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.

Tough questions - deep thoughts. 100513

John Owen wrote in his work, On Being spirituall Minded;

Can the majority of Christians honestly say that they think of such things {{hardship, calamity and disaster}} in such a way that leads them trust themswlves nd ll they love and have to God?  Can they say they so meditate on God's providential calls and warnings as to make themselves ready to part with anything and everything at God's time and pleasure"  How can such people pretend to be spiritually minded when all their thoughts resisit the idea of trusting everything to his will and pleasure?

I want to answer "Yes," to the first two questions but I am deeply confronted by a hesitation, a cold chill that goes to the bone.  I am hindered by pride and fear.  Perhaps the greatest fear is of man and what man might say of me if God were to call for it all.

It is common to see those who, even by God's providence, lose it all as failures, objects of scorn and pity.  It is common to withdraw from those in such distress as we look for their failures that have brought about their circumstances.  It is easier to leave them alone than to draw near.   It is easier to look for some blame to lay at their feet than to contemplate as an act of God's providence, a part of His plan.

I think many of us would rather suffer some disease and hence be empoverished than to have the hand of God sweep everythiing away.  Then we would have a reason, a cause for it and still be able to hold up our heads and look people in the eye.

To trust everrything to His will and pleasure is what He means by calling ut to be alive to Him and dead to ourselves and the world.  To trust everything to Him - or at the very least to struggle to do so is the fundamental condition in which we are called to live.  It is dieing to self - and to the good graces and acceptance of other people.

When we pray, "Thy will be done." do we realize what we are asking, what we are saying, what He might do?  I don't think we do.  I know that I have grown to be chilled when I pray that.

But it is my rebellious and tainted heart that is chilled.  It is the remnant of sin - that principle of evil yet dwelling in me that makes me struggle to simply surrender.  So I find myself in a fight with God and a struggle to maintain my sanity.  The assurances that "Everything will be OK," does little moer than drive my thoughts to death and the assurances I have of eternal lie with Him.  This is not a bad thing but it should not be the first thing.

When God acts in our lives whether we sense it to be good or bad, sour or sweet, it is for His glory and honor.  Are we willing to see Him glorified in our lives in a painful and uncomfortable manner?  Are we willing to suffer and have man-imposed shame torment our heads and hearts?

I want to and I don't want to.  I say "Yes!  BUT....."

And I ask Him to forgive me.