Keeping an Eternal Perspective

It’s hard for me to believe it’s been more than a year since we last visited the blog Digging The Word. It is a great Bible study and devotional resource. This post appeared in April under the title Living with Eternity in Sight, and as always, you’re encouraged to click through.

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1 Peter 5:6-11  So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.

7  Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. 8  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

10 In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. 11  All power to Him forever! Amen.

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As Peter comes to the close of his letter to the churches in Asia Minor he gives them a summary of how to live and what their attitude should be as they wait for Christ return. It is a message that is just as relevant to us today.

Humility

One of the biggest struggles that we have is with humility, God knew that we would have a challenge in this area, so the importance of humility is taught throughout the Bible. Humility is required for salvation, we need it in order to see ourselves the way that God sees us, without humility we will not turn to God and ask for help. From that point on our lives should be known for humility, once we see ourselves the way that God sees us, we should find it difficult to view ourselves as much without him.

Isaiah 57:15  The high and lofty One who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

It can be difficult to yield to God’s plan and humbly allow his power to work in your life, he may bring calamity and difficulty for a season in order to bring glory to himself or the hard times may be there for your spiritual growth, sometimes it might look easier to take the controls and do things our way.

Here is a statement that I found in a commentary on these verses: “If we do not humble ourselves under God’s grace then he will humble us under his judgments.” Either we will humble ourselves voluntarily or the day will come when we will be humbled by God.

Trust

It is difficult to trust in this world that is full of selfishness and pride, we all try and get our way and look out for ourselves but there is a place and a person that you can put your trust, a place where we can unload without fear. We can go to the cross where we are completely accepted by God and we can trust him to lighten our load.

Psalms 55:22  Give your burdens to the LORD, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

What more can anyone wish for than to know that the great and merciful God of the universe thinks about you? Not only does he think about you but he also cares! Amazing thought isn’t it?

Stay Alert and Stand Firm

Watch out! Satan will try to use any opportunity to make our lives useless for God. Initially he is out to destroy you by making you a prisoner to death but once you are a child of God and you are no longer under the curse of death his next plan is to make you useless for God.

James 4:7-8  So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8  Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

Satan will try to make you fearful and ineffective but we can stand our ground if we stay alert to his schemes. Our best defense against that “roaring lion” is to stay close to God. It seems to me that the devil must hate God and be repulsed by him and the last thing that he wants to do is hangout close to him. So if I am staying close to God then the devil won’t want to come close to me.

Perspective

It is best to live with your long term goal in site. Do you have a long term goal? Every child of God has one but too often the stuff of this world will try and take our focus from the eternal glory that we will share with Jesus and get our focus on the short term problems around us.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  18  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

God has called me to greater things than I can imagine! God will take care of every need for this life and he will provide for my eternal destination. The devil will use the pain and trouble of this world to try and get me off track but I will choose to “fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen.”

Thank you Lord for teaching me how to get through this world, thank you for loving me and giving me a new perspective on how to live, help me to keep my eyes on the eternal.

Build, Pray, Love, Look

I’m currently reading one of a number of “never before published” books based on the writing of A. W. Tozer.  This one is titled The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy, released this year by Regal (Gospel Light). In Chapter 3, he speaks about having a wrong concept about God himself.

If you do not have a right concept of God, of yourself and of sin, you will have a twisted and imperfect concept of Christ. It is my honest and charitable conviction that the Christ of the average religionist today is not the Christ of the Bible. It is a distorted image — a manufactured, painted on canvas, drawn from cheap theology Christ of the liberal, and the soft and timid person. This Christ has nothing of the iron and fury and anger, as well as the love and grace and mercy that He had, who walked in Galilee.

If I have a low concept of God, I will have a low concept of myself, and if I have a low conception of myself, I will have a dangerous concept of sin. If I have a dangerous concept of sin, I will have a degraded concept of Christ. Here is the way it works: God is reduced; man is degraded; sin is underestimated; and Christ is disparaged.

Does this mean we must be tolerant? Actually, men are tolerant only with the important things. What would happen to a tolerant scientist or a tolerant navigator? The liberal religionist simply admits he does not consider spiritual things as vital.

No wonder Jude said the terrible things he said in his epistle to the Church. I recommend you read the book of Jude…

…We are not called to always show a smile. Sometimes we are called to frown and rebuke with all long-suffering and doctrine. We must contend for but not be contentious. We must preserve truth but injure no man. We must destroy error without harming people…

A Call to Remain Faithful

^{(NLT) Jude 1:17} But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said. ¹⁸ They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. ¹⁹ These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, ²¹ and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

²² And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. ²³ Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

…Now He’s come to His own — true believers in God and in Christ. And then He gives them four things to do:

1. Build up — “building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” (v. 20) Do you have a Bible, and do you study it? Have you read a book of the Bible through recently? Have you done any memorization of Scripture? Have you sought to know God or are you looking to the secular media for your religion? Build up yourselves on your most holy faith.
2. Pray — “praying in the Holy Ghost” (v. 20) I do not hesitate to say that most praying is not in the Holy Spirit. The reason is that we do not have the Holy Spirit in us. No man can pray in the Spirit except his heart is a habitation for the Spirit. It is only as the Holy Spirit has unlimited sway within you that you are able to pray in the Spirit. Five minutes of prayer in the Holy Spirit will be worth more than one year of hit-and-miss praying if it is not in the Holy Spirit.
3. Love — “keep yourselves in the love of God…” (v. 21) Be true to the faith, but be charitable to those who are in error. Never feel contempt for anybody. No Christian has any right to feel contempt, for it is an emotion that can only come out of pride. Let us never allow contempt to rule us; let us be charitable and loving toward all while we keep ourselves in the love of God.
4. Look — “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (v. 21) Let us look for Jesus Christ’s coming — for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. Isn’t it wonderful that His mercy will show forth at His coming? His mercy will show itself then, as it did on the cross; as it does in receiving sinners; as it does in patiently looking after us. And it will show itself at the coming of Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
   

~A. W. Tozer, The Dangers of a Shallow Faith pp. 44-46

(scripture text added)

Sometimes Spirituality is Messy

^{NIV Luke 18:35} As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

³⁸ He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹ Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

from Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli (bio):

…Religious institutions do not like surprises and especially dislike a spirituality which threatens the status quo. Threaten others with a loud and boisterous faith, and you will be politely (at first) asked to quiet down; dance your faith instead of sitting still in your pew, and you will be asked to leave; talk about your faith with passion, and you will get expressions of concern about the inappropriateness of your emotions.  Allow others to see your brokenness, and you will be reprimanded for being too open; hear the music of faith, and you will be warned of the danger of emotional instability…

…All of us tend to seek comfort, to structure predictability, to eliminate the new and different from our experience. The word messy strikes fear into the hearts of the comfortable. According to the comfortable, God does what he always does. “God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” which they interpret as “stays the same.” There are those in the church who honestly believe God is a nice and neat God. One quick run through the Bible gives you a different picture. The God of the bible is the master of surprises: frightening clouds of smoke and fire, earthquakes, windstorms and firestorms, donkeys that talk, pillars of salt, oceans splitting apart, using a little boy to kill a giant, the Messiah in swaddling clothes and dying on a cross. No one can follow God and be comfortable for too long…

…When Jesus and his followers show up, it isn’t long before people start pointing fingers and calling names. Jesus was called all kinds of names: wine-bibber.., Sabbath breaker, blasphemer. Over the centuries religious people have refined name-calling to an art. The name most commonly used today? Unspiritual…

…According to his critics, Jesus “did God” all wrong. He went to the wrong places, said the wrong things, and worst of all, let just anyone into the kingdom. Jesus scandalized an intimidating, elitist, country-club religion by opening membership in the spiritual life to those who had been denied it. What made people furious was Jesus “irresponsible” habit of throwing open the doors of his love to the whosoevers, the just-any-ones, and the not-a-chancers like you and me.

Nothing makes people in the church more angry than grace. It’s ironic: we stumble into a party we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus’ irresponsible love, we decide to make grace “more responsible” by being self-appointed Kingdom Monitors, guarding the kingdom of God, keeping the riffraff out (which, as I understand it, are who the kingdom of God is supposed to include.)

Michael Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality (Zondervan, 2002) pp 40-48

Anyone Out There Totally in Love with God?

Today’s piece is from Jim Thornber, whose blog is actually named “Thinking Out Loud.”  (Great minds think out loud alike.)  Jim’s own story begins, “How does an Assemblies of God minister from Southern California find himself a monk in a Catholic-based community in Eureka Springs, AR?”  You can read that here.  This particular item appeared at his blog under the title I’m Still Calling the Shots in a series titled Scriptures That Bother Me.

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

Every Tuesday morning, I get together at a local coffee shop with a group of men from First Baptist Church. We spend about an hour and a half studying, praying for needs, challenging each other in our relationship with Christ and generally drinking too much coffee. It is one of the highlights of my week.

The other morning as we were studying Crazy Love by Francis Chan, someone asked if we knew anyone who was totally in love with God. You know, a completely sold-out, every fiber of their being doing little more than living, breathing, talking, thinking about and obeying Christ type of person.

We all got silent for a few moments as we racked our brains trying to think of someone we knew who was totally and completely sold out and in love with God. As the silence lingered, I thought it rather humorous that none of us at the meeting thought anyone at the table fit that description. Even the two pastors who were there, yours truly being one of them, weren’t named by anyone else in the group as being totally in love with Christ. Well, that was humbling!

The first person who came to my mind was Mark Buntain, who visited my Bible college in the early 80’s. A missionary to India, Mark founded Calcutta Mercy Ministries, which reaches the poorest in India through schools, a homeless shelter, massive feeding programs, orphanages and a large church. I remember hearing him teach in the chapel at college, and I was struck with his sincerity, complete humility, and absolute dedication to the work Christ called him to.

When he finished speaking, he didn’t come down front and meet the students like most every other every other speaker did, listening to their compliments and signing autographs. Instead, Mark turned around and dropped to his knees at the choir pew and engaged in prayer. That image is still burned in my mind.

I remember watching him walk alone through campus, oblivious to all the students and the beautiful scenery as he talked out loud to God, praying and praising the Lord as walked. He had one thing on his mind as he walked, and it wasn’t how he appeared to the students; it was how he appeared before the Lord God his Savior. And, if you stopped him and engaged him in conversation, he didn’t make you feel like you were interrupting him. However, you knew you were in the presence of one who spent his every waking hour walking with God.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). If that is true, that we are not our own, then why can I only think of a few people who actually live that way? I know I don’t. Sure, I claim Jesus is my Lord, but too often I live with myself calling the shots. How often have I prayed for guidance in ministry, only to edit where I’ll go based on the geography or size of the church without even consulting God?

This idea that I am not my own, that I was purchased by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, has been haunting me for a week, if only because I know the price that was paid and how I repay that price by leading my own life at my own convenience.

It is time I seriously consider making God the True Lord of my entire life. Maybe then, the next time someone asks if they know anyone completely and truly in love with and sold out to God, I might just come to someone’s mind.

~Jim Thornber

Powerful Worship Song: Speak, O Lord

Do you appreciate the worship songs posted here, or do you wish that every day was a text devotional or Bible study?  We’ve somewhat evolved a style here with something different in terms of mix or balance, and I think some days a great worship song can say as much or more than a great devotional post.

I saw this online at Tim Challies blog a few days ago, he had the making of the song with Kristyn Getty, Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.  I thought it would be great to share all three verses of the song.

Allow God to speak to you as you listen.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow’r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

The Discipline of Walking With The Spirit

Paul Steele is a pastor in Storm Lake, Iowa.  This appeared just over a week ago on his blog, Paul’s Ponderings, just before he began a one month internet fast.  It appeared there without the addition of the scary word “discipline” under the more simple title, Walking With The Spirit.

A man cannot live one hour a godly life unless by the power of the Holy Ghost. He may live a proper, consistent life, as people call it, an irreproachable life, a life of virtue and diligent service; but to live a life acceptable to God, in the enjoyment of God’s salvation and God’s love, to live and walk in the power of the new life—he cannot do it unless he be guided by the Holy Spirit every day and every hour. ~ Andrew Murray, Humility and Absolute Surrender, p. 128

Trying to follow Jesus is hard work, especially when it is attempted solely by our own strength and will power. It is, in fact, impossible.

I know from experience that I don’t have what it takes to follow Jesus. The truth is that given the first sign of difficulty I crumble. It is what I do with trying to write a book, to run every morning, to eat healthier, and a numerous other things that I think are important. The cold reality is that in the battle of desires my flesh takes the easier road rather than sticking things out to the end.

This is one reason why we cannot boast in our salvation: because I do not have what it takes to save ourselves. We are weak and ignorant creatures, and the experience of life shows us that we will do things that we enjoy doing, even when we now that they are not good for us. There is not one of us that doesn’t know that McDonald’s isn’t a healthy place to eat, yet millions of us eat there every day. [Confession time: I am craving a Double Quarter Pounder and french fries right now] The problem isn’t about knowing what is right and wrong, the problem is disciplining our flesh to do the right thing.

Since we lack the will power and stamina to correctly discipline our flesh, we need to the help of another if we are going to experience the new life we have been given through Jesus’ death and resurrection. That help comes from the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Consider what the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:

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

The Spirit will enable us to live in such away that we will not feel compelled to give into every desire and whim our flesh has. By walking with the Spirit we turn our backs on the desires of the flesh, and we are able to live the way God desires us to live.

How do we do this? It is at this point that I wish Paul would have given us a little more instruction in his letter. It appears there is an assumption that the Galatians already knew what Paul was talking about. So let me offer a couple of my own thoughts.

First, I think it is safe to assume to walk by the Spirit is not about keeping a Law. In both Romans and Galatians Paul equates trying to keep the Law as a work of the flesh. The Law shows us what it means to live as God’s holy people in this world, but it requires our own strength and will power to keep, and thus it is said to be a work of the flesh.

My second thought is that to walk with the Spirit begins with repentance. We need to lay aside trying to become holy by our own effort and turn to God so He can make us holy. This requires that we confess our weakness, denounce our sin, and pledge our loyalty to God. It is this attitude of humility and of being poor in spirit that allows us to be open to the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

It is time to stop tiring so hard to be come holy by own efforts and it is time to start trusting the work of the Spirit in our lives. For it is the Spirit’s work, and not our efforts, which produces the changed life God desires for His people; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22, 23; ESV). It is the Spirit’s fruit, the result of His work, that produces the type of life that God wants us to live.

~ Paul Steele