I love the internet - there is SO much at my fingertips, as far as good biblical teaching, sermons online, etc. SO many tables at which we can sit, & eat till we are stuffed & overfull, & equally as many outlets for evangelism & ministry.
But, there are also SO many dangers, so much opportunity to proliferate BAD teachings, & all in all, how much of this really aids the Body at large IF WE AREN'T ABIDING IN THE WORD!? There is a very real danger of harm, & the very real presence of spiritual enemies who wish to snatch the truth before we are able to receive it in the good soil of our hearts (cf Luke 8).
And having Twitter & FaceBook saturated attention spans really only continues to ERRODE our patience for careful examination, critical thought, & taking the time to prayerfully seek God's face that he might make HIMSELF known to us, so we aren't so easily tossed about (& often we do not know this is happening!) by every wind of doctrine.
A HELPFUL QUESTION: What is the "trend" of your sermon-listening/book-reading? How much of what you hear is SCRIPTURE saturated, and how much is the mere pontificating of this or that teacher/preacher?
In God's wisdom - as an anchor to our souls! - we are to measure & test all things by his WORD, to BE a people of BOOK! This does not mean powerless, spirit-less, merely academic analysis -
This "Book" was Spirit-authored, & our ability to receive it is Spirit-empowered, & our love & application OF it is Spirit-quickened!
If we are HIS, we LOVE his Word! What this does mean? We have, in this span of time from Christ's first coming until he comes again (& forever after!), the GLORIOUS privilege of fellowshipping WITH God & worshipping him in Spirit AND in Truth, such that God himself is our Teacher.
If you have a dark spot in your understanding, ask the Lord for revelation & diligently search the WORD of God, because in his Word you will find the Light which reveals Christ.
(cf 1st John, esp. 2:18-27, & 4:1-6) ....
Blessings,
~Leah
Showing posts with label Discernment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Discernment. Show all posts
24 October, 2011
19 October, 2011
Old-Fashioned Camp Meeting ~ Revive us, O Lord!
A Personal Recounting (written Tuesday, 10/18/11):
Unplanned, we have had three meetings so far this week, all pushing 4 hours each, and we're pressing in for another, tonight.
I am afraid I would qualify as genuinely "stiff-necked" about the whole matter. Before last night, I wrote the following note to myself - exposing an attitude of some, *ahem*, suspicion:
Heading to (church) for another night with "Revivalists" (who shall remain nameless for now). We are (I am HOPING FOR THIS) a people desiring to see God move in our midst! So far, having them here has been very reminiscent of an old-fashioned "camp meeting" ~ I find I'm holding myself in reserve; not out of deference to "tradition" but to "test" the spirits and the word being preached so as to discern if this is the word of GOD....but I am so-far feeling that my having this disposition of "wait and see what the Lord will do" has already been an object of some scorn and mockery by this bringer-of-the-word. As if being "conservative" is already a problem? (Are we spiritualizing personalities, now?) Is this akin to Jesus' WOE TO YOU, you Pharisees? And I ought to feel rebuked? Or is this akin to the "demanding spirit" I have sensed from more extreme arms of those with a more "charismatic" bent, as if to say the outward signs I might exhibit of the work the Lord is doing IN me must look THIS or that way, or they can't possibly be real....I LONG for more of God, but I will not abide being manipulated, especially if that looks only like some whipping into an emotional frenzy that is based on half-quoted Scriptures and an adrenalin-rush based zeal that has more to do with chemistry than charisma!....
You might imagine from the above, I have had to engage in not an insignificant amount of battle in my mind to let my heart "get it" - but last night, I believe the Lord stirred me. My resistance was broken (though I did not, for better or for worse, let my "guard" down) when during worship, one of our worship leaders broke out with a prophetic word, picking up from one of the themes recurring through Sunday's meetings in speaking about Jacob who wrestled with God, who was willing to be even a bit belligerent with God if it meant he receive the Lord's blessing - She began to sing, "We won't let go until you bless us!"
As the music continued, another worship leader on the opposite side of the platform began to sing as if the prophetic voice of God in response - and this picked up another thread from Sunday's meetings, the cry of the blind man who had called out to Jesus, and to whom Jesus' response was "What do you seek?" (as if it wasn't obvious? But he would make the man confess it with his own mouth!)....She began to sing, "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me?" and proceeded to list off one earthly desire after another, as if God through this woman's song was forcing us to consciously knock down every idol of our hearts.
"Do you want silver? Do you want gold? Do you want riches untold?...Do you want friends? Do you want fame?" and on and on it went. "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me!" And we lingered over the same four chords, over and over, crescendoing until as a BODY the most natural response was for our collective, worshipful cry burst out of our hearts, "WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE OF YOU!"
After what seemed an immeasurable amount of time, and untold repetitions which in a previous life would have irritated me but for some reason tonight was enlarging my heart!, the music finally decrescendoed, and we quieted....Until several individuals peppered throughout the room started laughing, a break-out kind of laughing, some of which could only be described as uncontrollable. This was and would have continued to be, for me, a distraction - even as I with much effort tried to refrain from making any wild assumptions about what was happening (is this legitimate, or is this self-indulgent? artificial to get attention?), I felt the mind-battle creeping in again - one I might not have been able to set aside if Mrs. "Revivalist" (who happened to speak before her husband got up, this time) had not taken the laughter so in stride, as though it was the most natural, Holy Ghost inspired thing, distracting as it was.
Whether her intention or not, she gave sufficient space before really saying anything of import with respect to her own heart, experience with revival, and perhaps most importantly the battles she had to fight in her own life to lay aside her expectations of HOW God would minister to the hearts of his people, so that the laughter, after several minutes, did eventually die down, with only a snickering few still shaking in their seats.
So, I intentionally chose to lay aside my own expectations of HOW God ministers to the hearts of his people, mine included, and tried to listen, with a biblically sensitive ear, keying in as first she, then her husband spoke, to various specific Bible passages with which I was familiar, (and I was chasing down the chapters and verses as they spoke to check what they were saying, did this or that really happen as they are saying?)....And I discovered that despite my familiarity, my "head" knowledge, there is MUCH I have not seen or understood in some of these well-worn paths in the pages of my Bible.
The preaching that followed began breaking up hard soil; we were freed to examine our own hearts, to recognize that we are commanded to HOLD FAST our confession, because we (like John the Baptist who sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he REALLY was the promised Messiah of God, Luke 7:18-35) are prone to LOSE our confession in a sea of doubt which is a thief (like also our own pride, or like our preconceived expectations of what it should look like for God to "show up" to his people) that seeks to steal genuine revival.
Still, we cling to the mercy of God, even as we know he pursues us, and speaks his word for our CONFIDENT EXPECTATION (just as Jesus sent a reassuring word back to John the Baptist) that he IS who he has said he is, and he will DO exactly as he has said he would do! And even now, Jesus intercedes on our behalf before the Father that we would persevere! Lord, we want YOU! and we want to see your glory, your name magnified to the ends of the earth! We want to see people RADICALLY transformed by your Gospel! Healed, delivered, set free, and turned into WORSHIPPERS for your name's sake! Halleluiah!
My mind still fights for dominance as my fledgling spirit and child-like heart are being quickened to a deeper hunger and thirst for the presence of God. This is not, despite (what I would anticipate would be) criticisms from a more doctrine-centric church-world, a battle which requires the surrender of the Word! Quite the contrary. Did I "agree" with every word the man spoke? Or that his wife spoke? Well, I'll answer that THIS way: My normal history has been to take my "discerning" (suspicious?!) ear and pick apart every wrong statement. But even as the preacher said of himself - eat the meat and, if there be any, pull out the bones. So last night, I listened instead for the "spirit" of what was being said moreso than perhaps the "letter" - because the SPIRIT was in the Gospel, and a heart cry for the salvation of lost souls and the glory of Jesus' name to the ends of the earth!
Perhaps there were a few small bones, but there was a lot of meat which nourished my spirit, increasing my expectations for this evening....
Unplanned, we have had three meetings so far this week, all pushing 4 hours each, and we're pressing in for another, tonight.
I am afraid I would qualify as genuinely "stiff-necked" about the whole matter. Before last night, I wrote the following note to myself - exposing an attitude of some, *ahem*, suspicion:
Heading to (church) for another night with "Revivalists" (who shall remain nameless for now). We are (I am HOPING FOR THIS) a people desiring to see God move in our midst! So far, having them here has been very reminiscent of an old-fashioned "camp meeting" ~ I find I'm holding myself in reserve; not out of deference to "tradition" but to "test" the spirits and the word being preached so as to discern if this is the word of GOD....but I am so-far feeling that my having this disposition of "wait and see what the Lord will do" has already been an object of some scorn and mockery by this bringer-of-the-word. As if being "conservative" is already a problem? (Are we spiritualizing personalities, now?) Is this akin to Jesus' WOE TO YOU, you Pharisees? And I ought to feel rebuked? Or is this akin to the "demanding spirit" I have sensed from more extreme arms of those with a more "charismatic" bent, as if to say the outward signs I might exhibit of the work the Lord is doing IN me must look THIS or that way, or they can't possibly be real....I LONG for more of God, but I will not abide being manipulated, especially if that looks only like some whipping into an emotional frenzy that is based on half-quoted Scriptures and an adrenalin-rush based zeal that has more to do with chemistry than charisma!....
You might imagine from the above, I have had to engage in not an insignificant amount of battle in my mind to let my heart "get it" - but last night, I believe the Lord stirred me. My resistance was broken (though I did not, for better or for worse, let my "guard" down) when during worship, one of our worship leaders broke out with a prophetic word, picking up from one of the themes recurring through Sunday's meetings in speaking about Jacob who wrestled with God, who was willing to be even a bit belligerent with God if it meant he receive the Lord's blessing - She began to sing, "We won't let go until you bless us!"
As the music continued, another worship leader on the opposite side of the platform began to sing as if the prophetic voice of God in response - and this picked up another thread from Sunday's meetings, the cry of the blind man who had called out to Jesus, and to whom Jesus' response was "What do you seek?" (as if it wasn't obvious? But he would make the man confess it with his own mouth!)....She began to sing, "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me?" and proceeded to list off one earthly desire after another, as if God through this woman's song was forcing us to consciously knock down every idol of our hearts.
"Do you want silver? Do you want gold? Do you want riches untold?...Do you want friends? Do you want fame?" and on and on it went. "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me!" And we lingered over the same four chords, over and over, crescendoing until as a BODY the most natural response was for our collective, worshipful cry burst out of our hearts, "WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE OF YOU!"
After what seemed an immeasurable amount of time, and untold repetitions which in a previous life would have irritated me but for some reason tonight was enlarging my heart!, the music finally decrescendoed, and we quieted....Until several individuals peppered throughout the room started laughing, a break-out kind of laughing, some of which could only be described as uncontrollable. This was and would have continued to be, for me, a distraction - even as I with much effort tried to refrain from making any wild assumptions about what was happening (is this legitimate, or is this self-indulgent? artificial to get attention?), I felt the mind-battle creeping in again - one I might not have been able to set aside if Mrs. "Revivalist" (who happened to speak before her husband got up, this time) had not taken the laughter so in stride, as though it was the most natural, Holy Ghost inspired thing, distracting as it was.
Whether her intention or not, she gave sufficient space before really saying anything of import with respect to her own heart, experience with revival, and perhaps most importantly the battles she had to fight in her own life to lay aside her expectations of HOW God would minister to the hearts of his people, so that the laughter, after several minutes, did eventually die down, with only a snickering few still shaking in their seats.
So, I intentionally chose to lay aside my own expectations of HOW God ministers to the hearts of his people, mine included, and tried to listen, with a biblically sensitive ear, keying in as first she, then her husband spoke, to various specific Bible passages with which I was familiar, (and I was chasing down the chapters and verses as they spoke to check what they were saying, did this or that really happen as they are saying?)....And I discovered that despite my familiarity, my "head" knowledge, there is MUCH I have not seen or understood in some of these well-worn paths in the pages of my Bible.
The preaching that followed began breaking up hard soil; we were freed to examine our own hearts, to recognize that we are commanded to HOLD FAST our confession, because we (like John the Baptist who sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he REALLY was the promised Messiah of God, Luke 7:18-35) are prone to LOSE our confession in a sea of doubt which is a thief (like also our own pride, or like our preconceived expectations of what it should look like for God to "show up" to his people) that seeks to steal genuine revival.
Still, we cling to the mercy of God, even as we know he pursues us, and speaks his word for our CONFIDENT EXPECTATION (just as Jesus sent a reassuring word back to John the Baptist) that he IS who he has said he is, and he will DO exactly as he has said he would do! And even now, Jesus intercedes on our behalf before the Father that we would persevere! Lord, we want YOU! and we want to see your glory, your name magnified to the ends of the earth! We want to see people RADICALLY transformed by your Gospel! Healed, delivered, set free, and turned into WORSHIPPERS for your name's sake! Halleluiah!
My mind still fights for dominance as my fledgling spirit and child-like heart are being quickened to a deeper hunger and thirst for the presence of God. This is not, despite (what I would anticipate would be) criticisms from a more doctrine-centric church-world, a battle which requires the surrender of the Word! Quite the contrary. Did I "agree" with every word the man spoke? Or that his wife spoke? Well, I'll answer that THIS way: My normal history has been to take my "discerning" (suspicious?!) ear and pick apart every wrong statement. But even as the preacher said of himself - eat the meat and, if there be any, pull out the bones. So last night, I listened instead for the "spirit" of what was being said moreso than perhaps the "letter" - because the SPIRIT was in the Gospel, and a heart cry for the salvation of lost souls and the glory of Jesus' name to the ends of the earth!
Perhaps there were a few small bones, but there was a lot of meat which nourished my spirit, increasing my expectations for this evening....
01 September, 2011
Deceived and Delighting in it
Recently, I had occasion to speak with a friend's dad - this man who has had a tumultous, even abusive relationship with his son from the beginning. I knew, going in, that this was possibly a demonized man, and so had prayed for discernment.
As he spoke, it was as if he had behind him a wardrober FULL of different spirits - all evil - so that he was actually switching from one to the next to the next, changing spirits like cloaks, savoring each one as he would take on a different form, even if only momentarily. The activity seriously resembled insanity as he worked himself into a lather by the end of the conversation, putting on verbally violent theatrics, yelling and screaming like it brought him some deep, perverse pleasure. Which, knowing my own indulgences and susceptibility to temptation, it probably did just that.
I could "see" the spirits, but perhaps more powerfully, I was able, in brief glimpses, to see through to the man who desperately needs Jesus' deliverance. Between "costume changes," I saw a shriveled, weak, frail, broken man, like a survivor of the Holocaust - HIDING behind these spirits because he thought they EMPOWERED him, though they really ensnared him. But he LIKED being their slave. (I suppose as we all once did, before we were given the Spirit of Christ....!)
I saw his deception, and I saw his delight in it.
I wouldn't, yet, have the first idea about how to reach him - but I have recently had occasion to re-read the story in Mark 9 where Jesus tells his disciples that "This kind cannot come out except by praying and fasting." I would need to wait wholly on the Lord to empower me if I am to speak to the man, again.
For now, I was grateful for the "discernment" - I had prayed to the Lord specifically FOR it, but then also needed a couple days AFTER the conversation to "see" clearly what had transpired.
It is a helpful reminder (one I'll try to note for future interactions in a similar vein) that I NOT be overconfident in my own powers of observation, but rather 1) ask the Lord to reveal, and then 2) ask the Lord to SORT the revelation and impress the TRUTH to my understanding.
I do not know if the Lord will yet use me in this man's life, but as for the man's son, my friend, the Lord enabled me (at least!) to comprehend, better, some of the complexity of the influence this abuser has been. My friend has been engaged in full on warfare for his OWN sanity as a result; and he has been trying to "lay hold" of Christ, though he always feels salvation is beyond his grasp. I know I cannot be his assurance, but I long for it for him, nonetheless.
Trusting in God's goodness, that He has promised He will NOT lose any of His own....
As he spoke, it was as if he had behind him a wardrober FULL of different spirits - all evil - so that he was actually switching from one to the next to the next, changing spirits like cloaks, savoring each one as he would take on a different form, even if only momentarily. The activity seriously resembled insanity as he worked himself into a lather by the end of the conversation, putting on verbally violent theatrics, yelling and screaming like it brought him some deep, perverse pleasure. Which, knowing my own indulgences and susceptibility to temptation, it probably did just that.
I could "see" the spirits, but perhaps more powerfully, I was able, in brief glimpses, to see through to the man who desperately needs Jesus' deliverance. Between "costume changes," I saw a shriveled, weak, frail, broken man, like a survivor of the Holocaust - HIDING behind these spirits because he thought they EMPOWERED him, though they really ensnared him. But he LIKED being their slave. (I suppose as we all once did, before we were given the Spirit of Christ....!)
I saw his deception, and I saw his delight in it.
I wouldn't, yet, have the first idea about how to reach him - but I have recently had occasion to re-read the story in Mark 9 where Jesus tells his disciples that "This kind cannot come out except by praying and fasting." I would need to wait wholly on the Lord to empower me if I am to speak to the man, again.
For now, I was grateful for the "discernment" - I had prayed to the Lord specifically FOR it, but then also needed a couple days AFTER the conversation to "see" clearly what had transpired.
It is a helpful reminder (one I'll try to note for future interactions in a similar vein) that I NOT be overconfident in my own powers of observation, but rather 1) ask the Lord to reveal, and then 2) ask the Lord to SORT the revelation and impress the TRUTH to my understanding.
I do not know if the Lord will yet use me in this man's life, but as for the man's son, my friend, the Lord enabled me (at least!) to comprehend, better, some of the complexity of the influence this abuser has been. My friend has been engaged in full on warfare for his OWN sanity as a result; and he has been trying to "lay hold" of Christ, though he always feels salvation is beyond his grasp. I know I cannot be his assurance, but I long for it for him, nonetheless.
Trusting in God's goodness, that He has promised He will NOT lose any of His own....
15 March, 2011
Seeking Him, Lesson 8: Clear Conscience ~ Dealing with our Offenses toward Others
Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:58pm humilityPoor in SpiritRepentanceSH011
SEE PREVIOUS ENTRY for the "INTRO" example used - an outward "STINK" as evidence of an inward "ROT".....
The first seven lessons focused primarily on experiencing revival in our hearts and lives as it pertains to our relationship to God. As Nancy put it in our study, the "vertical" aspect. With chapter 8, we turned more to the practical outworking of these truths, of God's reviving our hearts, as it pertains to our relationships with other people.
"When our conscience is clear, we have nothing to be ashamed of."
We have talked about how one of our first reactions when we sin is to hide, or to point fingers to deflect the blame from ourselves. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, demonstrated this in the Garden - they were ASHAMED because of their nakedness, a consequence of their sin. They were vulnerable before God, and with each other.
Sin breaks relationship. It breaks our relationship with God, and it has the same effect in our relationships with each other.
"Having a clear conscience means there is no obstruction in our fellowship with God or anyone else. It means we are careful to avoid sinning against God or others with our words, actions, or attitudes. It also means that when we do sin, we quickly repent, admit our failure to all offended parties, ask their forgiveness, and make whatever restitution is necessary." ~NLDeMoss (p. 149)
Above the Level of Reproach
We looked at the example of Samuel from 1 Samuel 12:1-4 - he stood before the people and welcomed their feedback - he did not, himself, know of any offenses of which he had not been repentant, but he opened the floor for the people of the nation to expose any of his offenses, and their response was that they found him to have lived, in effect, "above the level of reproach"! (see 1 Timothy 3:2)
How would we need to live - to what degree must we always be repenting, always open to correction - if we were to make every effort to live in relationship with other people without any unconfessed sin between us?
W.I.Y.W.J.
We also looked at Matthew 25:37-40, 45 and Acts 9:1-5 together. (see day 3 in your books)
Not only does Jesus identify himself with the church body - to the degree that in Acts he confronts Saul with persecuting HIM because of his breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus. But we see that Jesus measures our actions against "the least of these" - receiving our treatment of others as if we were doing unto HIM.
So - instead of asking, perhaps, WWJD, as if I were standing in Jesus' shoes trying to decide how to behave in this or that situation. What if, instead, I were to see YOU as "in Jesus' shoes" - What If You Were Jesus - how would I treat you? Would I respond to you any differently? How would I seek to serve you? How would I desire your good, and not my own?
How would I worship Jesus in the way that I am treating others?
Don't give the Devil a Foothold
We also looked at Matthew 5:23-24 - how the Lord instructs us to even STOP, to interrupt our service or worship to the Lord if necessary, if we remember that someone has something against us - so seriously does he take our reconcilliation with one another!
See also Ephesians 4:25-28 - Why are we not to let the sun go down on our anger? It is like we saw above - that sin puts a wedge in relationship - it is just enough space for the Devil to get a foothold! And he loves to divide us! To break our trust in one another! To add to our shame, and to break and tear asunder what God has put together! So - we must MAKE HASTE! BE QUICK! Go, as soon as the Lord convicts you, GO, and make things right with your sister or your brother or your husband or your children or your pastor or your friend or your boss or your coworker.
Confession requires humility, and it requires a measure of discernment - reconciliation does not require the exposing of every gawdy detail of your offense. But it does require honesty and a spirit of repentance - in your heart, both desiring and committing to never do thus and such again.
But think of the freedom!! If you have already acknowledged your need for forgiveness - and you have made your confession, you have willingly and even with great zeal embraced the humility that the Lord has granted, what more can the enemy do to you at this point!? You have been on the brink, perhaps, of a word of condemnation, but you have confessed, you have exposed your own shame and relenquished it! The enemy no longer has a hold on you - he can no longer wield this condemnation over your head! MAKE HASTE TO MAKE RIGHT!!
Progression: Private --> Personal --> Public
And lastly, we looked at how to practically apply the steps of seeking forgiveness. The goal of confession is not only our own holiness and freedom, but ultimately the reconciliation of the relationship, if possible and appropriate.
But we must be wise and discerning - reconciliation is not always possible or appropriate.
First, review the matter with the Lord - PRIVATELY - one on one, confess your sin to God. ASK him to show you what you must do. If your sin is against God and against God only, you may not need to go and seek forgiveness from another. If your sin is against another individual, after you have addressed the matter prayerfully and allowed the Lord to search your heart, go - PERSONALLY - to the one you have offended, and do not merely say you are sorry, do not merely apologize, ASK for forgiveness. This requires more from the other person than merely hearing you out - and is necessary for reconciliation. It also requires more from YOU than just an acknowledgement that the other person has been offended. To ask for forgiveness requires you to submit to the other person's response, to humble yourself before the Lord and before the other person. Finally, if your sin is an offense against a greater number, again using wisdom and discretion, the situation may require you to make a - PUBLIC - confession, and seek forgiveness from the whole body (by which I mean any plurality of persons, not necessarily the whole church, unless it is a sin which has affected the whole church).
Pages 157 thru 164 gave some VERY good and helpful, practical steps and advice as to how to proceed, what to be mindful of in the going, etc. If you are in doubt, it may be wise to seek biblical counsel.
Quickly Repent
To All Offended Parties
Ask for Forgiveness
Make Restitution
Keeping in mind ~ we, none of us!, "deserve" forgiveness. We are confessing that we have wrong another, and asking of that person, "Would you have mercy on me as GOD has had mercy on me?"
Next Lesson: FORGIVENESS ~ Dealing with Others' Offenses against Us
SEE PREVIOUS ENTRY for the "INTRO" example used - an outward "STINK" as evidence of an inward "ROT".....
The first seven lessons focused primarily on experiencing revival in our hearts and lives as it pertains to our relationship to God. As Nancy put it in our study, the "vertical" aspect. With chapter 8, we turned more to the practical outworking of these truths, of God's reviving our hearts, as it pertains to our relationships with other people.
"When our conscience is clear, we have nothing to be ashamed of."
We have talked about how one of our first reactions when we sin is to hide, or to point fingers to deflect the blame from ourselves. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, demonstrated this in the Garden - they were ASHAMED because of their nakedness, a consequence of their sin. They were vulnerable before God, and with each other.
Sin breaks relationship. It breaks our relationship with God, and it has the same effect in our relationships with each other.
"Having a clear conscience means there is no obstruction in our fellowship with God or anyone else. It means we are careful to avoid sinning against God or others with our words, actions, or attitudes. It also means that when we do sin, we quickly repent, admit our failure to all offended parties, ask their forgiveness, and make whatever restitution is necessary." ~NLDeMoss (p. 149)
Above the Level of Reproach
We looked at the example of Samuel from 1 Samuel 12:1-4 - he stood before the people and welcomed their feedback - he did not, himself, know of any offenses of which he had not been repentant, but he opened the floor for the people of the nation to expose any of his offenses, and their response was that they found him to have lived, in effect, "above the level of reproach"! (see 1 Timothy 3:2)
How would we need to live - to what degree must we always be repenting, always open to correction - if we were to make every effort to live in relationship with other people without any unconfessed sin between us?
W.I.Y.W.J.
We also looked at Matthew 25:37-40, 45 and Acts 9:1-5 together. (see day 3 in your books)
Not only does Jesus identify himself with the church body - to the degree that in Acts he confronts Saul with persecuting HIM because of his breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus. But we see that Jesus measures our actions against "the least of these" - receiving our treatment of others as if we were doing unto HIM.
So - instead of asking, perhaps, WWJD, as if I were standing in Jesus' shoes trying to decide how to behave in this or that situation. What if, instead, I were to see YOU as "in Jesus' shoes" - What If You Were Jesus - how would I treat you? Would I respond to you any differently? How would I seek to serve you? How would I desire your good, and not my own?
How would I worship Jesus in the way that I am treating others?
Don't give the Devil a Foothold
We also looked at Matthew 5:23-24 - how the Lord instructs us to even STOP, to interrupt our service or worship to the Lord if necessary, if we remember that someone has something against us - so seriously does he take our reconcilliation with one another!
See also Ephesians 4:25-28 - Why are we not to let the sun go down on our anger? It is like we saw above - that sin puts a wedge in relationship - it is just enough space for the Devil to get a foothold! And he loves to divide us! To break our trust in one another! To add to our shame, and to break and tear asunder what God has put together! So - we must MAKE HASTE! BE QUICK! Go, as soon as the Lord convicts you, GO, and make things right with your sister or your brother or your husband or your children or your pastor or your friend or your boss or your coworker.
Confession requires humility, and it requires a measure of discernment - reconciliation does not require the exposing of every gawdy detail of your offense. But it does require honesty and a spirit of repentance - in your heart, both desiring and committing to never do thus and such again.
But think of the freedom!! If you have already acknowledged your need for forgiveness - and you have made your confession, you have willingly and even with great zeal embraced the humility that the Lord has granted, what more can the enemy do to you at this point!? You have been on the brink, perhaps, of a word of condemnation, but you have confessed, you have exposed your own shame and relenquished it! The enemy no longer has a hold on you - he can no longer wield this condemnation over your head! MAKE HASTE TO MAKE RIGHT!!
Progression: Private --> Personal --> Public
And lastly, we looked at how to practically apply the steps of seeking forgiveness. The goal of confession is not only our own holiness and freedom, but ultimately the reconciliation of the relationship, if possible and appropriate.
But we must be wise and discerning - reconciliation is not always possible or appropriate.
First, review the matter with the Lord - PRIVATELY - one on one, confess your sin to God. ASK him to show you what you must do. If your sin is against God and against God only, you may not need to go and seek forgiveness from another. If your sin is against another individual, after you have addressed the matter prayerfully and allowed the Lord to search your heart, go - PERSONALLY - to the one you have offended, and do not merely say you are sorry, do not merely apologize, ASK for forgiveness. This requires more from the other person than merely hearing you out - and is necessary for reconciliation. It also requires more from YOU than just an acknowledgement that the other person has been offended. To ask for forgiveness requires you to submit to the other person's response, to humble yourself before the Lord and before the other person. Finally, if your sin is an offense against a greater number, again using wisdom and discretion, the situation may require you to make a - PUBLIC - confession, and seek forgiveness from the whole body (by which I mean any plurality of persons, not necessarily the whole church, unless it is a sin which has affected the whole church).
Pages 157 thru 164 gave some VERY good and helpful, practical steps and advice as to how to proceed, what to be mindful of in the going, etc. If you are in doubt, it may be wise to seek biblical counsel.
Quickly Repent
To All Offended Parties
Ask for Forgiveness
Make Restitution
Keeping in mind ~ we, none of us!, "deserve" forgiveness. We are confessing that we have wrong another, and asking of that person, "Would you have mercy on me as GOD has had mercy on me?"
Next Lesson: FORGIVENESS ~ Dealing with Others' Offenses against Us
10 February, 2011
GCC - Seeking Him, Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
Seeking Him, Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 5:38pm Revival SH011
Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
Guardrails for discussion:
It seems very "trendy" - especially in "mainline" Christianity - to talk about being "honest" these days. It takes different forms, such as being "authentic" or "transparent," etc. But right up front, I'd like to set some "guardrails" for our discussion, with the disclaimer that as always there should be "wisdom" in our disclosures.
Being "authentic" in our post-post-modern culture often resembles far more a kind of "uncertainty" about the truth. As if to be "honest" means you must admit "I don't really know what I think I know about thus and such." But this is not the kind of "honesty" we are talking about today. By way of recommending a good resource for further discussion on this kind of faux "honesty," our book plug for this week's lesson is "Why We Are Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be" - coauthored by Pastor Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. You can actually obtain a copy of the first chapter online for free which in and of itself would be very helpful in considering this topic. CLICK HERE.
As to WHY this appeal to "authenticity" is so attractive, it has largely to do with conveying a humble, teachable spirit. And THIS truly IS desirable - not merely appearing to have such a spirit, but actually BEING humble before God (roofs off!), and with others (walls down!). Humility, however, is not the same thing as "uncertainty." What do we mean?
Guardrail #1: Our Hearts are Deceptive
We know our hearts are deceptive in part because we know ourselves. But we also know this because God has given us the light of his word to shine into our hearts and expose the sin rooted there. So our HUMILITY is a necessary component (as we studied in lesson 2), because we do not in fact always "know" what we think we know. Or act for the reasons we think we are acting. We must always be cultivating a humble dependence on God to search us, to know our hearts, to see if there be any wicked way in us, and to LEAD US in the way everlasting.
Thus,
Guardrail #2: God's word is SURE
Our reasons for confidence in God's word are many, and it is not the intent of this study to establish those evidences, necessarily. But for our discussion on HONESTY, especially as we are seeking God and asking him to REVIVE us from the inside out, we must be always evaluating our own hearts and intentions, (and the instructions we receive), etc. against the standard of God's self-revelation, God's righteous requirements for our lives, God's work IN us that we might will and do his good pleasure.
Honesty for the sake of mere self-disclosure is not in itself revitalizing! Honestly only exposes the gunk we carry around, it doesn't help REMOVE it! So for that, we need the sure, gentle, unrelenting surgeon's scalpel of God's word (wielded by our good and loving heavenly Father!) to do a deep and penetrating work.
Psalm 15:1-2
Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
Psalm 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
What does it mean to "speak truth in your heart"?
"Ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, the tendency to cover our sin has been a part of our sinful human nature....We don't have to be trained how to hide or pretend -- it comes naturally. Even after we are redeemed in Christ and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, we often battle the urge to deceive. But God cannot bless or revive a heart that refuses to acknowledge the truth." ~NLDeMoss
Psalm 32:1-5
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered [by GOD, not by a covering of our own making!]. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
We are not only inclined to hide our sin from each other, and to hide our sin from God, but we hide it even from ourselves. We don't want to believe that we are really "that bad." But God desires truth in our inner man - and as we talked about in our first lesson, he wants to send those plowing blades DEEP to turn up the soil, so our hearts will be soft and receptive and able to bear much fruit, fruit that will last.
One of the main ways the Lord does this work is to bring us to a point of confession, as David committed himself to in the above Psalm. To "confess" is to "speak in agreement with" God over our sin. That is more than just saying/speaking our sin - it is to agree from our heart that this sin is as offensive to us as it is to God. Let's call it what it is! Putrid, rotten, defiling, grotesque, damning, and it MUST MUST MUST be exposed to its root so it can be fully put to death!
How do we know if we are being sanctified? How do we know if we are being revived? We are growing to LOVE what God loves and HATE what God hates, and instead of justifying ourselves, we call sin SIN. We allow the Lord to shine his light into the dark and ugly places of our hearts - not for the sake of condemnation, because if we are in Jesus we are no longer condemned! But because God must cut out ALL the cancer or it grows back and worse than before.
Hebrews 4:13
...And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
"...It is for our good and by God's mercy that He reveals the truth about us, no matter how shameful that truth may be. We learn that the reason God discloses our thoughts, actions, and motives is to bring to us peace (rest; Hebrews 4:11-12). God is not a bully; He is a Savior. He cannot be soft on sin. His justice requires holiness that we, in our humanity, do not have the capacity for. The demands of God's justice have been satisfied through the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. However, we must come clean; we must confess. Silence only condemns us by keeping us guilty.
"Think about this...confessing our sin -- breaking the silence -- ushers in the forgiveness and cleansing of God. So, why hide? Why remain silent?" ~NLDeMoss
One last word ~ One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of our spiritual enemy is that of ACCUSATION. Satan literally means "The accuser" of the brethren. If, then, we have willingly followed the Lord's Spirit into the deep dark places of our hearts, and we are willingly letting our loving FATHER do the work of digging about, unearthing our hidden sins and shining the light on them so that they begin to shrivel up and one by one be cast aside, what power or authority or right does our Accuser have in heaping guilt upon us?! By walking with God, in humility and honesty and ready confession, we DISARM our enemy!
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower ~ The righteous run into it! and are SAFE.
NEXT LESSON: REPENTANCE
Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 5:38pm Revival SH011
Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
Guardrails for discussion:
It seems very "trendy" - especially in "mainline" Christianity - to talk about being "honest" these days. It takes different forms, such as being "authentic" or "transparent," etc. But right up front, I'd like to set some "guardrails" for our discussion, with the disclaimer that as always there should be "wisdom" in our disclosures.
Being "authentic" in our post-post-modern culture often resembles far more a kind of "uncertainty" about the truth. As if to be "honest" means you must admit "I don't really know what I think I know about thus and such." But this is not the kind of "honesty" we are talking about today. By way of recommending a good resource for further discussion on this kind of faux "honesty," our book plug for this week's lesson is "Why We Are Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be" - coauthored by Pastor Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. You can actually obtain a copy of the first chapter online for free which in and of itself would be very helpful in considering this topic. CLICK HERE.
As to WHY this appeal to "authenticity" is so attractive, it has largely to do with conveying a humble, teachable spirit. And THIS truly IS desirable - not merely appearing to have such a spirit, but actually BEING humble before God (roofs off!), and with others (walls down!). Humility, however, is not the same thing as "uncertainty." What do we mean?
Guardrail #1: Our Hearts are Deceptive
We know our hearts are deceptive in part because we know ourselves. But we also know this because God has given us the light of his word to shine into our hearts and expose the sin rooted there. So our HUMILITY is a necessary component (as we studied in lesson 2), because we do not in fact always "know" what we think we know. Or act for the reasons we think we are acting. We must always be cultivating a humble dependence on God to search us, to know our hearts, to see if there be any wicked way in us, and to LEAD US in the way everlasting.
Thus,
Guardrail #2: God's word is SURE
Our reasons for confidence in God's word are many, and it is not the intent of this study to establish those evidences, necessarily. But for our discussion on HONESTY, especially as we are seeking God and asking him to REVIVE us from the inside out, we must be always evaluating our own hearts and intentions, (and the instructions we receive), etc. against the standard of God's self-revelation, God's righteous requirements for our lives, God's work IN us that we might will and do his good pleasure.
Honesty for the sake of mere self-disclosure is not in itself revitalizing! Honestly only exposes the gunk we carry around, it doesn't help REMOVE it! So for that, we need the sure, gentle, unrelenting surgeon's scalpel of God's word (wielded by our good and loving heavenly Father!) to do a deep and penetrating work.
Psalm 15:1-2
Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
Psalm 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
What does it mean to "speak truth in your heart"?
"Ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, the tendency to cover our sin has been a part of our sinful human nature....We don't have to be trained how to hide or pretend -- it comes naturally. Even after we are redeemed in Christ and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, we often battle the urge to deceive. But God cannot bless or revive a heart that refuses to acknowledge the truth." ~NLDeMoss
Psalm 32:1-5
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered [by GOD, not by a covering of our own making!]. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
We are not only inclined to hide our sin from each other, and to hide our sin from God, but we hide it even from ourselves. We don't want to believe that we are really "that bad." But God desires truth in our inner man - and as we talked about in our first lesson, he wants to send those plowing blades DEEP to turn up the soil, so our hearts will be soft and receptive and able to bear much fruit, fruit that will last.
One of the main ways the Lord does this work is to bring us to a point of confession, as David committed himself to in the above Psalm. To "confess" is to "speak in agreement with" God over our sin. That is more than just saying/speaking our sin - it is to agree from our heart that this sin is as offensive to us as it is to God. Let's call it what it is! Putrid, rotten, defiling, grotesque, damning, and it MUST MUST MUST be exposed to its root so it can be fully put to death!
How do we know if we are being sanctified? How do we know if we are being revived? We are growing to LOVE what God loves and HATE what God hates, and instead of justifying ourselves, we call sin SIN. We allow the Lord to shine his light into the dark and ugly places of our hearts - not for the sake of condemnation, because if we are in Jesus we are no longer condemned! But because God must cut out ALL the cancer or it grows back and worse than before.
Hebrews 4:13
...And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
"...It is for our good and by God's mercy that He reveals the truth about us, no matter how shameful that truth may be. We learn that the reason God discloses our thoughts, actions, and motives is to bring to us peace (rest; Hebrews 4:11-12). God is not a bully; He is a Savior. He cannot be soft on sin. His justice requires holiness that we, in our humanity, do not have the capacity for. The demands of God's justice have been satisfied through the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. However, we must come clean; we must confess. Silence only condemns us by keeping us guilty.
"Think about this...confessing our sin -- breaking the silence -- ushers in the forgiveness and cleansing of God. So, why hide? Why remain silent?" ~NLDeMoss
One last word ~ One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of our spiritual enemy is that of ACCUSATION. Satan literally means "The accuser" of the brethren. If, then, we have willingly followed the Lord's Spirit into the deep dark places of our hearts, and we are willingly letting our loving FATHER do the work of digging about, unearthing our hidden sins and shining the light on them so that they begin to shrivel up and one by one be cast aside, what power or authority or right does our Accuser have in heaping guilt upon us?! By walking with God, in humility and honesty and ready confession, we DISARM our enemy!
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower ~ The righteous run into it! and are SAFE.
NEXT LESSON: REPENTANCE
26 May, 2010
~Meditating on Proverbs for Wisdom with [difficult] Co-Laborers~
~Meditating on Proverbs for Wisdom with [difficult] Co-Laborers~
(with acknowledgement that I *AM* the difficult co-laborer in some instances....)
copied and pasted from www.BibleGateway.com
Prov. 6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
Proverbs 10:8 The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
10Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
10:17Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
21The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.
Proverbs 11:12Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
18The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
20Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
11:29Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
Prov. 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.
2A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
8A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is despised.
12:11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Prov. 12:12Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.
21 No ill befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
12:26One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Prov. 13:10 By insolence comes nothing but strife,
but with those who take advice is wisdom.
13:20Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Prov. 14:7Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
14:17A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
14:23In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
14:28In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.
14:33Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
34Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
Prov. 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 A gentle[a] tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.
15:23To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and a word in season, how good it is!
15:28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
15:32Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
Prov. 16:1The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
4The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
16:9 The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
16:21The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
16:27 A worthless man plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A dishonest man spreads strife,
and a whisperer separates close friends.
29A man of violence entices his neighbor
and leads him in a way that is not good.
30Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;
he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.
16:32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Prov. 17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.
17:4An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
17:10A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
13If anyone returns evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
17:27Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Prov. 18:1Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
3When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
and with dishonor comes disgrace.
18:6A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9Whoever is slack in his work
is a brother to him who destroys.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Prov. 19:1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
Proverbs 20:3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
but every fool will be quarreling.
Prov. 21:3 To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
21:19It is better to live in a desert land
than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
Proverbs 22:10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
22:24Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
Prov. 23:9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
23:17Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
18Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
24:1Be not envious of evil men,
nor desire to be with them,
2for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk of trouble.
3By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
6for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
25:4Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel;
5take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
7for it is better to be told, "Come up here,"
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
25:27It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
28A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
26:17Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"
20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26though his hatred be covered with deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
27:19As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
28:26Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
29:9If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. [peace]
10Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless
and seek the life of the upright.
11A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back.
29:26Many seek the face of a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.
31:8 Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
31:26She [a godly woman] opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
(with acknowledgement that I *AM* the difficult co-laborer in some instances....)
copied and pasted from www.BibleGateway.com
Prov. 6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
Proverbs 10:8 The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
10Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
10:17Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
21The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.
Proverbs 11:12Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
18The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
20Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
11:29Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
Prov. 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.
2A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
8A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is despised.
12:11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Prov. 12:12Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.
21 No ill befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
12:26One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Prov. 13:10 By insolence comes nothing but strife,
but with those who take advice is wisdom.
13:20Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Prov. 14:7Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
14:17A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
14:23In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
14:28In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.
14:33Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
34Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
Prov. 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 A gentle[a] tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.
15:23To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and a word in season, how good it is!
15:28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
15:32Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
Prov. 16:1The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
4The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.
16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
16:9 The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
16:21The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
16:27 A worthless man plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A dishonest man spreads strife,
and a whisperer separates close friends.
29A man of violence entices his neighbor
and leads him in a way that is not good.
30Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;
he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.
16:32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Prov. 17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.
17:4An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
17:10A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
13If anyone returns evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
17:27Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Prov. 18:1Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
3When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
and with dishonor comes disgrace.
18:6A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9Whoever is slack in his work
is a brother to him who destroys.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Prov. 19:1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
Proverbs 20:3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
but every fool will be quarreling.
Prov. 21:3 To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
21:19It is better to live in a desert land
than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
Proverbs 22:10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
22:24Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
Prov. 23:9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
23:17Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
18Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
24:1Be not envious of evil men,
nor desire to be with them,
2for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk of trouble.
3By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
6for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
25:4Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel;
5take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
7for it is better to be told, "Come up here,"
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
25:27It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
28A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
26:17Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"
20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26though his hatred be covered with deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
27:19As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
28:26Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
29:9If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. [peace]
10Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless
and seek the life of the upright.
11A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back.
29:26Many seek the face of a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.
31:8 Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
31:26She [a godly woman] opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
12 May, 2010
The Gifting IS the Calling!
recommended reading - "Just Do Something" by Pastor Kevin DeYoung
God's "calling" on our lives is no mystery. He EQUIPS us, he POSITIONS us, he COMMANDS us, he GIFTS us, and he thus makes use of us by his own design and for his purposes, but we need not necessarily "discern his calling" to WALK in it.
We also make a great mystery out of discerning our Giftings, in the Body. (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12-14, etc.) Even a most rudimentary reading of these passages should - in context - give us an idea that we are making mysterious mountains out of plain molehills. (so to speak)
God gives us his SPIRIT, and his WORD, and I suspect the rest is not nearly so complicated as we - well-meaning as we are - make it.
So what is the "natural result" of having his Spirit and his Word and of our submitting to him in each respect but that we will be exercising certain gifts [which we may or may not discover about ourselves along the way], and we will be - if we are faithful to walk as sons of God, LED by his Spirit - therefore obedient to his "calling" [even if we do not necessarily have a conscious awareness of it as such].
I think the Lord has given me gifts of discernment and possibly prophecy (in NT sense), and teaching (though this is more a "byproduct" of the first two, and not my primary gift). Similarly, as regards the heart, I think the Lord has molded/equipped me, uniquely, to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and "mourn with those who mourn."
So ... if I'm right, what is the Lord's "Call" on my life? ....
God's "calling" on our lives is no mystery. He EQUIPS us, he POSITIONS us, he COMMANDS us, he GIFTS us, and he thus makes use of us by his own design and for his purposes, but we need not necessarily "discern his calling" to WALK in it.
We also make a great mystery out of discerning our Giftings, in the Body. (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12-14, etc.) Even a most rudimentary reading of these passages should - in context - give us an idea that we are making mysterious mountains out of plain molehills. (so to speak)
God gives us his SPIRIT, and his WORD, and I suspect the rest is not nearly so complicated as we - well-meaning as we are - make it.
So what is the "natural result" of having his Spirit and his Word and of our submitting to him in each respect but that we will be exercising certain gifts [which we may or may not discover about ourselves along the way], and we will be - if we are faithful to walk as sons of God, LED by his Spirit - therefore obedient to his "calling" [even if we do not necessarily have a conscious awareness of it as such].
I think the Lord has given me gifts of discernment and possibly prophecy (in NT sense), and teaching (though this is more a "byproduct" of the first two, and not my primary gift). Similarly, as regards the heart, I think the Lord has molded/equipped me, uniquely, to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and "mourn with those who mourn."
So ... if I'm right, what is the Lord's "Call" on my life? ....
What kind of KIND?
~What kind of KIND?~
("making nice" vs. "kind-but-firm" when dealing with a Bully)
When faced with difficult situations, particularly as regards the bullying behaviors of others from whom I must nevertheless solicit cooperation (such as a teacher or a co-worker or the like), I have tended [unwittingly] towards this motto - "Kill them with kindness." And I even thought this was godliness - consider that "The man whose ways please the Lord makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." [Proverbs 16:7]
I have, thus, gone out of my way to be friendly, to respond to the bullying with a smile and even a clever remark back intended to convey that I'm laughing WITH the bully rather than being brought down BY the bully, and I have used what I now realize to be excessive sweetnees, and niceness - showing concern over their struggles and difficulties, giving them gifts that show I'm being thoughtful of them, etc. - as a way of trying to "get them" to do what I want or need them to do. Which might be anything from giving me a good (fair?) grade to ensuring that a shipment confirmation gets sent to a customer as required.
No doubt, I could explode this topic with a series of examples that would probably cause you to go into shock as all the appearances of boldness on my part wither under the fiery stares of brutish people, and I immediately flop about trying to make them happy so that what I need to have done will get done.....
This is NOT "making peace" with my enemies.
This is manipulating with niceness.
And this is NOT biblical "kindness" which has wrapped up in it a component of resolute truth-telling which leads to repentance!
[Romans 2:4, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 11:22, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13]
Truth is? I "make nice" to try to CHANGE people - not for THEIR good, but to a) make them see me in a favorable light so that b) I can be more productive.
We use the expression - "kill them with kindness." And by this we have some concept of "pouring out nice" to "get back nice" as if such qualities really are all about karma. And/or as Christians, we might even spiritualize it as some kind of divine right to revenge that we are staving off now with the expectation God will zap them later. [Romans 12:20] (which is at best a warped understanding of what it means to "heap burning coals on their head" which has more to do with making of others a sacrificial OFFERING than it does any reference to eternal damnation....)
But what if we were REALLY "kind" to them?
Is it not a kindness for a surgeon to cut off the gangrene-infected limb? Is it not just that kind of kindness by means of which God himself leads US to repentance and thus salvation (and peace with God)? [Sometimes what is most needed is accurate diagnosis and even creating hurt (scalpel to tender flesh) to bring about healing.]
What if "being nice" or "sweet" is just another way of serving my OWN ends? (ie - feeding my own heart idols, such as fear of man? or being perfectionistic in whatever else I do?)
What if "being KIND" includes being WISE - and both standing up to bullies as well as drawing a line in the sand and KINDLY but firmly saying that THIS behavior is UNACCEPTABLE and unless you repent, there can be no true PEACE between us. A "cease-fire" perhaps, but no peace. [or put another way, "I will not allow you to bully me in this way anymore - it is not good for me, and it is not good for you - and if that means I can't 'save the day' this time, then so be it..."]
********
Lord, make me a woman characterised by the COMPATIBLE [intermingled] fruits of KINDNESS, GENTLENESS, rejoicing together with the TRUTH, and WISDOM....and let me not BE a bully, myself, in my zeal....
("making nice" vs. "kind-but-firm" when dealing with a Bully)
When faced with difficult situations, particularly as regards the bullying behaviors of others from whom I must nevertheless solicit cooperation (such as a teacher or a co-worker or the like), I have tended [unwittingly] towards this motto - "Kill them with kindness." And I even thought this was godliness - consider that "The man whose ways please the Lord makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." [Proverbs 16:7]
I have, thus, gone out of my way to be friendly, to respond to the bullying with a smile and even a clever remark back intended to convey that I'm laughing WITH the bully rather than being brought down BY the bully, and I have used what I now realize to be excessive sweetnees, and niceness - showing concern over their struggles and difficulties, giving them gifts that show I'm being thoughtful of them, etc. - as a way of trying to "get them" to do what I want or need them to do. Which might be anything from giving me a good (fair?) grade to ensuring that a shipment confirmation gets sent to a customer as required.
No doubt, I could explode this topic with a series of examples that would probably cause you to go into shock as all the appearances of boldness on my part wither under the fiery stares of brutish people, and I immediately flop about trying to make them happy so that what I need to have done will get done.....
This is NOT "making peace" with my enemies.
This is manipulating with niceness.
And this is NOT biblical "kindness" which has wrapped up in it a component of resolute truth-telling which leads to repentance!
[Romans 2:4, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 11:22, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13]
Truth is? I "make nice" to try to CHANGE people - not for THEIR good, but to a) make them see me in a favorable light so that b) I can be more productive.
We use the expression - "kill them with kindness." And by this we have some concept of "pouring out nice" to "get back nice" as if such qualities really are all about karma. And/or as Christians, we might even spiritualize it as some kind of divine right to revenge that we are staving off now with the expectation God will zap them later. [Romans 12:20] (which is at best a warped understanding of what it means to "heap burning coals on their head" which has more to do with making of others a sacrificial OFFERING than it does any reference to eternal damnation....)
But what if we were REALLY "kind" to them?
Is it not a kindness for a surgeon to cut off the gangrene-infected limb? Is it not just that kind of kindness by means of which God himself leads US to repentance and thus salvation (and peace with God)? [Sometimes what is most needed is accurate diagnosis and even creating hurt (scalpel to tender flesh) to bring about healing.]
What if "being nice" or "sweet" is just another way of serving my OWN ends? (ie - feeding my own heart idols, such as fear of man? or being perfectionistic in whatever else I do?)
What if "being KIND" includes being WISE - and both standing up to bullies as well as drawing a line in the sand and KINDLY but firmly saying that THIS behavior is UNACCEPTABLE and unless you repent, there can be no true PEACE between us. A "cease-fire" perhaps, but no peace. [or put another way, "I will not allow you to bully me in this way anymore - it is not good for me, and it is not good for you - and if that means I can't 'save the day' this time, then so be it..."]
********
Lord, make me a woman characterised by the COMPATIBLE [intermingled] fruits of KINDNESS, GENTLENESS, rejoicing together with the TRUTH, and WISDOM....and let me not BE a bully, myself, in my zeal....
04 March, 2010
~ a prayer for today ~
Lord - HERE [work] is where I most often and MOST readily need to be prayerful and dependent on the Lord to fill me with his Spirit. HERE is where I have the MOST time and opportunity to grow in faithfulness cuz HERE is my everyday, my most wakeful hours. So today, Lord, let me practice meekness - let me be patient and gentle! Let me show respect where due, and God help me! let me not think more highly of myself than I "ought."
Insofar as "being filled with the Spirit" is a command to be obeyed, I can "feel" that my ... drinking deeply of your presence DOES cause me to walk differently! With the gentleness and patience and self-control, and kindness and peace that YOU possess, and make manifest in and through me....
My God, APART from my Faith. Full. dependence on you, I am a natural Ogre.
God, be merciful! CAPTIVATE me, that I may give you my full attention, and joyfully so!
[fix my passions and my gaze; sweet submission, all glorious!]
Insofar as "being filled with the Spirit" is a command to be obeyed, I can "feel" that my ... drinking deeply of your presence DOES cause me to walk differently! With the gentleness and patience and self-control, and kindness and peace that YOU possess, and make manifest in and through me....
My God, APART from my Faith. Full. dependence on you, I am a natural Ogre.
God, be merciful! CAPTIVATE me, that I may give you my full attention, and joyfully so!
[fix my passions and my gaze; sweet submission, all glorious!]
17 November, 2009
~snapshot of wk 9 of 10, lesson 8; BHT study: "What is our Gain? our Reward? our Prize? ~ CHRIST!"
Snapshot of wk 9 of 10, lesson 8; BHT study: "What is our Gain? our Reward? our Prize? ~ CHRIST!"
Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 12:39pm
"No Half-Godfearers"
Malachi 3:13-18
"Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. "They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Intro: Let's start at the very .... end of this week's lesson. P. 147 in your books. We listed on the board all the "promises" and benefits that attach to those who fear the Lord according to: Psalm 25:14, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 33:18-19, Psalm 103:13, Psalm 115:11, and Psalm 145:19
1. What's in it for me? Exposing a heart set on itself
We talked through our "consumer" mentality here in America, today. We have the luxury of a multitude of vendors trying to woo us by our own self-importance with ad campaigns like "Because you're worth it," and "Have it your way, right away...."
The mentality exposed in v. 13-15 in the hearts of these unfaithful people of God is this exact idea - "What's the point? Clearly God is letting the arrogant and evil-doers get away with murder! Why should we even bother being righteous when God is so indifferent as to just ignore this unrighteousness all around us?!" Not only are they implying accusation against God's character, but they expose their own self-righteousness. What self-serving superiority! They might as well be saying "God, I thank you that I am not like other men who do evil against you. But SEE what righteousness I do! Where is my reward?!" (see Luke 18:9-14)
Read Psalm 73 - Notice the turning point in Psalm 73:16-17. What is the Psalmist doing to remedy his misconception about God's seeming lack of justice against the wicked? He is recalling to himself God's character, seeking company with the Lord in prayer, and reminding himself that his only hope is that God save him, even if he does not see the playing out of this in his earthly life. He can nevertheless trust God's goodness to execute justice - justice which he himself also rightly deserves (notice v. 21-22) BUT for God's mercy.
2. What's in a word? (self-esteem; isn't it just semantics?) Self-worth? or Self-evaluation?
The problem in wailing to God about "all those unrighteous out there" is that we are ignoring the wickednesses of our own heart, first of which is pride! And in our culture, we are not only taught to be self-confident and self-actualizing, we are taught that we "ought" to esteem ourselves. So, let's examine that. We talked through a host of synonyms for "esteem" and considered them in relationship to "self" -
to prize self, to revere self, to bow down to self, to honor self, to favor self, to marvel at self, to pay homage to self, to respect self, to laud self, to value self, to hold self in high regard, to admire self, to delight in self, to glorify self, to cherish self, to idolize self, to adore self, to treasure self, to extol self, to think the world of self, to venerate self, to applaud self, to apotheosize (to "deify") self, to worship....self.
"well, when you put it like that...." does ANY of that sound remotely biblical?
So called "High" self-esteem and "Low" self-esteem are at their root the same error because at the root of each is "self" and "self-focus."
If by "esteem" we mean to "estimate" as in to "compare to a standard so as to assess the true value of," then we MIGHT be able to redeem the term, but only in this respect - if we are "esteeming" ourselves rightly - that is, according to God's unchanging standard of righteousness, then the only "estimation" we can rightly appraise is something that looks like "Woe is me, I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I come from a people of unclean lips! God have mercy on me a sinner!" (see Isaiah 6, and again Luke 18:9-14)
This is the point. Our "value" - whether high OR low! - is not something WE have the luxury of assessing. GOD makes the assessment by having created us in his image and by whether or not he chooses to declare us righteous. So our "self-evaluation" then ought to be only for ONE purpose - to examine ourselves to see if we are in Christ. Because it is CHRIST who is worthy of our laud and honor. See what happens when we DIE to self, DENY self, and "fix our eyes on Jesus,"
we prize Christ, revere Christ, bow down to Christ, honor Christ, we favor Christ, marvel at Christ, pay homage to Christ, respect Christ, laud Christ, value Christ, hold CHRIST in high regard, admire Christ, delight in CHRIST, glorify CHRIST, cherish CHRIST, adore CHRIST, treasure CHRIST, extol CHRIST, think the world of CHRIST, venerate CHRIST, applaud CHRIST, worship....CHRIST!
I am not saying we ought not think of ourselves at all - See Romans 12:3-8 - but we ought to examine ourselves, think of ourselves with sober judgment and NOT think more highly of ourselves than we ought....
3. What's the Big Idea? "Choose you this day whom you will serve"
Read Joshua 24:1-28 In this chapter, God first lays out "It was I who...." and all the things he had done for the people of Israel having led them into the promised land. Only after this recounting does Joshua finally say in effect, "All right, people, you've heard what the Lord your God has done, NOW choose whom you will serve, whether the one true God! or the false gods of your past!" which is to say "There really is no choice, here!"
And how do the people respond? "We will serve the Lord!" To which Joshua then says, "Well, you can't. He is HOLY! And if you prove to be unfaithful, he will turn and consume you!" (see Joshua 24:19-21) That is to say, "Understand what you are committing yourselves to!"
(consider what it means to "fear the Lord" rightly!)
4. What's in your .... book? Rebuke - Repent - Restore - Remember - (Reward?)
Now, in Malachi 3:16, we get our first glimpse of how the people respond to this so far 2 1/2 chapter rebuke from God.
Those who feared the Lord - those who were his true followers, the remnant - and we do not know how many this entailed - got together and started to talk with one another. About what? About the word of the Lord! They started discussing the rebuke of God and whether it has any merit, and are they guilty of these very things, and what will they do now....And where are they meeting? "in the presence of the Lord" or "before Him." Where are they? Scripture says that where two or more are gathered, there he is in the midst of them? They're at "church," in essence. Or their Wednesday night Bible study! And what are they doing? They are remembering the Lord.
We didn't get into this in detail as it would involve a whole 'nother study, but "Remember" is a covenantal term. This is why we "remember" Jesus in his blood and body given when we participate in the Lord's supper - which we also call "communion" - why? Because it is a term of intimacy. It is akin to "knowing God" - quite literally "in the biblical sense." As we've said before, knowing/communing/remembering - all are terms of covenant. (Remember God's first words to open the book of Malachi, before he speaks his rebuke to his people?)
So they create a book of remembrance in the presence of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in them - who are "them"? Those who FEAR HIM and who meditate on his name. And because they fear him, they in turn commit themselves to him. And again we see God's stamp of ownership on them, as we see similarly in 1 Peter 2:9-10. See Malachi 3:17-18. He will make those who fear him to be his jewels, his "spared ones" who are able to discern - to REALLY see the truth - about those who are righteous in God's sight, and those who are wicked, who are able to discern what it means to REALLY "serve the Lord."
Conclusion -
God's rebuke is to turn us to repentance! To get our eyes off our Self and to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith! And God's promise, then, to all who repent and who rightly "fear Him" is to restore them. To what? To intimacy with Himself!
HE is our reward! HE is the one we adore! HE is the one on whom we have fixed our eyes....and our affection! HE is the object of our desire, and HE is the object of our remembrance. HE is the one to whom we are running. HE is our reward.
~May we truly decrease and He increase....~
Groups: Women of Grace
Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 12:39pm
"No Half-Godfearers"
Malachi 3:13-18
"Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. "They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Intro: Let's start at the very .... end of this week's lesson. P. 147 in your books. We listed on the board all the "promises" and benefits that attach to those who fear the Lord according to: Psalm 25:14, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 33:18-19, Psalm 103:13, Psalm 115:11, and Psalm 145:19
1. What's in it for me? Exposing a heart set on itself
We talked through our "consumer" mentality here in America, today. We have the luxury of a multitude of vendors trying to woo us by our own self-importance with ad campaigns like "Because you're worth it," and "Have it your way, right away...."
The mentality exposed in v. 13-15 in the hearts of these unfaithful people of God is this exact idea - "What's the point? Clearly God is letting the arrogant and evil-doers get away with murder! Why should we even bother being righteous when God is so indifferent as to just ignore this unrighteousness all around us?!" Not only are they implying accusation against God's character, but they expose their own self-righteousness. What self-serving superiority! They might as well be saying "God, I thank you that I am not like other men who do evil against you. But SEE what righteousness I do! Where is my reward?!" (see Luke 18:9-14)
Read Psalm 73 - Notice the turning point in Psalm 73:16-17. What is the Psalmist doing to remedy his misconception about God's seeming lack of justice against the wicked? He is recalling to himself God's character, seeking company with the Lord in prayer, and reminding himself that his only hope is that God save him, even if he does not see the playing out of this in his earthly life. He can nevertheless trust God's goodness to execute justice - justice which he himself also rightly deserves (notice v. 21-22) BUT for God's mercy.
2. What's in a word? (self-esteem; isn't it just semantics?) Self-worth? or Self-evaluation?
The problem in wailing to God about "all those unrighteous out there" is that we are ignoring the wickednesses of our own heart, first of which is pride! And in our culture, we are not only taught to be self-confident and self-actualizing, we are taught that we "ought" to esteem ourselves. So, let's examine that. We talked through a host of synonyms for "esteem" and considered them in relationship to "self" -
to prize self, to revere self, to bow down to self, to honor self, to favor self, to marvel at self, to pay homage to self, to respect self, to laud self, to value self, to hold self in high regard, to admire self, to delight in self, to glorify self, to cherish self, to idolize self, to adore self, to treasure self, to extol self, to think the world of self, to venerate self, to applaud self, to apotheosize (to "deify") self, to worship....self.
"well, when you put it like that...." does ANY of that sound remotely biblical?
So called "High" self-esteem and "Low" self-esteem are at their root the same error because at the root of each is "self" and "self-focus."
If by "esteem" we mean to "estimate" as in to "compare to a standard so as to assess the true value of," then we MIGHT be able to redeem the term, but only in this respect - if we are "esteeming" ourselves rightly - that is, according to God's unchanging standard of righteousness, then the only "estimation" we can rightly appraise is something that looks like "Woe is me, I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I come from a people of unclean lips! God have mercy on me a sinner!" (see Isaiah 6, and again Luke 18:9-14)
This is the point. Our "value" - whether high OR low! - is not something WE have the luxury of assessing. GOD makes the assessment by having created us in his image and by whether or not he chooses to declare us righteous. So our "self-evaluation" then ought to be only for ONE purpose - to examine ourselves to see if we are in Christ. Because it is CHRIST who is worthy of our laud and honor. See what happens when we DIE to self, DENY self, and "fix our eyes on Jesus,"
we prize Christ, revere Christ, bow down to Christ, honor Christ, we favor Christ, marvel at Christ, pay homage to Christ, respect Christ, laud Christ, value Christ, hold CHRIST in high regard, admire Christ, delight in CHRIST, glorify CHRIST, cherish CHRIST, adore CHRIST, treasure CHRIST, extol CHRIST, think the world of CHRIST, venerate CHRIST, applaud CHRIST, worship....CHRIST!
I am not saying we ought not think of ourselves at all - See Romans 12:3-8 - but we ought to examine ourselves, think of ourselves with sober judgment and NOT think more highly of ourselves than we ought....
3. What's the Big Idea? "Choose you this day whom you will serve"
Read Joshua 24:1-28 In this chapter, God first lays out "It was I who...." and all the things he had done for the people of Israel having led them into the promised land. Only after this recounting does Joshua finally say in effect, "All right, people, you've heard what the Lord your God has done, NOW choose whom you will serve, whether the one true God! or the false gods of your past!" which is to say "There really is no choice, here!"
And how do the people respond? "We will serve the Lord!" To which Joshua then says, "Well, you can't. He is HOLY! And if you prove to be unfaithful, he will turn and consume you!" (see Joshua 24:19-21) That is to say, "Understand what you are committing yourselves to!"
(consider what it means to "fear the Lord" rightly!)
4. What's in your .... book? Rebuke - Repent - Restore - Remember - (Reward?)
Now, in Malachi 3:16, we get our first glimpse of how the people respond to this so far 2 1/2 chapter rebuke from God.
Those who feared the Lord - those who were his true followers, the remnant - and we do not know how many this entailed - got together and started to talk with one another. About what? About the word of the Lord! They started discussing the rebuke of God and whether it has any merit, and are they guilty of these very things, and what will they do now....And where are they meeting? "in the presence of the Lord" or "before Him." Where are they? Scripture says that where two or more are gathered, there he is in the midst of them? They're at "church," in essence. Or their Wednesday night Bible study! And what are they doing? They are remembering the Lord.
We didn't get into this in detail as it would involve a whole 'nother study, but "Remember" is a covenantal term. This is why we "remember" Jesus in his blood and body given when we participate in the Lord's supper - which we also call "communion" - why? Because it is a term of intimacy. It is akin to "knowing God" - quite literally "in the biblical sense." As we've said before, knowing/communing/remembering - all are terms of covenant. (Remember God's first words to open the book of Malachi, before he speaks his rebuke to his people?)
So they create a book of remembrance in the presence of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in them - who are "them"? Those who FEAR HIM and who meditate on his name. And because they fear him, they in turn commit themselves to him. And again we see God's stamp of ownership on them, as we see similarly in 1 Peter 2:9-10. See Malachi 3:17-18. He will make those who fear him to be his jewels, his "spared ones" who are able to discern - to REALLY see the truth - about those who are righteous in God's sight, and those who are wicked, who are able to discern what it means to REALLY "serve the Lord."
Conclusion -
God's rebuke is to turn us to repentance! To get our eyes off our Self and to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith! And God's promise, then, to all who repent and who rightly "fear Him" is to restore them. To what? To intimacy with Himself!
HE is our reward! HE is the one we adore! HE is the one on whom we have fixed our eyes....and our affection! HE is the object of our desire, and HE is the object of our remembrance. HE is the one to whom we are running. HE is our reward.
~May we truly decrease and He increase....~
Groups: Women of Grace
23 June, 2009
Pitting me against myself
My mind is toying with two sides of one coin.
I desire one and cannot have it;
I do not desire the other, but could have it rather than having nothing.
I find I want to "manipulate" the one I don't want so that I don't have to wait for what I do desire....
This is an idolatry! I can "feel" it is such, because the arguments with which I am trying to persuade myself sound like "You shouldn't have to wait any longer," and "You know it would be better to have SOMEthing rather than NOthing," and "It wouldn't really be disobeying God....he could stop you if it wasn't meant to be, and maybe you'll find you're happier in the long run!"
Sick, sinister, manipulative, Indwelling Sin, my ENEMY!
I will not.
I will wait.
I desire one and cannot have it;
I do not desire the other, but could have it rather than having nothing.
I find I want to "manipulate" the one I don't want so that I don't have to wait for what I do desire....
This is an idolatry! I can "feel" it is such, because the arguments with which I am trying to persuade myself sound like "You shouldn't have to wait any longer," and "You know it would be better to have SOMEthing rather than NOthing," and "It wouldn't really be disobeying God....he could stop you if it wasn't meant to be, and maybe you'll find you're happier in the long run!"
Sick, sinister, manipulative, Indwelling Sin, my ENEMY!
I will not.
I will wait.
26 March, 2009
Meditations from a House of Mourning (In Memory of T.A. Zachry)
Meditations from a House of Mourning
~L. Page
~L. Page
It does not escape my notice that as a general rule, our culture seems to look upon the aging with at best a kind of disdain. Commonly, the aging are featured in their weakest moments in our films and conversations, and scorned and mocked for their lapses in memory or their impatience toward the impertinence of the younger generation.
Not surprisingly, in a society that seems to worship youth, we explore without the slightest pangs of conscience, even the possibility that killing off such weak and failing human beings is perhaps the most merciful - and so we deceive ourselves that we the young are not only worthy of preeminence in this world, but are noble for finding additional ways to exalt ourselves (like the playground bully exalts his own sense of self-importance by picking on the little guy) and remove any frail (condemning? convicting? costly?) presence. And, it seems, the elderly begin to think that perhaps we are correct – they are, after all, a burden on our economy with their end of life care, and a burden on their families, with their increasing dependence, and a burden to themselves with the mounting physical sufferings they must endure as they approach the end of life.
Sacrificing Wisdom on the Altar of Self Worship
What if, for one moment, we could collectively consider the wealth of experience and life-taught discernment and wisdom that we are so quick to abort and discard?
What if, instead of our love for the sound of our own voices, we would pause from our frenzied pace, and ask the tough questions for which it may even seem there are no answers, and listen to what those with years and “hoary hair” might be able to bequeath us?
What if, taking time to “be still” rather than so consumed with our own here and now, we would consider – I mean really consider, such as the kind of which it has been described as “treasuring up all these things and pondering them in your heart” – the years that have preceded us?
*The wars that have been fought on foreign soils and the blood of our fathers and great uncles and so on and the mothers left at home to work their fingers to the bone and the children who had to grow up so fast.
*The technologies that have incrementally improved lives and the cost of obtaining them.
*The effects over time – such that they aren’t always visible to the naked eye – of the loss of a sense of our dependence on a Higher Power, the gradual sacrificing of our sense to the sensual, the cost in years of prolonged adolescence and self-indulgence on not only the family, but on the maturing of our young men and women into responsible, honorable people....
What if we confessed that – contrary to what we would rather believe – we really do not know everything...or always know better?
“Even what he thinks he has will be taken away....”
Holy Writ exclaims that it is better to be in a house of mourning: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2) It is GOOD for the living, we who remain, to consider the brevity of life, to weigh the matters of eternity and – if it were possible – to make an accounting for our souls’ sake.
I spent a small (relatively speaking) amount of time in a “house of mourning” recently as I watched my Granddad pass from this life into the next. (He didn’t pass away – he passed through, and is now near to his Lord, Jesus Christ who paid the redemption for his soul.)
The phrase “he went peacefully” would be the most likely applicable phrase in the case of my Granddad’s passing. He was 86 years old – by any present standards a “good old age,” a man “satisfied with life.” And his passing, though exacerbated by an advanced and too-late discovered cancer, was accepted by most everyone as the “normal” course of things. And I am grateful – there are plenty of more violent ways that a soul is torn from its body and hurled into the eternal presence of the Creator God. That my Granddad went “peacefully” is, by all accounts, a mercy.
But I take issue with the notion of dying, even peacefully, as the “normal course of things.” As if that means it is an acceptable reality. At least here and now, I am again angered over the course of sin in this life. By this I do not even mean a man’s OWN sin, but rather the effects of sin – the consequences of sin in humanity and in this fallen world – such that all creation veritably “groans” because of it “until the sons of God be revealed!”
It seems to me a great tragedy that we – when we are MOST weak, MOST frail, MOST vulnerable – are MOST subject to the vilest, brutal and gruesome consequences of sin.
*Cutting off the flow of blood to the ends of our limbs.
What if we confessed that – contrary to what we would rather believe – we really do not know everything...or always know better?
“Even what he thinks he has will be taken away....”
Holy Writ exclaims that it is better to be in a house of mourning: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2) It is GOOD for the living, we who remain, to consider the brevity of life, to weigh the matters of eternity and – if it were possible – to make an accounting for our souls’ sake.
I spent a small (relatively speaking) amount of time in a “house of mourning” recently as I watched my Granddad pass from this life into the next. (He didn’t pass away – he passed through, and is now near to his Lord, Jesus Christ who paid the redemption for his soul.)
The phrase “he went peacefully” would be the most likely applicable phrase in the case of my Granddad’s passing. He was 86 years old – by any present standards a “good old age,” a man “satisfied with life.” And his passing, though exacerbated by an advanced and too-late discovered cancer, was accepted by most everyone as the “normal” course of things. And I am grateful – there are plenty of more violent ways that a soul is torn from its body and hurled into the eternal presence of the Creator God. That my Granddad went “peacefully” is, by all accounts, a mercy.
But I take issue with the notion of dying, even peacefully, as the “normal course of things.” As if that means it is an acceptable reality. At least here and now, I am again angered over the course of sin in this life. By this I do not even mean a man’s OWN sin, but rather the effects of sin – the consequences of sin in humanity and in this fallen world – such that all creation veritably “groans” because of it “until the sons of God be revealed!”
It seems to me a great tragedy that we – when we are MOST weak, MOST frail, MOST vulnerable – are MOST subject to the vilest, brutal and gruesome consequences of sin.
*Cutting off the flow of blood to the ends of our limbs.
*Clotting where it ought not be clotting.
*Arteries blocked off where there ought to be free passage for life giving blood.
*Nerve endings and synapses no longer firing as they ought and so ushering in confusion and the body unable to repair itself as it was designed (!) to do.
*Unable to take in the nutrition it needs just to function!
*Muscle control succumbing to the seizing up and violent shakes and shudders of arthritis and loss of neurological command even over the most rudimentary of motor function.
*Lungs no longer taking in air except in labored, clutching, heaving breaths, until finally even that is stolen away.
And what to do when the body in decline becomes your own prison and the instrument of your torment and torture!
You strain against your own flesh just to try to make eye contact with your loved one by your bed. You muster all the powers of your mind to try to control your lips and your dehydrated and now crusting tongue just to say, one last time to your daughter holding your unresponsive hand that you love her, and she’ll always be your little girl. And at last, the only thing that you can manage is a single tear which escapes your unblinking eyes and rolls down your cheek as your grandchildren sing to you of the sweetness of the Lord whose eye is on the sparrow, and you know he watches you, even now, as you are longing for heaven. And home.
The effects and consequences of sin on the body, bringing about death, rob him of his words of wisdom, his experiences, his expressions of love for his family which has – over the years and by the grace of God – only multiplied! When, in the life of a man, he has the MOST to offer, and he is least able to give it. And “even what he thinks he has will be taken away.”
Should this not cause us to shudder? Should this not cause us to fear – for even in the BEST of circumstances, even if we would go peacefully (!), we have but the mere delusion of control over our lives, over even our breaths.
How dare we suspect we could over-state this!
I fear how often we willfully neglect the truth of such things! I fear how often we avoid the bedside of the dying, and comfort ourselves with platitudes and common phrases of acceptance – our way, it would seem, of trying to maintain SOME illusion of control even of our dying.
Our scoffing at the aging – using an iconic toothless, wrinkled and sun dried character as the “fool” of story – is only a symptom of our greater efforts, deceiving even ourselves (!), to keep from thinking about the fact that some day we will no longer be able to hide from the strain and pull and snatching and snagging death grip of sin! After all, it comes only to take its due! Its wages, its just recompense!
There is no “peaceful” dying!
There is no “peaceful” way that the soul is stolen from its flesh, and the man – any man! – is immediately face to face with God, more brilliant than any sun or star, and infinitely more consuming!
It truly IS better to go to a house of mourning than the house of feasting – because in death we lose our self-deceptions. And though the kindness of the Lord, indeed even the mercy visited upon us in our dying, may well be visible, it is nevertheless the mercy of the Lord as concerns our living toward which we should be sober-minded and alert.
Who will pay our Redemption? How will we find hope in the face of death? How can we have any hope to withstand the all-consuming blaze of the Holy Father God – be it not even his wrath (!) but just his glory! Only ONE has ever truly paid the penalty, himself a sacrificial, “pleasing aroma” to God. If we will not have Jesus, to whom will we go; who is left? If we will not yield our lives to the Lord’s Christ, what other hope have we?
We cannot even keep breathing by our own strength and will!
...How frail we are.
And what to do when the body in decline becomes your own prison and the instrument of your torment and torture!
You strain against your own flesh just to try to make eye contact with your loved one by your bed. You muster all the powers of your mind to try to control your lips and your dehydrated and now crusting tongue just to say, one last time to your daughter holding your unresponsive hand that you love her, and she’ll always be your little girl. And at last, the only thing that you can manage is a single tear which escapes your unblinking eyes and rolls down your cheek as your grandchildren sing to you of the sweetness of the Lord whose eye is on the sparrow, and you know he watches you, even now, as you are longing for heaven. And home.
The effects and consequences of sin on the body, bringing about death, rob him of his words of wisdom, his experiences, his expressions of love for his family which has – over the years and by the grace of God – only multiplied! When, in the life of a man, he has the MOST to offer, and he is least able to give it. And “even what he thinks he has will be taken away.”
Should this not cause us to shudder? Should this not cause us to fear – for even in the BEST of circumstances, even if we would go peacefully (!), we have but the mere delusion of control over our lives, over even our breaths.
How dare we suspect we could over-state this!
I fear how often we willfully neglect the truth of such things! I fear how often we avoid the bedside of the dying, and comfort ourselves with platitudes and common phrases of acceptance – our way, it would seem, of trying to maintain SOME illusion of control even of our dying.
Our scoffing at the aging – using an iconic toothless, wrinkled and sun dried character as the “fool” of story – is only a symptom of our greater efforts, deceiving even ourselves (!), to keep from thinking about the fact that some day we will no longer be able to hide from the strain and pull and snatching and snagging death grip of sin! After all, it comes only to take its due! Its wages, its just recompense!
There is no “peaceful” dying!
There is no “peaceful” way that the soul is stolen from its flesh, and the man – any man! – is immediately face to face with God, more brilliant than any sun or star, and infinitely more consuming!
It truly IS better to go to a house of mourning than the house of feasting – because in death we lose our self-deceptions. And though the kindness of the Lord, indeed even the mercy visited upon us in our dying, may well be visible, it is nevertheless the mercy of the Lord as concerns our living toward which we should be sober-minded and alert.
Who will pay our Redemption? How will we find hope in the face of death? How can we have any hope to withstand the all-consuming blaze of the Holy Father God – be it not even his wrath (!) but just his glory! Only ONE has ever truly paid the penalty, himself a sacrificial, “pleasing aroma” to God. If we will not have Jesus, to whom will we go; who is left? If we will not yield our lives to the Lord’s Christ, what other hope have we?
We cannot even keep breathing by our own strength and will!
...How frail we are.
11 February, 2009
Oppression of the Enemy? or Conviction of a loving Father?
I have been very weighed down of late - with a variety of considerations. If you know me, you may think this is nothing out of the ordinary. But I am currently trying to ascertain the difference - if there is one - between the "oppression" of a spiritual/demonic enemy and the genuine, life-giving "conviction" of the Lord by his Spirit.
Experientially, historically, I have found it very difficult to differentiate between the two and so may have been tempted to suggest they were one and the same - citing as my defense the passages of Scripture which make it clear, for example, that "even the darkness is as light to him" and Job's exclamation that "should we receive GOOD from the Lord and not also calamity?" That is to say, I HAVE known the enemy's oppression to be the MEANS by which the Lord has brought about his conviction in my life.
But of late, I am coming to realize that this stops too far short of the reality of what is going on. There is, in both cases, a very definite spiritual "weight" - a "pressure" perhaps. But just as there is a GODLY sorrow which leads to repentance and therefore life, and there is a WORLDLY sorrow which brings about death, so also I think there is a GODLY pressure and a WORDLY pressure (stress?)....
So I am meditating on this distinction - because this also ties in, I believe, to how one who is a follower of Christ DOES in fact KNOW the voice of his Shepherd, and how one who is IN Christ - though his "feelings" lie to him - is NOT under "condemnation."
I am suggesting that though all the outward signs may appear identical - weariness, perhaps anger, depression, exhaustion, weeping - there IS a way to discern, internally, the difference between whether this is caused by the chatter and condemnation of a spiritual enemy subject to the Lord's REBUKE (which would by God's grace and in due time lead to the saint's deliverance), or whether this is caused by the guiding, gentle, kind, perhaps stern, but always edifying and establishing voice of the Shepherd (which would by God's grace and in due time bring about the Lord's revelation, and the saint's continuing sanctification and even fruitful ministry).
Experientially, historically, I have found it very difficult to differentiate between the two and so may have been tempted to suggest they were one and the same - citing as my defense the passages of Scripture which make it clear, for example, that "even the darkness is as light to him" and Job's exclamation that "should we receive GOOD from the Lord and not also calamity?" That is to say, I HAVE known the enemy's oppression to be the MEANS by which the Lord has brought about his conviction in my life.
But of late, I am coming to realize that this stops too far short of the reality of what is going on. There is, in both cases, a very definite spiritual "weight" - a "pressure" perhaps. But just as there is a GODLY sorrow which leads to repentance and therefore life, and there is a WORLDLY sorrow which brings about death, so also I think there is a GODLY pressure and a WORDLY pressure (stress?)....
So I am meditating on this distinction - because this also ties in, I believe, to how one who is a follower of Christ DOES in fact KNOW the voice of his Shepherd, and how one who is IN Christ - though his "feelings" lie to him - is NOT under "condemnation."
I am suggesting that though all the outward signs may appear identical - weariness, perhaps anger, depression, exhaustion, weeping - there IS a way to discern, internally, the difference between whether this is caused by the chatter and condemnation of a spiritual enemy subject to the Lord's REBUKE (which would by God's grace and in due time lead to the saint's deliverance), or whether this is caused by the guiding, gentle, kind, perhaps stern, but always edifying and establishing voice of the Shepherd (which would by God's grace and in due time bring about the Lord's revelation, and the saint's continuing sanctification and even fruitful ministry).
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**Lord - let me not be guilty, myself, of trying to minister "relief" to my spirit if the "pressure" is in fact the work of YOUR spirit to drive me to my knees in prayer, and to enable me to effectually receive your word. Many who would see me struggling would desire to minister compassion to me, because outwardly the symptoms are that of a suffering. And indeed, inwardly the weariness can seem to be quickly approaching "unbearable," though I know that you will NEVER give me more than I am able, by the strength and grace of your Spirit, to bear. But I would be more apt to minister relief to myself "too soon" - to seek for comfort before I have let the trial "have its full effect" and bring about IN me the peaceable fruit of righteousness and perseverance. Instead, Lord, teach me to seek your revelation - mindful of the fact that you yourself minister TO me during the season when your hand is upon me. Though you may be holding me or pushing me down, it is a loving instruction and discipline. And if I perceive that it is anything BUT this, let me run to you quickly that you might deliver me from any other accuser. So, Lord, whether it is a "pressure" because your hand is upon me, or whether it is an "oppression" because the enemy is prowling about me as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, let my first response always be to cry out to you - because only you will be able to bring about either my deliverance and therefore comfort, or my sanctification and therefore joy. Have mercy on me, my Father. Let me not neglect to receive your word, and to abide in your presence!**
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