September 30, 2013

²⁶ Let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”  2 Samuel 15:26b

O Lord, Thou knowest what is best for us; let this or that be done, as Thou shalt please. Give what Thou wilt, and how much Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt. Deal with me as Thou thinkest good. Set me where Thou wilt, and deal with me in all things just as Thou wilt. Behold, I am Thy servant, prepared for all things: for I desire not to live unto myself, but unto Thee; and oh, that I could do it worthily and perfectly!

Thomas A Kempis  (1379-1471) priest, monk, writer*

Two questions come to mind when I read Kempis' snippet.  

First, do we have to pray for God to, "Deal with me as Thou thinkest good."?  Isn't that something He will already do?  Or are we missing out on blessings and opportunities for growth because we don't pray such a prayer with fervency and consistency? 

The second question I already know the answer to.  Why don't I pray such a prayer with fervency and consistency?  Answer: A lack of faith. A lack of faith that God's plan for my life is perfect.  A lack of faith in God's goodness.  A lack of faith in Gods' love.  A lack of faith in God's wisdom.  A lack of faith in God's strength.

 A "lack of faith" is a p.c. way of saying fear.  We are cowards.  Scairdy cats.  Chickens.  Poltroons.  

For this fear to be vanquished, a Christian must believe, down to their core, several things about God.

He is omnipotent.  There is no force, organization, or person past, present or future that is more powerful than God.  He spoke the universe into existence.  He creates.  He destroys.  Nothing can stand up to His power.

He is omniscient.  Nothing escapes God's knowledge.  He knew us in eternity past.  His knows our tomorrows.  His decisions for our lives are based on perfect, complete knowledge.

He is omnipresent.  There is nowhere we can go, no situation we can be in that God is not there also.  Horrible day at work.  God is there.  Emergency waiting room.  God is there.

He is personal.  God did not just create the universe then retire to a villa in Palm Springs.  He remains intimately involved with each of our lives individually and corporately.  The world might seem to be spinning out of control, but nothing happens that God does not cause or at least allow.  Not a sparrow falls from the sky without God's knowledge; and we are far more valuable to Him than a sparrow.

He is love.  All the attributes listed above would be of little reassurance if God's very character were not love.  All His involvement in our lives is driven out of His love for us.  He sent his "only begotten Son" to live on this earth and die a horrible death out of love.  God is love.  He does not just love (verb), but He is love (noun).  It is His character.  His very essence.  

It is human nature to fear giving up control.  To say to anyone, "You have total control.  You are in change of every decision I make, every road I travel, every cent I spend is frightening."  But if we realize who we are handing that control to, it should make it easier.

 










*Daily Strength for Daily Needs- February 13
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html

September 26, 2013

¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
    who daily bears our burdens.   Psalm 68:19

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17

 

And to be true, and speak my soul, when I survey the occurrences of my life, and call into account the finger of God, I can perceive nothing but an abyss and mass of mercies, either in general to mankind, or in particular to myself; and whether out of the prejudice of my affection, or an inverting and partial conceit of His mercies, I know not; but those which others term crosses, afflictions, judgments, misfortunes, to me who inquire farther into them than their visible effects, they both appear, and in event have ever proved, the secret and dissembled favors of His affection.

Sir T Browne (1605-1682) *

Not much I can add to Sir Browne this morning.

*Daily Strength for Daily Needs- February 12
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html

September 25, 2013

⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. John 17:4 (NIV)
⁸ She did what she could.  Mark 14:8a (NIV)

It is thy duty oftentimes to do what thou wouldst not; thy duty, too, to leave undone what thou wouldst do.

Thomas A Kempis  (1379-1471) priest, monk, writer*

The older I get, the more I realize how interconnected the Christian life is.  Take today's quote from Thomas Kempis.  While it is straightforward (once you get past the "wouldsts" and "thys"), the application of such a simple pretext is multilayered.

It is our Christian responsibility to do what God would have us to and not do that which He would not have us do.  

HOWEVER. . .

• How do we know that those dos and not dos are?
• We seek God's guidance through prayer.
• How can we hear God's still small voice?
• Prayer and meditation.

BUT- if we have unconfessed sin in our lives, that communion and communication with God is disrupted.

• How do we keep from sinning?
• Resist temptation and flee.
• How can we resist temptation.
• Follow the leading of our Lord and Savior-  use scripture.
• How do we learn scripture?
• Bible study and memorization.

 

I wish I were a graphic artist.  I think there is a great visual buried somewhere in all this.  To lead a life pleasing to God requires a variety of spiritual disciplines.  Neglecting one of these for a any length of time weakens the entire Christian life.



*Daily Strength for Daily Needs- February 11
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html

September 23, 2013

⁹ In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”  Isaiah 25:9 (NIV)

"Accustom yourself gradually to carry prayer into all your daily occupations. Speak, move, work, in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be. Do everything without excitement, by the spirit of grace. As soon as you perceive your natural impetuosity gliding in, retire quietly within, where is the kingdom of God. Listen to the leadings of grace, then say and do nothing but what the Holy Spirit shall put in your heart. You will find that you will become more tranquil, that your words will be fewer and more effectual, and that, with less effort, you will accomplish more good."

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.  (1651-1715, French Roman Catholic Bishop)*

 "As soon as you perceive your natural impetuosity gliding in, retire quietly within, where is the kingdom of God."  How many times do we refuse to head off our sinful nature when we first feel its tug?  Before we ever repeat that bit of gossip, we have a fleeting reminder we should not open our mouths.  Before we click that web site, God sends a spiritual warning.  Before we allow an argument to escalate with our spouse, He convicts us.  Why, so often, do Christians refuse to "retire quietly within"? 

For a Christian "within" is where our strength lies.  "Within" is our Moral Compass.  "Within" is our Strength.  "Within" is the Kingdom of God.

At the first hint of temptation, turn within.  When we that fleeting thought starts to take root, turn within.  Before we allow tempers or desires to take control, turn within.  If Christ is our Lord and Savior, the kingdom of God lies within.  Turn within.

*Daily Strength for Daily Needs---February 10
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html

September 19, 2013

²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.  Jeremiah 7:23 (NIV)


"without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with the best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none. You have to seek His face; obedience is the only way of seeing Him. All your duties are obediences. To do what He bids is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach—an approach to Him who is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible screen of things which hides Him from us."*
Cardinal (J.H.) Newman

 Two things struck me from this writing.

First, the reminder that "any obedience is better than none."  Too often Christians fail to act on what they know because they don't know all that is required.  The Israelites left Egypt without GPS.  Matthew left a lucrative H.R. Block franchise without know all that would be required.  Not knowing the next three steps is no excuse for not taking the first step when God has commanded, "Take the first step."

Second, "Every act of obedience is an approach--an approach to Him. . ."  I had never considered obedience as a way to approach God.  I have equated disobedience with creating distance, but obedience as an approach?  New and novel.  Much like yesterday's entry, this line of thinking focuses on the positives of obedience rather than the negatives of disobedience.



* Daily Strength for Daily Needs
 http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html

September 18, 2013

²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’  Matthew 25:25 (NIV)


"If he falls into some error, he does not fret over it, but rising up with a humble spirit, he goes on his way anew rejoicing. Were he to fall a hundred times in the day, he would not despair,—he would rather cry out lovingly to God, appealing to His tender pity. The really devout man has a horror of evil, but he has a still greater love of that which is good; he is more set on doing what is right, than avoiding what is wrong. (italics mine) Generous, large-hearted, he is not afraid of danger in serving God, and would rather run the risk of doing His will imperfectly than not strive to serve Him lest he fail in the attempt." 
Jean Grou (1731-1803)  French Roman Catholic mystic and spiritual writer*

I wonder how much better off the world would be if Christians loved good more than they hated evil.  What if we focused on doing right as opposed to avoiding wrong?

At first blush these sound like one in the same.  But there is a subtle difference.

In education we encourage beginning teachers to admonish students to exhibit the correct behavior rather than telling students to not to do the incorrect.  "Please walk in the hall" as opposed to "Please don't run."  "Please use  your six-inch voice", not "Don't talk to loudly."  The logic is that by focusing on the correct behavior, the incorrect behavior will be extinguished.

How would our lives be transformed if we applied this same principle to the Christian life.  "I shouldn't gossip" becomes "What positive thing can I add to this conversation?"    "My coworker never gets anything right" changes to "How can I help him/her out today."

Don'ts become do's.  Sneers become smiles.  Condemnation becomes congratulations or condolences.


* Daily Strength for Daily Needs
 http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8534/pg8534.html 

September 16, 2013

³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  Mark 10:38

When I hear the word "martyr" I think of beheadings, burnings and torture.  A martyr for Christ is a person who has lost their life as a result of standing up for their faith.  

Isn't every Christian a martyr in that sense?  Haven't we all lost our life for Christ?  The following words from F.W. Robertson, a 19th century evangelist wrote the following words in regards to martyrdom.  Words from the 1800s are just as appropriate in 2013.

The worst part of martyrdom is not the last agonizing moment; it is the wearing, daily steadfastness. Men who can make up their minds to hold out against the torture of an hour have sunk under the weariness and the harass of small prolonged vexations. And there are many Christians who have the weight of some deep, incommunicable grief pressing, cold as ice, upon their hearts. To bear that cheerfully and manfully is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian bereaved and stricken in the best hopes of life. For such a one to say quietly, "Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt," is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian who feels the irksomeness of the duties of life, and feels his spirit revolting from them. To get up every morning with the firm resolve to find pleasure in those duties, and do them well, and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the highest heaven.

September 5, 2013

In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6

He leadeth me. Psalm 23:2

  In "pastures green"? Not always; sometimes He
  Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me
  In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.

  So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair
  I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where
  The shadows lie, what matter? He is there.

Henry Barry (1840-1875)

"He will make your paths straight."  "He leadeth me."  Until I read Henry Barry's short poem, I had always interpreted verses such as today's selections from Proverbs and Psalm as sunny, happy verses.  Obey God, he will lead.  Makes sense.  He will lead us to good places.  Still waters.  Green grasses.  Financial security.  Etc.   

But nowhere does it say that God's leading will always be down a sunny path.  There are paths that run beside raging waters.  A trail can run along the edge of a deadly precipice.  The Bible assures that God will not tempt us, but there are no promises that His leading will be down a sun-dappled lane with a light breeze and 30% relative humidity.

What is promised are three things.  First, if we acknowledge and submit to Him, He will lead us.  Second, if He leads us, it is the best path.  Third, no matter the path, sun-dappled or heavily shadowed, He is with us.

 

September 3, 2013

I am sitting here at the Mudhouse drinking some decaf coffee, and I got to wondering.  If the rapture happened right now (provided you are an premillennialist), how many of these 50 or so people would still be here?

What about the girl in the SBU t-shirt?  Does the shirt show collegiate loyalty or a belief system?

What about the former Rountree student sitting to my left on the couch?  Was I a Christ-like presence during his time at Rountree?

How many of the coeds in the study group would be left behind?  How many are convinced of their salvation because of a bonfire prayer 10 years ago at Camp Jesus?

Does the elderly gentleman with a cane know Jesus as his personal savior?  Was he raised in Southern Baptist church and think that attendance will make the grade?

Why do I sit here and do nothing to discern the answers to these eternal questions?  Is the Holy Spirit convicting me to do something, or is my mind just wandering.  (Or perhaps I am rationalizing my mind is wandering to oppose the conviction of the Holy Spirit.)

Christianity is a whole lot easier on the couch at home.