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.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
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.
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.
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.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Getting a Grip 01 In Him
Getting a Grip 01 In Him
Psalm 44:6 ESV
For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
As I read this verse this morning I was struck by how often I do trust in my bow and/or my sword. It's a really bad habit for me and is a constant issue in my prayers. I think I can - and that I can without His help.
It's like I want to show Him how I can do things without Him. A lot of it is the old "Look at me Daddy," needs we grow up with. I want Him to be proud of me and to see me do (on my own) amazing things. I don't think it is as much rebellion as it is immaturity, an echo of a childhood of never being good enough.
Do you know what I mean?
I titled this Getting a Grip becasue this is something (among others) we all need to get a grip on. We need to have Him bring us to the place where we can accept and be comfortable with our every present NEED for Him.
It's is not a matter of inability - we all have abilities - but rather it is a matter of recognizing and accepting that serving Him is a cooperative effort. We bring what He has gifted us with and He makes it accomplish what He wants the way He wants. It is about using our talents to bring the glory to HIm. Perhaps we could say it's a, "Look at God folks," thing.
I am too full of myself too often. I want God (or at least I act like I do) to sit and watch me do for Him and have Him applaud. But I am learning that although He does value all I do for Him, if I do it on my own it may be good and nice but it will always be, in some way, deffective and deficient.
John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
We make much of being branches but too often we act as though we were vines. It is only in being attached to the vine that allows the brach to be fruitful. What a branch produces apart form the mine is simply kindling for the fire. That's a tough thing to realize and accept but it is true.
We want to glorify God in all we do but we can't do that until we are willing to accept that He glorifies Himself in and through us. He needs no help - but graciously allow us to be a part of His workings. We need the humility, the awareness and the willingness to be second fiddle. It's hard work and takes consistant watching and prayer. But in those moments when we are indeed being branches we have a sense of it. As we work we see the fruit and revell in it - it's His fruit but He used us in producing it.
John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
I read this verse and the last part always strikes me. I find myself rewriting it - for my own benefit - to make the point to myself. Here's my version:
"Apart from me, anything you do, is nothing."
That's an "ouch" but isn't it true. Isn't everything - anything we do apart from Him simple self-loving attempts to get noticed? Are not our attempts to show God we can do it on our own subtle attempts to show Him we don't really think we need Him (ouch).
I recommed you commit to memory two verses. Of course one if John 15:5 and the second is:
Philippians 4:13 ESV
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Use these as book-ends for your prayers and planning. Stay between these two hedges - on the right path.
Do nothing - Do all things.
Which would you prefer?
Psalm 44:6 ESV
For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
As I read this verse this morning I was struck by how often I do trust in my bow and/or my sword. It's a really bad habit for me and is a constant issue in my prayers. I think I can - and that I can without His help.
It's like I want to show Him how I can do things without Him. A lot of it is the old "Look at me Daddy," needs we grow up with. I want Him to be proud of me and to see me do (on my own) amazing things. I don't think it is as much rebellion as it is immaturity, an echo of a childhood of never being good enough.
Do you know what I mean?
I titled this Getting a Grip becasue this is something (among others) we all need to get a grip on. We need to have Him bring us to the place where we can accept and be comfortable with our every present NEED for Him.
It's is not a matter of inability - we all have abilities - but rather it is a matter of recognizing and accepting that serving Him is a cooperative effort. We bring what He has gifted us with and He makes it accomplish what He wants the way He wants. It is about using our talents to bring the glory to HIm. Perhaps we could say it's a, "Look at God folks," thing.
I am too full of myself too often. I want God (or at least I act like I do) to sit and watch me do for Him and have Him applaud. But I am learning that although He does value all I do for Him, if I do it on my own it may be good and nice but it will always be, in some way, deffective and deficient.
John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
We make much of being branches but too often we act as though we were vines. It is only in being attached to the vine that allows the brach to be fruitful. What a branch produces apart form the mine is simply kindling for the fire. That's a tough thing to realize and accept but it is true.
We want to glorify God in all we do but we can't do that until we are willing to accept that He glorifies Himself in and through us. He needs no help - but graciously allow us to be a part of His workings. We need the humility, the awareness and the willingness to be second fiddle. It's hard work and takes consistant watching and prayer. But in those moments when we are indeed being branches we have a sense of it. As we work we see the fruit and revell in it - it's His fruit but He used us in producing it.
John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
I read this verse and the last part always strikes me. I find myself rewriting it - for my own benefit - to make the point to myself. Here's my version:
"Apart from me, anything you do, is nothing."
That's an "ouch" but isn't it true. Isn't everything - anything we do apart from Him simple self-loving attempts to get noticed? Are not our attempts to show God we can do it on our own subtle attempts to show Him we don't really think we need Him (ouch).
I recommed you commit to memory two verses. Of course one if John 15:5 and the second is:
Philippians 4:13 ESV
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Use these as book-ends for your prayers and planning. Stay between these two hedges - on the right path.
Do nothing - Do all things.
Which would you prefer?
Saturday, March 29, 2014
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.
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.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Making the Most 04 The Lord's Supper 032714
Making the Most
of the means of grace
04
4. The Lord's Supper
I won't even try to get into the issues surrounding the exact nature of the Lord's Supper. Not only are they too broad for this brief devotion but they are pretty much too deep for me.
Let us lean on Paul for our understanding:
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
For me the key to the grace of the Lord's Supper is found in with phrase, "in rememberance of me."
This rememberance is not just about His death though Paul focuses us on that in verse 26. Rather I think that it is a broader rememberance which encompasses all of what it means to be the Christ, the Promised One, the Redeemer.
This would take us all the way back to Genesis and the promise to Eve. It would include the Exodus, David's reign, the Prophets, John the Baptist and so very much more. The rememberance should overwhelm us as it stems all of the history of redemption and not just three years of ministry.
This rememberance is created by the Word, understood better through prayer and is indeed an act of Worship. Now we see how the "means of grace" work together supporting and enhancing one another. They are five pillars if you will upon which we build and which build one another.
But back to our "rememberance." It is a shame that we have so little time in worship for remembernance. The plate and cup are passed and it's over in just a few moments. Hardly time to remember anything.
That is why I suggest strongly that we prepare prior to even getting to the worship meeting. We all usually know when we will celebrate supper and so we can all prepare for partaking as we prepare for worship.
Now I'm going to get wierd. The Jews counted days from sunset to sunset and this was certainly critical in their preparation for their Sabbath rest and worship. Let me suggest that we consider emmulating them at least one day a week. Let our "Sabbath" or Lord's Day begin at sunset on Saturday and run till sunset on Sunday.
My rational is simple. Let us prepare for worship the night before, especially when we know we will be partaking of the Lord's Supper. I know we are used to Saturday being "our" day but maybe we can plan it better and use the evening more productively.
*NO - I'm not trying to create a new "law" just a new and beneficial habit.
The Lord's Supper, the rememberance of His redeeming us, the proclamation of His death with the promise of His return should never be a common endeavor. It is not a "magical" moment but it is in a sense a mystical moment. It is, at least for me, the moment when I desire all of me to be focused on Him, what he accomplished and what He has promised. I can't really do that in the typically all too brief "communion service," but I can do that ahead of time so that in those few moments whenI am actually partaking I am truly remembering Him.
Let us take very seriously Pau's admonition:
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 ESV
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. [28] Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Prepare, oh dearest brothers and sisters, prepare your minds and hearts for those moments when you are partaking. Do not allow your partaking to be just an act in the moment but make good use of the time before - the night before - to set yoour mind and heart on Him and all there is to remember.
of the means of grace
04
4. The Lord's Supper
I won't even try to get into the issues surrounding the exact nature of the Lord's Supper. Not only are they too broad for this brief devotion but they are pretty much too deep for me.
Let us lean on Paul for our understanding:
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
For me the key to the grace of the Lord's Supper is found in with phrase, "in rememberance of me."
This rememberance is not just about His death though Paul focuses us on that in verse 26. Rather I think that it is a broader rememberance which encompasses all of what it means to be the Christ, the Promised One, the Redeemer.
This would take us all the way back to Genesis and the promise to Eve. It would include the Exodus, David's reign, the Prophets, John the Baptist and so very much more. The rememberance should overwhelm us as it stems all of the history of redemption and not just three years of ministry.
This rememberance is created by the Word, understood better through prayer and is indeed an act of Worship. Now we see how the "means of grace" work together supporting and enhancing one another. They are five pillars if you will upon which we build and which build one another.
But back to our "rememberance." It is a shame that we have so little time in worship for remembernance. The plate and cup are passed and it's over in just a few moments. Hardly time to remember anything.
That is why I suggest strongly that we prepare prior to even getting to the worship meeting. We all usually know when we will celebrate supper and so we can all prepare for partaking as we prepare for worship.
Now I'm going to get wierd. The Jews counted days from sunset to sunset and this was certainly critical in their preparation for their Sabbath rest and worship. Let me suggest that we consider emmulating them at least one day a week. Let our "Sabbath" or Lord's Day begin at sunset on Saturday and run till sunset on Sunday.
My rational is simple. Let us prepare for worship the night before, especially when we know we will be partaking of the Lord's Supper. I know we are used to Saturday being "our" day but maybe we can plan it better and use the evening more productively.
*NO - I'm not trying to create a new "law" just a new and beneficial habit.
The Lord's Supper, the rememberance of His redeeming us, the proclamation of His death with the promise of His return should never be a common endeavor. It is not a "magical" moment but it is in a sense a mystical moment. It is, at least for me, the moment when I desire all of me to be focused on Him, what he accomplished and what He has promised. I can't really do that in the typically all too brief "communion service," but I can do that ahead of time so that in those few moments whenI am actually partaking I am truly remembering Him.
Let us take very seriously Pau's admonition:
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 ESV
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. [28] Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Prepare, oh dearest brothers and sisters, prepare your minds and hearts for those moments when you are partaking. Do not allow your partaking to be just an act in the moment but make good use of the time before - the night before - to set yoour mind and heart on Him and all there is to remember.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Making the Most Prayer 02 032714
Making the Most
of the means of grace
02
2. Private prayer
This is not just "private" prayer - it is penetrating prayer. It is prayer that calls upon God to show us, not just Himself, but our selves as well. It is prayer that cuts through all the "I want," "I need," "Please give," and gets down to the, "have mercy upon me a sinner."
Most of us know the acronym ACTS
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
Now there nothing wrong with this as a reminder of the components of prayer but I think if falls short of the whole of it. There is no explicit "letter" for seeking God's exposure of our hearts. It's easy to run through these parts of prayer without ever seeking God's exposure of our true and hidden spiritual needs - the nitty gritty. There is no depth demanded and I suspect (for I find it true in me) that there is no depth sought.
Prayer is, fundamentlly, a conversation - a two way conversation. Certainly we ought go to God with the common and even mundane requests that we are aware of but to do this and only this is perhaps a great waste of a great opportunity.
Most of our private prayers could be prayed in public with little alteration. They are shallow and halt - usually. Private prayer, as the Puritains saw it, was deep, gut wrenching, no-holds-barred, open your soul and heart and seek to expose the deepest of corruptions kind of prayers. They were blood-sweating prayers. They were prayers for holiness and righteousness of life - here now - for Him.
Oh, we may get close to that when we pray the "C" (confession) but God desires so much more of and for us and we must dig deeply into prayer to touch it. David asked God to "test," or "try" his heart to see if there was any wicked way in him. That's "any" wicked way not just the easily seen and comfortably remembered evil ways that we are at ease acknowledging.
I think sometimes that we are too comfortble in our redemption and justification. We wear it more tike a windbeaker than a heavy coat. What I mean is that we are more than willing to see our easy sins and rejoice in their forgiveness but we are rarey willing go dig deep into the cold and dark recesses of our souls to find what the Puritains called "heart sins" or the sins under the sins that are uder the sins. We fail to ask to see the utter corruption for which Christ came and suffered.
Private prayer is the time when we need to be digging deep. We need to be seeking God's exposure of just how badly we need Christ - just how very very much we need Him. It's the place where we drop the "I'm not so bad," approach to our sin and cry out to see exactly how "bad" we really are.
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 of, if you want, you can email me at sheepdog.ms@gmail.com.
Bless you for your help!
Michael
of the means of grace
02
2. Private prayer
This is not just "private" prayer - it is penetrating prayer. It is prayer that calls upon God to show us, not just Himself, but our selves as well. It is prayer that cuts through all the "I want," "I need," "Please give," and gets down to the, "have mercy upon me a sinner."
Most of us know the acronym ACTS
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
Now there nothing wrong with this as a reminder of the components of prayer but I think if falls short of the whole of it. There is no explicit "letter" for seeking God's exposure of our hearts. It's easy to run through these parts of prayer without ever seeking God's exposure of our true and hidden spiritual needs - the nitty gritty. There is no depth demanded and I suspect (for I find it true in me) that there is no depth sought.
Prayer is, fundamentlly, a conversation - a two way conversation. Certainly we ought go to God with the common and even mundane requests that we are aware of but to do this and only this is perhaps a great waste of a great opportunity.
Most of our private prayers could be prayed in public with little alteration. They are shallow and halt - usually. Private prayer, as the Puritains saw it, was deep, gut wrenching, no-holds-barred, open your soul and heart and seek to expose the deepest of corruptions kind of prayers. They were blood-sweating prayers. They were prayers for holiness and righteousness of life - here now - for Him.
Oh, we may get close to that when we pray the "C" (confession) but God desires so much more of and for us and we must dig deeply into prayer to touch it. David asked God to "test," or "try" his heart to see if there was any wicked way in him. That's "any" wicked way not just the easily seen and comfortably remembered evil ways that we are at ease acknowledging.
I think sometimes that we are too comfortble in our redemption and justification. We wear it more tike a windbeaker than a heavy coat. What I mean is that we are more than willing to see our easy sins and rejoice in their forgiveness but we are rarey willing go dig deep into the cold and dark recesses of our souls to find what the Puritains called "heart sins" or the sins under the sins that are uder the sins. We fail to ask to see the utter corruption for which Christ came and suffered.
Private prayer is the time when we need to be digging deep. We need to be seeking God's exposure of just how badly we need Christ - just how very very much we need Him. It's the place where we drop the "I'm not so bad," approach to our sin and cry out to see exactly how "bad" we really are.
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 of, if you want, you can email me at sheepdog.ms@gmail.com.
Bless you for your help!
Michael
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
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
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
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
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?
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?
Monday, March 24, 2014
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
"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
Saturday, March 22, 2014
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?
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?
Friday, March 21, 2014
Uses of Affliction 08
Uses of Affliction 08
7. The exercise of grace in the children of God
Grace must apply to something. Grace is given for a purpose. We could write long on the purpose of grace but others are better suited to undertake such a profound work. For us, here, grace is given that we may be free but freedon is not free.
The freedom God calls us to cost Him much and once He calls us into it, it will cost us all. All our self-love, all our selfish fears, all our selfish demands, all our self-focused worship, all our self-directed service. What the application and exercize of grace costs us is our sin. It relentlessly digs and digs to remove the root of our sin. This is a work of grace, a free gift and yet a costly one.
Are we willing to see and accept that afflcitions - all afflictions are indeed intended to exercize grace in our lives? Are we willing to accept that no matter how dark and difficult the affliction it is God is working for our good and His glory?
There is no requirement for God to work thusly in our lives except for His character, His love for us. So we must pray to understand that even afflictions are gracious and wonderful acts of God in our lives.
No, they are not pleasant but they are necessary for our sanctification.
I read a great deal in the Puritains and they all speak of sharing in the suffering of Christ (as do the Epistles). Why are we so very resistant to this? Where have we gotten the idea that being His menas a trouble free life when He promised us tribulations. And where do we ever get the idea that a trouble free life means that we must be doing something pleasing to Him when a trouble free life more often indicated an apathetic existance.
Afflcitons drive us to Him and when we are His afflictions serve to keep us close. Rare is the believer who stays near (or even is near) to Him when in comfort or at ease. Comfort and ease have been mistaken as relating to our blessedness when indeed they are traps of apathy and faithlessness.
Paul tells us that God is a God of comfort in all our afflcitions. One might assume (cautiously) that being afflicted is the norm for the believer. And indeed, if we are truly aliens and strangers here afflictions are the norm. This is not home - this life is not the point - and God'ss gracious afflcitions keep us mindful of that.
Let us keep in mind the "uses" of afflciton and embrace them with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Uses of Afflictions
The trial of one's state, whether one is in the state of grace of not.
Excitation to duty, weaning one from this world, and prompting him to look after the happiness of the other world.
Conviction of sin.
Correction and punishment for sin.
Preventing sin.
Discovery of latent corruption whether in saints of sinners.
The exercize of grace in the chidren of God
7. The exercise of grace in the children of God
Grace must apply to something. Grace is given for a purpose. We could write long on the purpose of grace but others are better suited to undertake such a profound work. For us, here, grace is given that we may be free but freedon is not free.
The freedom God calls us to cost Him much and once He calls us into it, it will cost us all. All our self-love, all our selfish fears, all our selfish demands, all our self-focused worship, all our self-directed service. What the application and exercize of grace costs us is our sin. It relentlessly digs and digs to remove the root of our sin. This is a work of grace, a free gift and yet a costly one.
Are we willing to see and accept that afflcitions - all afflictions are indeed intended to exercize grace in our lives? Are we willing to accept that no matter how dark and difficult the affliction it is God is working for our good and His glory?
There is no requirement for God to work thusly in our lives except for His character, His love for us. So we must pray to understand that even afflictions are gracious and wonderful acts of God in our lives.
No, they are not pleasant but they are necessary for our sanctification.
I read a great deal in the Puritains and they all speak of sharing in the suffering of Christ (as do the Epistles). Why are we so very resistant to this? Where have we gotten the idea that being His menas a trouble free life when He promised us tribulations. And where do we ever get the idea that a trouble free life means that we must be doing something pleasing to Him when a trouble free life more often indicated an apathetic existance.
Afflcitons drive us to Him and when we are His afflictions serve to keep us close. Rare is the believer who stays near (or even is near) to Him when in comfort or at ease. Comfort and ease have been mistaken as relating to our blessedness when indeed they are traps of apathy and faithlessness.
Paul tells us that God is a God of comfort in all our afflcitions. One might assume (cautiously) that being afflicted is the norm for the believer. And indeed, if we are truly aliens and strangers here afflictions are the norm. This is not home - this life is not the point - and God'ss gracious afflcitions keep us mindful of that.
Let us keep in mind the "uses" of afflciton and embrace them with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Uses of Afflictions
The trial of one's state, whether one is in the state of grace of not.
Excitation to duty, weaning one from this world, and prompting him to look after the happiness of the other world.
Conviction of sin.
Correction and punishment for sin.
Preventing sin.
Discovery of latent corruption whether in saints of sinners.
The exercize of grace in the chidren of God
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Uses of Affliction 07 032014
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)