, painful and exhausting labor.  Just as you think you’ve got it all – you find another little root.

There is no way to go about this work except with the aid of the Spirit.  He both convicts and comforts.  Without that comfort I’d quit.  Without His encouragement I’d quit.

The tough part is not wanting to ask for help or even share the need.  “What will people say?”  “What will they think?”  So we have to fight to share – all the while desperately hoping someone will come alongside to comfort and encourage as well as guide and advise. 

You don’t want to leave home once you’re there.  But at home, surrounded by all the (excuse me) worthless hooey you’ve surrounded yourself with just makes it worse.  I am actually praying to find a Yard-Seller extraordinaire to do a Yard Sale for us (we have no “yard” and aren’t savvy yard sellers). 

So if you leave homeyou might have to “tell,” and if you stay home everything around you accuses you.  Oy very – it’s tough.

This is just a piece of the Spiritual Detox we are in.  It’s icky to say the least – at times it feels hopeless.  It may well be hopeless – but we refuse to be.  Like any truly good thing it is hard to receive.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb 12:11)

Last Words – almost part 16 

We’ve taken a whirlwind tour of this passage in 2 Peter and I pray you have been provoked by it.  The reason for the series is my love for those who follow the Great Shepherd. 

Much is being written about the church and her ills and errors – and I have to agree that they are mighty and plenty.  The history of the Body of Christ is filled with examples of how easy it is to stray from the way (Acts 24:14) He called us to walk in.

I have prayed and thought and read much about this and have come to the conclusion that if we are to lay responsibility anywhere, it has to be at the feet of those He has called to lead His flock.  Huh?

OK – let me put it this way.  If you are attending a church where the priority of the leadership is not the following – you have a problem!

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.   (Eph 4:11-24)   ESV

You see, it is not about programs, worship style, missions or ministries.  It is not about your preferences and proclivities.  It is not about numbers in the pews or in the bank.  It is not about buildings or furnishings.  It is about not being conformed to the world (i.e., being “seeker sensitive”); it is about being conformed to the likeness of the Christ.  And that’s pretty much all it’s about.

Read Acts 2:42-47 – read it again!!!!!

Do you “get it?”  Do you see the simple sanctified Body of Christ?

Yeah, I guess I am being hard on those who in the name of Christ have built great structures to their own flesh.  Those who have erroneously decided, “if you build it, do it, say it, etc., they will come.”  Oh, come they do – but who are they?  They are rarely the called – the elect.  But they are those who having a form of godliness – well, Paul says it best….

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (authority & ability). Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:1-7)

It is not the truth that each individual believer is solely responsible for their growth.  How could it be when God has provided “ministers” or “officers” or “designates,” to equip believers to live as believers?  Yes, it is the responsibility of the individual to seek out sound biblical teachers and to learn and to grow beyond them if possible.  But as Bonheoffer wrote in Nazi Germany, we prefer cheap grace – which is a grace without the cross – a grace without a Christ.

Of those who come to the Body simply to have their ears scratched Paul goes on:

But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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 3:9-17)  ESV

We are engaged in a great conflict.  No, it is not a conflict over culture or national interests, or morality or even competing belief systems.  None of that is OUR fight.  Our fight is against the (actually OUR) flesh.  Oh but it is soooooo much easier to take on the ACLU or the President or whatever – than it is to take on, “Be holy as I am holy.  It is soooo much more fun to do neat marketing projects to get people in the door than it is to live the life that shines in the darkness.  It is sooooo much easier to lift up self-esteem, prosperity, even Israel’s safety than it is to lift up a crucified Messiah.  It is soooo much easier to say, “god loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” than is it to cry “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

The church has become a place where gimmicks, gadgets and graffiti have replaced the gospel.  The unredeemed are enticed to come and to worship the God who their every breath offends.  They come and sing praises to the God whose wrath is looming over their heads.  They come – and if they stay long enough, contribute enough and shine enough they can even become elders.

There was writing over the gate to the temple which warned Gentiles that to pass beneath the arch into the Temple would mean their death.  There is an important point here.  To intentionally create an environment where the unredeemed are comfortable in the presence and worship of the God they do not acknowledge – the God they rejected and replaced - makes it possible for them to come to believe that they are in good stead with Him.  That, my brothers and sisters, is, at least to me, a cruelty beyond bearing.

Faith is NOT a virus; one does not “catch” it.  “Doing,” does not make believers.  God does.

Remember where we started?

I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2Pe 1:13-15)  ESV

Peter gives us his motivation for this letter.  It’s what he believes is his last shot.  Will we heed it or not?

Last words – almost Part 13

Last words – almost Part 13

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.   (2Pe 1:5-7)  ESV

Godliness

εὐσέβεια;  eusébeia: The word eusébeia literally means well-directed reverence, but does not imply an inward, inherent holiness. It is actually an externalized piety.  eusébeia, the demonstration of a good and worshipful attitude toward God when spoken of the Christian, is the proper attitude of reverence toward God akin to hagiótēs, holiness, sanctity. Zodhiates

A good, well-directed and worshipful attitude toward God.  I like it.  It is the external demonstration of the internal work of the Holy Spirit as it applies to our reverence toward and for God.

As I read this I am thinking (for some reason) about the battle between the spirit and the flesh.  I am also strongly reminded of the Master’s statement:

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

(Joh 4:21-24)

Two things jump out at me.  Spirit and Truth.  Now, only those who have the Spirit can truly worship God – but do they worship Him in truth.  Now, that’s the chewy part!  Which brings me back to the battle between the flesh and the spirit. 

Reverence toward God is not a feeling.  OK we talk about “feeling” reverent but it is really an attitude of the mind that informs the heart and from there behaviors flow.  It is not a feeling that becomes truth and then we act. 

Spirit – makes you alive – you know the truth.

Truth – informs the mind – spirit guides.

Mind informs the heart (affections) and we act depending upon the Spirit.

I tried to do a cute graphic but since it was making me more nutz I gave up – any ideas would be appreciated.  I kept coming up with Celtic knots ;-}.

What I want you to see is that the Spirit is utterly critical in all of this.  To project/live godly lives the Spirit has to be present.  But the Word has to be present and our minds and hearts have to be engaged by them both.

OK – I don’t want pick a fight but there are some really ignorant believers out there and in their ignorance they are very immature.  But, there are some brilliant believers out there but in their failure to allow their minds (knowledge/Word) to engage/inform their affections they are differently yet equally immature.

Maybe a stone arch is a good picture.  The key stone, the very center stone is absolutely essential for the arch’s strength – you cannot do without it.  This is the Spirit.  But, all the other stones need to be cut correctly and placed correctly (think used correctly) or the arch, even with the key-stone will be all cadiwhompus. 

OK- silly joke – How can a believer walk in The Way if he or she has a falling arch? ;-}}}}}

Godliness is a practice – a studied, learned practice- enlivened, empowered, guided and sustained by the Holy Spirit and informed or even formed by the Word (truth).  Godliness here is the product of disciple making – of teaching and training – which of course most folks resist.

But the need for disciple making is not only a command it’s plainly obvious from nature.  You are in a car wreck – you are in a coma for months.  Once you come out you must relearn a lot of stuff.  You were dead – He made you alive – but you don’t need to be taught or trained??  Really???  Really???

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!