What To Do When Your Spiritual Life Is Disordered And Unfocused

My Utmost For His Highest

Indeed the hour is coming…that you will be scattered… —John 16:32

{CHAMBERS} “Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. […] … our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life. […]  Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? […] Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve.”

{ELGIN} A disordered and unfocused spiritual life.  That is more normal than we would like to think.  One of the things I see missing in the Church today is discipleship. People hungry to know more about God .. more interested in fellowship .. hanging out and having a good time … feeling good .. than drawing close to Jesus.  This is not a new problem.  Going back a few years, about 1980, Martie and I had just arrived in Savannah, GA – Hunter Army Airfield.  Our first assignment out of flight school.  We got connected to a local church right away.  Well, I was invited to a men’s gathering .. a super bowl party. I confess that I have never been passionate about football, but saw it as an opportunity to get to know the men.  As the evening wore on, I started talking about faith and Jesus, to which one of the men replied “Hey we came to watch football, not talk about Jesus!”  “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)  I had misunderstood the purpose of the gathering.  It was not because of our love for Jesus, but our love for football.  Obviously I have not forgotten that lesson.  (I found another group of men, BTW.) 

(Proverbs 27:17) “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  You cannot sharpen a steel blade using clay.  That is what I was trying to do at that gathering.  If you don’t seek out like-hearted people … people who have put Jesus first … people who have made growing in their faith  a priority, you should not expect to grow in your faith.  A couple more verses to cement the point.  “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) People often compromise their faith to gain acceptance from friends, family, and co-workers.  “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12) You cannot grow on your own .. you need the influence of other Christians in your life.  Dr. Howard Hendricks spoke at a Promise Keepers conference in 1993.  He said we all need a Timothy, someone into whose life we can build, a Barnabas – someone who will keep us spiritually accountable, and a Paul – someone who is building into our life.  Do you have those people in your life?  You need to more than you might think.  Pray about it ands then step into it when God brings those people into your life. If you really care about your faith .. you won't regret it.

Understanding What Motivates You To Do Or Not Do What You Do Or Don't Do - When It Comes To Your Faith

{CHAMBERS} 503 Service Unavailable - No server is available to handle this request

{ELGIN} Normally I would have an excerpt from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest as a lead-in to my daily devotional thoughts.  Well - today I got a "503 Service Unavailable - No server is available to handle this request" when I tried to connect to that website.  What to do!  There are three, no four, sources of inspiration for this BLOG, the Word of God, Oswald Chambers, my interchange with other people, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The only two of the four that are indispensable are the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The only one that is dependent upon technology is the My Utmost Website.

That leads me to the point for this morning.  What is it that determines how committed you are to doing what you know you should do, spiritually?  How easily are you deterred or, put another way, how easily do you give up when you meet resistance?  The answer is that it depends upon how passionate you are about your faith.  Not how passionate you think you are or your say you are, but what evidence is there in your life that demonstrates that passion?  I had to face that question this morning.  I thought – “Hmm – no internet – guess I can’t do a devotion this morning.” But then the other three motivations came to my mind.  Then I thought “hmmm- guess I can do a devotion – OK Lord, What do you want me to say?

Not reading the Bible, not going gathering together with other Believers, not doing what God as clearly directed you to do … it’s really easy to not do.  You can find all kinds of reasons … good reasons … for not-doing.  You don’t have time to read the Bible … but you do have time to watch your favorite TV program.  Maybe you don’t like the worship music or the pastor preached past the time your had allotted for God on Sunday morning and you were late getting to your favorite restaurant and had to wait for a table.  You really don’t want to spend the money to do what God prompted you to do .. God will understand .. you are trying to be a good steward.  It’s so easy to say no, not now, can’t do it, can’t afford it.  OK – here it comes – (James 4:17) “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

That verse takes what seems to be a trivial, optional decision to sin.  You know that the word “sin” originates from the idea of missing the mark.  The bottom line is that our flesh – our old nature – has convinced us that we don’t need to do whatever for whatever reason – and we yield to it.  And we sin.  That was the choice I faced this morning.  That is the choice we all face every day.  Choose God or choose me.  It started in the Garden and persists today and will persist until Jesus returns – Lord come quickly! So what to do.  Well – to quote a song – “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”  (I guess I did have something to say after all.)

Finding A Cure For NotReadingTheBibleitis? But Why Is The Pill So Hard To Swallow?

My Utmost For His Highest

…the Lord Jesus…has sent me that you may receive your sight… —Acts 9:17

{CHAMBERS} “When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ. We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ. The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22). Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.”

{ELGIN} I was talking to a friend of ours just yesterday about a related topic.  She told me how she longed to be in a Bible study.  I resisted the urge to say “Ok I will start one!”.  Just because you can does not mean you should.  (A bible study should spring from the prompting of the Spirit and not simply your desire to help people.  The challenge is to know the difference .. but that will have to wait for another time.)  She also wanted to understand what the Nicene council did and why certain writings were excluded from the Bible as we know it.  After I thought about our conversation, and read Chamber’s devotion this morning, I concluded that although those things are nice to know, it is more important to know more about Jesus.  Our friend is not questioning His deity .. something the Nicene council addressed by the way … but she is concerned about things that really have no bearing on her spiritual growth.  Her questions are not unreasonable … but, in my opinion, are not practical.  Our spiritual understanding is rooted in the presence of the unquenched – Spirit in our lives.  Most Christians, my opinion again, are Biblically illiterate.  They are not students of the scriptures .. but hearers mostly .. from the radio, TV  and Sunday morning on the big screens.  I am referring primarily to Christians in the U.S. of A.  Listen, “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48)  In other countries, many Christians will never hold a Bible in their hands.  But for us … we are Bible-poor … having more than one in our homes.  The problem is a Bible sitting on a shelf is of little value except to impress our friends. It must be read to have its intended affect.  My friend does not need to read about the Bible, she needs to read the Bible.  It is a common malady that plagues many if not most Christians in the US.  NotReadingTheBibleitis.  If you want to know more about Jesus, study your Bible.  If you want to grow in your faith, study your Bible.  If you want to know how to live, study your Bible. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man [or woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Is Your Blessed Assurance Jesus Or Your Bank Account

My Utmost For His Highest

You also be ready… —Luke 12:40

{CHAMBERS} “A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. […] If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle— we must be spiritually real.  If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer.”

{ELGIN}  (Joshua 1:8-9) “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I [the Lord] not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  How much time do you spend focused on your faith during the day?  Or have you relegated that to Sunday morning?  The Lord said that we must have a focused faith to be prosperous and successful. Now the prosperity and success that the Lord is talking about is not a “fat” bank account … sufficient 401k to allow you to continue to live in comfort in the lifestyle that you enjoy … it’s about relationships.  Relationships with God and man.  

Jesus told a parable that addresses our penchant for storing things up for ourselves …. (Luke 12:16-23) “And he [Jesus] told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. “And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’  “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.””  What is it that you spend your life focused on?  What is it that makes you worry? 

If you want to be rich, choose to be rich toward God!  We have some dear friends whose life motto is “We live simply so others can simply live.”  If your focus is on God, you will find satisfaction and contentment with much less than you ever imagined … but if your focus is on the things of this world, you will never be satisfied.  Think about it.

Don't Be Content With Living In The World Of What Is Reasonable

My Utmost For His Highest

"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8

{CHAMBERS} “Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. […] I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. […]  Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). […] Faith[…] is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead. Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. […] Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).”

{ELGIN} Are you living in the world of what is reasonable?  Reasonable meaning that you are able to reason out what you are going to do?  I can’t tell you how many times someone has said .. “I would love to do what you do on the mission field, but I can’t afford it.”  My thought at that moment .. “you can’t afford not to … not to obey God”  God will never ask you to do what is reasonable in the eyes of men.  To sacrifice the things of this world for your faith is not reasonable from the world view.  People – many Christians – are fearful when it comes to giving up their comfort, their plans, their financial security to follow God.  We can read the stories in the Bible .. the rich young ruler for example .. and think ..tsk .. tsk .. how could he walk away from Jesus? And then do exactly the same thing.  While in Haiti, a Haitian friend and I were driving one day.  I mentioned the fact that Haitians seemed to be concerned that my truck was dirty, but were not concerned about the trash in the streets.  He agreed with me that it was a contradiction, rolled the window down and tossed trash out onto the street.  How could he agree with me and then participate in the very thing we were speaking against?  It’s a problem with humanity .. we don’t see ourselves and what we do or don’t do in the same way that we see other people.  We marvel at the great missionaries of times past.  We love reading about their exploits .. their sacrifices .. but never imagine that  God might call us, and often does, to leave our nets. That is not reasonable!

Just yesterday, a friend asked me how we ended up in Haiti.  I shared the story about how God spoke to us by His Spirit through the Word, prayer, circumstances and other saints about our going.  Then I told him that a friend in Waveland looked me squarely in the face when I told him what we were going to do and asked “Are you crazy?”  He had been to Haiti and knew the challenges there.  I told him that it was not my idea .. it was God’s idea .. and where God guides, God provides.  We spent four wonderful years in Haiti and still participate in ministry there.  There is a common call to all Christians … love God with your all … abandon your affection for the things of this world … walk in obedience to His Word … Love others more than yourself.  That call is a precursor to service.  You may not be sent to a foreign mission field, or even across town.  But where ever God has you … you must first be faithful to your common call if you are going to have value in the kingdom .. and that is not for your glory but for His. And be ready to do the unreasonable!

You Were Made For The Open Ocean But Are Swimming In Brackish Water

My Utmost For His Highest

Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1

{CHAMBERS} “A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” […] Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. […] Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?”

{ELGIN} Are you satisfied with your spiritual growth?  Do you even think about it?  If you had a child and you noticed that they were not maturing physically or mentally, would you be concerned?  Of course.  There is a progression, changes, that happen in a person’s life that demonstrate that they are maturing.  In a similar way, there is a progression that should take place in a Christian’s spiritual life.  Our faith should be stronger, our light should shine brighter, our relationship with the Father should be evidenced by the way we live and relate to others.  (Hebrews 5:11-14) “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”  When we allow ourselves to become content with our present level of spiritual maturity, we don’t stand still, we atrophy, lose what we have gained.  We drift toward carnality … our old nature.  Like brackish water, we have a brackish faith.  Brackish water is water that is neither fresh nor salt, it’s a mixture of both.  Because there is a mixture you can come to think that what you are living is the normal Christian life but it is actually a compromised life .. you growth is stunted .. you stop maturing … falling short of God’s intent for your life.  For many Christians, that does not matter to them.  They are satisfied with the life they live, particularly in this country of excess and comfort.  So my encouragement to you is to be careful .. be alert … Satan is like a lion (Peter 5:8) Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 

Be Careful Not To Break Any Reeds As You Walk Through This Life

My Utmost For His Highest

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8

{CHAMBERS} “Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.” God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.”

{ELGIN} Two things I have learned about my walk as a Christian.  First is that it is a lot easier for me to see the faults of others than to acknowledge my own.  Second, I am much more willing to make allowances for sin and imperfections in my life than I am in the lives of others.  In Psalm 51, David pleaded with God  after being confronted by the prophet Nathan in regard to David’s sin with Bathsheba and sending her husband to his death.  He asked that God would create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him.  David, a man after God’s own heart, struggled with his flesh, just like we do.  If our heart is right, our love will be right.  Matthew 22:37-39 says love God and then love others.  Our love for God results in a manifestation of love for others.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us what that love looks like … “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Is that the love that you show others?  Or, does your love fall short.  Just prior to writing that description of love, Paul wrote “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”  On the one hand, how can we speak critically … or harbor bitterness toward others .. and on the other say that we bring glory to God by what we do?  Listen, if you don’t have the love of God in your heart, then you are nothing more than a clanging cymbal … you are nothing with respect to your Christian life.  You are deceiving yourself.  Martie and I watch the Gaither Homecomings on PBS on occasion.  The other night, Gloria Gather prayed a prayer of blessing for a soon-to-be-born child…. She prayed “we promise not to break this tender reed with harsh attitudes and criticism.”  Have you ever walked through tall grass .. I mean grass that is waist high?  When you look back you can see where you have walked by the grass that has been broken as you made your way to your destination.  Gloria's words caused me to wonder how many broken reeds I had left along my path as I have traveled through this life.  And like David I felt compelled to ask God to create in me a new heart and restore a right spirit in me. How about you?