Tag Archives: Spirit

SEPERATED FROM GOD

04 Friday Jul 2014

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Ever have one of those days where you feel you are nowhere close to being worthy to be called a child of God?  Where you’re tired of trying to tell people about Jesus when you know they could not possibly care less?  When you want to give up on serving Him and just lounge in His love?  When you want God to be there for you but you don’t feel like being there for Him?  I had a few of those days about a week ago.

 Andrew Murray:  This is the spirit of the world:  to seek one’s self and the visible (John 5:44). 

I just decided for one day I was going to do whatever I wanted to do.  I felt too tired to even try to speak of God to anyone.  I didn’t feel led to read His Word.  I said some off-hand prayers but they were only seeking God’s approval for how I had decided to spend my day.  I didn’t wait for any kind of an answer from Him.  I did feel Him gently trying to lead me away from this self-obsession; felt Him thumping my noggin several times trying to draw me nearer to Him so He could adjust my attitude.  But I kept justifying my desire for the day to just be about me.  “I deserve one day.”  And that’s how I spent the day – diverting others so I could stick to my plan.  I thought I could hide out in the pool just lying there. For one day it couldn’t hurt, right?  Each time someone asked me to do something, I found a way out of it if it didn’t fit in with my plan for the day.  I indulged myself, giving myself first priority over everything that came up. 

 Who could I hurt if I just checked out for a day?  Well, I messed up a really big opportunity to bring a couple of people nearer to God.  I missed some good witnessing opportunities.  I hurt God.  I grieved the Spirit.  I didn’t worship God as He deserves. I felt the pain of being separated from God. 

 As the week progressed and I was in a better place the thought occurred to me that Jesus never said “Ya know I’m just going to take a day for myself.  The lepers and possessed and sick and lost can just wait a day while I pamper myself.”  Jesus didn’t go to a spa, lounge on the beach, or play a round of golf to refresh Himself.  He did take time to be alone but He spent the time with His Father, praying; He spent entire nights praying to God.

Luke 6:12 (NKJV) – “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”

The need to focus and aggressively nurture my relationship with God last week gave me the chance to experience how spending time with Him does so much more for my soul than spending a day absorbed in myself.  I remember thinking “It’s just one day.  I deserve it.”  But it did nothing to rejuvenate me.  And I certainly don’t “deserve” it.  Without Jesus I am a wretched sinner.  I could live in a place on earth where a day of rest is not possible. Am I better than those who live in such a place that God would allow me to indulge myself in such a way?  I deserve nothing.  If God blesses me with a “free” day, it is shameful that I even thought of moving away from Him to experience the blessing.  The realization that I did this sickens me.

 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 

 I know that feeling tired in my walk with Jesus is going to happen but I must also remember that it is a tool Satan can use to pull me away and thwart my work for Jesus.  I cannot have a day off from living for Christ because I must always be looking for opportunities to share His Good News and to be His hands and feet.  While I can have a day of doing nothing but meditating on Him I cannot go a single day without spending time with Him and keeping the needs of His Kingdom first and foremost.  Scripture tells us that Satan is a formidable foe and we must not underestimate him.  But Satan won on that particular day and his victory did not go unnoticed.  It is a consequence I do not want to experience again anytime soon. I wish I could communicate to my unsaved friends and family how wretched it feels being separated from God once we know Him and how much He loves us.  I want them to know it brings misery that is beyond description and it is not something they will want to feel for eternity.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The old Carolyn paid a visit that day and I didn’t much care for her.  Since that day it has been very clear to me that God didn’t just repair me when I committed my life to Him: He truly did make a new creation.  God used the day to help me see how far I’ve come and how dark the world truly is without Him. I wonder how I lived so long in the darkness but clearly understand why I spent so much time depressed, lost and feeling so hopeless. 

D. James Kennedy:  “You cannot say, ‘No, Lord,’ and mean both words; one annuls the other.  If you say no to Him, then He is not your Lord.” 

God has used that day to refine me in two ways.  He began to lay on my heart what He wants my life to look like.  Still not fully recovered from “battle fatigue,” I responded with a flat out “no.”  No, I wasn’t ready to do the things He was showing me.  No, sadly, I don’t think I’m capable of living like that.  No, it just makes me too tired to even think about it.  Pre-occupied with myself, I let God know that I didn’t think my walk with Him could ever look like what He was showing me.  But as I call on the Spirit’s power rather than my own, I know I can do what God is calling me to do. 

 Psalm 132:13, 14 – “This is my rest, here will I dwell.”

 God also reminded me of the need to devote one day to Him – a Sabbath Day.  As a Christian, we generally think of Sunday as the day to devote to God, but I find I don’t truly devote the day to Him.  I go to church then the day continues as any other day.  I do household chores, shop, run errands.  If it is truly a Sabbath for me, it should look different than any other day.  Andrew Murray, in his book The New Life says:  “Keep it very holy.  And, above all, let it be a day of inner fellowship with your God….  …There is no better day than the Lord’s day for doing good to body and soul….”  I suspect if I were to observe one day as a true Sabbath, I won’t feel the fatigue I encountered last week.  I don’t want to go backwards in my Christian walk; I want always to be strengthening my faith, always moving forward.  God’s example is for one day out of seven to be a day of rest and as I obey Him in this, I will be better able to live every single day of my life serving Him in the best way possible.

2 Peter 1:4 – “…having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

 I have escaped the world and after spending one day back in it, I know I don’t want to ever go back.  But, as I’m fond of saying, “Me is a hard habit to break.”  I now know that I must watch for an attack when I’m feeling tired, and draw closer to God instead of pulling away from Him.  I found this prayer from Andrew Murray (The New Life) and I ask it of God every day: 

 Precious Savior, teach me what self-denial is.  Teach me so to distrust my heart that in nothing shall I yield to its desires.  Teach me so to know You that it shall be impossible for me to do anything else than to offer up myself to possess You and Your life.  Amen.

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DISCERNMENT – EXAMINE SCRIPTURE

19 Thursday Sep 2013

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About 30 years ago I started a Bible study that I ordered through the mail.  At the time I wasn’t sure about the beliefs of this particular group and assumed they could be trusted to teach me Biblically sound doctrine  Each lesson included a pamphlet with the actual lesson, an outline I was to fill in, and verses from the Bible I was to read. One week something about the lesson didn’t ring true to me.  I had never studied the Bible so it wasn’t that I read it and knew it wasn’t Biblical.  The more I compared the lesson to what I was reading in the Bible, the more it bothered me.  At some point it said something that very clearly misinterpreted the Scripture it referenced and I knew I was being led down the wrong path.  I threw the lessons away and requested the organization stop sending the lessons.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

Several years ago I committed my life to Jesus and began listening to preachers on the radio and TV.  One morning I heard a message from Joel Osteen.  At the time I was struggling with managing my money, had a large amount of debt and only a seasonal job.  What Joel was saying was so inspiring because, according to him, all I had to do was believe God would provide me with more money and He would.  Joel Osteen was telling me something I really wanted to believe and I was buying it hook, line and sinker.  I was in real danger of going back to the Santa Claus god I had believed in.

When I told my daughter how encouraged I was by what Mr. Osteen said, she warned me about the prosperity preachers that were becoming popular.  I had never heard of them. I listened more closely to his sermons and finally realized that he wanted me to believe in the power of my faith rather than trusting God.  I’m sure if Mr. Osteen knew about my financial situation he would have blamed my insufficient faith but my faith in God was very strong! I was learning how to lean on God more each day instead of trusting in things of this world.  Through my trial I was discovering God’s commands and how doing things His way was bringing much better results than doing them my way.  The things Mr. Osteen claimed all Christians should do often left me feeling confused (a sure sign something is amiss!). One example was a story about his wife asking him to run to the grocery store so she could finish dinner.  By the time he showered, shaved and put on good clothes, he was too late to get the things she needed so “he enjoyed his TV dinner that night.”  His point in the story was that Christians should always appear in public neatly dressed because of the impression we might leave on others. It bothered me on various levels: his wife’s need for his help was secondary to how he was going to look to other people; he didn’t seem to have any regard for the work she had put into their dinner; he could have quickly washed and put on clean clothes and met his standard while helping his wife; he must judge others by their appearance if he puts that much importance on his own.  The story was like a rock in my shoe.  It just kept coming to my mind and troubled me.

Now, I’m sure this incident bothers me a lot more than it bothered Mrs. Osteen and they were most likely in agreement that Mr. Osteen did the right thing.  It just seems to me he’s got his priorities a little mixed up and I can’t determine what negative message we send when we’re out in public not perfectly dressed. In addition to that confusion, I was disturbed by the minimal amount of time he spent talking specifically about Jesus and sin.  I knew God’s message to His children isn’t about how we can all get rich.  At that point in my life I needed to hear about God’s forgiveness and mercy but wasn’t hearing about either of those things from Joel Osteen.

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

 One author said that the theology Mr. Osteen presents is like feeding our spiritual life with nothing but candy.  Hearing only the “good” things about God is not a sufficient spiritual diet.  Learning about how Christians have suffered helps me understand its role in my life and prepares me for those times I’m tested or experiencing the consequences of sin, whether my own or from living in a fallen world.  I have learned that God’s plan for my life is better than whatever plans I have ever had, even when His plans don’t include comfort, wealth or perfect health.  Learning about all of God’s attributes allows me to get to really know Him and have a meaningful relationship with Him.  Even with my limited Bible knowledge, I knew God never promised that every believer would be wealthy and healthy, no matter how much we want to be.  I have learned how I can trust God to help me through whatever troubles I experience in life. He allows trials to make me stronger and help me become the person He needs me to be.  I would never have learned any of these things if I had been given everything my heart desires nor would I have learned about them from Mr. Osteen.

Acts 17:11 “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”

I had also been listening to Joyce Meyer.  At first, her uplifting, encouraging sermons appealed to me.  Even the name of her TV ministry relieved my itching ears: Enjoying Everyday Life.  For a long time, I didn’t detect much error in Joyce’s sermons.   Then I heard Hank Hanegraaff talking on his radio program “The Bible Answer Man” about one of her sermons and learned that in this particular sermon she changed a word in Scripture so that it meant something entirely different. I looked up the verse and saw Mrs. Meyer’s lie.  I learned the importance of checking the Scriptures after listening to any preacher or teacher.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

In another sermon, Joyce expresses no compassion for the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-47).  In her interpretation, he just lay there suffering for 38 years, doing nothing to help himself.  She questions why, in the span of 38 years, he did not inch his way to the pool so he could roll into it and be healed!  Like Joyce’s analysis of the paralytic, faith preachers would have us believe if we’re suffering in any way our faith simply isn’t strong enough – we’re at fault!  What they’re telling us is we have to have faith in our faith instead of having faith in God. I stopped listening to her because I don’t want to support someone who misleads believers.

 2 John 1:11 – “Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.”

A few years ago, I was made aware of the belief that Jesus and His family were actually very wealthy.  According to proponents they gained their wealth from the magi that visited Jesus shortly after His birth.  Their theory goes that there had to have been a large number of magi who came to see Jesus after learning of His birth all of whom would have brought expensive gifts to present to the family leaving them very wealthy.  They further the argument by pointing to the fact that Jesus and His disciples had a treasurer (Judas), which, according to them, tells us the group needed someone to manage their large pot of money.  Yet another argument used to support this distortion is based on John 1:39.  Proponents conclude that Jesus invited a large group of followers referred to in previous verses in the chapter to His own home, which would have had to be large to accommodate all of them.  A friend once presented me with some of these points but at the time I couldn’t defend what I believed and realized I had, in fact, simply taken others’ word for it, never taking time to research Scripture to insure I could defend the truth.  I did the research, using Biblically-sound teachers, websites and my concordance to find Scripture to support what I had always believed about Jesus’ poverty.   Take a minute and look up John 1:39 and you will read that Jesus invites only two followers, Andrew and another, possibly John, to follow him to “where He is staying” (not His home).  A cross-reference would include Matthew 8:20 where Jesus tells us He had no place to lay His head. Luke 2:24 can also be used to confirm Jesus’ family was not wealthy.  This verse tells us about Mary’s sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons required after the birth of a child.  The cross-reference verses in my Bible include Leviticus 12:6-8 which tells us a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons can be offered by those who cannot afford a lamb sacrifice. Here are four Bible stories I can use to defend the truth of Jesus’ poverty.

Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

False teachers understand that the majority of Christians are not reading their Bibles nor taking the time to compare verses and look up background information, impeding their ability to discern truth from lies.  It’s much easier to let them do all the work.  They do not deserve this level of trust.  We have to start holding them accountable and stop using excuses for not being equipped to call them out on their lies.  Any confusion we might experience when studying the Bible will be dispelled if we ask questions, read the notes contained in most Bibles, and look up related verses.  Contradictions disappear when we consider the context of the verses and gain an understanding of the Bible as a whole.

“Context! Context! Context! That’s the antidote to the compromise and to the confusion and to the contradiction of Christ and the Canon. We as Christians need to read the Bible for all its worth, otherwise we are going to be misled by a cacophony of voices that have a siren call that is leading us not towards biblical truth but rather away from biblical truth.” The Bible Answer Man with Hank Hanegraaff, 6/24/2010

It’s important to pray for guidance as we read Scripture and allow the Spirit to show us things in His time.  When I first started studying the Bible, I wanted to immediately understand everything I was reading.  But I took it at God’s pace and allowed Him to show me things in His time.  At first He revealed simple things but with each read-through, I learn more and God reveals deeper truths.

Regular Bible study, researching Scripture, listening to the Spirit, discussing Scripture with other Christians, and reading Biblically sound Christian authors are tools God has provided to help us discern between solid Biblical doctrine and false teaching.  Use a concordance and make use of all the wonderful internet sites that help you find passages based on topics or keywords.  Be sure to check the accuracy of each resource with trusted Christian friends.

Allistair Begg often says “The main things are the plain things.”  There are certainly ideas in the Bible that can be debated, but the main doctrinal points are very clear and non-debatable.  These include original sin; Jesus’s virgin birth, His sinlessness, deity, and humanity; the Trinity; our need for God’s grace; the necessity of faith; Christ’s atoning death, His bodily resurrection and ascension; Christ’s intercessory work for us; and His second coming, final judgment, and reign. (From The Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith (Part One), Christian Research Institute, Article ID: JAE100-1, By: Norman L. Geisler.)

Discernment takes time, but it is time well spent. We must spend sufficient time in His Word to be able to discern the truth from the lies.  It is no longer an option.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

BREAK MY HEART FOR WHAT BREAKS YOURS

31 Saturday Aug 2013

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God’s desire is that all people will come to know Him.  In 1 Timothy 2 Paul reminds Timothy that we are to pray and be thankful for ALL people.  There is no exception list.  (Admit it, we all kinda wish God had included a list of those we don’t have to love!)

 1 Timothy 2:1-4: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for ALL people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 

 Ezekiel 33:11:  “…’As I live, says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live….”

 Jesus prayed for those who crucified Him.  He asked God to forgive them: “for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)  I often gloss over this part of the Gospel.  After all, it was Jesus, He’s God.  He’s in the business of forgiving.  When I stop and consider the emotions He might have experienced during His arrest and crucifixion, in addition to the physical pain, and that He did it voluntarily, I realize how badly He wants us to be saved from eternal separation from Him.  Picture your child in a championship ballgame.  He’s on the Away Team so all but a few of the spectators are cheering for the other team.  He makes an awesome play.  Everyone anxiously awaits the umpire’s call.  It’s in his favor.  The crowd begins booing, calling him names, throwing cans, food and garbage at him.  They storm the field and start kicking dirt in his face.  Someone grabs his glove and hurls it across the fence. It seems the entire crowd is attacking him, including people your family ate lunch with less than an hour ago!  Then someone steps forward with their video that confirms the umpire’s decision was correct.  The crowd disperses still cursing, still calling your child names; no apologies, no praise for his play.  He stands there, bruised and battered, blood flowing from his nose, tears streaming down his cheeks, fear in his eyes.  Stop and feel that.  Feel the rage, the fear, the overwhelming urge to strike out at these people, to rub your son’s achievement in their faces. 

I believe the emotions we would experience in this situation are some that Jesus must have been feeling.  His human makeup was what had to be sacrificed to pay our debt so He stayed there and experienced it all in a completely human way. He didn’t conveniently call on some kind of Godly power that would diminish His emotions.  He didn’t choose to get even.  He didn’t call on angels to change His circumstances.  He forgave them.  He didn’t say He forgave them while thinking to Himself, “Yeah, I’ll forgive them, but I hope they pay for what they did.”  No, Jesus truly, sincerely forgave them.  He forgave because He knows the price unbelievers will pay and He doesn’t want anyone to have to pay that price, not even those who were subjecting Him to this injustice and causing Him untold pain.  His heart is broken for ALL those who have not found Him.  Ours should be, too.

 I play this scenario over in my mind as I go through the process of letting go of pain and hurt feelings.  Once the emotions start welling up, I have to find ways to manage them. I start by reminding myself that the person is struggling and remembering the things I have done that hurt others, things I do every day that hurt God.  Then I pray.  The first parts of those prayers are usually filled with the “me” of the whole situation, how badly I’ve been treated or how I hope others are punished, much like David’s prayers against those who relentlessly pursued him. But God loves our honest prayers, so that’s OK as long as I don’t stay there.  As I pray, I slowly yield to the Spirit and He redirects my thoughts to the things I need to focus on:  their need for God, the struggles they might be going through, how difficult it is to obey Him in certain things, and on my own sinfulness.  It always takes more than one prayer and it’s rarely a straight path; I waver back and forth from anger and hurt to forgiveness.  But I keep praying when the disobedient attitude takes hold until I can adopt an attitude that allows me to show God’s love even though I still may not be feeling it.  When I start wallowing in the feelings again, I go back to Him in prayer.

 Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

While I carry a heavy burden for people who are still stumbling around in the world without Jesus, many times the last feeling I can manage is broken heartedness!  I feel frustration at their arrogance and pride and their inability or unwillingness to understand God’s will, anger at how they mock Jesus and ignore what He did for them.  My daughter read somewhere that we expect people still searching for God to act like those of us who have found Him.  When they don’t conform to those expectations, we use it as justification to ignore them or be angry at them.  It’s easy to put our negative feelings ahead of our responsibility to show God’s love.  I find this true in my own life more often than I care to admit.  I remind myself of what I was like before I yielded to Christ.  I know that giving in to my negative feelings isn’t going to do anything to attract anyone to their Savior and that is my responsibility as a committed follower of Christ.  But I am a whole new creature and still learning to yield to the Spirit.

 There’s a woman at work who cannot walk and gets around on a scooter.  For well over a year I focused on the fact that she drives that thing way too fast and didn’t seem to understand there are corners she can’t see around.  I decided she was insensitive and reckless.  She really irritated me and I thought perhaps I should report her or say something to her before she hurt somebody. One day God laid on my heart to just smile and speak to her.  So I did that.  She didn’t respond at first but I kept it up.  Now when we see each other, she smiles, sometimes says hi.  The hallways now seem wider; there aren’t THAT many people in the hallway. At some point I noticed the mirrors at each of the corners so she can see around them.  One day I had to take a different route on my way home and saw her outside our building racing towards the bus stop.  I realized she’s in a hurry because she’s anxious about missing her bus.  Not only did my actions change my feelings towards her, once I discovered why she was in such a hurry my sin in judging her became all too apparent. I might not ever have a chance to share the Gospel with her, but had I reported her or admonished her that door would have been closed.

 Another woman at work would never speak to me unless she was challenging me about my faith, even though she professed to be a Christian.  She is known for stirring stuff up at work and being critical of others.  I avoided her and, I’m ashamed to admit, joined in the negative conversations others would have about her.  Yet there were others who seemed to really like her.  I started listening to her at her desk and found she has a wonderful sense of humor and a great love for her husband.  I committed to overcoming my dislike for her.  I decided to buy some household decorations that she was selling so I would have something to begin talking to her about.  I brought her blackberries and tomatoes from our garden. One day she came to me upset because someone had lied to her.  I listened and tried to encourage her.  I got some insight into why she acts out the way she does. I am more patient with her and can better sympathize with her struggles rather than feeling the disdain for her I previously felt.  I get to enjoy her sense of humor and, best of all she is more receptive to my faith.  I have been able to seize opportunities to share it with her, something I was not able to do before. 

 To say that God’s heart is broken for those who do not turn to Him might be a bit of an understatement.  It’s very serious to Him therefore it should be to us.  I should want to do everything I can to insure people will not spend eternity separated from God.  Not only will I be a stumbling block if I allow my emotions to determine how I am going to act, but I break the sixth commandment, the one that tells us not to murder.  This is an example of how the Ten Commandments go much deeper than what we read at first glance. Here’s how it plays out:  when we allow our dislike for or anger at someone to keep us from showing God’s love and working to lead them to Him we demonstrate that we don’t care about their eternal soul.  In our hearts we have essentially sentenced them to eternal death.  Knowing that those who do not find God will spend eternity being separated from Him should break our hearts just as it breaks His. 

We can’t depend on our feelings about others to determine how we are going to treat them.  Demonstrating God’s love not only has the potential to change others, it will also change the way we feel about them.  It’s not easy but, when we sincerely desire to obey God, we have to put forth the effort.  I want to feel the urgency God feels for those still struggling to find Him.  Until I get there, I will focus on showing His love through my actions; putting aside my feelings when they don’t match God’s command to love them.

1 Corinthians 13:2-7: “ …if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”