Working to be An Example

 "6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good." 

 (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, ESV)

Idleness doesn't just have to be physical idleness; it can be spiritual or mental idleness too. Idleness can be not exercising your brain by thinking about things, not exercising your heart and habits by striving for excellence. We can become complacent, no longer working to help ourselves fight against sin and its slothful habits. We can neglect to guard ourselves from our pet sins and vices, and the weeds of our bad habits can start to take over the garden before we realize it.

The video link I posted yesterday is an excellent reminder to continue to work towards being more Christ-like, following His example. 

Briers and Thorns

"For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."

(Hebrews 6:7-8 ESV)

The phrases "briers and thorns" and "thorns and thistles" are repeated often in reference to Israel's fruitlessness in the Old testament. 

Briers and thorns are an example of the fruitless crop that sin bears in our lives. They are worthless for us in terms of providing nutrients, they consistently grow exactly where we don't want them to grow, and they are notoriously difficult to eradicate. A shoot, a slip of root, a seed is left behind after we dig them out, and they grow back as strongly as ever. 

Their tenacious nature is really a result of humanity's fall into sin. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden, God cursed the ground because of their sin, declaring to Adam that 

"cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field."  

(Genesis 3:17b-18 ESV)

Adam's original command from God to work the earth and keep it (Gen 2:15) is still in effect, but he will do his task in pain from now on. It has become really a thankless task--there will never be respite from the battle against the weeds. 

So too is our battle against sin in our lives. We cannot eradicate the evil tendencies of our heart. We are redeemed, but as Paul points out in Romans 7, our old man is still putting forth thorns, thistles, and briers, despite our best intentions. 

The world and its seductive pleasures easy choke the seed of the gospel that is not carefully and painfully tended. If we given up pulling the weeds in our lives or slack off, only doing a weekly weeding, when we should be pulling them out daily, the gospel will end up being choked out in our lives. As Jesus says in the parable of the Sower: 

"Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them."

(Matthew 13:7 ESV)

"As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."

(Matthew 13:22 ESV)

We must be vigilant and keep fighting against our sin. 

"Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them."

Prov. 22:5

If we stop fighting the battle against sin, the weeds will take over and our defense against them will break down and fail. 

 "I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, [31] and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down."

(Proverbs 24:30-31 ESV)   

However, thorns and thistles can also be a means of sending us back to God, as can been seen Hosea 2: 

[6] Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. [7] She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

(Hosea 2:6-7 ESV)

The Lord hedges His harlot Bride in with thorns, forcing her to return to Him. He shows His steadfast love for His people, by punishing her for her sin, and yet He "allures" her into the wilderness where He will show her His love by giving her vineyards again (Hosea 2:14-15).

It is clear that briers and thorns are a direct consequence of God's judgement upon His rebellious people. In a passage written by Isaiah at the same time as the one written by Hosea, the prophet gives us the word of the Lord: 

[5:1] Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. [2] He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. [3] And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. [4] What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? [5] And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. [6] I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. [7] For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

(Isaiah 5:1-7 ESV)

God is extremely patient with us, and as the Vinedresser He tends us, giving us the refining experiences which are meant to produce good fruit in us. However, as Isaiah shows us, God's justice must be satisfied as well. If His vineyard does not bear good fruit after all that He does for it, it will be given up to the Judgement.

Thorns and thistles are spreaders--almost impossible to eradicate. Except by fire, which will burn all the seed away. A drastic step will need to be taken: even if God's people repent of their sin against Him, they will still have to bear the consequences; if they don't repent, they will remain sterile forever and will end up burning for eternity.

If God's people do not bear good fruit, He will ensure that they bear a fruitless crop: as punishment (Isa 5:6). Also--if thorns and thistles are a result, it is also evident that the fruits of disobedience will be difficult to get rid of, like these plants. There are serious, long-term consequences for rebellion against God. We will always be vulnerable to our "pet" sins, despite the grace of God which allows us to fight against them. 

However, we have the victory in Christ Jesus, although we are still fighting the battle here until He returns again. Praise God! Our work is not in vain!

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

1 Cor 15: 57-58 

Workmanship

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

(Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

We are His workmanship. This makes it clear that we cannot do anything to save ourselves. Christ is the one who does the work to save us for Himself: He made us and we are His. We are His creatures, His creations. We were made, and, through His blood, we are remade for a purpose: "for good works." 

We are "worked" by Christ. An image comes to my mind of a farmer working the land: he plows it, breaking up the hardened soil, plowing under the weeds and revealing the fresh dirt, ready for planting. He tests the soil for its nutrient profile, then fertilizes it for the crop He wants it to grow. This field gets a bit extra of that nutrient, that patch gets more of this one, depending on the seed to be planted there. He irrigates this section, but leaves another section dry (the crop growing here does best with "dry feet"). He directs the rain to fall here (for He is God and, unlike human farmers, can command rain and wind and sunshine as He likes) and withholds it there. He watches over His crop, and when the time is right and the crop is fully mature, He gathers it in.

The field cannot do any of this for itself. It cannot plow, plant, rain, or harvest, but is subject to the farmer's will.

Of course, the metaphor breaks down at a certain point. The field in my picture is truly passive. You cannot accuse it of intentionally harbouring weeds. However, our old nature can harbour weeds and can even cultivate them, if we are not careful to root them out at every opportunity. We are undergardeners in the garden that is us. We are called to tend what God has given us, bearing good fruit, not thorns and thistles. We are not just to bear showy leaves like the fig tree in Matthew 21, but good fruit as well.

This is why Paul says that we have been "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10). 

Walking implies action--we do not just sit back and watch our gardens grow weeds and briers, but rather we actively walk in the way that God has commanded, pulling the weeds and burning the briers, coming back again and again to hoe around the good plants, giving them room to flourish and allowing the access the the good nutrients that God has provided for them.

We have before us the grim warning of Isaiah 5: If the vineyard does not yield good fruit, it will be laid waste.  If God does not spare His covenant people of Israel, He will not spare us either. As Paul says,

"Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off." 

Romans 11:19-22

Thanks be to Christ who is the True Vine and who sustains us when we cannot sustain ourselves! 

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

John 15: 7-11

Trusting AND Trying

"[W]hen it comes to growth in godliness, trusting does not put an end to trying" (91). The Hole in Our Holiness ~ Kevin deYoung

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."

(Psalm 37:3 ESV)

There is no resting on your laurels in the kingdom of God. There is no time behind the lines, no leave from the war--we're always in the trenches.

The Christian life is more of a Sisyphean endeavour--when we think we are getting somewhere, we are closer to falling than we would like to admit. That boulder of pride (or false humility) or anger (or repressed rage) or fear (or false confidence). . . the moment we think we have it conquered is the moment it slides back down the hill.


"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand."

(Romans 7:21 ESV) 

Thank God for His grace. We don't have to do it ourselves.

However, we are still supposed to keep trying. We are to trust that our efforts to grow in godliness are of benefit and blessed by the Holy Spirit. 

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

(1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV)

It is how we confirm our calling and election (2 Peter 1: 9). And because we are not saved by our works, we don't have to fear our failure.

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36] As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

(Romans 8:31-37 ESV)

[3] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. [5] For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, [6] and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, [7] and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. [8] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. [10] Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. [11] For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(2 Peter 1:3-11 ESV)

The Practice of Holiness

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
― D.A. Carson  

Holiness is not a habit. There is a reason we are called to practice spiritual discipline.

We must train ourselves in the practice of holiness. There is a reason Paul likens our lives as Christians to the training of an athlete. Athletes don't have a habit of training; they discipline themselves to train. And they don't just train for the fun of it, they have a goal in mind, a purpose.

[25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

(1 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV)

Our practice of holiness is not running aimlessly; rather,  it is part of our sanctification, part of the refining process we must go through in order to become more like Christ. Being His image-bearers is not simple or easy; it takes work. Disciplining our bodies, our minds, and our spirits can be painful. As we are bent in the direction the Vinedresser wants us to grow, our branches may ache and long for release back to the way that they are naturally inclined to go. But He knows best how to tend His Vines so that they will bear the most fruit.

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

(Hebrews 12:11 ESV)

Holiness requires conscious practice. It means vigilant self-examination, seeing ourselves as we truly are and identifying our sin. Speaking and confessing it, not keeping it to ourselves and hiding what we have done. We must be honest with ourselves and with God about our failures, and must pray for His grace,  that He will show us those sins we do not want to acknowledge, that He would heal us of our spiritual amnesia.

We need to be careful, however, that in our focus on personal holiness, we do not forget the goal--"holiness" without Christ is pompous and priggish Phariseeism. Navel-gazing will not make us holy. Once we look away from Christ to ourselves, we have lost sight of the goal.

True self-examination "[looks] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God"
(Hebrews 12:2 ESV).

[6] If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. [10] For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

(1 Timothy 4:6-10 ESV)

Book Talk: The Knowledge of the Holy ~ A.W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy ~ A.W. Tozer

"Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God" (Chp 1, pg 1). 

This book shows us how we can know and worship God better by learning about His attributes, defined by Tozer as "whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself" (12) [italics original].

Tozer makes it clear that we must be careful to maintain a true understanding of Who God is, otherwise

"Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like, and what He is like is of course a composite of all the religious pictures we have seen, all the best people we have know or heard about, and all the sublime ideas we have entertained" (8).

 We have to be careful not to reduce God in this way because otherwise what we are worshiping is no longer God, but an image, and we have become idolators. Tozer makes this clear in his first chapter:

"Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is--in itself a monstrous sin--and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness" (3).

By studying the attributes of God as revealed in Scripture, we can, with the Holy Spirit's help, worship the true God, not our own idols of Him.

      "An attribute . . . is not a part of God. It is how God is, and as fair as the reasoning mind can go, we may say that it is what God is, though, as I have tried to explain, exactly what He is He cannot tell us. . . .

      The divine attributes are what we know to be true of God. He does not possess them as qualities; they are how God is as He reveals Himself to His creatures. Love, for instance, is not something God has and which may grow or diminish or cease to be. His love is the way God is, and when He loves He is simply being Himself." (16).

This is a short, but very, very sweet book. Tozer's living relationship with God comes out in every line and continually points the Christian to Him. A true blessing to read!

A Still, Small Voice

That look—the one only a parent (or a teacher) can give to an erring child—its message is unmistakable—stop it or face the consequences. The parent doesn't have to say a word—no yelling required—but the child gets the message.

God often works with us in the same way. We can see this with Elijah in 1 Kings 19: 9-18. Elijah is on the run after Jezebel has threatened to kill him. He has gone through the wilderness and has been met and nourished by God for the journey, and finally he comes to a cave where he decides to stop. After Elijah decides to stop running, God comes to him and confronts him with a question. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah doesn't really answer the question, but instead trots out his excuses: “I've been doing all this good stuff for you, Lord, but those unbelievers are trying to kill me, the only prophet left.”

God doesn’t reply to this, but instead tells Elijah to “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” Elijah obeys and is shown three powerful elements–wind, earthquake, and fire. But the Lord is in none of these. Then he hears “the sound of a low whisper” a small, still voice (NKJV) and this is the Lord.

Despite His power, God doesn't often come with a pounding at the door or a thunderbolt or a whirlwind or something else equally earth-shattering. Often He comes with a gentle tap—the “still small voice” which is just as much God's call as any of the “obvious” calls and/or warnings He may send. The trouble is that the quiet prod at the conscience or the tender oh-so gentle reminder can be so easily pushed away. God's “low whisper” is easy to ignore—especially when our life is going well. It is more easily ignored than the wind, earthquake, and fire. Yet His whispers are no less convicting than these. 

The little voice that speaks in your heart—the one that reminds you of the things you have or haven't done—the things you've been neglecting—that voice is easy to stifle with busyness and other things.

This tendency to let the busyness of life (whether intentionally or not) drown out the still small voice is what part of what Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung outlines in her book Glittering Vices as being a big part of the vice of sloth. She writes that “the apathetic inertia of the lazy person andthe perpetual motion of the busy person [ . . . ] both reveal a heart afflicted by this vice.” Traditionally, the vice of sloth is opposed to diligence; however, DeYoung points out that it is not just about the difference between apathy and work ethic. Instead, she says that busyness and workaholism are “sloth's classic symptoms.” 

Sloth isn't just about not doing things; it IS about not doing what you shouldbe doing.

God comes with a still, small voice. He waits to be gracious to us (Isa30:18) —He does not willingly grieve the children of men (Lam 3:33b). But if He has to be rough with us, He will be. Just look at how he deals with Israel's inconstancy throughout the Old Testament. However, He is merciful and very, very patient. He even repeats Himself to get the message into our thick skulls and stony hearts.

Looking at how God deals with Elijah, we can see that repetition plays a large role. God asks Elijah twice “What are you doing here?” and even though He gets the same self-centred answer from Elijah both times, He still persists, reminding Elijah that He is in control, NOT Jezebel.

God doesn’t leave us alone; He repeats Himself—a lot—because He wants us with HIM.

Sometimes it might be easier to get the earthquake— because we would have a clear sign—but then we wouldn't have to follow God's command, to listen and be obedient.

1 Kings 19: 9-18
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold,the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Amazing Love

A lot is said about love in Christian circles. Many of Christians probably have their favourite verse or verses on love. John 3:16 comes to mind. There is even the well-known "Love" chapter, 1 Corinthians 13,  to refer to if we can't find an appropriate one fast enough.

There are so many verses on love in the Bible, that we can, perhaps, become used to them at times. Oh, we think, another verse about love.

Love, love, love.

Love is used so often in everyday conversation and it can be used so thoughtlessly that it can become, at times, just another four-letter word. And that is all that it is—unless--we remember that love is, first and foremost, an action verb.

Love is not just something we have—it is something we DO.

What does it really mean to lovesomeone? We could find millions of examples in literature and history. However, we might see it every day, but not really see it. How do we know what love in action really looks like?

We can see love in action most clearly by looking at Christ.

• He humbled Himself in order to love His people.
• He loved those unlovable people, who made life difficult for Him.
• He loved His friends, even when they let Him down.
• He loved His chosen people, even when they rejected Him.
• He loved even in the depths of hellish pain and agony and death.

And why? Because we needed it—we "needit every hour".

And He keeps loving His people despite their shortcomings.

In Psalm 36 (ESV), the Psalmist says:

5 “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds."

7 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

The extent of this love is truly amazing and awe-inspiring! The fact that, despite our down-right unlovable-ness, we are still loved by God and He saves us from ourselves is something to make one sink to their knees in wonder. 

He. Loves. Me. 

Really? Me? The one who grumbles and whines about how hard-done by  she is? The one who inwardly is spiteful and haughty and condescending?  The one who has so many times forgotten Him? The one who doesn't love her neighbour as herself most, if not all, of the time? 

And yet, He loves me. 

As I thought about love, I put some new things on my mental to-do list. Some things I need to remember to do as I go through the rest of the year:

1. I need to love people even when I don't feel like it.
2. Love when they don't love me back.
3. Love even when it hurts.
4. Love because they need it.
5. Love because He first loved me. 
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   And can it be that I should gain
   An interest in the Savior’s blood?
   Died He for me, who caused His pain—
   For me, who Him to death pursued?
   Amazing love! How can it be,
   That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
   Amazing love! How can it be,
   That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
   
   
   
   
   
   He left His Father’s throne above
   So free, so infinite His grace—
   Emptied Himself of all but love,
   And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
   ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
   For O my God, it found out me!
   ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
   For O my God, it found out me!
   
   
   
   
   
   Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
   Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
   Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
   I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
   My chains fell off, my heart was free,
   I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
   My chains fell off, my heart was free,
   I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
   
   
   
   
   
   No condemnation now I dread;
   Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
   Alive in Him, my living Head,
   And clothed in righteousness divine,
   Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
   And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
   Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
   And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
   
   
   Charles Wesley 1738
   
   
   
   
   
   

Heart Boundaries

It is important for us as single people to set boundaries on our emotions, as the writer of Proverbs says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). We must guard our hearts carefully or we will end up giving bits of them away.

Our emotions belong first and foremost to God, then to ourselves, family and friends. We give them. They are not taken from us and we are not owed anything for giving them–we give them as a gift. We do not need to feel obligated to give them out willy-nilly. We must not prostitute our emotions. It may seem crude to put it that way, but so often (in my case anyway) we waste our affection on “puppy-love” relationships and infatuations that go nowhere. And when these infatuations finally die off, we find ourselves looking for another place to dump our affections, only to discover we are again wasting our time, our love. We have invested a part of our hearts in the “relationship”, reciprocated or not, and we can’t get it back.

We are not heart whole anymore. Every time our “crush” dies, part of our heart dies with it. We have emotional hang ups that can last our life time.

It is right to desire a relationship with a “Significant Other,” God created us with longings for a soul mate(“It is not good that the man should be alone” Gen 2:18), but it is not right to begrudge others their relationships and the affection that that involves. As a single person, we must give our whole heart to God. Our affection is not to be engaged elsewhere–especially not brooding and being discontent with the situation God has set us in.

Our job as a single person is to keep our emotions unattached until God brings us into contact with our future spouse. This, of course, depends on His will regarding our lives: if we are meant to be single, we will be. We cannot try and “help” God to find us a soul mate. We need to take our lesson from Abraham, and not try and fulfill God’s promises for Him (ie. Hagar and Ishmael).

We must wait in God, place our trust in Him. This does not mean we are waiting for something, such as proof that our waiting for a Significant Other will pay out in the end. We must wait and trust that He will do what is best for us–not that He will do what we think is best for us.

Oswald Chambers said (My Utmost for His Highest), that the first type (waiting for a sign) of “[w]aiting for God is incarnate unbelief, it means that I have no faith in Him; I wait for Him to do something in me that I may trust in that…. It is a question of faith in God–the rarest thing; we have faith only in our feelings.”

This is such a common trap. We cannot rely upon our feelings–they are much too fleeting. We cannot place our hope in another mere human. We need Someone more to have real faith in or we are lost. We will drown in the surf of our surging emotions if we do not have a Rock to cling to in their midst.

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 
Matt 14:30-31

And yet God works in us, despite our questioning and doubts. We must be careful that we are not only buoyed up by our feelings, but by true faith and trust in Christ.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).Hebrews 10:23 

Gleanings: Positional Holiness and Process Holiness

"In Christ every believer has a once-for-all positional holiness, and from this new identity every Christian is commanded to grow in the ongoing-for-your-whole-life process of holiness (Phil. 2:12-13)."
~Kevin deYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness

Gleanings: The Holiness Gap

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mind-the-gap.jpg

There is a gap between our love from the gospel and our love from godliness. This must change. It's not pietism, legalism, or fundamentalism to take holiness seriously. It's the way of all those who have been called to a holy calling by a holy God.

Kevin deYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap 

between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness 

The Choice to Fear or. . .

Unless I have had sometime to think about it and get used to the idea, I don't like change. I've been like this since day one apparently, since my poor mother tells me that when I was about four or five, if she didn't lay out all the possible variables in our itinerary for a day of shopping in advance, I would have a meltdown. What do you mean we have to go to The Bay because Sears didn't have the right shoes? You didn't tell me that! But, but, but --aaaah! I just couldn't handle the change.

Not liking change also means I am a worrier. If I don't know how things are going to play out in a future event or activity, I worry. Not in a "oh dear, life as I know it is ending" kind of style, but I anxiously try to anticipate every possible outcome, attempting to prepare myself for any eventuality.

Evidently, it is a deeply embedded part of my character and part of being a strong introvert. However, I think it is also a bad spiritual habit. This was drawn to my attention in a powerful way by the book I have been reading the last couple weeks. The following quote really struck a chord with me:

Not knowing is hard. . . . The fact of the matter is that we find questions of the future hard to deal with because we find it difficult to trust God. The One that we have said we've put our trust in knows everything about the future because he controls every aspect of it. Our fear of the future exposes the struggle we have to trust him and, in trusting him, to rest in his guidance and care, even though we don't really know what is coming next. Awe of God really is the only way to be free of fear of what is coming next. When my trust in God is greater than my fear of the unknown, I will be able to rest, even though I don't have a clue what will greet me around the corner.
. . .
Because we all tend at points to suffer from God amnesia, because we live in a fallen world, and because we do not write our own stories, being ruled by fear is always a clear and present danger. (Paul Tripp, Dangerous Calling 134-5)

I think that a lot of the time we react to things in our lives in our "default" setting, this state of "God amnesia," rather than choosing to trust in God's providence and sovereignty over our lives. It is a choice to trust Him.

Paul Tripp points out a few pages later, that we too often look "horizontally . . . for what can only be found vertically." He says that we are in "a glory war, a battle for what glory will rule [our] hearts and, in so doing, control [our] choices, words, and behaviors" (139-40).

Every time I default to worrying incessantly or choose to bring my fear of not-knowing and change (again and again) to the God who controls every detail of my existence and the existence of the universe, my choice is part of this glory war. It might not be that I recognize that this is a choice. Habits are habits, after all. Unless I choose to change (oh the irony!) my habits, I will be sabotaging my Christian walk with my choice to operate in my default setting.

I have to consciously choose to trust that God has planned what is best for me. I can't run ahead of Him and try to anticipate what He is doing. If I do not live in the physical and spiritual "now" where He has placed me, I am trying to take over His role as Omniscient God.

I am called to be a follower, not a leader; I am Christ's disciple, not His master. He is the Shepherd; I am His sheep. I need to cultivate a habit of trust in God's unfailing love for His people. 

As Moses said the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan, "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV)

Christ said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

(John 14:1-4 ESV)

Christ has gone before me and has prepared a place; God will fulfill His purpose for me (Ps 138:8). I do not need to worry about will come. It is all taken care of.