Moment by Moment 061216

Minutely by minute.

In depression, tomorrow makes a hell of today.  It's not the moment we're in that creates all the anxiety and pain but the moment that has not yet come.  Our affliction convinces us that the other shoe is dropping and will hit with devastating consequences.  So along with the with the afflicton of the depression itself we suffer that anticipatory anxiety that reeks havoc on our day.

This is especially hard for those of us who are believers.  We do indeed trust God but that trust is sullied by the afflictive anxiety.  What we KNOW battles against what we are able to feel.  There is no sense of confidence or hope or joy.  Though we know we have every good reason to experience those things, they are just not there for us.  That makes even the most outstanding blessing less than it ought to be.

God is meeting our needs and we know from the evidence  our past that He is a need meeting God and yet we can't bridge the distance from our heads to our hearts.  It is just too wide a gulf.  We can not get it done at least not oN our own.

The Holy Spirit, our designated comforter, is the only means and recourse we have to this menacing melancholy.  He is our only hope for experiencing the hope and the joy we are promised.  But we have got to call upon Him for it.  It has not been my experience that He will just infuse me with hope and joy out of the blue (although He can and might).  I have found that it takes disciplined prayer and a laser like focus on my need and His ability and willingness to provide.  It's not that I have to perform in a certain way for Him to act but that I have to work hard to silence the melancholy and anxious thoughts so that I am receptive to His provision.  Otherwise it's just a chaotic battle between my broken heart and mind and the truth.

This is why such disciplined prayer needs to be a regular part of our daily practice.  We need those moments of the Holy Spirit's ministry every day.  They are precious hard won moments.  YES we can pray that God will deliver us from this affliction and He well may do so, but, He may not.  It may be for our benefit or the benefit of others that we live and struggle with this affliction.  We all love to read about Job but none of us want to be him.

In this fallen world and in God's plan, this melancholy and anxious affliction is just one way through which He demonstrates His power, lovingkindness and provision.  We need to be responsible IN our affliction and work hard to make use of all the resources He provides so that His name will be glorified.  It is not easy nor is it pleasant, but as we say, "It is what it is."  If Paul can accept and be content with his thorn in the flesh, we can learn to emmulate him in our affliction.

Be oh so wary of those who can not accept and respect your affliction.  They may be well meaning but they are more often cruel in their attempts to "help" us.  Depression and anxiety say a lot about this fallen world and its effects on people, even His people.  A disciplined and focused prrayerful practice aimed at our affliction is the only answer that I have found that relieves the oppresson and dispells the shadows.

It's a lifetime battle but not one that has to defeat us.  We are more than conquerors, one battle at a time.

We are learning . . . .

Old thoughts and reflections worth remembering!

Written during our wilderness time in Texas

Just thinking about being out here in Texas and not knowing why.  Oh, we thought we had a reason but the sinfullness and duplicity of man put a quick end to that.  So we're out here, away from family and friends, with no idea what God has planned.  But I read too much to be without faith that He is in charge and will indeed work this thing out for our good and His glory.

But I would warn you, when you sense God's leading, take a nap.  Give it a break.  Don't charge forward.  We really ought to have prayed more, gotten more council and really investigated what we were getting into.  Had we done that we might well have chosen to live in our car in Greensboro rather than make the move.

But there is some up sides to this situation.  We have far less, though still too much, junk than we did.  We got to experience the kindness, care and support of family and friends as we prepared to move.  We really know we are loved.  We experience God's providence moment by moment.  We are learning about the sinfulness of our hearts and what He wants us to work on.  We get to miss people which is hard but wonderful.  We get to remember all the blessings of the past and look toward those of the future.  We get to find out new things about each other and our marriage.  We get to trust Him better each day.  We get to be convicted and to repent.  We get to discover new and awesome things about living for Him.

Being here is kind of a left-handed blessing.  The bitter with the sweet.  The good and the bad without the ugly.  Daily we confront small crisis and get to see Him resolve them.  Moment by moment we get to experience His comfort in our anxiety.  Night by night we get to sleep (that's day by day since I work nights.).  We get to enjoy learning to pray more deeply and more wisely.  We get to wait and rest.

Oh, I could complain, and do, but I feel foolish when I look at the sum total of our lives here.

All we thought would be a blessing once we got here went south on us.  It has been and is painful so we're learning to deal with anger and bitterness.  We're also learning to deal with pride, learning to see it from new and different directions.  We are learning to not murmur.  We are learning to trust Him way more than we trust others.  We are learning not to assume, suppose and accept on face value.  We are learning to not settle for anything but His best.  We are learning to pray openly and honestly laying our wants at His feet and holding out for them unless we are shown they are off base.  We are learning that we can not do it on our own.  We are learning that sometimes you just have to push forward.

Oh, I could complain, and do but then I just feel silly and foolish.

We are learning that the best cure for anxiety and worry is serving others.  We are learning that depression does not always win and that you can do more than you think even when the depression is at its worse.  We are learning that panic attacks always fail.  We are learning that we are weak and frail by design. We are learning a lot!

We are learning that you can feel sorry for yourself when appropriate but that it passes as you lean on Him.  We are learning that sadness is not a bad thing as long as it is not over much.  We are learning  that tears are often very appropriate.  We are learning that the disciplines of the faith are crucial.  We are learning that living the life takes practice, consistent practice.  We are learning that orthopraxy is only good with orthodoxy (lol).

We are learning that a little crazy is a good thing.  We are learning to be discriminating in our activities and pleasures.  We are learning that we can be too inundated by the world (this election stuff).  We're learning that what goes in the ear can really mess with the head...not to mention what goes in the eyes.  We are learning that Ruko is a blessing.  We are learning to love radio.

Philippians 4:8 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Set mind & heart . . . .

Colossians 3:1-2 ESV
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Melancholy, especially chronic melancholy is a strange affliction.  One mo,emt things are relatively fine and the next momemt the melancholy raises its ugly head and smacks you into the dirt.  It is a most unpleasant occurrence.   One never knows when it will strike and determining why can be difficult.

If we accept that there is a neurochemical component to the affliction then the sudden attack can be due to some shift in the chemical balance.  But we do not want to lay all of the blame on some mysterious chemical Russian roulette.  We, our minds and hearts, play a powerful role in this affliction as well.

One of the more simple causes of these sudden drops has much to do with what we have set our minds and hears on.  We have all heard the phrase, "I really had my heart set on ......."  When we set out hearts and or minds on something we have to accept that we may have set ourselves up for a drop, for a deep bout of melancholy.  Therefore, it is important that we guard our minds and hearts from being set on anything that can disappoint.

This does not mean we don't desire things - ever.  But it does mean that we have to moderate the strength of our desires for anything in or of the world.  This means we have to take responsibility and do the hard work of examining exactly what we have set our minds and/or hearts on and to what degree.  When we fail to do this we can expect a drop.

I have been looking for a new job.  We need more income and frankly working nights is getting tougher.  I had submitted two applications for two jobs for, which I believe my skills and experience make me a viable candidate.  One job looks very positive the other is still up in the air.  I received a call from the very positive job today for a second interview and found myself dropping into, that dark place.  Wondering why I! examined my heart and mind and realized I had set my mind and heart on the other job to a greater degree than I had thought even though they have only read my resume and have not offered an interview.  Oh sure, it's a better job and a greater challenge but the mere fact that a call from positive job cast me down made me very suspicious of the set of my mind and heart.

We are admonished to set our mind and heart on things above, and not things below, for a very good reason.  Things above are promised and guaranteed. They are bought and paid for.  Things below, not so much.  One reason that we should not set our hearts on things in and of this world is because they are entagled in that great web of fallenness that so corrupts the whole world.  We are no match for the world, the flesh and the devil, at least not on our own.  We are not capaple of navigating the maze of deceit that works in this world.  And besides, this is all passing away.

We have a great promise concerning ourmhearts and minds;


Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When we earnestly and consistantly pray concernining our needs, desires and concerns (what we set our minds and hearts on) we have the promise of the peace of God.  And this is not mellow sence of well being type of peace.  It is an active and dynamic peace.  It guards our hearts and minds.  It works in us to keep us safe and away from setting our minds and hearts awry.  This is a promise we need to grab hold of and hold so tightly is squeals!  Let God know about everything that concerns your mind and heart and He will guard it!

Melancholy is a mean and nasty affliction.  It seems to abate only to blindside us.  But where we have set our minds and hearts has a lot to do, with its power in our lives.  Our prayer thoughts and life can have a powerful effect upon hooften and how hard it hits us.  Where we have set our minds and nearts plays a powerful role in how and where it hits us.  A key to avoiding these blindside injuries is to work diligently  to keep, our minds and hearts set on things above and to set our concerns and desires above as well.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, [12] so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a great and wonderful thing to pray for!  What a blessing to those for whom we pray!  Oh that we all might so lovingly consider our brothers and sisters in Christ!

We all resolve to do good and to do good works for the glory of our heavenly Father so them it is imperative that we pray concerning this for one another?  How much more encouraging can we get than to make the good desires of our family's heart a matter for diligent prayer.  Oh how we would be co-laborers in the best sense if we all undertook  to do such praying but we need to know those things which our brothers and sisters have resolved to be and to do.

Here again, I have to express my concern that in the conservative anti-cultural swing of the pendulum, the church has disallowed any forum for us to be informed by and concerning our brothers and sisters'resolutions.  That intimate connection, for ministry is left to chance.  In our desire to get the world out of the church, we have severed many opportunities for true and glorious fellowship.

The Puritans held what they called "conferences", which we would call small groups.  These conferences were disciplined serious. meetings where the truth was discussed and lives were shared.  At these conferences, not only did they discuss theology and doctrine but the shared what I call "Kindom hopes."  By that I mean the dearly held intimate and individual asperations of those attending.  These were not self-help or therapeutic groups (although they were helpful and therapeutic) but were the venue where true and orderly fellowship took place.

By fellowship, I refer to the strictest definition of the biblical term.  This is not socializing but rather the holding and sharing of our common faith as it relates to our individual lives.  These gatherings are not rodeos where folks would spill their guts, but rather serious interactions concerning the individual needs, asperations and resolutions of the believers.

How else, where else are we to come into contact with the hearts of our brothers and sisters?  Certainly not in the choreographed order of worship.  That would not be appropriate or fitting.  Worship is a part of everthing we do in His name but that special time on the Lord's day is about Him not us.  But we desperately need a venue where we can and may share with one another the glories and struggles of following Him - especially how we can pray for one another as we seek to be about serving Him.

I, and I am sure many of you, desire to pray for our brothers and sisters in an intelligent and informed manner.  I find vague and generic prayers very frustrating.  I desire to pray for my hopes and dreams in the Lord as well as yours.  I know mine, it is yours I long to know.  Otherwise my prayers for you seem crippled by ingnorance and hollow in their vagueness.  We want our prayers to be  intimate and to the point, not general and hollow.  No, there is nothing "WRONG" with generalized and vague prayers but I think we miss the best of prayer when we are so limited.
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Do you suffer the same frustrations as I concerning this matter?  If so, begin now to be more intentional in asking for and receiving requests for prayer.  If someone desires "growth in Christ," ask them in what specific areas.  Ask them what their Kingdom hopes and dreams are.  Ask....ask....ask and then ask.

As far as fellowship for the purpose of informing our prayers for one another, start with one other person.  Pray that the Lord will help you find a kindred spirit in this matter and you two begin to "conference."  If it pleases God to do so, your little one on one can grow into a powerful, deep and meaningful (not mention Christ honoring) opportunity.

But I would warn you.  Though such fellowship can certainly be therapeutic this is not to be a Christian group therapy sesson.  We gather in
 conference to do serious work, to gain the information we  need to pray wisely and well.  Nor is it a social gathering.  It has a specific end in sight and will take resolve to keep it from degenerating into a social gathering.

More 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

MORE....
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. [5] For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Comfort.  A curious thing.  What we are comforted by in affliction can be as varied as the afflictions themselves.  Though the comforts God provides are "common" like the trials we face, they like our afflictions, are quite intimate and individual.  Certainly, we may all be comforted by all the promises in the Gospel we are also comforted by unique and very personal mercies.

In affliction we need to examine not only the affliction but we need to examine or look for that which brings us comfort.  The danger we face is in comforting the flesh instead of the spirit.  We talk of "comfort" food which my make us feel better but usually does little for our health and certainly does nothing for our spirit.  We need to be very careful to examine what comforts us and we need to begin by asking if indeed it is a comfort from God.

The world, the flesh and the devil will always seek to take advantage of us when we are under affliction.  When we are weak and most prone to lean on our own strength and wisdom that unholy three will do everything they can to lead us into comforts that are really no comfort at all.  They seek to trap us into accepting counterfeit comforts which only serve to make our affliction worse and lead us to feel even further away from the Lord.

God's comforts are not primarily about making us "feel" better but rather they are intended to strengthen our faith and bring peace to our hearts.  God wants us to lean upon Him all the time and especially in times of affliction.  Indeed, the very purpose of many afflictions is to bring us back under His care, leaning on His provision.  His comforts are intended for our growth, our perseverance and not necessarily for us to feel better.  If they are to make us "feel" anything, it is confidence, strength, hope, love, etc.

God's comforts are, well, godly.  They are part and parcel of His holiness and our sanctificaton.

Jesus asks:
Matthew 7:9-11 ESV
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

This is as applicable to comforts as it is to any other prayer request we may make.  Of course I would ask, which one of you, if his son asks for a serpent will give him one?  In other words, there are times, and I suspect many times, when what we are praying for what we think is a "fish" is in truth a serpent.

James writes:
James 4:3, 7 ESV
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Comfort is not always about feeling better.  That is a tough truth but a safe one.  We have to pray hard that our hearts and minds will be open and receptive to the comfort that God would send and not demand what we believe will comfort us.  We need, as I have said, to examine what we believe will comfort us to see if it is godly and according to His will.

Will it draw me closer to Him.  Will it bring honor to His name?  Will it contribute to my growing more like Christ. Is this a godly comfort,

In all affliction James' admonition is paramount:
James 4:7 ESV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In affliction our only and best hope is to submit ourselves to God, accepting the affliction as from Him and seeking how we may glorify Him in it.  This will go a long way to enable us to seek, receive and ackowledge the comfort He provides and not seek those comforts which are counterfeits, traps.

What comforts you?  What do you seek in affliction?  Do you cry out to God for the comfort He wants you to have, do you submit yourself to His will?  What comforts you?

When considering the providence of God, October 6, 2015

October 6, 2015

When considering the providence of God . . . .

Too vast the ocean, too many the grains of sand.
Such is the providence of God

Such is my reflection and consideration.

Trying to "count one's blessing" is a most frustrating endeavor.

Too vast, too many.

Neatly woven like a web, God's providence touches all, all the time.

There are no loose ends no blind courses

God's providence is a whole - complete and entire.

There are no "great" blessings there are no "minor" blessings.
,
They are all of one value, great beyond grasping.

Though not always in our view they are utterly purposeful and directive.

Those past are our guides and instructors.

Those present are our comfort and consolation.

Those future are our hope and joy.

Our perception of them, often sullied by indwelling sin,
causes us to rate them on a skewed scale feeding our self consumption and yet rebellious wills.

Surrender brings peace and comfort.

Trusting, when trust is hard, brings strength and growth.

We need be patient with ourselves as we learn to appreciate His providence and to see the value in the whole of it.

We need to see the whole of it.  Though hard and demanding we need to do the work that helps us see the whole of it.

One does not look at a part of a portrait and see its beauty, one must view the whole.

Four Things Part 1 082514

As we cast our eye over it, we observe that what Elijah needed to be taught was (1) dependence on God; (2) fellowship with man in his sufferings; (3) confidence in God’s plans ; and (4) a sense of their essential and broad mercifulness.       Warfield, B. B. (2013-11-13). Faith & Life (Kindle Locations 66-67). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Warfield beautifully explains the curriculum of God’s school as it can be applied to Elijah and to ourselves.  Though I encourage to get and read the book Faith and Life by Warfield I’d like to sent some time reflecting of the four things God was teaching Elijah as they might be applied to our lives.

Keep in mind that Warfield has explained the as far as we can tell from the record, Elijah was in a grueling course of “on the job training,”  He was learning as he went and the key thing to remember is the he “went.”  That is fundamental if not essential for all of us to understand.  “Following,” is the key to discipleship.  Not observing the Master, not evaluating the Master but following the Master is the key.  We will be taught when we need to be and as we need to be.  That is the promise we find again and again in the lives of God’s people in the Word.

The fist lesson, and the lesson that if not learned nullifies all the others is, I think, two fold.  First we must learn that God is dependable and second we much learn to depend upon Him.  Neither lesson is easy to truly learn.

Certainly we can see in the evidence of the Word that God has demonstrated His dependability.  But for many of us it is a dependability that is abstract.  We see that He is dependable in the lives of others but that’s no guarantee we will really see Him as dependable in our own lives.  It a tough thing to go from seeing God’s faithfulness to Israel to seeing His faithfulness to us - to ME.

One reason I think we struggle so much with that old, “I know He is faithful, but...” is that we are so very used to considering faithfulness in terms f big things that we miss the commonness of His faithfulness.  He is “commonly” faithful is so may mundane way that are so easy for us to ignore. It is in the really tough times when we discover both His faithfulness and our tottering dependence upon Him.

“God is dependable and I depend upon Him,’ is a great statement but really, ask yourself, how TRUE is that statement in your mind and heart?  Do you really believe that He is dependable?  Are you willing to surrender your plans, ideas, schemes, etc., and yield to His providence in all things?

I know I thought I was but I learned real quick how flighty my faith - my dependence - my trust in Him was.  The past year and a half have taught me just how unreasonable, prideful and self-absorbed my dependence upon Him was (and still is to some extent).  Nothing in the past year and a half has gone according to our plan and yet as we look back we can see that it certainly has gone according to someone’s plan - we of course assume it was His plan.

We have learned to calmly suffer chaos and confusion because we have see Him provide and direct in the midst of the chaos.  He didn’t make the chaos go away He simply acted within it to bring about blessings and peace.

So how do we grow in our dependence upon Him - upon the conviction that he is dependable?

Ahhh, well that’s for the future - we’ll get to it next.

Sinning Away Conviction

Sinning away conviction of sin.
In his book, Indwelling Sin in Believers, John Owen writes of the believer who, "sins away his conviction of sin."

I must admit that this was a source of very real conviction for me.  I reflected upon how often I catch myself engaged in something that one might consider a "little" sin with less conviction than I should have.  Maybe a book or a TV show or a movie.  Even the purchase of something that I delude myself into believing will bring some lasting satisfaction and meaning to my life.

I am confronted with the question, "How sensitive to sin and I - really?"  I have to admit that like many folks I don;t do well in my answer.  As James tells us, my desires create havoc in my soul that unfortunately is common enough to be dismissed unless directly confronted from outside.

This is due to several things not the least of which is an intentional examination of most of my life in the light of the Word and the Spirit.  What seems OK is most often not.  The law of grace loses it's power to restrain me because my mind is not fixed upon Him, His sovereignty and His calling.  I simply find it distressingly easy to let the "little" one's slip by.

Though these "sins" are (according to man;s measure) "little" they have the cumulative effect of numbing my heart to sin in general.  The old "everyone does it," or the "it's not a biggy," even "I'm redeemed and forgiven," are poor rationales for my failure in regards to these sins.

I have to make myself remember that if I had only committed the least of these "acceptable" sins Christ would have still had to suffer the horrors of their payment.  There only one acceptable payment for any and all sins but I, maybe like may of you, have a tough time keeping this in the front of my mind.

So I grow numb to conviction in an ever increasing way and find myself humiliated by greater lapses.  Lapses that would not have been so easy to make had i dealt honestly and directly with the "lesser" sins.

All this is to say that we must (ok, maybe it's just me) must do whatever is needful to become and remain sensitive to all sin in our lives.

This take intentional commitment and discipline.  It is hard and tedious work.  It looks a lot like legalism but though the law was fulfilled its use in our lives still stands.  Somehow I have to move from being a mere fan of Jesus to being a fanatic for His glory.

Sin is spelled  S-I-N not O-O-P-S!

It's a scary proposition to consider praying for a level of sensitivity to sin that truly honors God.  So much of what is our lives - my life - will have to be examined and re-evaluated.  So much will have to change - even what seems like the minutia.

But - gratitude demands it.  God expects it.  The Word and the Spirit enable it.  Who am I to refuse it?

Pray to see to what degree you may had sinned away some of your conviction of sin.

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.

Getting a Grip when it all Hurts Part 5

Getting a Grip  When it all hurts  Part 5

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Restore
Confirm
Strengthen
Establish

Do you want it - or not?

I ask that often.  Am I willing to suffer (for a little while) in order for God to bless me with these four mercies?  I take them as indesputable promises and so my answer is a weak but firm "yes."

I don't like the suffering part but I'm not sure we're supposed to like it anyway.  I do think that we are to keep the end in view - add everything up so we may:

James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

and let's not exclude:

James 1:3-4 ESV
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Is this really what we want?  Or do we want to have a haven here instead of heaven there?  Oh how the love of the world smothers all our sense and sensibleness.  How the flesh warps and twists our hearts so that we desire the best here where it can never be available.  How poor and weak are we that we (and I mean WE) seek to live here without a deep desire for heaven.


We are so infected with the;
1 John 2:16
desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions-

We forget that all of this, "is not from the Father but is from the world."

We are promised food, clothing and shelter.  We are not promised what kind or how much.  And I am learning that I have too much and that this too much has trapped me in the world.  I am being restored, confirmed, strengthened and established in ways I never suspected. And were it not for the suffering we are experiencing I'd have probably never even seen it.  As we live close to poverty I see the real poverty under which we lived.  As needs grow larger and more un-meetable I see what my real needs are - to which I was blind.  As a sense of worldly failure overwhelms me I discover what true success is - must be.  As the world in my life slowly diminishes heaven grows larger and His mercies and blessing grow more and more grand.

Brother and sisters I encourage you to live in such a way that God does not need to teach by a hard lesson.  Live with little, fight the covetousness that so easily infects our feeble hearts.  Begin now to loosen your grip on the world so the world's grip on you may be loosened.  Fight the real fight - the fight to live in humulity and submission to Him.  Question every eyarning, every desire, every choice.  Examine every thought and inclination.

If you are suffering, you are not alone and probably your suffering pales in comparison to most -  But suffering, no matter how bad is suffering.  I pray for you that you will not suffer long and that you (and we) will soon be the joyous recipients of the mercies God promises in this verse.

Getting a Grip When it all hurts Part 3 040314

Getting a Grip  When it all hurts Part 3

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Ver 7 - enough said. LOL

What can I say that this passage does not say?

The hard part is doing it.  You see this is not like bouncing a ball off a wall where you cast it and it comes back.  It's not like fishing where you cast your lure and reel it back in.  This is like pasta.  You cast it and it sticks to the wall!

He wants us to cast our anxieties - those emotions, feelings, senses - whatever you want to call them, on Him.

This ties into humility because we cast our anxieties on Him (and that which produces anxiety) because we realize that we can't fix it.  That is the humility component -!  It is NOT giving up.  It is NOT sitting in the corner rocking back and forth.  It is not an, "Oh to Hxxx with it."  It is not an, "I quit."  It is a beseeching of Him to take from us those emotions (?) which we call anxiety and to give us a peace based solidly upon -- wait for it ---  the FACT that He cares for us.

It is NOT a, "Let go and let God," giving up in the circumstances.  It is a calling upon Him to join Himself more deeply to our hearts and minds so that we have a sense of peace and comfort even in the midst of anxiety producing circumstances.

Now remember - we are weak and the flesh is irritatingly strong so we sill do the fishing thing.  We'll cast our lure our there for a while (cast our anxieties on Him) and then after a period of no nibbles (the circumstances continue) we'll reel that anxiety right back in.  The we'll cast it out again and again and again.  Folks, I think He wants us to fish with a float and not do all that casting.  He wants us to cast out our line and let it sit - watching the float closely for the nibble.

Anxiety is a terrible debilitating thing.  For some of us it is deadly.  But we do have recourse to Him.  We can cast it upon Him and leave it there - let Him deal with it.

Now there is the anxiety and the circumstances that cause the anxiety and we need to cast both upon Him.  We don't let go of what we can and should be doing but we ask Him to take the stress and pain and anxiety upon Himself - to lift it from our hearts and minds, to protect us from all the imaginings that create the anxiety.

Now I need to briefly address my brothers and sisters who suffer from what is called anxiety disorders.  That simply means that your anxiety - which is probably based on something legitimate - is disorderly - out of proportion - out of control.  Many of you have medication to help you deal with it and count that a mercy and a blessing.  BUT don't count it as the cure or answer!  It is neither.  It is a blessing that should be used and appreciated and respected.  It should be used as needed and when and how you need it is something you have to take responsibility in and for.

There are many ways of dealing with anxiety besides medication and I'll tell you, if you're not using them along with your meds - you're being silly and not smart.  There are relaxations techniques, long walks, talking to yourself, prayer, reading scripture --- all these and more are great aids to dealing with anxiety.  Use them as you use your medications - silly.  The pill is NOT magic.  We all KNOW that it simply calms the anxiety for a while.  Making use of ALL stress and axiety relievers is critical.  They are all asnwers to the problem!  Use as many as you can and see if you can't slowly and gently reduce the frequency and number of meds you need to use.  BUT DO NOT just quit them for some strange and convoluted pseudo-biblical reason - they - their use - is not sin.  PS:  I KNOW what I'm talking about.

Ok - so much for that.

Jesus wants us to bring to Him all that we need and all that distresses us and He wants us to trust Him with it.  Sure, our flesh will want to play tug-or-war with our anxieties and that's OK - we just need to push them back on Him.  Prayer-The World and the Body of Christ are the keys to helping us accomplish this.  

Getting a Grip When it all hurts Part 2

Getting a Grip  When it all hurts Part 2

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.


And what are we to do when it all hurts?  Peter admonishes us to humble ourselves.  Well friends when you've feeling humiliation you can't risk confusing that with humbling.

Humiliation is quite simply of the world, the flesh and the devil.  Humiliation uses the world's standards to judge.  Humiliation springs from deep in the murky recesses of our not yet completely pure hearts.  Humiliation is an affliction from Satan fed by the world and enhanced by the flesh.  Humiliation is sin - insidious sin that Satan wants to inject into our lives to blind us to God's grace and mercy and to keep us from humbling ourselves under God's mighty hand.  Now - even that's a toughie.

Humbling ourselves - why did Peter have to say it that way?  Have you ever tried to humble yourself? It is not easy and lasts but a moment.  I find that when I kneel before God to humble myself all my flesh jumps to the front with all these great ideas about what I can to to relief the suffering.  If not that then my mind runs to all the ways God ought to fix the situation.  Humbling yourself is really really hard.

And yet, under Gods mighty hand, we are told to do just that. I don' t know about you but I think Peter knew well that humbling one's self was something one has to do over and over and over and over and ---well you get my point.

Humbling one's self is not some complex process - it's a hard one but not complex.  You simply (as a friend of mine told me) sit quietly and ask God to do the work.  As He works and the flesh rebels - stay calm - keep asking - repent of sins that aise in your mind - rebuke those self-driven thoughts - reject all those great ideas of yours.  My friend would simply go into the woods near his house, sit on a log and pray, "Lord, it's Travis," and then sit quietly waiting for his mind and heart to slow down and then he would begin to talk.

The, God's mighty hand, part of the passage gives me pause.  Does it mean that God is pressing me down with His hand or does it mean that His mighty hand is covering me, protecting me?   I would go with the latter although my flesh votes for the former.  In suffering it is hard to sense God's hand protecting you and easy to think that He is crushing you.  But does God really crush His people.  Even Job in all his sufferiing was not crushed and God's mighty hand was protecting him (see Job 1 and 2).  In all Job suffered God would allow Satan to only go so far and no further.

So it is, I believe, with us.  His mighty hand covers us -protecting us from anything that would crush and drive us from Him.

But we have to humble ourselves and I believe that means that we do what we can do and leave the rest to Him.  I've said many times, "When you have done all you can the rest is for God to do."  Of course we have to have a good definition of "all we can."

Now having said that I have to say that what we do - what we can do must be what he would have us do.  This quite simply demands three things of us.  First we must pray and I mean PRAY - It's not easy to pray when we are suffering but we have to - I've had to - fight through all the distractions to just pray.  But we must - well - demand that He do what only He can as we go about what we can do.  We need Him to both lead us and stop us.  We need to do what is in His will and not do that which is not - and this takes prayer!

Second, to humble ourselves under His hand, we must be in His word.  Here we will find everything we need to fill ourselves with a greater understanding of His will and His ways.  This is critical!  We must fill our minds with His truth - NOT just the usual happy verses but with the whole of His word.  We need to read the prophets to see any wayward way in ourselves.  We need to read the first five books to see His hand in the lives of real people who really suffered.  We need to read the Psalms and poetry to have our minds and hearts schooled in prayer and filled with hope.  We need to be reading the Gospels where we see God in the midst of real people as a real man.  We need the Epistles so that we understand, appreciate and live out the faith that saves us.

Third, to humble ourselve s we need the Body of Christ.  Yeah, I know, the first thing we think about is being embarrassed, being a burden, being a pain, being, "That guy."  But it is through the Body of Christ that God works in the lives of His people and so we must partake of God's provision.  All too often when we are suffering we want to lie and act as if everything was OK when it is anything but.  When we do this we lie - it's just that simple.  And that lie will crush us and keep us from God's providence through His Body.

Humility and humiliation - the first is a mercy the second a sin.  The first is of God, the second is of the world, the flesh and the devil.  The first will help you the second will harm you.  The first is life the second is death.  Finally the first will relieve the second.

Just a little while ago I was talking ith a guy I know from Caribou and we were sharing what ws going on in our lives.  I shared mine and Patti's situation and our concerns.  As we continued talking he said,  "Wait a minute."  Then he took $5 form his walllet and said, "The least I can do is buy you a cup of coffee."  Humiliating?  It should have been and almost was but God comforted my heart and I accepted the money.  Am I struggling with this even?  You bet I am.  It was embarassing and humiliating and --but it really was God's mercy and grace in a moment of time that I should cherish and take great comfort in - even if it is hard.

Humble yourself -- please.

Making the Most 05 The "rest" of the Lord's Day 032913

Making the Most
of the means of grace
05
5.  The "rest" of the Lord's Day

Sunday, the Lord's Day, the one day of the week we are to gather together and come before the Lord to worship and praise His name as a Body.  The Puritains were very strict about the Lord's Day and perhaps they had a valid point.  For them is was to be treated much like the Jewish Sabbath and to be a day of prayer and reflection.

But today it's a day mostly used to get stuff done around the house, to be entertained, to do for ourselves.  No, it is not to be some legalistic, cold and dry time nor is it to be considered a part of any works righteousness but isn't it to be more than just a day for our own interest and pleasures?

Don't we really need one day in seven when we can fight off all the distractions and diversions and focus on the Lord, to really "rest" in Him?  Can we be disciplined enough to set aside all the concerns and interests that keep our minds off of Him and simply relax in His goodness and grace?  Does it not seem right that we sacrifice one day of "me" to have a day for "Him?"

I mentioned the way the Jewish people would have counted days, from sunset to sunset, in the last blog.  Could we not begin to train ourselves to do the same.  Could we not begin to focus on His worship and His rest at sunset Saturday and set aside the mundane and common things of life until sunset Sunday?  Do we think we would really be losing anything by such an effort and practice?

Bible reading, prayer, spiritual discussions, faith related DVD's and programs are all means to keep our focus on Him and His grace for a mere 24 hours.  Would this not revolutionize our lives?  Of course it would and the blessings of doing so would be great.

The Lord's Day is meant for us to rest in Him.  And we all have to admit we need that rest - that rest in Him.  We need to have a time when we intentionally let go of our little worlds and cling to the hem of His garment.  Coming to Him on such a regular and disciplined basis will relieve us of much of the running to Him we have to do in a crisis.

This is not an easy thing to do.  It takes commitment and discipline and the mercies of the Holy Spirit but when done it will produce a greater sense of His peace and presence.  It's not some drab and monkish practice but rather a joyous giving on one day to Him and the things of His Kingdom.  One day, just one day.

The means of grace are great gifts He has provided so that we may consistently be growing in Him.  They are, well, essential practices He has given us so that we may facilitate, to whatever degree our efforts can, our being conformed to His likeness.  They are indeed means of grace -- and growth -- and hope -- and love.

Let me encourage you to begin making use of these means.  Seek the power of the Holy Spirit in making them an integral part of your life.  Accept the gifts and learn to enjoy them.

Finally, if you decide to indeed take up the means of grace I encourage you to follow the advise of one of the Puritain fathers.

"Do it as you can in order that yoou might do it better."

God bless you and keep you.

Making the Most - 01 Scripture 032614

Making the Most
of the means of grace
01
The Puritains write quite a bit about the "means of grace."  This is a strange phrase for us today which is unfortunate.

The "means of grace" are,
"....means which God has graciously appointed, in order to convey grace to man's hear by the Holy Ghost, or to keep up the spiritual life after is has begun."  JC Ryle, Practical Religion (Kindle loc. 264)

To keep it simple we will look at five "means of grace in this series.  We don't intend to write an in-depth treatise on each but rather too write devotionally - commonly - concerning these means.

The five means of grace are:
The reading of Scripture
Private prayer
Public worship
The Lord's Supper
The "rest" of the Lord's Day

1.  The reading of Scripture

God has promised that His Word will never be void of some effect.  It will accomplish His will in the llives of the reader.  For the believer the Word is the fundamental component of their spiritual nutritional system.  In the Word we hear from God and about God.  In the Word not only is the character and will of God revealed but His relationship to man (believer and unbeliever) is revealed.

We can all sit and "read" the Word but we must consider the "manner and spirit" in which we do so. (We must do the same with all the means of grace.)  Ryle writes about the difference in using the means of grace, in this case the Word, in a regular and formal manner without any sense of enjoyment but rather simply as a duty.  He holds that to make use of the means of grace in this manner is "utterly worthless and unprofitable."  And we must agree.

Time in the Word should be a time of expectant joy and even a holy curiosity.  The Word is not an "instruction manual" but rather a love letter in which God reveals all of Himself we need to know and all or our selves as well.  One must never go to the Word to just check it off as a duty but rather one should go hungry and expecting to be fed.

Psalm 119 is replete with requests that God teach the writer His statutes, commandment and most importantly His "ways."  His ways are the revelation of not only how He relates to us but how He calls us to relate to Him.  His ways are the boundaries and expectations inherent in a relationship with Him.  Nowhere else can we get the full and unadulterated direction we need to walk in His "ways' except in the Word of God.

Indeed the Word, reading the Word, is a means by which God communicates His grace and He also gives us example after example of that grace operating in the lives of real men and women like you and I.  But do we go to the Word to find that - or, do we go to find what feeds our flesh, scartches our itch or tickles our fancy?

Grace can grow cold when the fire is not stoked and in reading the Word we feed that fire - or in some cases that one little ember.  To forsake the reading of the Word and/or to approach this means of grace as a work is to cut oneself off from the promise of and in the Word - vanity makes all things void, self-love steals grace from our hearts and we live shallow and cold lives.  

PS
Are these posts of any benefit to you?  If they are or are not I would like to hear from you. Your input and/or encouragement would be a blessing and mercy.  You can comment on the blog page or, if you want, you can email me at sheepdog.ms@gmail.com.

Bless you for your help!
Michael

Broken Hearts and Bruised Souls 032514

Broken Hearts and Bruised Souls
032614

There are, in every congregation brothers and sisters who live with broken hearts and bruised souls.  They sit quietly, usually alone in the back, pray haltingly and have a look of deep yearning on their faces.

They long to have a sense of being a part of the body but they sense that their "difference" somehow excludes them.  They are alone in the crowd and being in the crowd makes their loneliness even greater.  They sit and even with a frozen smile on their faces they weep rivers of tear inside.

I'm writing about the melacholy (depressed), the Bi-polar, those who suffer anxiety disorders and the like.  They live in our world and go to our churches and yet they never have a sense of being a part of any of it.

Shame is a big part of their lives.  They can't run, do, work or even feel as other do and so they have a sense of being aliens and strangers in a way you can only imagine.

They look OK, they even socialize ok but the cost of doing either or both is great.  One hour in church and they are exhausted, they feel rode hard and put up wet.  They are drained and so their hearts and souls ache regardless of the joy and hope that is theirs.

Imagine waking up each morning with a sense that your life is not worth living.  Imagine waking up each morning terrified of what evil or difficulty might come your way.  Imagine feeling like every odd look is an accusation, a confirmation of your difference.  Imagine yearning for heaven more to escape your life than to be with the Lord.

These are broken hearts and bruised souls.  These are some of the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks Jesus promised to not break or snuff out.  But even that assurance does little to aleviate the pain and ache of being so very different and trying to fit in.

"Hi, my name is Fred and I want to die."  Think about having that thought several times a day.  Think about having to resist introducing yourself that way.  Think about having that feeling and not being able to tell anyne about it.  No, I don't mean they want to kill themselves, few do; but they live with a tension that tears at their hearts and souls every minute of every day.

No one understands except their counselor and even they are clueless apart from their objective clinical training.  Their pastor does not understand.  Their famiies do not understand.  Worst of all, they do not understand.

Imagine having a wonderful blessing happen to you.  You know it's a blessing.  You see God's hand in it and yet instead of lifting your heart and soul you find yourself fighting a downward spiral.  What would lift another up casts you down.

Imagine yearning for relief you know, short of a miracle, will not come.  Imagine happiness making you sad, joy terrifying you and kindness seeming like condecention - pity of the pathetic.

Imagine having to live your life in your head because if you let it our people will flee.  Imagine fighting every moment to just hang on and not give up.  Imagine just wanting to sit in a darkened room until life fades away.

These bruised reeds need to be able to be who they are and live in the open.  They need to be understood and their condition must be appreciated as real and terrible.  They dont need pampering but they need to be able to speak their pain to someone(s) other than the folks they have to pay to listen.

They desperately need to have others understand that for them, their condition is as normal as it gets.  Yes, they need sound biblical encouragement and admonishment and lots of other good and godly input.  But most of all they need to be accepted, embraced.

Being a part of the life of a bruised reed is tough, trying and costly.  Which is why so few of us are willing to be a part of their lives.  They can be demanding and depressing, frustrating if not infuriating but that's more a factor of our limitations than their condition.  It is more a part of our wanting to be comfortable and at our ease instead of involved in a messy ministry.

No, we are not all called to minister to these beautiful bruised reeds but we are all commanded to love them and they take a different kind of love.  None of us are exempt from loving them up close and personal.

Fear keeps us at a distance and fear causes them to withdraw.  Perfect love casts out fear - right or maybe?

Faith in Affliction Weak or Strong 032414

Faith in Affliction  Weak or Strong

"If it never proves great, yet weak faith shall save; for it interests us in Christ, and makes Him and all His benefits ours.  For it is not the strength of our faith that saves, but the truth of our faith, nor weakness of our faith that condemns, but the want of faith; for the least faith lays hold on Christ and so will save us.  Nor are we saved by the worth or quantity of our faith but by Christ - who is laid hold on bu a weak faith as well as a strong - just as a weak hand that puts meat into the mouth shall feed and nourish the body as if it were a strong hand, but by the goodness of the meat."  John Rogers, The Doctrine of Faith

In Affliction we are confronted with the strength or weakness of our faith.  Indeed I think it is more often the latter than the former.  But as Rogers writes even our mustard-seed faith is sufficient to lay hold of all that Christ provides and promises.  The difference, perhaps, is more in our sense of faith than its sufficiency.  

How often do we, in afflictions, find ourselves confronted with the laziness of our faith and consider it a sign of no or weak faith.  This is not to be done.  The exercise of our faith will indeed be commensurate with its strength or weakness but yet whether one or the other it is sufficient.

If our faith is weak, afflictions are great torments and trials and yet Christ is not stingy in His providence regardless.  It is the object of our faith that is of the greatest import and what we often confuse with a weak faith is actually a misplaced faith.

We tend to trust God to provide according to our own reason and insight and when we do not see that happening we , in our distress, consider our faith to be too weak to have its effect.  But brother and sister, by God's own Word, this cannot be.  His promises are to those who believe whether small or large.

"Lord I believe, help Thou my unbelief," should be a fundamental prayer we pray in affliction.  For we all have areas where our faith struggles to settle upon its true object and grow upon that object.

And, we must remember that our faith is a gift and gifts are given according to the desire of the giver and the need of the gifted.  That one has what they consider a "small faith" is simply an invitation to stand amazed as God grows that faith in time and space.  Indeed, once we are with Him there will be no weak of strong faith for our trust in Him will be complete.

In affliction we will find that we question the strength and veracity of our faith - or at least we seem to.  However I find among believers that it is rarely a question of whether or not God will provide but rather how and when.  This shows that we have faith in Him even if we struggle in the details.
But some believers do struggle with whether or not God will provide.  Wondrously and happily this doubt is usually based upon their view of their own worthiness to even get God's attention much less His provision.  This is "works" thinking and we all do it.  There is nothing like an affliction to kick us into the old, "I'm not worthy," or to bring to our remembrance every jot and tittle of our sins.

Well, we are not worthy -  period.  But in and through Christ we are - but only through Him.  Yes, God may indeed, through some affliction, chastise us for sin.  But this is a mercy for first it falls far far short of what any sin deserves and second it is meant to cleanse, to refine the dross out of our hearts and lives.  Yet we often fail to see the blessedness of God's heavy hand upon us and we miss praising Him for that mercy.

Trusting God in affliction is simple but it is not easy.  The world mocks, the flesh wrestles with shame and the devil accuses and taunts.  That's a tough trio to contend with.  But knowing the source should drive us to look to God more intensly and humbly and - sometimes - desperately.

But, isn't the bottom line our redemption?  Isn't that the aim of our faith as Christ who provides it is the object?  Do we want heaven of relief more?  Do we want the comfort of our salvation or the comfort of things?  Do we want the praise of men or the "well done" of Christ?

Faith in affliction looks to its object and the priorities held by that object.  Which means that our priority should be the glory of God and our ultimate home with Him.  Everything else is NOT unimportant but it is secondary if not tertiary.

Therefore let us turn to Christ in our affliction and to His Word and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in getting our priorities back in line.  Let us allow the anxiety of trials to wash over us and away from us as we call out to God in supplication and thanksgiving.

"Though I am not pleased with God's chastisement, I will be pleased with its effect.  Though I struggle to thank Him for this testing I praise Him for loving me enough to test me.  Though I am assailed with fear let me be filled with His comfort.  May I accept this affliction as a mercy and blessing from my God who is determined to transform me into the likeness of my loving Savior."  ms

Uses of Affliction 09 032214

Uses of Afflictoin 09

FINI

"Oh how unskillfull and unwise am I to manage a suffering condition, to discern God's ends, to find out what God would have me to do, to moderate the vileness of my own passions, to apply the counsels and comforts of the Word for their proper ends and use."
Thomas Case, A Treatise on Afflcitions

God never allows affliction into the lives of His people for no good purpose.  As we have briefly seen there are uses for aflictions and they are indeed mercies.

However as Thomas Case wrote (above) we are unskillful and unwise in managing a "suffering condition."  But perhaps this is the greatest usage of afflictions, to provide us with the opportunity to gain the skill and wisdom we lack.

The Word and the Spirit are suffcient for us to begin (and continue) to develop the requisite skills and wisdom to make blessings our of buffetings.  If we will ony make use of these graces we will find that no matter how dark and difficult the affliction we can and will learn to bear up under it.  But we must make use of God's providence!

Sin, of course, is at the root of all affliction.  The corruption of the whole creation is both the catalyst and continuance of all we suffer.  Perhaps we fail to understand this or resist accepting this.  Were the whole of creation not so corrupted, well, we'd still be in the garden wouldn't we?  But we are not and so we MUST learn, we must seek the skill and wisdom we need.

It is an oft repeated, much misused and wonderful admonishment to us to, "Trust in the Lord with all your might and lean not on your own understanding.  In ALL your ways acknoledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Note it is straight paths we are promised not smooth and easy ones.  Why, oh why will we not yield to His will in all conditions and circumstances and trust His love and power?

We love our ease and comforts too much and have been infected with a view of our faith that is diluted with falsehood and evil.  We are PROMISED tribulation, persecution, hatred, etc. in this world.  Why do we fight against what the Lord has made clear?

We are promised His presence and His provision to live for Him in this world but it is prayer to change our hearts not prayer to change our world that is needed.  Oh we can pray for an change of condition and circumstance but I think that if our focus is on that we have missed the whole point and our afflcitions do not accomplish what He intendes.

We sing;
Have Thy own way Lord.
Have Thy own way.
Hold or my being
absolute sway.

But do we simply mouth the words instead of singing the prayer?

We sing;
Create in me a clean heart
Oh Lord
and renew a right spirit within me

But we are unwilling to allow Him to do so if it causes us any dis-ease or loss of comfort.

Affliction are, whether we will or can see it, mercies, indeed blessings for in them we are made more like our Master for we merrely share in the afflcitions He suffered for us.

Are we willing for God to bring and use afflictions to conform us to our Master's likeness?

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Uses of Affliction 07

6.  Discovery of latent corruption whether in saints of sinners.

Oh yes!  Murmur - murmur - murmur - - -

Peek-a-boo sins are tough ones.  They lie quietly in the shadows just waiting for their trigger.

Take our afflcition.  We never susupected we were lukewarn and lazy - but we were.  We never thought of ourselves as materialistic - but we were.  We would have been aghast had anyone told us we were prideful - until pride raised its ugly head.  We would never have thught our trust in God was alloyed with a trust in stuff and people - but it was.  We never would have seen how our wills were still competing with His - but they were.  (OK -you can change and the "weres to "ares" for the sake of full disclosure).

Our latent sin is exposed by our affliction.  We are convicted of that sin.  We repent.  We are restored and continue in our growth.

We struggle and will struggle with latent sin until He comes.  And strugggle we must if indeed our goal is to be conformed as God wishes us to be conformed to His likeness, to be holy as He is holy.

Afflistions will turn up the heat to bring those latent sins to the surface and this is a great mercy.  God could leave us to hopelessly struggle but His grace and mercy provide for our need in this and His Holy Spirit will battle for, with and even agwinst us (our flesh) to root out such sinfulness and cleanse our hearts.

Please, please consider the wonder of a sin hating God who will do all in His great power to relieve us of this toxic remainder.  He is willing to do whatever He must to expose and then address that sin that lurks beneath our awareness.  Though sometimes hard and unpleasant the result is merciful and magnificent.

I will tell you that most likely what the affliction will expose is the depth of our self-love.  It is not behaviors that afflcitions expose here but those deep and abiding roots of pride and self-ness that result in the sinful behaviors and attitiudes.  It is the ehart that God wishes to heal and relieve.

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Uses of Affliction 05

4.  Correction and punishment for sin.

For those who do not think God punishes our sin here perhaps a re-reading of the OT would be appropriate.  We like to avoid that word punishment by using words like correct or discipline but changing the word does not change God's purpose.  Nor is it any better to talk of God allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin as opposed to saying He punishes them.  Allowing us to face the consequences of our sin is in and of itself a form of punishment.

Sorry folks, but God not only forgives but He punishes as well.  Afflictions are His means of conveying His displeasure, correcting, applying discipline - punishing sin.  It is His mercy and grace that limits the intensity of the affliction for we all know quite clearly what we actuallly deserve for our sin.

I know few believers for who a simple note concerning some sin they are trapped in would suffice.  It seems the bigger and deeper the sin the bigger and deeper the punishment.  Wow - aren't we distressed by the idea of God punishing us for our sin?

Now many of you will have a hard time with this idea and I can sympathise.  For many of us punishment means an excessinve act of arbitrary anger on the part of someone in authority.  It does not seem so much like correction as revenge for some wrong we have committed hence we have a terrible time thinking of God's punishment.

But, at least for me, the important thing is that God's punishment has a point, a purpose and it is done in love.  God's punishment is intended for our sanctification - our being conformed to the likeness of Christ - which should be a point and purpose for us as well.

Grace is NOT a free pass, a get out of jail free card.  Grace is the turning away of the eternal punishment we deserve onto Christ so that we may never never need fear it.  But in our daiy lives, in our daily sanctification God will punish us for sins especially those sins which are deeply set in our hearts.

You love temporal tiing too much, they are little gods in your life?  That is sin and god may well see the need to punish you for your idolatry.  He may well see that only exile will bring you back from the edge.  Perhaps He may allow or impose some physical issue or impairment.  Perhaps you will suffer the loss place or position.  Perhaps, as seems more and more likely, you will suffer imprinsoment, a loss of freedom for your sin.

But punshment is a mean God uses to correct and discipline His children in love and a deep unknowlable desire that they be comformed to Christ's likeness.  Punishment always has a point - a purpose.

I struggle with this as Patti and I pass through the affliction we are facing.  I used all the soft words (correction, discipline, refining, etc) for what is taking place but as time passes and my sin was made clearer.  I ceased to be shocked by the idea that God might be punishing me - I certainly deserved it and I don't know that anything less would have made the impact this punishment did.

I struggled with the idea that God was mad at me and was rejecting me even that I had never believed in the first place.  But the more I prayed and read the Word the more I came to see that God was never closer to me than when He found it necessary to punish me to bring me out of sin.

Not all afflcition must be seen as punishment.  It may very well be simple correction or common discipline but we can not afford to refuse the idea that God does and will punish His erring children for His glory for their good.

Punishment is not the absense of grace or mercy.  Indeed I've come to think that, for the believer, God's punishment for sin is an act of mercy and a great reminder of grace.  There is a certain sweetness to the rod when we see it as an act of mercy.  He loves us that much.

When my father used to punish me he would always tell me "This hurts me more that it does you."  I neve believed him - don't believe it even today - but what I feel about that is not what I feel about God's punishment.  His love is so mighty, so intense that I do believe that when He punishes one of His, it does hurt Him more than it does us.

One of the uses of afflcition is indeed to punish - to show us in a very up close and personal way if not the wages of sin then the pocket change.

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Uses of Afflcition 04

3.  Conviction of sin.

Now we quit preaching and go to meddleing :0.

There is nothing like an afflcition to clearly expose the depth of the remaining corruption we need to address.  Nothing can expose the sin still lurking in our hearts like a good ol' afflcition.

Over the past 15 months or so as we have dealt with a certain amount of afflcition.  Through it I have discovered sinfulness I never would have named as being my own.  I have never known the depth of my self-love and selfishness until the Lord brought our afflcition.

Even as I was examining my faith and my attachment to the world (Uses 1 and 2) I was overwhelmed by the insidiousness of my sin.  My pride and resentment, my presumption, my poor stewardship - it all was exposed to a degree I had never experienced.

Prayer was the first to fall.  I discovered that many of my prayers were a redundant chorus of "me me me my my my mine mine mine IIIIIIII."  I was shocked to say the least.  But I would not have noticed had we not been under an affliction.  They tend to get your focus on yourself in a real unhealthy way.

It took real focus and effort to correct my self-absorbed prayers but they were sin and had to be confronted and corrected - it certainly was convicting.

But more than the mechanics of our walk, afflcitions really drill down into our hearts and expose the silt and "stuff" - the sin - that still resides there.  Anger, pride, resentment, presumption are just a few I've found and they were there in very subtle forms - but they were there.

They say that the most important thing to a shepherd is the fence that keeps the sheep in.  That, from my experience, is very true.  Afflictions come where and when we are outside the fence and they come to draw us back in.  That's how good Shepherds work with their sheep.

We need to pay serious heed to the fact that "conviction" means we have been found guilty.  Conviciton is a fact.  Yes, we may have feelings that attend it but it is not a feeling.  It is a cold hard fact!  And affliction should bring conviction.

We need the heat of afflcitions to expose and draw off the dross in us, the sin in us.  Without the refining heat of afflcition the dross simply keeps accumulating until we are full of it.

I read a piece today that stated something on the order of, 'In Christ we never lack anything we need.  If we do not have it we may assume we do not need it (yet, if at all).'
Inversely may we not assume that if God takes something away it is becasue we need for it to be taken away?  I think so.

But funadmentaly and critically afflictions bring (or should bring) conviction of sin.  God is getting our attention and calling us to a deeper examination of our hearts.  Do not assume yu will not find any sin there!  You must!  And in finding it you must accept the conviction (fact of your guilt) and then repentantly address the sin.