The Albino and the Wheel Barrow

Some days are easier than others when it comes to walking faithfully. There are mornings when the alarm wakes me up with screeching and noise, and others when the Spirit gently nudges me from slumber. There are days when the very presence of the God of the universe is felt as much as known, and others where I feel completely alone. There is one thing each of these types of days has in common: the command of God is unchanged.

For several weeks I've had more good days than bad. God dealt with me directly, lovingly, and severely one Sunday afternoon when I found myself in the pit of despair. No, not the torture pit from The Princess Bride...this is one of my own creation where I am both the torturer and the tortured. This is my own secret hideaway in which I retreat when I feel an overwhelming need to reject God's goodness and provision, to sit in my own emotional and spiritual filth, and have a pity party for one. Unlike the pit in the movie the way in is not hard to find, the key is obvious: selfishness. I don't need the Spirit of my Father to guide my blade to find the mechanism to allow entry. In fact, the Spirit always tries to guide me away from the pit, but I can be pretty stubborn about the matter.

Today is a perfect example of the rougher type of days. After a dismal four day weekend of being sick and alone, I have arisen with a new focus on entering the pit. I crave selfish indulgence. I want to confront God with cries of "Why me?" With circumstances in my life decidedly out of my control I've had to learn to lean fully on God. Every day, sometimes every second of every day, is an exercise in actively living my faith. I'm learning to trust God based on His testimony about His character from His word. Life and circumstances may shift like leaves in the breeze, but God does not. Really believing this, really living every moment of life based on a truth that never changes regardless of the wily ways of the world is the challenge I face. And today I got out of bed not wanting to face it or live up to the calling I received.

Here's the deal, the basic problem I have with wanting to get faith right today: my requirement is not contingent on the behavior of others. No matter what others may do, God's call on my life, the master/servant relationship He established when He purchased me out of my slavery to sin, is steadfast. This fact is even more stubborn than I am. When others people refuse to act as I think they should I stubbornly grasp for the latch to my pit of despair. I grab onto my selfish feelings, whine, cry, moan, and act like a spoiled brat. But, and this is a God sized but, the command did not change. Though the whole world should disobey, I am still commanded otherwise. I am the servant, and I have a master.

I am apparently not the only person in the history of Christianity to require this lesson. The church at Thessaloniki had some folks who refused to get with the program. Those people were commanded by God to get to work. For those trying to get it right God had this instruction:

As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. 2 Thes 3:13 (NLT)

Well that's me in a nutshell today. I'm tiring of doing good. I don't want to do the good I know I ought to do (thank you James), but that does not absolve me of the requirement. In military terms the verse could be translated thus: suck it up, Buttercup. So I will. I resolve not only to do the good I ought in those opportunities which present themselves, but I will go the extra mile and seek out such opportunities. I will live out my faith. The Spirit is leading me (again) away from the pit of despair, and for that I am grateful. I am especially grateful that the command comes with comfort. Or, as Paul closed out the letter:

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thes 3:16

As for how God dealt with me that day a few weeks ago, it was through this song. I've known the song for a while, played it plenty of times on guitar, but I never fully comprehended the meaning.

Clued In

God has dealt with me. On Father's Day He demonstrated perfect fatherhood.

I spent the entire weekend being a spoiled brat. I was throwing a temper tantrum. I laid on the floor of my spirituality kicking and screaming. I cried out not to God but at God. I couldn't immediately have what I wanted, and I was fighting, crying mad. I went toe-to-toe with the my Heavenly Father. I was a tired and distraught toddler and a rebellious teenager all rolled into one. I yelled and screamed. I stomped my foot. I thrust my fist to the sky and accused my gracious, loving father of being anything but gracious and loving. In His mercy God demonstrated His perfect patience. With gentleness and kindness He endured my fit and restored me in love. He was the father to me that I desperately long to be to my children.

I still do not have what I was screaming for this weekend. God did not placate me and capitulating to my ranting. He stood firm as only a Holy Father can. He stood firm in His love for me, knowing what truly is my highest good. I wanted something else. I placed something above Him in my love and esteem. An object (though good in and of itself) became my greatest treasure. But God has a better way. What He gave me in place of what I demanded was Himself. He suffers no idols, not even the good things we elevate above their station. He will be first in my heart even if my entire life must be violently ripped away from me so that only He remains. He loves me that much. It is His nature and character to be and do so. If His love for me is so infinite that not even the life of His own Son was an impediment to restoring my right relationship to Him, then surely my lowly, earthly concerns cannot stand in the way. If God sent His only Son to die a horrific death on the cross to effect my salvation, then there is nothing on this earth He will not sacrifice to continue the work He started in me through sanctification and ultimately complete it in glorification.

To some this may sound harsh. It may sound like I have a stern faced, cruel Father, but it is not true. What is true is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth is that God so loves me that He gave Himself up on a cruel Roman cross to restore me to a right relationship with Him. The Creator of the universe...the eternally existing God gave Himself up for me as a perfect sacrifice. Or, as Paul put it in his letter to the Colossians:

For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,  and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah.  Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses.  He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him. (Col 2:9-15)

There is too much in this passage to take in at once. The very first sentence is too big for my intellect. Not only is the entire fullness of the eternal, infinite God fully in the body of Christ, but I, this guy...this worthless sinner...have been filled by Him. The mind explodes! My entire being reels with this idea, this truth, this reality.  My only right response is to fall on my face in worship...joyful, tear filled, elated, emotional, exuberant praise to the very God of gods who loves me and has pledged himself in an unbreakable covenant to me. As Thomas put it, my Lord and my God!

This is barely the tip of the iceberg. I've written nothing about the death of my old self or birth of the new. I've not touched on the absolute elimination of my debt of rebellion (which just about rivals Paul's). Jesus has become my treasure. Christ in me is all I need to know. It is enough. In this my joy is complete. All other things have fallen away in the light of this beautiful mystery. Even the thing, the very good thing, I was throwing a fit over this weekend. My perfect Heavenly Father demonstrated perfect fatherly love to me. I have been clued in.

Some James from long ago

Many moons ago I undertook to study and write about James. I started penning a Bible study I hoped to use in teaching my close group of fellow believers. Here's the first section. Any errors in grammar or spelling are attributable to this sitting on the shelf of a computer hard drive for over a decade.

JAMES 1:1-8

TESTED TO PERFECTION

OR

COFFEE BREAK’S OVER, BACK ON YOUR HEADS

 

            After a brief introduction, James gets right into the subject of trials, tests, and temptations.  James writes one of the Christian’s favorite comfort verses right out of the gate in 1:2.  This verse is also one of the most perplexing verses we have today.  “Consider it pure joy my brother when you face trials of many kinds” (Jas 1:2 NIV, emphasis mine).  When I first read this passage as a young Christian, I thought James must be mad.  How can anyone consider trials and tests to be joyful, much less pure joy?  These things aren’t joyful, they’re painful, just ask Job.  I don’t think he really enjoyed scratching his oozing sores with a piece of broken pottery.  When his idiot wife told him to curse God and die, he probably didn’t leap up and down with his fevered body shouting praises.  I have been in tight spots through no ill will of my own (rare though they are) and found no joy in the experience.  Praise God that He inspired James to write down what should be our motivation in trials, and not just a commandment to endure. 

 

Let’s look at the text and answer a few questions that will help us understand exactly what James is saying and what the presence or absence of certain characteristics through trials tell us about our beliefs.  I am using the New English Translation in this study to force us to read anew the things James is writing.  You may use the old familiar NIV or NKJV, but I recommend getting a fresh perspective on the important things said here.

 

1 From James, a slave of God and of Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.  Greetings!

            2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.  5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.  6 But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.  7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 since he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

(Jas 1:1-8 NET)

 

 

Here are a few questions to help us understand what we should get form this text.

 

1. Who did James write this to?  Why does that make a difference in how we read it?

  

 

 

2.  What is the specific command James gives us?  What specific behaviors obey this command, which ones fly in the face of James and our Lord? (include text references if you have them)

 

 

 

3.  Why does James think we all need a little testing from time to time?  What is the one key thing we all seem to lack?  Why?

 

                       

                        How many of you thought that losing a job through no fault of your own was the result of a need for more wisdom?  We can all name really silly things that have happened in our lives that were placed there by God to bone us up on some “wisdom”.  The key to understanding the trials and tests we go through is to understand who is sovereign and who isn’t.  We often times question the intelligence of the omniscient God of heaven when our lives become a little bit uncomfortable.  Job went on quite the tirade when he was tested.  His friends didn’t help much.  They were constantly accusing Job of sin, beating to death the theory of a cause and effect relationship in our lives.  They were close to the truth, but they never understood that testing and punishment often look the same.  They weren’t let in on the secret that Job was tested for being righteous, not for being sinful.  God disciplines the sinful, but He tests the righteous.  Job’s friends did not know what the cause and what the effect was in Job’s affliction.

            God sees things much deeper than even our Hubble telescope can.  He knows the heart and mind of each man and woman in His creation.  Being a loving father, he wants the best for all of His children.  Just like we human parents do with our children, sometimes God gives us tests to show us our capabilities and our limitations.  When our infant daughters were ready to walk, my wife and I put them to the test.  We helped them upright between us with a few feet of space in between.  With much coaxing and lots of falling, each one eventually made it from one parent to the other.  We did this because we knew they are ready and capable of walking.  They learned this skill because we cared enough to let go.  I don’t remember learning to walk, but I can speculate at what goes through a baby’s mind the first time his “loving” father lets go.

            God places all of us in tests.  He “let’s go” to give us the opportunity to prove to ourselves what we can do.  None of what is accomplished has anything to do with our own great skill, it has to do with whose children we are.  My cat’s children don’t walk upright, but my children do because they aren’t cats, they’re humans.  Children of God live life righteously and skillfully not because they are superior to others but because they are indwelt with the Spirit of the Living God.  God gives us opportunities to live out our faith.  My natural parents were kind enough to put me through the walking test, and I’ve been able to walk with moderate success ever since.  After God gave Job the sovereignty test, Job lived his life in the understanding he gained from a meeting with the Sovereign of the universe.  At the end of specific tests in our lives, we also will discover wonderful things about ourselves and our God.

            Frequently we are lacking at the beginning of trials and tests.  God must do more than just show us what we’re made of.  Tests, then, serve the purpose of equipping us with the wisdom we require.  Wisdom is the ability to live life skillfully (thanks Lynn), and we are often quite short on that skill.  Just as babies lack the skill to walk, we lack the wisdom to live; just as the babies are full of walking potential, we are full of the Spirit of God who gives us unlimited wisdom potential.  In trials and test, we learn to trust God, act on our faith in God, and if necessary, cry out to God for deliverance.  Doing each of those at the appropriate time is wise.  Like the babies of our oft used analogy, we learn when to step out, when to fall, and we learn to always trust our loving parent for safety with either.  We, of course, lag behind babies in the faith department.  They wouldn’t try to walk without faith in us, and we are prone to just stew in our juices during a trial instead of believing God to give us the skill to pass the test.  In the end, we find that the very same test can, and often does, serve the dual purposes of demonstrating who we are and teaching us to rely on God for the rest.  Although we may be amazingly capable as children of God, our skills are still miniscule compared to the Almighty.  In Him we move and breathe and have our being.  We can never believe that too much. 

Finding that razor sharp edge of reality on which we live is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary.  We have to live as who we are (blood bought, new creations of God), die to who we were (vile sinners condemned to an eternity of torment), and stop trying to be what we are not (sovereign deities).  There are two pitfalls we must avoid if we are to endure testing successfully.  The first is forgetting who God is.  The second is forgetting who we are.  If we fall into the first trap, we are likely to see no way out and thus never try.  We judge God by our circumstances instead of vice versa.  We can forget our salvation and believe we are just getting what we deserve.  If the pendulum swings the other way, we can become conceited after a test is concluded.  We somehow believe that by our own majestic power we have accomplished the task.  I hate to burst some people’s bubbles, but pride is the mark of a failed test.  Any man (or woman) who finishes a test proud instead of humbled has utterly failed.  Scripture tells us God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  The end of a test in life should never be God opposing us.  We have to continually remember why God tests us.  If the end result is not our perfection, the something has gone awry.  If the test ends without the desired outcome, the test is a failure.  Funny thing about a failed test, there always seems to be a re-test, and it is inevitably harder.

If you believe a teacher will help you with an answer to a question on a test, you ask for help and you pass the test.  If you don’t believe the teacher will be of any help, you sit in silence doing nothing productive, or you try on your own and fail anyway.  We behave the same way towards God.  If we actually believe He will give us the wisdom we lack to pass a test and thus move on to something different (like another test), we ask.  The problem we usually run into is that we really don’t believe God will do anything for us, and we don’t bother to ask (see pitfall #1 from before).   God gives us everything we need in times of trials and tests.  He has given us the latent ability through salvation, and He gives us the needed skill through the testing.  We have numerous stories in the Bible and in our own churches to attest to this fact.  God is trustworthy, He is a loving father.  We can trust Him during those times to be our Jehovah Jireh, our provider God.  James tells us to ask, and it will be given to us.  The only stipulation in the asking is that we must ask with faith, or we are to expect nothing from God.  If we ask without faith, we are double minded.  We vacillate between believing God will provide and disbelieving.  In the heat of the moment, we lean on our own understanding instead of on our God.  Our first reaction to testing is fear not faith.  We have to be trained, through the tests and trials in our lives to default to our knowledge of God and our faith in Him instead of the worldly reaction of fear.  This, I believe, is part of the perfection God desires to form in us. 

Our faith does not exist in a vacuum.  God does not require us to have faith founded on fiction.  What we believe about God is based on His character and His impeccable record of being everything He claims to be, without ever changing.  In this text, James proclaims several absolute facts about God on which we can build our trust and our faith.  If we practice living in these principles, even outside of trials, faith can become our default reaction when God chooses to grow us even more towards the perfection He desires for us.  Here is what James assures us about our God:

            1- God is doing a good work in us! 1:3,4

            2- God is generous! 1:5

            3- God will not be harsh during these tests! 1:5

            Here is the point where we must rely on other scripture to fully understand the assertions made in this text.  Paul tells us in Philippians that God, who began a good work in us, will perfect it.  God didn’t save us and forget about us.  No one will arrive in heaven unannounced.  The writer of Hebrews assures us that God is the author and finisher of our faith.  It doesn’t take a genius to look into the Word of God and see that He continues to work in the lives of those He has called.  God’s plan for man includes not just salvation, but also our sanctification, and ultimately our glorification.  Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit is given to us to be our guide, our teacher, and our counselor.  All of these occupations involve ongoing interaction with the Godhead, and they all result in our perfection and God’s glory.  In Romans Paul lays out the plan God set for us before the foundations of the world.  At no point in that plan are we ever left idle.  God’s good work in us is constant from the point of salvation until we go home to Him who called us.

            We can see in our Lord’s teaching about the Father that He is indeed generous.  The teaching of Jesus in Mathew 5 resounds with the goodness of God.  From studying Proverbs, Psalms, and the New Testament books, we find that God is generous to all of creation, not just to the saved.  If God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike, how much more do we find the blessings of God for those who are united with Him through the death of His Son?  The only problem we have with God’s generosity to us is we seldom open our eyes to what He has placed around us.  We seek the miraculous moments to declare His goodness when the greater work of God is the sustenance and provision given every day.  The very breath of life entering our lungs is a boon from the Gifting Giver, yet we seldom take time to acknowledge, much less thank, the Almighty of Heaven who gives to all without finding fault. 

            The final point James makes is hard for many to swallow.  In comparison to the comfort we desire, the testing of God does appear to be very harsh.  My natural inclination is to lay on the couch and watch TV until it’s time to do something less strenuous, like sleep.  When my wife causes me to get up and take out the trash, it seems like a laborious task compared to what I would be doing otherwise.  However, if I really stopped to think about it, I could be left alone to do all the chores of living.  I could do the endless dishes, change a multitude of diapers, vacuum and sweep, and be forced to do all the other things that come with living as a civilized human being.  Compared to the possibility, the reality is quite easy and comfortable.  Being tried and tested by God is much the same.  When my car dies to teach me patience, it’s much better than if my car were to catch fire.  If I deal with joblessness for a season, it’s easier than moving my family into the street and begging for our basic needs.  Compared to all that God could allow to try my faith, the things that come my way aren’t that bad.  They appear horrible from close up, but when some distance from them allows a better view, I see how gentle the Father actually is.

            Although this is not an authoritative treatment of trials and tests in our lives, I hope it is of some use to any who labor through reading it.  Many more clever and insightful things can probably be said about this passage of scripture.  My only hope is that some believers (myself included) will realize that we preach the gospel with our lives whether we intend to or not.  During tests of our faith, it becomes imperative that we preach the truth of the gospel.  

            One final note about how the testing of our faith develops perseverance, not all the tests God allows in our lives are timed events.  Some tests last only a short while, and other tests may last until we are taken home to glory.  There is no “faith equals comfort” formula in this text.  Don’t be led astray by those who would have you believe that faith is the key to comfort on this world.  Faith is the opposite.  Having faith that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead is a guarantee that we will face tests, trials, and even persecution in this world.  This type of life is promised to us by our Lord Himself, but as Paul told us, these temporary discomforts are not even worthy of comparison to the glory we will receive in the end.  Although not specifically in this text, this fact must be recalled from other parts of the Word to avoid heresy.

 

            Now onto the next section, the reality check.  Let’s look at the text and see what James has for us in this one.

 

            9 Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position.  10 But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow.  11 For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever.  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.  12 Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. (Jas 1:9-12 NET)

 

            I had quite a bit of trouble understanding how these words followed what James had just said about being double minded and enduring testing.  I couldn’t really see why he would want to start bringing money into a situation already confused by his unworldly attitude towards trials and test.  Until I grasped this text, I thought I knew what a proper prospective was on the haves and have nots.  As always, God’s inspired Word turned my thoughts upside down.  Common sense became nonsense.

            We should start with a few questions about this passage, then we can move on to taking it apart to get at the meat of the message.

 

1.  If pride is always spoken of so poorly in the Bible, why does James tell poor people to have it?

 

 

2.  What can possibly be the rich man’s humiliation?  Why go to such depths describing the decay of the wealthy?

 

 

3.  How can verse 12 ever tie into the other three verses here?

 

 

            One thought about this text finally brought me to an understanding of how it fits with the verses immediately preceding it.  Life is the test.  After we are given instructions on how to deal with the situational trials, James expands the subject to include every aspect of our lives.  He goes about it differently than I would have, but I’m not the one inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen the very words of God.  That being the case, we’ll have to stick to the way James wrote it if we are to understand what God wants us to understand about dealing with the test of life. 

            I think money and life position are brought into this scenario because they are common denominators between every human being.  All of us fit somewhere in the financial scheme of things.  Since he is writing to the Jews of his day, James also uses this example to correct some long held, but very incorrect, beliefs.  In the mind of a Jew back then, piety equaled blessing.  No wonder the disciples asked Jesus if a blind man had sinned or if his parents were the offenders.  People even today seem to think that if all is going well, then God must be pleased with you.  In truth, if all is going too well, it could be a sign that God is reserving His bitter wrath for you at the judgment seat of Christ.  Jesus told us that the world loves its own and hates what belongs to God.  Comfort in this life is either a blessing from God (like recess between classes) or a curse we induce upon ourselves as we serve the wrong master.  We normally are not capable of determining which one it is.  The key is to behave according to the perfect law of Christ, which will be harder to do if we’re serving mammon.  In the end we find that money makes us all a lot like cats.  If we have it, it’s our biggest burden.  If we don’t have it, it’s our biggest burden.  Just like my cat, Max, I’m always on the wrong side of the door concerning material wealth.  One of the worst experiences I ever had was when I received a bonus check for about $16,000.  The struggle over what to do with it was terrible.  I lost more sleep over having some money than I ever lost from not having it.

            I could be treading very close to the edge of a high precipice with this subject.  Many wealthy people would get outraged at hearing that their earthly possessions may have cost them eternity.  Once again, context can save the day (and my hide!) when dealing with this subject.  In the context of this particular book, attitude is everything.  James never decries the possession of possessions, but he does beat the tar out of those who lose perspective of why they have them, who gave the stuff to them in the first place, and what the end of their precious stuff is.  This teaching squares perfectly with Proverbs, the law, and our Lord’s own words.  James doesn’t say you are a worthless cause if you have stuff, but he does make it clear that your mammon could be the hardest test you’ll be given.  It is a test that many fail, and they are judged accordingly.  We will deal with this subject in much more depth later in the study.

            Now we must get back to the questions at hand concerning this short passage of scripture.  Specifically, we must discover what high position a poor man holds and what humiliation a rich man glories in.  I think that we can find the answer to both questions in the final verse of this section.  “Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.” (Jas 1:12)  If life is the test, when will a man be proven genuine?  When does he turn in his answer book and receive the score?  The obvious answer is death.  In the end of all things, the poor man is highly exalted when he enters into the kingdom of the Living God.  At the same time, the rich man’s material wealth and all his possessions, those things that were the very glory of the finite world, are instantaneously removed and destroyed from him.  To the world, this is humiliation.  To the Christian, it is the very day he longs for. 

            In either scenario, whether rich or poor, we are challenged by James to live life skillfully.  The person who has vast wealth on this earth must give an account of every penny when he is graded.  I don’t envy this man’s position.  Where there is much responsibility, much wisdom is required.  We’ve already discussed how God instills us with wisdom.  Personally, I’m not too gung ho about undertaking that much testing of my faith.  I have a hard enough time being wise with the small portion God has allotted me.  I do believe I would fail miserably if He challenged me with more.  It is His grace that I occupy the life position that I have. 

            On the flip side of the coin, we find a poor man who must give account for how he spent himself when that was the only worldly possession God gifted him with.  I fall much closer to being in this situation.  Although the external accountability may be less for this man, he must deal more frequently in the commodity God really values.  In the end of all things, when heaven and earth are replaced, the only thing remaining from the old system will be the people.  How we care for them (including ourselves) will be the single grade on the report card.  I guess this option requires just as much, if not more, wisdom than having worldly wealth.  It is a highly exalted position to have full responsibility for the very objects of God’s affection, the ones for whom Christ died.

            After looking more deeply into this passage, it becomes perfectly clear that James is not changing subjects, he’s making the point he set out to make from the beginning.  He tells us in a very sharp fashion that we must live our faith in both the small things of life and in life itself.  Paul tells us we are saved for the good works God prepared for us to accomplish.  James expounds on the theme by letting us know that every moment of every day God is preparing us for the very works for which He saved us.  I don’t believe any man is told what his work is before he enters glory.  At that time, he will give an account for how he handled the task.  If that is the case, then we would all do well to keep a keen eye for the guiding and teaching hand of God.  When we seek the grandiose ways to serve, we can miss the mundane tasks that may be the whole of God’s work for us.  Therefore, we must strive daily to accomplish each and every thing placed before us, whether pleasant or painful, great or miniscule, seen or hidden, in a manner worthy of Christ.  Whether we are entrusted with the wealth to feed the nations or with love to lead the lost to Jesus, we are accountable to God Almighty for how we use His resources.  We are stewards of what He was given us, and we will be judged for how we have handled it.  The trials in life are merely perfecting us for the greater task of living our lives as children of God.  Let us live up to what we have already attained.

 

Do we believe in God?  If we do, we will endure trials and testing with nothing but joy because we know what the outcome is.  We know our loving God is perfecting us to stand in His presence as saved, sanctified, and glorified members of His own family.  He is equipping us with what we need and removing what we don’t need, to live the life He saved us for.  Believing this gives us the ability to “grin and bear it” when we are in tight spots.  Believing what we read in the Bible gives us the courage to step forward when we see God let go while we’re standing on wobbly legs.  Believing God has a very specific plan for each person He saves will encourage us to look continually for how we may serve Him with our lives.  Believing the gospel story that the just died for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, the perfect for the hideous, gives us the patience and motivation to endure any test so we may bring glory to the One who loved us, even to death.  But only if we have faith.

The Just Prayer

Prayer is a good thing. We're commanded to do it, and Paul even says to do it unceasingly. Jesus specifically taught us how to do it. And we fail.

Here's what I'm talking about. We often demonstrate a lack of faith while we pray! We do what I call "the just prayer."

We fall to our knees, or our faces, place ourselves before the throne of heaven, entreat the Great I AM, and put limits on what we'll ask for or receive. "I just come before you now." "If you would just" answer this prayer this way. Just, just, just. We pray to Almighty God. The infinite, eternal, omnipotent God. Why would we want Him to just do the little things our little minds can come up with?

"For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" declares The Lord. The things we just ask God for are exactly that, our thoughts. Tiny, limited, temporal, material...dare I even say fleshly. In our thoughts we never would have conceived of the universe. God did and He created all that is. In our thoughts we never would have dreamed up the joy of marriage and family. God did, and we enjoy the fruits of God's magnificent thoughts. We never, ever in a million years would have dreamed up a savior who was God being born a baby, living a sinless life, dying on a cross as our perfect sacrifice, and rising again to bring us directly into the throne room of heaven to submit our prayers. But He did. God thought it up all on His own. Without any of our input or help He made the way...He became the way.

So, when I pray today I won't offer any "just" prayers. I don't  want to limit God's imagination in what He wants to do in my life. Imagine how disappointed we'd be if God answered the way we pray, if He said to us, "Ok, I'll just do that." Today I'm open to whatever He deems best. I'm almost positive it's something I'd never have thought up in a million years, and I am absolutely positive I'll be happier and more blessed than with anything I could have imagined. Just so.

David's Plea

Frustrated, restless, and quite near panicked I opened my browser bible in hopes of finding comfort. What I found was much more than that. I found a kindred spirit, a partner in prayer, a Godly man who prayed the cry of my heart in words I would have chosen had I known them. I knew not where to look, but providence guided my mouse as I closed my eyes, rotated the scroll wheel, and clicked the mouse wherever it would land. In my desparate flailing God gave me Psalm 25 and David's plea.

Though I know I've heard verses from this Psalm before I cannot remember ever specifically reading it. In my time of despair it resonated in my inmost being. I read David's words and they sounded in my head like the prayer of a brother sitting in the chair next to me, holding my hands, and praying with me.

I am struck by David's humility. In times such as what I face (and what David was apparently facing) it is easy to climb up on one's high horse of self righteousness. It's tempting to scream for justice when what is really needed is mercy. This is what I found in the Psalm. Never does David beg for vindication; rather, he cries out for God's goodness instead of extolling his own. Indeed, he does not ask to stand on his own goodness but relies on God's greatness.

 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am alone and afflicted.
 The distresses of my heart increase;
bring me out of my sufferings.
 Consider my affliction and trouble,
and take away all my sins.

In these three verses I find my prayer, my heart's cry. I can particularly relate to the distresses of my heart increasing. The stress of my situation is such that I actually fear for my health. I finally understand that old King James turn of phrase "sorely oppressed." Apparently it's ok to feel this. David felt it. He (and I) is alone and afflicted. He (and I) has affliction and trouble. He (and I) feels the heavy weight of an anxious, distressed heart. He (and I) confesses it. He (and I) turns to the only source of comfort and the only manner of relief. Consider me, oh God, and take away all my sins.

In this Old Testement Psalm I find the good news of Christ. No man stands in his own righteousness before the Holy God. My only hope in this life, in the next, in the good and in the bad, is in the righteousness of God. And I pray this now, all day: "Guard me and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in You." Not because I am worthy, but because of your love, your mercy, your grace my great and good God.

David's plea is my plea. 

Sour Dough Sanctification

I love to bake, especially bread. My dinner rolls are raved about by everyone who has had them. The French bread I make always brings the family joy. I've made an Amish white bread that the kids beg for again and again.

The one type of bread I've never baked, however, is sour dough. I know I don't have the patience to create and maintain a good starter. Also, the process kind of scares me a little. The idea of starting with something old when making something new just seems off. So, I've never tried to get my San Fran on and make a crusty loaf of sour dough.

In my spiritual life I've gone the other way, especially concerning sanctification. The promise of God is not only to save me from eternal damnation (salvation), but also to change me in the mean time (sanctification.) But, it's a scary business. Unlike with the bread where I'm afraid to make something new with bits of something old, when it comes sanctification I'm afraid to let go of the old. I want to mix some of the old sin into this new life I have in Christ. Apparently I'm not the first Christian to deal with it.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast permeates the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. (1Cor 5:6-7)

This verse has been plaguing me today. I've been contemplating the new man I'm not, and I know (and have known probably forever) exactly why. I refuse to cooperate with God when it comes to my sanctification. I ask Him to wash me clean, but I don't really mean it. I want Him to sweep, but not to mop. I ask to be wiped down, but not scrubbed up. Where God would have me made anew into an unleavened new man, I keep snatching a bit of the old lump and mixing it in. As Paul notes, it works its way through the entire batch of dough.

If I hold onto any of my old sin the entire new man is not a new man. This is the point in the thought process where I would normally start making excuses. I've been this far before. I recognize the need to put off the old man and put on Christ, but something in me resists. I bargain with God to let me keep just a little of the sin. I offer myself to God, but only if I can keep something back. This technique works great...until it doesn't.

A point is inevitably reached at which one realizes that the tiniest speck of that old yeast has wrecked the entire new lump of dough. That's where I'm at. Not only have I discovered the loaf ruined, it's grown out of proportion, wrecked the oven, and destroyed the kitchen. I'm struggling to find adequately descriptive words for this. I thought I could be a 99% Christian, keep that one little percent of the old sinfulness (you know, the fun bits) in my life and handle it. But I can't.

It's time for a little metanoia, a change of mind, repentance. I believed one thing (keeping the old), God proclaims something else (utterly remade), and it's high time I get on board with what He says about the matter.

 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires. (Rom 13:14)

I've always made those plans. No more. Obedience time. No more sour dough sanctification. I'm ready to give it all away, the entire sin starter.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. (2Cor 5:17)

It's time to show myself and the world those new things.