Self, fears, worries...

  "In the spiritual (as in the material) world there is no empty space, and as self, and fears and worries depart out of your lives, it follows that the things of the Spirit, that you crave so, rush in to take their places."-----from "God Calling"

Once we belong to Christ, we begin to crucify the things that don't belong in our lives.  Three things are listed here that we must drive out---self, fears, worries.  These three things work against our new life in Christ and are things which he died to defeat.  Until we drive out self---that worldly master of our life---we cannot instead accept God's will and desire to obey it.  The Holy Spirit wants to move in and help us drive out "self" who occupies the place where He wants to live.  The self sins must cease to rule in our lives.

A.W. Tozer gives a good list of some of them---"self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love." (Tozer---"The Pursuit of God)

"They are not something we do, they are something we are, and therein lies both their subtlety and their power."----Tozer

Some of those "self" aspects sound innocent. We are taught in this world to love our self and to be self-sufficient and have self-confidence.  It is all about building a healthy self-image that allows us to deal with the world.  While it is good to not hate ourselves and to have the strength of character we need to function and grow mature, it is important to know the source of that strength and that character.  We need to build our healthy self-image on God and his love and provision for us.  Our character should come from Christ.

 When we begin to see all those "self" things as being from our own work and focus all our thoughts on what is best for us, we lose our focus on God.  Our righteousness comes from Christ, not us---so strike out thoughts of self-righteousness!  We can't make ourselves righteous!  Self-pity---feeling sorry for ourselves denies thankfulness to God. We deny his goodness and faithfulness and lose our trust in him.  It's "all about us" when we dwell in self-pity.  When we dwell instead in an abiding relationship with God, then it is "all about him" ---as it should be!

Self-confidence and self-sufficiency gives us the credit where it is not due. We trust our own actions and abilities rather than acknowledging God's power in our life.  All things come from God!  There is a healthy self-confidence that says, "God has made me and given me certain abilities.  I will trust him to enable and empower me.  I can do things because he is faithful to help me."  Without God, we can do nothing.  We are sufficient in him, where we "live, and move, and have our being."

Self-admiration, self-love---These focus our eyes on us rather than Christ.  We do everything for the joy of our own reflection in the mirror rather than to reflect God's goodness to the world and bring glory to his name.  All we do should glorify God.

Killing the self-sins is a difficult task. We must allow the Holy Spirit to build healthy character n us and produce good spiritual fruit.  He will do this once we push out "self" and the fears and worries that accompany our self-focus.  We will always fear and worry if we think everything depends on our own ability and work  We only find peace in relying on God and resting in his love and promises.

A gentle whisper...

  1 Kings 19:12  "...And after the fire came a gentle whisper." (NIV)

We concentrate on God's "fire", his power coming at Pentecost with tongues of flame.  We want to experience this all the time.  But God's voice most often is "a gentle whisper".  We must strain to hear it.  We must focus all our attention on hearing his commands.  The Holy Spirit whispers God's words into our ear as we follow him.  His whisper opens up scripture for us as we read it in his presence.... listen!

Patient endurance, mature character, steady hope, peace...

  Romans 5:3-5  "...we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and tribulations; these very things will give us patient endurance; this in  turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us." (Phillips)

We don't like trials and tribulations, but when we trust in God and rely on him in faith, then we learn "patient endurance".  Patience is difficult for most of us to learn.  By trusting God our patience grows and we do learn to endure in all things.  Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, part of the character that the Holy Spirit produces in us once we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  The more we endure, the more our patience grows, so also our "mature character" develops. 

As we grow mature as God's children with the character of Jesus Christ, we have a "steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us".  Christian hope is a beautiful thing!  It begins with faith in Jesus Christ and the salvation we receive through him, which allows us to find the expectation and certainty that is built into Christian hope in all things.  We know our Savior is there for us.  We know that God is our loving Father.  Our hope is built solidly on these things.  Our hope grows stronger when tested by trials and tribulations that strengthen our patience, endurance, maturity, and character.  All things work together in Christ.

Romans 5:1  "Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ." (Phillips)

This verse tells us that we have peace with God, thanks to Jesus Christ, and verse 11 tells us that we may "hold our heads high in the light of God's love because of the reconciliation which Christ has made." (Phillips)

 Our peace and our knowledge of God's love both come through Jesus Christ.  The work of Jesus Christ brings us all of God's gifts.  That is what grace is and what it does for us!  Thank you, Lord Jesus!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart....

 "...thanking me for adversity requires a deep level of trust"...People who are leaning on their own understanding cannot achieve this depth of trust.  So handling difficulties courageously involves relinquishing your demand to understand."---by Sarah Young

Proverbs 3:5  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (NIV)

We are so human in our desire to understand everything!  The question of "why" is constantly on our lips.  The inability to understand evil and pain and other problems of this world lead to many people losing their faith or refusing to ever believe in God to begin with.  We want all the answers. 

The idea of thanking God for any form of adversity would appear ludicrous to most people.  The idea that thanks at all times builds trust is hard for someone to grasp who has not yet begun to trust in God.  It is easier to just not believe and to continue to expect proof and answers or they will walk away from God.

It is our desire to understand everything that undermines our faith.  We can't understand everything in this world whether we like it or not.  It will never be possible to explain everything or prove everything.  When we base our "faith" on this need to have all the answers, we are doomed to failure and dissatisfaction.  Faith is not something that operates on "proofs" and human understanding. Faith is basically the opposite of those things.

Faith for a Christian is based on the character of a person---our God, our Savior Jesus Christ.  We put complete trust in Him and not in our own ability to find all the answers.  We trust God's love because he has proven it in giving his Son to us to save us.  This allows us to trust him in all things even when we don't have human understanding of them.

 We thank him because we know his love is a constant factor and thus all things will be for our good. That answer can never satisfy someone without faith.  Those who "lean on their own understanding" cannot "trust God in all things".  It's either one or the other. Those who have found complete trust in God are blessed by the peace they receive.  This too brings thankfulness to their hearts.

Daily faith...

 "It is the daily strivings that count, not the momentary heights.  The obeying of My Will day in, day out, in the wilderness plains, rather then the occasional Mount of Transfiguration."  ---from "God Calling" by the two listeners.

This seemed to compliment the study of the scripture about the healing of Blind Bartimaeus that I wrote about the last two days.

Do we rely on our faith daily in all things or just trot it out when we desire something?  Do we only expect God to heal our urgent needs, or do we rely on him every moment of the day?  Most of life is "the wilderness plains".  There aren't a lot of "Mount of Transfiguration" moments or even instant miraculous healing moments.

Our faith and trust in God has to be built up during the ordinary moments and circumstances of our life.  We have to seek him and his perfect will in all things, at all times.  If we only run to him when we have a desperate moment of need, we will not have any experience of his past faithfulness to build our faith on. Faith and trust grow over time and through getting to know the character of the One we believe in.

Father, give me faith to trust you every day in all of life's circumstances.  I have seen your faithfulness in the past and I know that I can rely on you for all things that I need, whether they are my "daily bread" or during the urgent and extraordinary times that sometimes occur.  You are loving and faithful and always with me.  Thank you.

Blind Bartimaeus part 2...

 Mark 10:52  "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road."  (NIV)

Over and over in Jesus' healing miracles he says that the person's faith has made them well.  Faith is healing.  We don't fully understand this.  When we are seeking a physical healing for our-self or someone else we try desperately to have "enough faith" to bring about the result we want, and we experience great disappointment when we don't see the result we want.  We assume our faith is too weak.  We rely so much on the evidence of our own eyes and the evidence of the results we have asked for, to prove our strength of faith.

I think more accurately our faith puts the problem in Jesus' hands and trusts that the results will be what God wills for the situation at this time.  Our job is to ask God in Jesus' name and to trust God to do what is best, but we can't impose our time frame on the situation or dictate the exact results.  Jesus' presence on earth was a very unique time.  Jesus is still with us and his power is also manifested through his Church and the working of the Holy Spirit.  Faith and prayer are used to tap into this power and his presence. 

I think that the faith of the one to be healed is as important as the faith of those asking for healing for this person.  We don't know what barriers to healing might be present in the person we pray for.  Trying to judge whether our faith is strong enough based on the results we see is not really an accurate measure.  Satan begins to convince us there is something "wrong" with our faith.  God knows what is in our hearts and our sincerity in asking.  We have to trust his judgment and remain faithful and expectant even when we don't see the result we desire.  God is in control

 I know this is not a satisfactory answer for all who wish to see the immediate rewards of their faith.  I don't have the answer to the faith/healing problem, any more then anyone else does.

A final note on this verse---the healed blind man responded by following Jesus.  Obviously his healing was spiritual as well as physical.  Do we give that response when Jesus does answer our healing prayer requests or do we go merrily on our way as if nothing miraculous has happened?

Father, help us to pray with expectation and trust when we ask you for healing   We know that the answer lies with you, no matter what that answer might be.  Strengthen our faith and give us trust in that faith that it will be heard in our prayers when we bring them to Jesus.  Thank you for your healing at all times, whether we see it or not.

Blind Bartimaeus part 1...

 Mark 10:46-52 the story of Blind Bartimaeus.  

Verse 51: "What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked him." (NIV)

Scripture is full of questions that Jesus asks that we all need to answer.  This is one such.  What do we want Jesus to do for us when we come into his presence?  Our answer to this probably changes from day to day.

 Initially we come to Jesus to find forgiveness and salvation, but this question lingers on.  If we consider Jesus our Savior, now what do we want him to do?  What do we expect or think that he can do in our life?  Bartimaeus wanted to see.  A natural request for a blind man.  But if you think about it, that was a huge request---requiring physical healing---and a life changing event.  With Jesus' healing he would be a new man, with a new life to live unlike his past life.  All would be changed.

 We all need Jesus to heal us and give us a new life.  If we only come with worldly requests---physical healing, daily provision, protection---we miss out on the big thing that Jesus can do for us---change our life completely.  We are all blind and deaf and lame in some spiritual sense.  Jesus is our spiritual healer.  If we bring our disability into his presence and ask to "see", he can change our life. 

First we have to recognize our need for healing.  We don't always recognize our spiritual needs as easily as a blind man knows his need for sight.  We need to ask Jesus to heal us of all our needs and to show us our needs that we have not yet recognized.  Calling out to Jesus is the first step toward healing. 

Thank you, Jesus for your healing touch.  I want to see and to have you change my life.

How wide, and long, and high and deep...

 Ephesians 3:17-18  "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."  (NIV)

I am looking for a new way to understand this verse.  Wide, long, high, deep---we usually see these as measurements.  But each one has other meanings as well.

Wide make me think of "all-encompassing".  God's love reaches out in all directions and includes all within.

Long can have the meaning of time duration---"how long?"  God's love is ever-enduring, eternal.

High can have a sense of euphoria.  God's love lifts and thrills us.

Deep has a sense of intensity.  God's love is the heart and soul of our lives. 

All this in Christ!

A flashlight to light our path...

 Psalm 119:105  "Your word is a lamp to m feet and a light for my path." (NIV)

"Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me, and keep me from stumbling." (TLB)

Translations like the Living Bible (a paraphrase) can give a modern refreshing look at words of scripture without changing their meaning.  They help us to understand and can create images in our mind that readily portray an idea.

 We are all familiar with a flashlight and its use.  A flashlight can indeed light up our way so we won't stumble.  But it requires some effort on our part.  There must be fresh batteries and we must actually turn it on to get any good from it.  A flashlight sitting on the shelf at home is worthless when you are out walking in the darkness.

So is a Bible that is never opened.  We have God's word---the living Word of Jesus Christ and the written word of scripture--- just waiting to guide us each day.  The light is there but we must turn it on and aim it at the pathway we are walking to get any good from it.

Self...

 (from "God Calling" by the two listeners)  "It is not life and its difficulties you have to conquer, only the self in you"...Learn of Me.  Kill the self.  Every blow to self is used to shape the real, eternal, imperishable you."

Spiritually, self is our greatest enemy.  We live in a society that relishes "self" and encourages us to be tuned to our desires and wants.  "If it feels right, do it!"  "To yourself be true".  We even take "selfies"---constant personal photographs now easily made with our phones and shared with everyone.    I think much of our concentration on self actually stems from insecurity.  We try to bolster our self-confidence and our self-worth in a world where no one else is apt to support us because they, too, are concentrating on themselves.

This isn't the life God chose for us or intends.  Our focus should be on God and his commands, rather then self.  Satan wants nothing more then to keep us so focused on self and making ourselves king of our world, that we have no time for God or his reign in our lives.

Most of our sins are based in "self". The temptations that the devil threw at Jesus were all rooted in self---feed yourself, make God show his hand to save you, rule the world!  We tend to ask God to do these same things and we face these same temptations every day.  "Cut God out of the equation---do it all yourself---take control".  We reach for the "apple" of sin constantly to please ourselves or control our own world and circumstances.  We leave God out.  We turn away from him and focus on self.

Until we turn back toward God and give him his rightful position in our lives, we can't kill self and its rule over our lives.  Our real life is in Christ.  "In him, we live, and move and have our being".  When Jesus tells us to pick up our cross daily to follow him, this requires crucifying "self" and instead setting our feet in his footsteps.  We ask what his will is, and we do so with the intention to follow him in obedience.

We stop trying to "pick and choose" the parts of scripture we like---the ones that feed our own self-desires---and instead accept God's authority in his Word and our need to obey it.  Obedience doesn't just put us right with God by showing we accept him as our God and King, but it changes and makes right everything about our life.  We gain new life, restored life, redemption and adoption as sons and daughters where we belong.

God is our Father.  He loves us and wants what is right and best for us.  He is also our God and King.  Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and also our Friend when we follow his commands.  Many titles and roles, but all from the same loving source that created us.  We come as children, seeking our Father and his love and guidance.  We come saved by Jesus, our Savior, who has restored us as God's free and forgiven children.  We have his Holy Spirit within to help us knock out "self" and turn our focus back where it belongs.

 It is a very comfortable and secure relationship when we acknowledge it, and "self" ceases to be the ruling factor in our lives.  Our true peace comes from getting back into the right relationship, the one that God designed us to have and chose us for.  Jesus is "the way, the truth, the life"---the key to our new restored life that crucifies "self".  Satan loses, and victory is in Jesus!

New isn't always better....

 
 1 John 2:24  "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you.  If it does you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.  And this is what he promises us---even eternal life." (NIV)

"...keep faithful to what you heard at the beginning." (Phillips)

New isn't always better.  Some things remain the same and our devotion to them should remain the same.  We aren't looking to invent a new gospel or infuse new ideas into the old gospel in an attempt to "keep up with the times".  That is the message of the world.

 We follow a different message---the original "good news" found in Jesus Christ.  It doesn't change.  It doesn't have a "new interpretation". What we first learned about Christ is still the truth.  We are to "remain in the Son and in the Father".  Jesus is the "way, the truth, the life".

This is the Jesus of the scriptures, not the Jesus that some want to re-invent to be more "user friendly" and less accusing of the way they live.  God's word is still God's word.  That "Word became flesh and dwelt among us" in Jesus Christ.  He came to raise us up to his righteousness not to lower himself to our sinfulness.  He came with a message of repentance---turning around, change, renewal of our commitment to our Father.

The LORD is near...

 Phil. 4:4-7  "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again.  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts, and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (NIV)

"Delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in him at all times.  Have a reputation for being reasonable, and never forget the nearness of your Lord.  Don't worry over anything whatever; whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus." (Phillips)

I decided the less familiar Phillips translation helped bring this passage to life.  In all the times I've read these words I don't remember noticing the short sentence: "The Lord is near" tucked in the middle of these verses.  It seems oddly positioned between the command to be gentle or reasonable, and the command to not be anxious or worry.  The progression of Paul's thoughts goes from constant rejoicing in God, to being gentle (fair-minded, ready to forgive), to remembering the Lord's nearness (his present nearness but also his second coming), to not being anxious, to presenting our needs to God thankfully, to experiencing his peace if we remain in Christ Jesus.

In some ways these seem disjointed and unconnected, but in other ways they seem to follow a pattern of awareness of God's presence at all times.  We rejoice in him---continue to trust and believe in him.  We show forbearance with those who oppose our faith.  We remember that the Lord is Immanuel, God with us, and that we can bear anything because he is coming again. We set aside our anxiety and instead ask God for what we need in complete trust of his faithfulness and nearness.  We thank him---again experiencing joy in him.  And his peace descends on us---heart, mind, and soul---allowing us to live in trust as long as we are in Christ Jesus.  We rest there.  We abide.  He is near.

Psalm 91:1-2  "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."  (NIV)

If we abide in God's presence, recognizing that he is the Most High, we will find rest.  This is the peace we receive in Christ who helps us abide in the Father.  If all begins with trust.