Psalm 42:3 ESV
My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?"
This is not jut a questions we are asked but if we are honest, we ask it ourselves - and often.
The question was put to David when he was sore oppressed and cast down (see verse 11). It was meant cruely and tauntingly - an attempt to make his travail even worse than it was.
And how do we answer this? When the unbeliever looks at our distress and concern and snidely asks the question how are we to respond?
Tha mistake we often make in answering this question (even for ourselves) is that we want an answer that will satisfy the flesh - will satisfy the taunters. We have to accept that there is no answer that will be acceptable to them, no answer even for our own flesh either.
The truth is that God is with us regardless of our condition and circumstances. The truth is that God, in His gracious and merciful providence is always working for our good. But apart from His assuraance of this we rarely have "proofs." We have no demonstration apart from the sustinance of the Spirit and the faith He gives us with which to respond.
Psalm 22:7-8 ESV
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; [8] "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
Mockingly the world, the flesh and the devil wil seek to drive us to question the promises of God and the goodness of God. They will seek to get us into an arguement we can not win on their terms. But that is what they want. They want me, a believer, to prove to them, a God-hating unbeliever, that God is real and good. What a waste of time that is!
Even when the mocker is my own flesh - there is no arguement I can gve that will satisfy. Oh, I can roam all over scripture pointing out the great examples of God's goodness and care for those who are His but the flesh - the world - the devil will never agree to these evidences - never admit I have won.
"Where is your God?" Is a cruel hoax of a question seeking to draw us into their realm on their terms. All we can say will never be enough. And that being so we tend to get frustrated and anxious ans doubt seems to grow in our hearts. We feel the weight of that fear of man that so pervades our hearts and minds. We feel small and insignificant and useless.
The only response we can make to these cruel and useless taunts is that which David makes, prayer. Prayer for those who taunt and prayer for our own strength and faithfulness. The world, the flesh and the devil simpy want to engage us in a useless arguement to distract us from the duties and graces of the faith. They don;t want an answer and there is no answer they will accept.
Brothers and sisters let us not allow "them" to distract us with their taunts and silly questions. Let us give a kind answer but a true one. That our God is always with us and has promised to be so forever. Let us also be wise and serpents and innocent as doves as we engage the enemy - with a kind word and love. You can't pursuade a blind man that blue is blue or a dead man that the sun is up.
Showing posts with label presence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presence. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Freedom, Contentment, Presnce Part 5
Freedom, Contentment, Presence Part 5
Fini
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
"I will not fear, what can man do to me?"
The fear of man is probably one of the most common sins that keeps us from breaking through from covetousness to contentment. "What will other people think?" "What will others say?"
We covet the approval or others and we are not content to be different. We want to fit in, to be a part of so we fear not fitting in or being a part of. We fear what people might say to us and of us. We fear that if we truly plant our feet for God we will be odd - peculiar - and hence be maligned and rejected.
Uhhhhhh - what part of the cost of discipleship did you not get? Did no one tell you that being rejected and maligned was part and parcel of the Christian walk? Did no one tell you that you have to REJECT the world to gain heaven? Being His means you are none of the world's. We are to be in and not of the world - but the cost is great and it can be painful.
What can man do to you if indeed you begin to grow from covetousness to contentment? Reject you? And why would you want to be accepted by those who wouldreject your growth in HIm, those who even reject Him? Why do we need that new suit or that new dress? Is it because the old are not wearable any more? Are the old rent and torn and unmendable? Then perhaps we do NEED those new clothes. Do we need that new anything? Do we even need the "thing" we have?
Christ came for one, to set us free - free from the penalty of sin - free from the power of sin but not from the presence of sin. So He gave us His presence in the Holy Spirit as a counselor and comforter - one who comes alongside to help. But are we addressing those things in our lives for which we need His help?
We choose comfort over contentment and then we wonder why our walks seen so halting and short. We wonder why we do not have the wind for the long haul. We limp along.
We live lives of bondage and that bondage is by choice - the choice to follow our covetous desires and the common covetousness of our culture. We are "wanting" oursevles into shallow, weak and ineffective lives in Christ.we are making the links in the chain that binds us to this world and the ways of this word. And so the author of Hebrews adminishes us - indeed commands us:
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
Only in centering and building our lives on the gospel can we ever hope to fe free of covetousness, bound in contentment and living out the presence of the Lord in our hearts.
Oh, will you not see and allow the Spirit to convict your hearts of the covetousness in which you have become content and are bound by the fear of man. Will you not let Him drive you to yur knees crying out for the freedom He provides? Will you not repent of and reject the covetousness and face the rejection of man for your efforts?
Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner.
Fini
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
"I will not fear, what can man do to me?"
The fear of man is probably one of the most common sins that keeps us from breaking through from covetousness to contentment. "What will other people think?" "What will others say?"
We covet the approval or others and we are not content to be different. We want to fit in, to be a part of so we fear not fitting in or being a part of. We fear what people might say to us and of us. We fear that if we truly plant our feet for God we will be odd - peculiar - and hence be maligned and rejected.
Uhhhhhh - what part of the cost of discipleship did you not get? Did no one tell you that being rejected and maligned was part and parcel of the Christian walk? Did no one tell you that you have to REJECT the world to gain heaven? Being His means you are none of the world's. We are to be in and not of the world - but the cost is great and it can be painful.
What can man do to you if indeed you begin to grow from covetousness to contentment? Reject you? And why would you want to be accepted by those who wouldreject your growth in HIm, those who even reject Him? Why do we need that new suit or that new dress? Is it because the old are not wearable any more? Are the old rent and torn and unmendable? Then perhaps we do NEED those new clothes. Do we need that new anything? Do we even need the "thing" we have?
Christ came for one, to set us free - free from the penalty of sin - free from the power of sin but not from the presence of sin. So He gave us His presence in the Holy Spirit as a counselor and comforter - one who comes alongside to help. But are we addressing those things in our lives for which we need His help?
We choose comfort over contentment and then we wonder why our walks seen so halting and short. We wonder why we do not have the wind for the long haul. We limp along.
We live lives of bondage and that bondage is by choice - the choice to follow our covetous desires and the common covetousness of our culture. We are "wanting" oursevles into shallow, weak and ineffective lives in Christ.we are making the links in the chain that binds us to this world and the ways of this word. And so the author of Hebrews adminishes us - indeed commands us:
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
Only in centering and building our lives on the gospel can we ever hope to fe free of covetousness, bound in contentment and living out the presence of the Lord in our hearts.
Oh, will you not see and allow the Spirit to convict your hearts of the covetousness in which you have become content and are bound by the fear of man. Will you not let Him drive you to yur knees crying out for the freedom He provides? Will you not repent of and reject the covetousness and face the rejection of man for your efforts?
Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Freedom Contentment Presence Part 3
Freedom, Contentment, Presence Part 3
Presence
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
"For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Luke 12:22-23 ESV
And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Luke 12:28-31 ESV
But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! [29] And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. [30] For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. [31] Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Do we believe what our Lord has said? Do we really? Or do we believe this only when we are comfortable and at our ease? Oh believer know you not that there is much great danger in comfort and ease? Know you not that you risk much when your dependence strays from His promises, when you demand and aquire more than He would have you - and for reasons of satsfying yourself?
Is the great thing in your life the presence of Christ or is that presence obscured by the presence of possessions and covetousness?
Let me bunny trail here and plainly state that it is not just in plenty that we obscure His presence but we can do that when in need as well. We can so focus on the need that we darken our ability to acknowledge and rejoice in His presence.
We must consider being free from the love of money-stuff, being content with what we have and the presence of Christ being inseperable and necessary to the life of the believer. His promise to never leave us or forsake us needs to be seen in opposition to the love of money and lack of contentment. They conflict one with another and ceate in the heart of the believe a raging torrent of grief - or at least I hope they do.
But there is one work here we must take seriously. It is the word "FOR."
Reread the verse this way:
"Becasue he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have."
Does that change your perspective just a little? It is His presence and His non-forsaking of us that is the justification for freedom and contentment.
But, more importantly His promise of His presence and not to forsake us should be the core of our freedom and contentment. He should be enough. He and His promises are for ever.
Think on this oft used passage:
1 John 2:16-17 ESV
For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions-is not from the Father but is from the world. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The question we must ask is, "If someone looked at my life and how I use the blessings and mercies of God (especially money-stuff) could they tell I find freedom and contentment in His presence and promises?"
Oh Lord, deliver us again and again from the bondage of our corrupt natures that we might be free of idolatry and covetousness and content with using Your provision for Your glory and honor. Father make the presence and promises of Your Son rise in my heart and indeed in my life. Make me a simple satisfactory steward of all You entrust to me and keep me safe from myself, the world and the devil. Let me not yield to the conventions and covetousness of my culture and to see everything You provide as a challenge to my faith and my heart.
Presence
Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." [6] So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
"For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Luke 12:22-23 ESV
And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Luke 12:28-31 ESV
But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! [29] And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. [30] For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. [31] Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Do we believe what our Lord has said? Do we really? Or do we believe this only when we are comfortable and at our ease? Oh believer know you not that there is much great danger in comfort and ease? Know you not that you risk much when your dependence strays from His promises, when you demand and aquire more than He would have you - and for reasons of satsfying yourself?
Is the great thing in your life the presence of Christ or is that presence obscured by the presence of possessions and covetousness?
Let me bunny trail here and plainly state that it is not just in plenty that we obscure His presence but we can do that when in need as well. We can so focus on the need that we darken our ability to acknowledge and rejoice in His presence.
We must consider being free from the love of money-stuff, being content with what we have and the presence of Christ being inseperable and necessary to the life of the believer. His promise to never leave us or forsake us needs to be seen in opposition to the love of money and lack of contentment. They conflict one with another and ceate in the heart of the believe a raging torrent of grief - or at least I hope they do.
But there is one work here we must take seriously. It is the word "FOR."
Reread the verse this way:
"Becasue he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have."
Does that change your perspective just a little? It is His presence and His non-forsaking of us that is the justification for freedom and contentment.
But, more importantly His promise of His presence and not to forsake us should be the core of our freedom and contentment. He should be enough. He and His promises are for ever.
Think on this oft used passage:
1 John 2:16-17 ESV
For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions-is not from the Father but is from the world. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The question we must ask is, "If someone looked at my life and how I use the blessings and mercies of God (especially money-stuff) could they tell I find freedom and contentment in His presence and promises?"
Oh Lord, deliver us again and again from the bondage of our corrupt natures that we might be free of idolatry and covetousness and content with using Your provision for Your glory and honor. Father make the presence and promises of Your Son rise in my heart and indeed in my life. Make me a simple satisfactory steward of all You entrust to me and keep me safe from myself, the world and the devil. Let me not yield to the conventions and covetousness of my culture and to see everything You provide as a challenge to my faith and my heart.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Heart Keepers 06 031014
Heart Keepers 06
6. The realizing of God's presence with us and setting the Lord always before us.
God is always with us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. All this is true but do we intentionally set that in the forefront of our minds and the center of our hearts?
Are we desirous of being obnoxiously aware of and desperately desirous of His being always and all ways before us?
Without the practice of the disciplines of the faith, without partaking of His means of grace and His mercies this will never never be the case. We are but babes in holiness (in many ways but especially in terms of separation from the world). As babes we need goood food and good exercize. Without both we will not grow or we will grow poorly.
But we have too much to do. Too much to worry about. Too much of too much. So we nibble a breakfast bar of faith thinking it will provide the nutrition we need for our daily walk. We crave spiritual fast food and just the occassional healthy meal and think we will be OK.
We set God before us when we are in need; not accepting that we are always in need. Prosperity and comfort keep us fat, sassy and lost.
Keeping the heart takes work - focused and diligent work - but who has the time? Who makes the time? So we stubble along bringing ridicule to the name of God by our shallow, ignorant and intermitant faith. We violate the first line of the model prayer since we do not "hallow" His name as it should be hallowed.
We do not keep our hearts and so our lives are warped and twisted all the time we claim to be serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus made it very very clear that it is our hearts that are the source of evil and it is our hearts we must keep. It's not a feeling, its facts. It's not a disposition, it's discipline. It's not neat, it's necessary.
6. The realizing of God's presence with us and setting the Lord always before us.
God is always with us. The Holy Spirit indwells us. All this is true but do we intentionally set that in the forefront of our minds and the center of our hearts?
Are we desirous of being obnoxiously aware of and desperately desirous of His being always and all ways before us?
Without the practice of the disciplines of the faith, without partaking of His means of grace and His mercies this will never never be the case. We are but babes in holiness (in many ways but especially in terms of separation from the world). As babes we need goood food and good exercize. Without both we will not grow or we will grow poorly.
But we have too much to do. Too much to worry about. Too much of too much. So we nibble a breakfast bar of faith thinking it will provide the nutrition we need for our daily walk. We crave spiritual fast food and just the occassional healthy meal and think we will be OK.
We set God before us when we are in need; not accepting that we are always in need. Prosperity and comfort keep us fat, sassy and lost.
Keeping the heart takes work - focused and diligent work - but who has the time? Who makes the time? So we stubble along bringing ridicule to the name of God by our shallow, ignorant and intermitant faith. We violate the first line of the model prayer since we do not "hallow" His name as it should be hallowed.
We do not keep our hearts and so our lives are warped and twisted all the time we claim to be serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Jesus made it very very clear that it is our hearts that are the source of evil and it is our hearts we must keep. It's not a feeling, its facts. It's not a disposition, it's discipline. It's not neat, it's necessary.
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