The Insanity Of Choosing To Trust In Yourself And Not God

 “He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). “I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me.  As we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life. -  Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

 In my experience the greatest enemy facing me and my desire to follow God and yielding to His leading and ways is, well…. It’s me.  I find it so easy to agree with God and acknowledge His precepts as right, and yet, when faced with life I, consistently, turn to me and not Him. The phrase “Living by Faith” is not meant to be a plaque on the living room wall … or merely a pleasantry that we acknowledge as being right.  To live by faith – in God – means to trust Him first – no matter what.  Living by faith is not like one of the bodily functions controlled by the autonomic nervous system .. like breathing and heart beats … something that you don’t have to think about … Living by faith is intentional … It is an act of our will.  If you are struggling with living by your faith in a particular place in your life, it is most likely that the source of the struggle is you .. not your circumstances.  Like the man who said to Jesus “Help me with my unbelief” 

Jesus asked the boy’s father, How long has he been like this? From childhood, he answered. It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. If you can’? said Jesus. Everything is possible for one who believes. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! – Mark 9:21-24

We know God “can” but the question is do we believe - He will? In this life on Earth, we are not spared from hardship or heartache, but … we can endure whatever life brings our way if we will only have faith in the One who sent His Son … Who created us from dust and breathed life into us. Once in our natural birth and then again in our spiritual rebirth when He sealed us with His Spirit – the Breath of God.  I know that trusting God in the midst of the turmoil of life can be difficult .. maybe you think impossible … This I know from my own life, if Christians neglect the disciplines of the faith … if Sunday is the sum total of the time they spend with the Father … then when the test comes . .and it will come, they will likely get a failing grade.  Not because God was not able to sustain them, but because they chose to ignore Him and trust themselves.  The depth of their faith is dependent upon good things happening to them and the avoidance or relief from bad things and not an abiding relationship with the Father. 

So why is something like living by faith, that seems so simple, so hard to do? Because it is our nature to trust ourselves even if it always leads to failure.  Remember that is the definition of insanity.

“Trust in the Lord and not yourself” – (my paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5)

Faith and trust in God demand that you surrender - now that can be problematic can't it?

Think about it – Pray about it - Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Leaving A Legacy

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. -  1 Chronicles 6:1-3

If you have read Kings or Chronicles in the Bible, you know that there are many names listed. Generational succession. And every now and again you come across names that you are familiar with like Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. But what about all of those other people? Was their existence just like the proverbial "hand in a bucket of water"? While the hand is in the water its presence is obvious. The hand displaces water, but when the hand is removed from the water and the ripples on the water subside, you would never know that the hand had been there.  

When you see a name on a building or street sign have you ever wondered about the person who bore that name? The street or the building was most likely named after them to honor them. But I suspect before that generation had passed - or most certainly by the next generation - the person was forgotten and their name was just a name on a sign. Of course, there are a few in history where their names and contributions to society are still remembered. They may be famous or infamous - but remembered, all the same. What is said about a woman in Proverbs can also be said for a man.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. - Proverbs 31:30

Our current president is wanting to make a visible mark, I think, so he will be remembered.  But, I suspect that like Gershon, Kohath, and Merari - it will not be much beyond this generation that people  will wonder, and then if only for a moment, "Who is that?" As Christians, I think that it is more important that the legacy we leave is not one of personal notoriety and temporal changes that can be upended as quickly as they were accomplished, but with changes that are eternal. 

Mankind, but our culture, in particular, is consumed with self-indulgence. With appearances. What the outside looks like. And from that, people draw conclusions about what the heart and character of that person are like. How disappointing to discover that the people we have put on pedestals of honor are found to have feet of clay - just like everyone else. And they too will be forgotten by the next generation.

So about that Legacy. Well - I think that the best legacy I can leave is that God is remembered and honored in the next generation. The thing is, in my experience, you may not know you have left a godly impression on the life of someone else. To be remembered - not because people saw me - but because people saw Jesus in me. The legacy I am referring to is not painted on a street sign or etched on the side of a building - but embedded in the hearts of others. A legacy of faith in God.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Like It Or Not - Our Words Reflect Our Hearts

“Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart….For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man…” —Matthew 15:18-20

Either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. If I will take an honest look at myself, becoming fully aware of my so-called innocence and putting it to the test, I am very likely to have a rude awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I will be appalled at the possibilities of the evil and the wrong within me. Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity. - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

I often tell people that if you will listen to what people say, eventually, they will expose their hearts. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the heart speaks”  Perhaps it is a critical word, gossip, profanity, a coarse joke, a racial slur, the use of the Lord’s name as an negative exclamation or it might be a word of encouragement, a praise to God, the voice of compassion, the use of the Lord’s name as a positive exclamation … if you listen long enough, you will hear the heart.  Have you heard anyone, including yourself, say “Just kidding” after making some unkind, cutting remark?  What they really mean is that they didn’t mean for that thought to come out.  My heart is the source of my actions and words … David prayed in Psalm 51 that God would create a new clean heart in him … renew a right spirit.  Our words give a glimpse of the condition of our hearts.  Are we walking after the Spirit or after the flesh?  Galatians 5 describes what you will hear and see in either case … the acts of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit.  As Christ followers, we are to be a light of hope … pointing people to Jesus.  

“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” - James 3:10-12

“Be careful little mouth what you say. Oh be careful little mouth what you say.  For the Lord is up above and He’s looking down with love, so be careful little mouth what you say.”  That children’s song seems to suggest that we are the ones who can clean up our heart by being careful  .. but it is really God by His Spirit and Word that do the cleaning.  What we do, like David, is seek out the Spirit and the Word and submit to them …. Then like the Lord told Joshua …. 

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. - Joshua 1:8

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Spiritual Parenthood - Who Is Your Daddy?

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. - John 3:14-18

OK - Have you read the full chapter of John 3? I mean really read it beyond embracing John 3:16.  Let me see if I can paraphrase verses 14-18

God loves the world and wants mankind to be restored through faith in Jesus. Jesus who was lifted up on the cross for our sins, died and was resurrected by the power of the Father. When we place our trust in that truth which is a spiritual revelation from the Father, then we have eternal life. And so, people who do not put their faith in Jesus - are not born again by the Spirit -  are already condemned. 

In Psalm 51:5, David wrote, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” David recognized that even at conception he was a sinner. When anyone is born, naturally, they are not spiritually fatherless. Because of what happened in the Garden, we are all born spiritually dead toward God - as children of the Devil.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. - John 8:42-44

Now - we don't want to think that. We want to imagine that we are perhaps somehow neutral, spiritually speaking, up to some age and then we are accountable for our sin.  

"It is possible that God applies Christ’s payment for sin to young children and others incapable of faith, but the Bible does not specifically say that He does this. Therefore, this is a subject about which we should not be dogmatic. God’s extending grace to those who cannot believe would seem consistent with His character. [A reasonable] position [might be] that God does apply Christ’s payment for sin to babies and those who are mentally handicapped, since they are incapable of understanding their sinful state and their need for the Savior." - that is a quote from Got Questions Ministries (but again - "the Bible does not specifically say that He does this") 

With respect to accountability for sin, I suppose the takeaway is that those who are not born again spiritually are already charged as being guilty. One day they will hear the "strike of the gavel" and their sentencing and that will happen at the Great White Throne Judgement. But the lost don't know it.  I am certain that you are comfortable with your understanding of the verses in "Romans that tell us that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "There are none righteous no not one" There is no exception in either verse. All means all. None means none.

We must be careful about interjecting what we hope to be true into what we know is Biblical truth. Jesus told Nicodemus - "You must be born again". When you are born again your "name' is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, have already received a pardon and will not be judged on that day. Hallelujah. Thank You Jesus!

Does it bother you that people are headed for hell but don't know it or perhaps accept it?  Did you know that as a Christian God has entrusted you with the Gospel - the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus? And that is a serious responsibility and must not be ignored or diminished.

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. - 2 Thessalonians 2:4

That is not to say that you should stand on a street corner with a sign saying "Turn or burn!" but you should be praying for those who are not Christians - starting with those who are close to you. Share your testimony about the difference that God has made in your life. And, of course, share the Gospel - planting seeds.  

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear -1 Peter 3:15

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

God Can Hit Straight With A Crooked Stick

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one -  Romans 3:10

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus - Romans 3:23-24

We attended a church some years back where the pastor, Morgan Bailey, would often say "God can hit straight with a crooked stick". Meaning that there is not a human being that has not sinned, but God through His Son has forgiven, restored and enabled those who are born again by faith. 

So - does that mean that if you are truly born again you will never sin again? What does your personal experience tell you?  OK - so we all still struggle with sin. We all need to have our "feet washed" and not our whole body again like Jesus told Peter. 

After that, He [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed [that is saved] needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” - John 13:5-10

So what is the impact of our sin after salvation? Think of it like being on a sports team but you are injured. You are taken out of the active roster (meaning you can be sent in to play) and put on the injured list until you are healed and your health is restored. Then you are back in the game. That is a simplistic example of what it means to be a Christian with unconfessed sin - and unrepentant. 

Sin cannot be ignored or trivialized if we expect to get off of the "injured list". God's purpose for me does not change - but my capacity to fulfill my purpose because of my sin, has. And how do I get off of the injured list? I must repent. That was the fundamental difference between King Saul and King David. The first tried to justify his sin and did not repent the latter acknowledged his sin and sought forgiveness and restoration.  When confronted by the Prophet Nathan over David's sin with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, David's' response was recorded in Psalm 51. 

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned ....  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.- Psalm 51:1-4, 10-13

So can you still do things that have to do with being a Christian and be living with unconfessed sin - unrepentant. Yes - but like those that Timothy wrote about - 

They (have) a form of godliness but deny its power. And from such people turn away! - 2 Timothy 3:5

What you do when you are "spiritually injured" lacks the power of God. You may look good to others, but not to God - the One that matters.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Living The Supernatural Life In A Natural World

“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet, not I but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” – Galatians 2:20

Supernatural living in a natural world.  That is what we are born again into, a supernatural life.  Does that statement seem strange when you read it?  Excessive? Well read on!

“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

The supernatural life – our new life – is one that is totally dependent upon the One who saved us.  For most of us, the events that we face in life are not any different from any of the people around us who are living natural – unspiritual lives. We face the same things.  We do many of the same things.  We work in the same places.  We suffer through the same tragedies of life. But that is where the similarity ends and the difference begins.  The difference between the natural and the supernatural, the Spirit of God.  

You, Christian, have at your disposal the power of the Almighty.  You do not have to face this life alone.  You have the power to stand when others fall.  You can endure life with confidence when others wither under the pressures that this mortal life brings. And why can we be so confident?

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:31-39

That’s why !   

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Telling Others All Is Well When It Isn't

We make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him. —2 Corinthians 5:9

We make it our aim…. It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal. At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul spoke of the importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the wrong direction. My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound? - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Living by faith and walking in the light does not just happen. It requires personal commitment and discipline. 

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. - Philippians 2:12-15

Our new life of faith requires effort of the heart… to submit to the Lord requires us to lay our very lives - public and private - down on the altar before God the Father - every day.  Working out our salvation is not self-effort .. trying harder to be “good” …. it’s submission. 

So many people are satisfied with working on having a good-Christian appearance and miss the joy and peace that comes from living in obedience to the will of God.  I know too many people that are struggling with life and refuse to trust God.  (perhaps you do too) If you ask them, they may well tell you that “all is well”, when all is not well. They just want it to be - hope it will be - in spite of their personal struggles. Perhaps living in willful disobedience. There was a news report today about a pastor who was just arrested for child sex abuse. He had just preached at his church the Sunday before. How could that be you ask? That may be an extreme example, but it reflects the same spiritual struggle. 

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! - 2 Timothy 3:2-5

Desperation because of the circumstances you are enduring can subvert your faith and divert your walk.  Unless you are willing to trust and obey.  I wish I could do that for others, but I can’t, just for me. I can only watch their struggle, pray for them and hope they look to God for answers instead of trusting in their own designs. Continue to trust in themselves even thought those designs that have consistently failed them in the past.  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. - Proverbs 3:5-8

And I can be ready to be an encouragement to them if the opportunity presents itself.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

So - You Want To Be Like Jesus - Really?

When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34

Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear. - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

For those whom he [God the Father] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. -  Romans 8:29  

Have you ever given any thought to what being conformed … molded .. changed … means?  Well, first you know it is a spiritual change, right?  Second … you know that the process is going to be contrary to your flesh. There will be resistance to it. God will show you things through the Spirit that you may not want to see or admit, even to yourself.  (One of the Spirit’s missions is to convict the world of sin.  The Spirit plus the Word of God are the “one-two” punch in the sanctification process.  The knock-out punch is when I surrender my will)

You know that there are certain aspects of your old nature that you want to hide or cling to.  Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves in the Garden… you know how that worked out for them. The only ones you can hide your sin from, for a season, is man.  The Word says (Numbers 32:23) “Your sin will find you out.”  God knows everything .. so why must we confess our sins (1 John 1:9) .. confess means to “agree with” not to reveal. 

The goal of this transformational – conforming process is not to make you miserable, but to bless you .. to make you better.  The pain or difficulty you experience is from the battle between the flesh and Spirit. My encouragement to you is the same as Paul’s to the Romans.  

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:1-2

God won’t make you do that.  You must surrender your will voluntarily.  Will you?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone