The following is a discussion adapted from a series of tapes by a theologian of the previous generation regarding the spiritual techniques that have been given to us by God’s gracious provision to prevent outside adversity and pressure from creating inward stress and robbing us from the peace and confidence that is our inheritance in Christ.
Genuine contentment and being in contact with reality in the midst of the problems and hardships of life are offered to us in Christ. God wants our lives to reflect the incredible inner peace that our Lord experienced under the extreme pressures of the Incarnation. He overcame every slander, persecution, stress, and test that the world and the devil launched at Him. He pioneered a spiritual life now available to us as Church Age believers. We glorify God by learning and utilizing His plan for us.
I know this is probably an unnecessary exhortation but sometimes reminders help - it does no good to learn these truths and not apply them to our circumstances. We learn doctrine to use doctrine. Through spiritual growth we progress from the simplest faith decisions to the ultimate motivation and meaning for our existence—occupation with the Person of Jesus Christ; as Paul put it, For me to live is Christ. (Philippians 1:21).
In spiritual childhood we learn complete dependence on the infallible promises of God and the irrefutable rationales of Bible doctrine. In spiritual maturity we sustain an intense love for the Lord, express unconditional love for all mankind, and share the complete contentment that marked the unique spiritual life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Recovery
Spirituality is the status of being in fellowship with God having the Holy Spirit in control of our lives. It is not dependent on pious living, penance, remorse, guilt, or confession to others. It is a system of privacy and freedom that depends solely on God’s grace. You can learn in a matter of minutes the uncomplicated procedure for gaining and maintaining spirituality and use it to pursue a lifetime of meaning, purpose, and definition.
When we sin we break fellowship with God. When we turn to Him and confess our sin, fellowship is restored. 1 John 1:3, 9 says,
That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, so you may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. . . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As John points out, the issue in confession is the recovery of fellowship or communion with God, without barriers, without controversy, without the Spirit being grieved by our sin (Ephesians 4:30) or quenched by our resistance (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We want to live under an open heaven walking with God.
Sin cannot destroy our relationship with the Lord. God’s love never changes and He will under no circumstances cast us out (John 6:37), but our fellowship with Him can be broken by sin. If there was something we needed to do to restore this fellowship (i.e. penance, feel guilty, beg for forgiveness, etc.) then the spiritual life would depend on works, not grace. But confession of sin, as commanded in 1 John 1:9, is simply agreeing with God regarding the sin (“confess” is “homologeo” – “To speak the same thing; to agree”).
This restoration of our fellowship with God is based on the same grace that saved us – an appeal to the blood of Christ. It’s His merit, not ours, that forms the basis of both our salvation and our fellowship with the Father.
Guilt has no place in the Christian life. When we confess our sin God not only removes the fellowship barrier but also cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9b) thereby removing any barriers we may not be aware of. When we are young Christians many of the sins we commit are not seen as sin to us, it takes some degree of maturity to be sensitive to all the Lord would have us avoid and He will not leave us, no matter what our spiritual age, in a place of broken fellowship through ignorance. He knows our hearts. If we agree with Him concerning what He reveals to us as sin our hearts are right before Him and the blood of Jesus Christ fully restores our fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:7).
To put this in 21st. century terms, confession is simply telling God in the privacy of your heart that you agree with Him, You’re right, Lord, what I did (or thought) was wrong. You don’t have to feel guilty about it, or plead for forgiveness, or promise to never do it again (you will do it again, or something similar – 1 John 1:8). You simply confess it (1 John 1:9), forget it (Micah 7:19; Philippians 3:13b), and move on (Luke 9:62).
The Filling of the Holy Spirit
The Biblical mandate to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) is not an order to undergo emotional ecstatics or to raise your consciousness to mystically commune with God. When you compare Ephesians 5:18-21 with Colossians 3:16-17 you can see that being filled with the Holy Spirit has exactly the same results as being “filled” with the Word of God. The Scriptures are, after all, “God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16) and when our minds are occupied with the Word, the Spirit is directing our lives. Through confession of sin (recovery) every Church Age believer has the privilege and opportunity of being controlled by God the Holy Spirit instead of by the flesh. The Spirit empowers us to reject the sin nature’s control of our life, learn the Scriptures, and grow in the unique spiritual life He’s given to each of us. All of us, whether newborn or mature (1 Peter 2:2) grow by prayerful study of the Word. The truths of Scripture must become our thinking in every circumstance. This is the true Spirit-filled life. To be filled with the Spirit simply means to be controlled and led by the Holy Spirit through the thinking of Christ as revealed in His Word instead of by the world, the flesh or the devil.
Faith-Rest
As a growing but still immature believer, what do you do when difficulty strikes? Do you seek counsel from others, lean on your Christian friends, or just deny the existence of the problem? When we learn to cling to God’s promises until they become more real than our emotions, our experience, our circumstances, or our problems we have learned the secret of resting in Christ. As our Lord offers in Matthew 11:28-30,
Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest . . . learn of Me . . and you shall find rest unto your souls.
There is no promise in Scripture for “rest” in terms of circumstances. This world is, and will remain, a battle ground for the growing believer. But our souls can be at rest in the midst of the fiercest of battles if we give our troubles to the Lord and leave them there. We must let Him decide what we need, and what we do not need, in our lives to shape us into His image. We can trust Him fully with all things and with the outcome of our lives. There is rest and inward peace available to those who will cast their cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7). He has provided this rest for us (Hebrews 4:9-10) and we glorify Him when we trust Him.
Grace Orientation
Pride creates problems; humility solves problems. When you grasp God’s grace and how little you deserve the inconceivable bounty He provides, your soul is humbled within. If we learn humility, the attitude for teachability, we can build a life in Grace. We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), we grown in grace (1 Peter 3:18) and grace will take us home.
The old covenant (Law) versus the new covenant (Grace) is the difference between Christ without and Christ within. God has always, from Adam on, desired and demanded obedience. Under law, men are left to their own resources to obey. Under grace, Christ in us through the indwelling Spirit, becomes the Divine enablement of obedience. Under the new covenant the Lord indwells His people and if you go deep enough into the soul of the Christian, you will find the Savior.
Faith pleases God simply because faith rests all it’s hope on Another, on the One Who is willing and able live a holy life through us. Faith is trusting Someone else to do for us what we know we cannot do for ourselves. Faith and grace work together to live the spiritual life and glorify God. Every command, every leading of the Spirit becomes a challenge, not to our ability, but to His; our challenge is faith.
The foundation of spiritual life is grace; the fruit is love. Love is an issuing of Life, not a compliance with legal obligations. The greatest act of love in history, the cross, was it mere duty to the Father’s will that took Jesus to the cross or was love (both for the Father and for us) motivating the sacrifice? Who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20b). And the Father - did He feel obligated, duty-bound to provide us so great a salvation? God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. (John 3:16). Which is most likely to win your heart, an act of duty done against personal desire or an act motivated by personal, intimate love?
As we are growing in God’s grace, much of what we do is out of duty. Our love is small and undeveloped. It is better to act out of duty than to not act at all, but actions born of law are far from the ideal and eventually those we serve in this way will sense the fact that obligation, not compassion, has been the motivation of our service. At some point in everything we do, the burden of duty must give way to the freedom of love; and that transition, that freedom, is the fruit of moving from law to grace: The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). The One Who emptied Himself of all but love demonstrated the life of grace. Under Law people are anxious, restless, busy, and self-condemned; under grace they are free to love.
The freedom to love, the obedience of faith, springs from our understanding of God’s grace, and grace is something that must be learned experientially as well as theologically.
Scarcely a day passes when I am not reminded of the need for emphasizing the full extent of grace, giving people permission to be free, absolutely free in Christ. Why? Because so few are. Bound and shackled by legalist’s lists of do’s and don’ts, intimidated and immobilized by others’ demands and expectations, far too many in God’s family merely exist in the tight radius of bondage, dictated by those who have appointed themselves our judge and jury. Long enough have we lived like frightened deer in a restrictive thicket of negative regulations. Long enough have we submitted to the do’s and don’ts of religious kings of the mountain. Long enough have we been asleep while all around us the grace killers do their sinister nighttime work. No longer! It is time to awaken. . . Too many folks are being turned off by a twisted concept of the Christian life. Instead of offering a winsome and contagious, sensible and achievable invitation of hope and cheer through the sheer power of Christ, more people than ever are projecting a grim-faced caricature of religion-on-demand. I find it tragic that religious kill-joys have almost succeeded in taking the freedom and fun out of faith. People need to know that there is more to the Christian life than deep frowns, pointing fingers and unrealistic expectations. Harassment has had the floor long enough. Let grace awaken! Charles Swindoll, The Grace Awakening,
Doctrinal Orientation
How can we concentrate on our obligations and enjoy a relaxed mental attitude when problems intrude on every aspect of our lives? We must learn to think with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16b) and apply that thinking to our circumstances. When we are inculcated with doctrinal norms and standards, we rely on the Lord, make good decisions from a position of strength, and move to spiritual maturity.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7). We are what we think. Ultimately, it will come down to this. The battle is for the mind. This is why the scriptures must be the number one priority in our lives. God has even “magnified” His Word above His Name in the sense that in relation to our survival in this cosmos His Word is where we must live (Psalm 138:2).
Unless our rate of learning exceeds our rate of forgetting, we will stagnate or regress. This is why our study must be daily;
Blessed is the man whose . . . delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season; its leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-2)
Happy is the man that finds wisdom . . . she is more precious than rubies;and all the things you could desire are not to be compared to her. (Proverbs 3:13-14).
Nothing is more important that growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If anything else is more important to you than the daily study of God’s Word, building precepts upon precepts and principles upon principles, systematically, faithfully learning the full counsel of God, then though you may survive you will never overcome.
Personal Sense of Destiny
Do you recognize your personal potential in the plan of God? Do you have a sense of your spiritual destiny? With confidence born from a ripening spiritual maturity you can learn to live in the light of an eternally secure future. Adversity fades in proximity to the spiritual self-esteem generated from a limitless relationship with the Lord. We are safe, loved, secure and involved in the greatest plan in the history of humankind (Romans 8:28-39). For each of us who presses on in confidence to spiritual maturity, God is glorified in ways we cannot imagine in realms we cannot see. Christlikeness for the believer is the ultimate achievement of the spiritual life and is assured to those whose priorities match God’s priorities.
Personal Love for God the Father
When you understand God’s perfect essence and orient to His grace and His Word, you become motivated by an attitude of admiration and reverence toward Him. You learn to conform to His precedent of virtue and integrity. This motivational virtue based on absolute confidence in the divine ability to care for you supports and sustains momentum for problem solving and courage in the face of adversity.
We love Him because He first loved us. As we study and pray, as we grow in our understanding of His love, we find our love for Him growing proportionately. To doubt Him is to misunderstand Him. A.W. Tozer once said that every problem, every emotional or spiritual suffering that we experience, can be traced to false thoughts of God. Since the truth sets us free, all inner bondage, anxiety, fear, and worry is based on an incomplete or false interpretation of the truth (John 8:32). Freedom in Christ, once experienced in fullness, greatly enhances our personal love for our Father.
Unconditional Love for All Mankind
People are often the most severe test in life. As we grow we learn to exhibit love born of personal virtue and integrity, even toward those who are obnoxious or evil. As you grow in grace, you can repay insults with patience and humility, antagonism with compassion and kindness, and reserve the tranquility in your own soul.
What is virtue-love? It’s the love that comes from within us by the power of the Spirit. Its love that does not depend on the object of our love but instead depends upon our own virtue – again, the likeness of Christ in His people. We love others because love is a fruit of the Spirit in us; love is a characteristic of our forming personality. No matter what others do or don’t do to us, this love is unshaken because it is part of who and what we are.
Sharing the Happiness of God
Does your happiness depend upon people, circumstances, or the details of life – health, success, relationships? When we know the Lord and His plan, we learn to have an attitude of optimism, confidence, animation, and joy in the face of adversity, stress, and pressure. When your spiritual life takes precedence over circumstances, you carry God’s happiness with you as a constant companion.
Jesus offered us His peace (John 14:27), His happiness (John 15:11). The disciples must have wondered how this would be possible, but the offer was real and legitimate regardless of their skepticism. When our knowledge of Christ as Who He is becomes more complete, happiness (joy) is the response. It’s a fruit of the inworking of the Spirit as He molds us into the image of Christ (Galatians 5:22). We begin to see life as Christ sees life. When that happens we understand His happiness and joy; we understand why He could rejoice in unbearable circumstances. It makes sense to us. Happiness is no longer something we can only accept by faith, we can find our own strength in His joy because we are seeing through the grid of the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:9-16; Nehemiah 8:10b).
Occupation with Christ
During the Incarnation, our Lord displayed impeccable spirituality, faith-rest, grace and doctrinal orientation, fulfillment of His destiny, personal and virtue love, and sharing the happiness of God. Now, your mental attitude can reflect the ultimate problem-solving perspective through occupation with Him.
When Paul said, For me to live is Christ. (Philippians 1:21) he was not simply being poetic. Christ was his life; his obsession. This is the final stage of spiritual development, when one’s life is defined simply by “Christ” (Galatians 2:20). At this point in the Christian’s life, nothing else matters as much as the glory of God. God has no competition for our hearts. We have no controversy with Him. We are one even as the Father and Son are one, and we live for no other purpose than to enjoy and accomplish His plan.
This is the ultimate goal (final stage) of all spiritual advance. Occupation with Christ, leaving our own agenda in the dust, and complete dependence upon Him, is the highest form of Christian service. Most believers never move into this final stage. The true spiritual life is composed of thinking with the mind of Christ. Spiritual life for many is emotional experience, or religion or programs, or activities, but the mind is never wholly renewed. Life is not viewed from “Divine Viewpoint” but from “Human Viewpoint” (religious or otherwise).
Summation
Glance back over these truths. Can you see the implication of these principles of grace? Can you imagine the inner strength of the man or woman of God who surrounds their souls with these truths; who lives in the good of these principles? Everything they see, everything they do, everything they become is being shaped by the Truth. As John said, I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth (3 John 4). Is that also your greatest joy, for yourself and for those you love?
Imagine what your soul would be like if it was protected by doctrinal principles. Can you see what a perfect plan God has established in this dispensation? This is the spiritual life He’s given to His children in this age. Each of us has our own unique spiritual life. We are the only ones who can live that life; no one else can live it for us. For those who enter and pursue it, that life will be beyond anything they could have asked or imagined – and it’s all grace!
And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him who able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen (Ephesians 3:19-21)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Do Not Be Afraid
Some people seem to think the exhortation to fear not is some kind of burdensome commandment we must struggle to obey – or else. Not even close. It’s a promise, a provision given by us in grace. We’re offered the privilege of rejecting fear so it can’t take away our peace. God is not threatening us, He’s graciously offering us Himself as the solution to a devastating mental attitude sin - fear, and all of fear's companions; worry, anxiety, stress, impatience, restlessness and despair.
As one writer put it,
The more things you surrender to fear, the more things you fear;
The extent to which you surrender to fear, the greater your capacity for fear;
The greater your capacity for fear, the more you increase the power of fear in your life;
The more you increase the power of fear in your life, the greater your failure to live the spiritual life.
Providing us the option of faith and rest in God in all things, as over against fear as a developing stronghold of pain and stress, is our Father’s delight, Fear not, little flock, for your Father’s delight is to give you His kingdom. . . Luke 12:32
Fear is a destructive force which sabotages our capacity for faith and mistrust. We cannot fear and trust at the same time, so by God’s Word we want to strengthen our trust and shatter our fears. The solution to hopelessness or discouragement is the same as the solution to fear; a true, accurate perception of God and of His real desire toward you and me.
The apostle Paul suffered greatly in this life. He knew what it was to face fear. He was poverty stricken, persecuted, and had no personal family to support him. But Paul continuingly reminded himself of those truths he had learned about Who the Lord really was and how much God loved him, even when everything in his life, both inward and outward, screamed the opposite. Even when he was tempted to the point of despair (2 Corinthians 1:8b), he fought to choose faith over fear and move forward, trusting in the only hope he had – the integrity of God.
We are so quick to assume that the way others see us, and the way we see ourselves, must somehow reflect, at least in part, the way God sees us. But God is not like us; He doesn’t change or withdraw His love just because we believe He should. God cares deeply for us no matter what our circumstances or personal condition.
This confused and troubled scene we live in on this side of heaven is a testing ground. It’s a place where we learn to see beyond our inward and outward criticism and shame, and look intently and consistently into the eyes of Christ. God cannot spare His children from the trials of life that all humans go through. Inner virtues are not developed in comfort and pleasure; they are developed in enduring life’s trials with our faces set like flint on the goal of honoring God. We keep our arms wrapped around the Father so we can survive the storms that come against us. There is no camaraderie greater than the one formed during combat between men and women who depend on each other to survive. God is our ultimate comrade. As we attack life with one hand on the weapons of our warfare and the other holding on to God’s hand, we form an unbreakable bond of love and trust.
The things in this life that can throw us into fear and discouragement become the very things that strengthen our love and faith in God if we will pass through them keeping our minds renewed by the scriptures and fixed on the truth of Who God is.
Aristotle said that fear is the pain that arises from the anticipation of harm. We are more afraid of what hasn’t happened than of what has happened. All it takes is one or two personal disasters to convince us that a million more disasters await us. 1 John 4:18 says, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear anticipates punishment. He that fears is not mature in love. What does God have to do to convince us that we need not fear? Would it help if He died for us, saved us, promised to never leave us, promised to return for us?
Apparently not.
All of these things are true and we still fear. Let me show you how important this is to the Lord.
Matthew 10:31, Fear not, you are of more value than sparrows
Luke 2:10, And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid.’
Luke 8:50, Do not be afraid, only believe. . .
John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Zion.
Mark 6:50, Do not be afraid, it is Me.
Psalm 56:3, When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
Fear is always a possibility for us; just as faith in God is always a possibility. The choice will always be there. Adversity is inevitable; stress is optional.
I know what fear can do. I’m not sure, but I think I even know what a panic attack is. I may have had a couple of those; it was either that or a spiritual attack. Either way, fear was definitely involved. Satan loves to incite fear; it totally sabotages confidence and inner rest. So, as 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, The devil roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Why a roaring lion? Lions roar to paralyze their victims with fear. It makes them much easier to catch. Why work any harder than you have to? Ever see a documentary on lions? They are lazy. The will expend whatever energy is needed to chase and kill something, and then lay around all day eating, breeding and basking in the sun, until it’s dinner time again. All the better if you can just ‘roar’ and your snacks line up, frozen, ready to be snatched up at your convenience.
Sophocles said, to him who lives in fear, everything rustles.
Just like the pain of hopelessness, fear can destroy our capacity for life, not to mention covering everything we see with a blanket of false perception and distortion.
The opposite is also true.
Faith establishes an incredible capacity for life. Faith gives energy; fear drains it. Faith sees the future as positive; fear dreads getting up in the morning. Faith will do all it can to look beyond the seeming impossibility of our circumstances and hope in God; fear allows those circumstances to overwhelm us; it assumes we’re dead meat anyway.
These are just some of the reasons God has given us so many passages that address fear. It can be a much bigger issue than we realize. It affects more layers and levels of our lives than we know, just as hope or faith opens up more nuances of real life than we can imagine. People who have a strong child-like faith in God are absolutely indestructible, just as people who are always afraid are nearly impossible to encourage.
Dr. Paul Tournier said,
Fear creates what it fears. Fear of losing the love of a loved one provokes us to that lack of frankness which undermines love. The skier falls as soon as he begins to be afraid of falling. Fear of failing an exam takes away the student’s presence of mind and makes success more difficult.
Martin Lloyd Jones even went as far as to say,
When a man is defeated by life it is always due, ultimately, to a spirit of fear. Fear is the real, the ultimate cause of all failure in life, and of all unhappiness.
I’m sure we’ve all had those experiences to some extent. Peter certainly did when he tried walking on water. It was easy as long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus. But when fear took over he went under. Part of the reason for that story, I believe, is to show the importance of faith and its relationship to fear, but the other point Matthew makes is just as important to those of us who tend toward fear. When Peter began to sink, Jesus saved him.
Yes, we aren’t supposed to fear, we’re supposed to be faith giants. But most of us aren’t faith giants and we still need to be reassured that God’s hand is on its way to us whether we measure up on the faith-scale or not.
If we do fear, simply confess it as sin and move on. Don’t deny it or pretend it isn’t there, be transparent about it. Whatever is not of faith is sin and the solution to any personal sin is 1 John 1:9.
Our goal, our challenge, is to find a way to so saturate our minds with the truth of God that we take on a whole new perspective of life and of our future. Maybe someday we can see the path ahead of us like Mary Slessor did (a missionary) and wrote,
Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission and I am in the service of the King of Kings.
Exactly.
Is anything too difficult for God? Are we too difficult for Him? Did He bite off a little more than He could chew when He took us on? No, He took us on before the world was even created. We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. There is absolutely nothing that can or has or ever will enter our life that takes God by surprise. Replacing fear with faith is not for God’s benefit; it’s totally for us, so we can enjoy life rather than dread it. He’ll love us either way.
The early Native Americans had a unique way of training young braves. On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold he was in the middle of thick woods and he was terrified. Every time a twig snapped he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of a path. Then to his utter astonishment he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away armed with bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.
I will never leave you; I will never forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5b)
Finally, consider this practical help from Hannah Whital Smith’s biography,
Hannah, I do not see how you could bear so much sorrow!’ ‘I did not bear it,’ was the quick reply; ‘the Lord bore it for me.’ ‘Yes,’ said the visitor, ‘That is the right way. We must take our troubles to the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ replied Hannah, ‘But we must do more than that; we must leave them there. Most people,’ she continued, ‘take their burdens to Him, but they bring them away with them again and are just as worried and unhappy as ever. But I take mine and I leave them with Him, and come away and forget them. If the worry comes back, I take it to Him again, and I do this over and over until at last I just forget I have any worries, and am at perfect rest.
As one writer put it,
The more things you surrender to fear, the more things you fear;
The extent to which you surrender to fear, the greater your capacity for fear;
The greater your capacity for fear, the more you increase the power of fear in your life;
The more you increase the power of fear in your life, the greater your failure to live the spiritual life.
Providing us the option of faith and rest in God in all things, as over against fear as a developing stronghold of pain and stress, is our Father’s delight, Fear not, little flock, for your Father’s delight is to give you His kingdom. . . Luke 12:32
Fear is a destructive force which sabotages our capacity for faith and mistrust. We cannot fear and trust at the same time, so by God’s Word we want to strengthen our trust and shatter our fears. The solution to hopelessness or discouragement is the same as the solution to fear; a true, accurate perception of God and of His real desire toward you and me.
The apostle Paul suffered greatly in this life. He knew what it was to face fear. He was poverty stricken, persecuted, and had no personal family to support him. But Paul continuingly reminded himself of those truths he had learned about Who the Lord really was and how much God loved him, even when everything in his life, both inward and outward, screamed the opposite. Even when he was tempted to the point of despair (2 Corinthians 1:8b), he fought to choose faith over fear and move forward, trusting in the only hope he had – the integrity of God.
We are so quick to assume that the way others see us, and the way we see ourselves, must somehow reflect, at least in part, the way God sees us. But God is not like us; He doesn’t change or withdraw His love just because we believe He should. God cares deeply for us no matter what our circumstances or personal condition.
This confused and troubled scene we live in on this side of heaven is a testing ground. It’s a place where we learn to see beyond our inward and outward criticism and shame, and look intently and consistently into the eyes of Christ. God cannot spare His children from the trials of life that all humans go through. Inner virtues are not developed in comfort and pleasure; they are developed in enduring life’s trials with our faces set like flint on the goal of honoring God. We keep our arms wrapped around the Father so we can survive the storms that come against us. There is no camaraderie greater than the one formed during combat between men and women who depend on each other to survive. God is our ultimate comrade. As we attack life with one hand on the weapons of our warfare and the other holding on to God’s hand, we form an unbreakable bond of love and trust.
The things in this life that can throw us into fear and discouragement become the very things that strengthen our love and faith in God if we will pass through them keeping our minds renewed by the scriptures and fixed on the truth of Who God is.
Aristotle said that fear is the pain that arises from the anticipation of harm. We are more afraid of what hasn’t happened than of what has happened. All it takes is one or two personal disasters to convince us that a million more disasters await us. 1 John 4:18 says, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear anticipates punishment. He that fears is not mature in love. What does God have to do to convince us that we need not fear? Would it help if He died for us, saved us, promised to never leave us, promised to return for us?
Apparently not.
All of these things are true and we still fear. Let me show you how important this is to the Lord.
Matthew 10:31, Fear not, you are of more value than sparrows
Luke 2:10, And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid.’
Luke 8:50, Do not be afraid, only believe. . .
John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Zion.
Mark 6:50, Do not be afraid, it is Me.
Psalm 56:3, When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
Fear is always a possibility for us; just as faith in God is always a possibility. The choice will always be there. Adversity is inevitable; stress is optional.
I know what fear can do. I’m not sure, but I think I even know what a panic attack is. I may have had a couple of those; it was either that or a spiritual attack. Either way, fear was definitely involved. Satan loves to incite fear; it totally sabotages confidence and inner rest. So, as 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, The devil roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Why a roaring lion? Lions roar to paralyze their victims with fear. It makes them much easier to catch. Why work any harder than you have to? Ever see a documentary on lions? They are lazy. The will expend whatever energy is needed to chase and kill something, and then lay around all day eating, breeding and basking in the sun, until it’s dinner time again. All the better if you can just ‘roar’ and your snacks line up, frozen, ready to be snatched up at your convenience.
Sophocles said, to him who lives in fear, everything rustles.
Just like the pain of hopelessness, fear can destroy our capacity for life, not to mention covering everything we see with a blanket of false perception and distortion.
The opposite is also true.
Faith establishes an incredible capacity for life. Faith gives energy; fear drains it. Faith sees the future as positive; fear dreads getting up in the morning. Faith will do all it can to look beyond the seeming impossibility of our circumstances and hope in God; fear allows those circumstances to overwhelm us; it assumes we’re dead meat anyway.
These are just some of the reasons God has given us so many passages that address fear. It can be a much bigger issue than we realize. It affects more layers and levels of our lives than we know, just as hope or faith opens up more nuances of real life than we can imagine. People who have a strong child-like faith in God are absolutely indestructible, just as people who are always afraid are nearly impossible to encourage.
Dr. Paul Tournier said,
Fear creates what it fears. Fear of losing the love of a loved one provokes us to that lack of frankness which undermines love. The skier falls as soon as he begins to be afraid of falling. Fear of failing an exam takes away the student’s presence of mind and makes success more difficult.
Martin Lloyd Jones even went as far as to say,
When a man is defeated by life it is always due, ultimately, to a spirit of fear. Fear is the real, the ultimate cause of all failure in life, and of all unhappiness.
I’m sure we’ve all had those experiences to some extent. Peter certainly did when he tried walking on water. It was easy as long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus. But when fear took over he went under. Part of the reason for that story, I believe, is to show the importance of faith and its relationship to fear, but the other point Matthew makes is just as important to those of us who tend toward fear. When Peter began to sink, Jesus saved him.
Yes, we aren’t supposed to fear, we’re supposed to be faith giants. But most of us aren’t faith giants and we still need to be reassured that God’s hand is on its way to us whether we measure up on the faith-scale or not.
If we do fear, simply confess it as sin and move on. Don’t deny it or pretend it isn’t there, be transparent about it. Whatever is not of faith is sin and the solution to any personal sin is 1 John 1:9.
Our goal, our challenge, is to find a way to so saturate our minds with the truth of God that we take on a whole new perspective of life and of our future. Maybe someday we can see the path ahead of us like Mary Slessor did (a missionary) and wrote,
Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission and I am in the service of the King of Kings.
Exactly.
Is anything too difficult for God? Are we too difficult for Him? Did He bite off a little more than He could chew when He took us on? No, He took us on before the world was even created. We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. There is absolutely nothing that can or has or ever will enter our life that takes God by surprise. Replacing fear with faith is not for God’s benefit; it’s totally for us, so we can enjoy life rather than dread it. He’ll love us either way.
The early Native Americans had a unique way of training young braves. On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold he was in the middle of thick woods and he was terrified. Every time a twig snapped he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of a path. Then to his utter astonishment he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away armed with bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.
I will never leave you; I will never forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5b)
Finally, consider this practical help from Hannah Whital Smith’s biography,
Hannah, I do not see how you could bear so much sorrow!’ ‘I did not bear it,’ was the quick reply; ‘the Lord bore it for me.’ ‘Yes,’ said the visitor, ‘That is the right way. We must take our troubles to the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ replied Hannah, ‘But we must do more than that; we must leave them there. Most people,’ she continued, ‘take their burdens to Him, but they bring them away with them again and are just as worried and unhappy as ever. But I take mine and I leave them with Him, and come away and forget them. If the worry comes back, I take it to Him again, and I do this over and over until at last I just forget I have any worries, and am at perfect rest.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Heroes
As you’ve probably noticed, most of the Bible is comprised of real life stories of real live people. The Lord never intended that doctrine or teaching would exist without lives that exemplified and embodied the reality of that teaching. Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only . . . faith without works is dead (James 1:22, 2:20). Of course, the supreme example of the connection between Truth and Life is found in the Lord Jesus, The Word became flesh . . . (John 1:14). This was always God’s intent – the Truth embodied in the lives of those in whom that Truth indwelt. The ultimate measure of God’s goal for His people is not how much they know, but how much of what they know has been fleshed out in their daily lives.
With that in mind, I feel it becomes obvious why (as mentioned above) most of the Bible is made up of stories of people related to, or not related to, God and His Word. In spite of the unfortunate advent of assigning undue celebrity status to the “greatest among us” which has swept Christianity, it still remains true that those whom the Holy Spirit presents to us in Scripture are worthy of our admiration.
In an attempt to better understand these men and women, I spent some time recently searching for their common traits. Though I realize we must never place anyone anywhere near the Lord Jesus as our focus or standard of what must be, we can nevertheless take an honest and objective look at people like Abraham, Jacob, David, Paul and others in our generation. We can, in a sense, be followers of (them), just as (they) are of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, 3:17).
Here is what I discovered; the following are what I believe are the three most consistent characteristics or traits of those who have honored the Lord in their lives, both in ancient times and in our present generation.
1) Humility through repeated failure. Without going into detail in this writing, I found that this was needed to develop the kind of humility and lack of self-confidence which would allow for the establishment of a genuine faith in, and reliance upon, God for all things (i.e. compare Luke 22:31-34 with John 18:15-27).
2) They have lost their lives. They have decided to be “disciples” rather than simply children of God. They have given up all personal ambition and live only to Him. He is the Lord of their lives in the truest sense; they no longer live unto themselves but unto Him in all things (John 12:24, Luke 9:23, Matthew 10:39). They also seem to realize, joyfully, that in losing their life, they haven’t lost anything worth keeping – they’ve gained another life which is much better. As one author put it: “Willingness to die is the price you must pay if you want to be raised from the dead . . .”
3) They know the Bible extremely well. They seem to have taken very seriously such passages as, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, John 8:31, etc. They minds are saturated with God’s Word and as a result, they share His view of life, His confidence and His happiness.
The consequence of the above decisions on the part of these disciples of Jesus is a life lived by faith not by self-effort. This allows for rest; There remains a rest for the people of God; he that has ceased from his own works has entered into his rest (Hebrews 4:9-10). It also grants the Lord full, unhindered access to them so that by His Spirit He can shape who and what these disciples become; It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me, and the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God. (Galatians 2:20).
In getting to know these people better over time, I can’t help but be amazed at their integrity, calmness, commitment and resolve. This is the way they are, this is who they’ve become after years of failure, self-denial and consistent study of God’s Word. But of course who I’m really seeing is Christ in them; Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27b). I’m seeing men and women conformed to His image, God’s ultimate purpose for us all.
With that in mind, I feel it becomes obvious why (as mentioned above) most of the Bible is made up of stories of people related to, or not related to, God and His Word. In spite of the unfortunate advent of assigning undue celebrity status to the “greatest among us” which has swept Christianity, it still remains true that those whom the Holy Spirit presents to us in Scripture are worthy of our admiration.
In an attempt to better understand these men and women, I spent some time recently searching for their common traits. Though I realize we must never place anyone anywhere near the Lord Jesus as our focus or standard of what must be, we can nevertheless take an honest and objective look at people like Abraham, Jacob, David, Paul and others in our generation. We can, in a sense, be followers of (them), just as (they) are of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, 3:17).
Here is what I discovered; the following are what I believe are the three most consistent characteristics or traits of those who have honored the Lord in their lives, both in ancient times and in our present generation.
1) Humility through repeated failure. Without going into detail in this writing, I found that this was needed to develop the kind of humility and lack of self-confidence which would allow for the establishment of a genuine faith in, and reliance upon, God for all things (i.e. compare Luke 22:31-34 with John 18:15-27).
2) They have lost their lives. They have decided to be “disciples” rather than simply children of God. They have given up all personal ambition and live only to Him. He is the Lord of their lives in the truest sense; they no longer live unto themselves but unto Him in all things (John 12:24, Luke 9:23, Matthew 10:39). They also seem to realize, joyfully, that in losing their life, they haven’t lost anything worth keeping – they’ve gained another life which is much better. As one author put it: “Willingness to die is the price you must pay if you want to be raised from the dead . . .”
3) They know the Bible extremely well. They seem to have taken very seriously such passages as, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, John 8:31, etc. They minds are saturated with God’s Word and as a result, they share His view of life, His confidence and His happiness.
The consequence of the above decisions on the part of these disciples of Jesus is a life lived by faith not by self-effort. This allows for rest; There remains a rest for the people of God; he that has ceased from his own works has entered into his rest (Hebrews 4:9-10). It also grants the Lord full, unhindered access to them so that by His Spirit He can shape who and what these disciples become; It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me, and the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God. (Galatians 2:20).
In getting to know these people better over time, I can’t help but be amazed at their integrity, calmness, commitment and resolve. This is the way they are, this is who they’ve become after years of failure, self-denial and consistent study of God’s Word. But of course who I’m really seeing is Christ in them; Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27b). I’m seeing men and women conformed to His image, God’s ultimate purpose for us all.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Most Difficult Thing in the World
I am going to speak for a little while on the most difficult thing in the world, that is, faith. So far as the Lord's people are concerned, it can be truly said that the whole of their life in every aspect - salvation in its first step and every subsequent step, spiritual growth, spiritual sustenance, spiritual victory, spiritual work and service, fellowship with the Lord and ultimate glory is all resolved into one thing and that one thing is faith. Faith is the key to everything in our relationship to the Lord. It is all just a question of faith - not faith as something in itself, but faith in God. That is something which has to be faced and as far as possible at any point, settled; but it is not a thing which is settled once and for all. There has to be a settlement made again and again on this point. We are really continually confronted with this question; in the presence of new situations and trials and perplexities and seeming contradictions, am I going to believe God or not, am I going to repose faith in Him or not, am I going to trust the Lord or not? That is true all the way along, and it always will be so. And sometimes those testings are very, very acute and severe. A brother wrote to me this week, one who has been greatly used of the Lord in other lands as well as in this one, who knows the Lord, and has a very real walk with the Lord, and he just put this in his letter. "It sometimes seems as though the Lord is a thousand miles away and has no interest whatever in me. It sometimes seems as though He has just cut me off". You may think that is very extreme, but some of you will not. You know quite well that such experiences are true to the life of a child of God. I was saying that this is something that has to be faced. That is the life to which we are called. The Lord has not covered it, has not veiled it, hidden it from us. We are called unto a life of faith, and we had better face it; and then we must, as far as possible, if we are going to get through, settle it, for I repeat there is no step or stage or aspect of the life of the child of God from first to last, from the beginning to the end that is not a matter of faith. Well, that is a fact, and let us be quite honest about it, and quite frank with ourselves. That is the situation. It will help to a very large extent if we have looked this thing straight in the face and not shelved it, not tried to evade it, but accepted it. TAS
God is working with the end goal in mind – the formation of the image of Christ in our “inner man”. Outward circumstances are only significant to the degree to which they contribute to this goal. And since the time is short, this process is being ramped up – significantly. The personal suffering of growing Christians is greater than ever.
I realize that it’s very difficult to be objective in the midst of a storm, but that is the time that objectivity, not subjectivity, is most needed. It’s easy to sit back when things are well and imagine how we will handle a crisis when it comes. But we never really know until it does come. Fortunately, God knows exactly what we’ll do so He uses the crisis itself to develop what’s needed in us to ultimately overcome it - faith is developed by fire. The operation of refining gold or silver under pressure is called cupellation. Cupellation separates the gold and silver from the lead.
(We) are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire (cupellation), might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, Whom having not seen, you love; in Whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:5-8).
Faith operates purely by trust in the unseen. Faith rests its confidence on the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7). As mentioned earlier, circumstances have nothing to do with faith just as faith has nothing to do with circumstances. Faith doesn’t try to self-evaluate or figure out the “why” of everything. Faith surges above self-evaluation and circumstances and rests in Christ, trusting God for the outcome of all things. Since Christ is head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22), faith gives all things to Him and leaves them in His hands. Faith lets the Lord resolve them in His way and time. Casting our cares on Him frees us from carrying that load. It’s not our strength, or integrity, or courage or sinlessness that overcomes, it’s faith that overcomes.
Others had trials of cruel mocking and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, sawn into, tested, slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all received witness through faith. . . (Hebrews 11:36-39).
It wasn’t their circumstances that changed, it was their soul. They overcame their circumstances by faith.
Faith doesn’t wait for something to happen, for God to intervene, before it rests in Him. Sometimes He does intervene (Hebrews 11:32-35) and sometimes He doesn’t (Hebrews 11: 36-40). Faith looks at what is and says, God can deliver me and He may deliver me, but if not I will not turn my back on Him; though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Faith or trust is personal, intimate and the foundation of any real relationship. We begin our relationship with God by faith in spite of all the so-called scientific evidence that there is no God - that the cross is merely an historical event of no significance to us. And after we enter this life, we walk by faith in spite of all the empirical evidence the enemy can surround us with that appeals to us to live in unbelief. As mentioned in the T.A. Sparks excerpt at the beginning of this article,
I am going to speak for a little while on the most difficult thing in the world, that is, faith. So far as the Lord's people are concerned, it can be truly said that the whole of their life in every aspect - salvation in its first step and every subsequent step, spiritual growth, spiritual sustenance, spiritual victory, spiritual work and service, fellowship with the Lord and ultimate glory is all resolved into one thing and that one thing is faith. Faith is the key to everything in our relationship to the Lord.
Ultimately, it will always come down to this.
This is why the study of Scripture is so important for the survival of the child of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17 (To see the practical specifics of how this works, see previous blog, “Training”).
Our minds tend toward unbelief, especially in crisis. For there to be faith when most needed, we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Romans 12:2). The grid we see through must be comprised of that which places the Person of the Lord Jesus, Who and what He is, at the center of our frame of reference. When we look at what is humanly impossible, faith allows us to see the God of the impossible present. Whether what we face is relatively easy or completely beyond us, faith in God removes the panic because it places this impossibility in His hands and leaves the outcome with Him. He that has entered the rest has ceased from his own works (Hebrews 4:10).
This is the only way to live life in the rest provided for us. There is nothing as relaxing as living in the reality, the attitude, that your life is God’s responsibility. And that your responsibility is simply to deepen your faith through growth in knowing Him. As He increases in the horizon of your mind and as you decrease in self-evaluation, self-expectation, self-importance, in worry, anxiety, and fear a life of simple, pure faith moves you into rest.
You see, every time you give yourself the right to worry about something; you give yourself the right (and the responsibility) to live your own life. However, if you adopt an attitude of total dependence on the Life of the Lord Jesus, then no matter how threatening a situation may be, you can relate it to Him. You can say, Thank you, Lord! This is no longer my problem or my worry, it is Yours. (Ian Thomas)
The key to perfect peace is perfect surrender.
God is working with the end goal in mind – the formation of the image of Christ in our “inner man”. Outward circumstances are only significant to the degree to which they contribute to this goal. And since the time is short, this process is being ramped up – significantly. The personal suffering of growing Christians is greater than ever.
I realize that it’s very difficult to be objective in the midst of a storm, but that is the time that objectivity, not subjectivity, is most needed. It’s easy to sit back when things are well and imagine how we will handle a crisis when it comes. But we never really know until it does come. Fortunately, God knows exactly what we’ll do so He uses the crisis itself to develop what’s needed in us to ultimately overcome it - faith is developed by fire. The operation of refining gold or silver under pressure is called cupellation. Cupellation separates the gold and silver from the lead.
(We) are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire (cupellation), might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, Whom having not seen, you love; in Whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:5-8).
Faith operates purely by trust in the unseen. Faith rests its confidence on the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7). As mentioned earlier, circumstances have nothing to do with faith just as faith has nothing to do with circumstances. Faith doesn’t try to self-evaluate or figure out the “why” of everything. Faith surges above self-evaluation and circumstances and rests in Christ, trusting God for the outcome of all things. Since Christ is head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22), faith gives all things to Him and leaves them in His hands. Faith lets the Lord resolve them in His way and time. Casting our cares on Him frees us from carrying that load. It’s not our strength, or integrity, or courage or sinlessness that overcomes, it’s faith that overcomes.
Others had trials of cruel mocking and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, sawn into, tested, slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all received witness through faith. . . (Hebrews 11:36-39).
It wasn’t their circumstances that changed, it was their soul. They overcame their circumstances by faith.
Faith doesn’t wait for something to happen, for God to intervene, before it rests in Him. Sometimes He does intervene (Hebrews 11:32-35) and sometimes He doesn’t (Hebrews 11: 36-40). Faith looks at what is and says, God can deliver me and He may deliver me, but if not I will not turn my back on Him; though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Faith or trust is personal, intimate and the foundation of any real relationship. We begin our relationship with God by faith in spite of all the so-called scientific evidence that there is no God - that the cross is merely an historical event of no significance to us. And after we enter this life, we walk by faith in spite of all the empirical evidence the enemy can surround us with that appeals to us to live in unbelief. As mentioned in the T.A. Sparks excerpt at the beginning of this article,
I am going to speak for a little while on the most difficult thing in the world, that is, faith. So far as the Lord's people are concerned, it can be truly said that the whole of their life in every aspect - salvation in its first step and every subsequent step, spiritual growth, spiritual sustenance, spiritual victory, spiritual work and service, fellowship with the Lord and ultimate glory is all resolved into one thing and that one thing is faith. Faith is the key to everything in our relationship to the Lord.
Ultimately, it will always come down to this.
This is why the study of Scripture is so important for the survival of the child of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17 (To see the practical specifics of how this works, see previous blog, “Training”).
Our minds tend toward unbelief, especially in crisis. For there to be faith when most needed, we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Romans 12:2). The grid we see through must be comprised of that which places the Person of the Lord Jesus, Who and what He is, at the center of our frame of reference. When we look at what is humanly impossible, faith allows us to see the God of the impossible present. Whether what we face is relatively easy or completely beyond us, faith in God removes the panic because it places this impossibility in His hands and leaves the outcome with Him. He that has entered the rest has ceased from his own works (Hebrews 4:10).
This is the only way to live life in the rest provided for us. There is nothing as relaxing as living in the reality, the attitude, that your life is God’s responsibility. And that your responsibility is simply to deepen your faith through growth in knowing Him. As He increases in the horizon of your mind and as you decrease in self-evaluation, self-expectation, self-importance, in worry, anxiety, and fear a life of simple, pure faith moves you into rest.
You see, every time you give yourself the right to worry about something; you give yourself the right (and the responsibility) to live your own life. However, if you adopt an attitude of total dependence on the Life of the Lord Jesus, then no matter how threatening a situation may be, you can relate it to Him. You can say, Thank you, Lord! This is no longer my problem or my worry, it is Yours. (Ian Thomas)
The key to perfect peace is perfect surrender.
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