The Forgotten Word

 Humility.  Do we know this word exits?  If so, do we know the meaning?  In looking it up for this post, I was struck by one definition that makes my case clear.  Unassertiveness!  Unassertiveness was defined as a person "not having or showing a confident and forceful personality."  Oh my!  I could just end right there and my point be made.  

As a new believer in Christ back in the mid-seventies, the pastor of the church I attended gave the following definition of "humility": power under control.  That is a far cry from the above dictionary definition.  But if you read the gospels, you will see that displayed by Jesus time and time again. One such demonstration was when He took the basin and towel and washed the disciples feet. (John 13) God, in the flesh, washed the nasty feet of lowly men.   Jesus, by His example, revealed the embodiment of humility in order to teach us, as believers how that looked.  

Last week, on Sunday, our pastor brought out that passage in all its revealing, raw and ugly evidence of our sin-embedded flesh.  We must see ourselves in light of Christ, in order to a ask Him for help each day in our sanctification.  We must know what we really are in order to lay at the throne of grace for continued help in this process.  Each day, we see the depth, and each day, He bestows His power to change us.  That is the freeing beauty of the release of the heavy chains of sin.  With that comes great rejoicing and new strength for the battle ahead until He brings us to Himself.

In his book, Call Unto Me, Charles Spurgeon entitles one of his sermons, "Humility the Friend of Prayer". He uses Genesis 32:10 as his reference.  Jacob, of whom God refers to over and over in scripture, is the subject of that passage.  And Spurgeon chides other pastors and teachers who decry Jacob as the scoundrel.  He writes, Jacob "was at times crafty, but God is not ashamed to be called his God" and "no fellow-believer has any right to be ashamed of Jacob.  He was a man full of energy, active, enduring, resolute, and hence his infirmities become more conspicuous than they would have been in a quieter and more restful nature...but he was a master of the art of prayer, and he that can pray well is a princely man."

Jacob's prayer in this passage is, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shown Thy servant."  This is power under control.  And for all our pointing fingers at the sins of other believers, this is truly a display of the attitude of a man who knew he was needy and powerless without God.  And as Jesus washed those dirt-caked feet, that dirt from which God in His power made us, we must fall on our face before Him, in both adoration and pleading for the change that only He can create in us.

The Bible: My Politics

 “Should a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?  Amos 3:6

Newton writes, “The Bible is my system of politics.  There I read, that the Lord reigns; that He doth what He pleaseth in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; that no wisdom, understanding, counsel, or power, can prevail without His blessing; that as righteousness exalts a nation, so sin is the reproach, and will even totally be the ruin of any people.  From these, and other maxims of a like import, I am learning to be still, and to know that He is God.”

He continues, “In order to estimate the state of the nation, we must attend to two views, which,  when contrasted, illustrate each other, and, in their combination, constitute our national character, and discriminate it not only from that of every nation around us, but from all the kingdoms recorded in the history of past ages. I mean our national privileges, and our national sins.

If God gives up a people to the way of their own hearts, they will, they must, perish.  When a general corruption of morals takes place, when private interests extinguishes all sense of public virtue, when a profligate and venal spirit has infected every rank and order of the state, when presumptuous security and dissipation increase in proportion as danger approaches, when, after repeated disappointments, contempt of God, and vain confidence in imagined resources of their own, grow bolder and stronger, then there is reason to fear that the sentence is already gone forth, and that the execution of it is at hand.”

God be with us and hear our prayers for His glory.  Pray for the enlightenment of a dark nation.

Trifle Not!

Miller Ferrie compiled a wonderful devotion book of John Newton’s writings, Jewels from John Newton.  On July 16th through July 22nd, the theme of Newton’s writings is “The Guilt and Danger of Such a Nation as This”. (Interesting that the dates ran partly with the RNC) What comfort to know there is truly nothing new under the sun.  It’s just new for us.  And for believers in Jesus Christ, not only new, but increasingly abhorrent!  Apparently, Mr. Newton felt the same.

Using the passage out of Jeremiah 5:29, God asks the prophet: “Shall I not visit for these things?  Shall I not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”  Newton writes: “The Lord, the Governor of the earth, has provided, in the history of one nation, a lesson of instruction and warning to every nation under the sun.”  That nation was Israel.  God had blessed them, led them out of slavery, protected them, fed them, though they often sinned against Him.  

Newton’s nation, though different from mine, is like Israel and all other nations through history.  He writes, “We are a highly favoured people, and have long enjoyed privileges which excite the admiration and envy of surrounding nations: and we are a sinful, ungrateful people; so that, when we compare the blessings and mercies we have received form the Lord, with our conduct towards Him, it is to be feared we are no less concerned with the question in my text than Israel of old.”

How about the United States?  Are we indeed one nation under God or is that no longer a passion but a trivial phrase that has no meaning.  Charles Spurgeon writes, “Alas, I know men and women who trifle with their souls, and with heaven and hell, and eternity; they trifle with God Himself!…Half the councils of our senators and the debates of our parliaments are worse than child’s play… Big children are worse triflers than the little ones can ever be.  Despise not the children for trifling when the whole world is given to folly.”

More to come…

 

The King of All the Earth

 From Psalm 47 we read: "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.  How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!...For God is the King of all the earth...God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His Holy Throne...the kings of the earth belong to God.  He is greatly exalted."  The clapping and the shouting with cries of joy in this passage comes in the middle of sounding trumpets.  And then the passage tells those who "sincerely" love Him, "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises...sing to Him a Psalm of praise."

This passage and so many others should and must keep His people bowing at His throne with the prayer, "How awesome is the LORD Most High!"  We don't really understand how majestically and profoundly God reigns over ALL the earth if we have fear of the future, whether that is a fear that comes from poor health or the health of those we love or the health of our government and great nation.  One nation under God, whether people want to leave out that phrase or not, is true.  And one day, everyone living and dead will know that truth.  

"What is truth?"  Even Pilate asked Jesus that question when He was on trial before him.  By the looks of the leaders, whom supposedly represent the people, their truth is already established.  My five minutes a night of the RNC blared out expressly what they view truth to be.  It made me sad more than made me mad.  The truth, as told us by Jesus, is that "He is the Way, the Truth and the Life".  How can we know more?  By seeking God in the only information book He gave us: The Bible.  Everything for life and godliness is in that Book.  Everything for putting to order the disorder of our time is in that Book.  But man's rebel nature keeps them from wanting to submit to that Truth.  

Pilate also asked Jesus, "So, you are a king?"  Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king.  For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Are we listening?  Christians, people who love God and live to represent him through personal holiness, cannot dread, fret or fear.  This is not new.  The next few posts after this come from a man who lived from 1725 to 1807.  He, too, saw what we are seeing in his own nation.  But in conclusion for today, I'll quote from a king who learned lessons the hard way, "there is nothing new under the sun."

Seeds of Light

"Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Psalm 97:11 It is so amazing to me how you can read a book of the Bible over and over, and continue to find treasure.  Love this verse!!  As I walked this morning, I reflected on the way this "enlightening" verse shines new rays of understanding to this time of year.

Begin with Genesis.  "God said, 'Let there be light and there was light."  And that's just the first day.  And it's NOT the sun.  It's God's light.  And from that time on, God "sows" His light seeds throughout His Creation and His creatures.  From Adam on, God shines through His people.  While some people are brighter than others, God is still on His throne and is shining through the people. 

 "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." (Isaiah 9:2)   From the moment Adam disobeyed God in the garden, all humans since have walked in darkness.  "But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrong doings, made us alive..."(Ephesians 2:4)  God did not leave us in the darkness of that deadness.  The Old Testament is filled with God's light "sown".  And then, amazing upon amazing, in comes Jesus, the true Light.  John, 1:9 says, "...the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man."  And come He did.  He came in the most unlikely place, to a most unlikely young girl.  And even though she did not understand, the Scripture tells us, "she believed".  (Luke 1:45)  And Mary sang praises to God. (Luke 1:46-55)

"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."( John 1:5)  And the darkness continues to misunderstand God, Jesus and His followers.  But we are not to grow weary and fade out.  We must grow strong and shine His glory through His blessed Holy Spirit until the end.   Verse four of John one, says: In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men."  Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, filled with the Holy Spirit after John's birth, rejoices in God's sovereignty!  (Luke 1:67-79)  Read in it's entirety the ecstasy expressed by Zacharias over his special son, but I'll close with a portion that I hope entices you to seek it out for yourself:  "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the LORD to prepare His ways, to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  Because of the tender mercy of our God with which the SUNRISE from on high will visit us, to SHINE upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Jesus came and He will come again.  Let us be sowing His Light until that day...

The Black Hole of Pride

What began as a childish chant from my grandchildren, became a meditative black hole for the grandmother.   What is a black hole from the perspective of this non-intellectual woman?  Simply put, it is an unending depth of darkness that doesn't seem to have one slight ray of light.   And meditating (some would say, "thinking too much") on it takes all the energy I have, and I still don't see an end.  

While my grands were only teasing when they called me "Proud", I began to think and see all the ways my thoughts centered on me.  Everything I think is geared to me.  I even go so far as to think (as though I know all things) what other people around me are thinking.  What do I base it on?  Being slighted by looks, tones, words and in general, everything that keeps me insecure.  I had no idea to the depth of what my pride is capable.  And here I am, a Christian, a woman of God, a lover of truth in the Bible and all it seems I have to show for it, is an outside facade that hides a nature of sin that I had not been aware.  I mean I knew we are all prideful, to a degree.  But looking deeper, (or meditating) I realized my whole world IS the world.  And that in itself, is wretched self-centeredness to its core.

Awareness is knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.  I see this in three areas that all come together to either change someone for the good or allow a continual cluelessness to what's really true about oneself.  First is the awareness of others.  Is my awareness of people, as a believer in Christ, changing me from me to Him?  Do I love them unconditionally or feel threatened by them?  Or is awareness allowing the perpetual selfishness to ruin me like a bad disease?  The second area is awareness of all the avenues of selfishness that exist in me.  What will I do with this?  Slink into depression, "oh woe is me?"  Or accept this existence and get to work on eradication through the cleansing power of God's Word?  And third, awareness that God knew all along of the depth of my sin; everyone's sin.  But He still died for us and sought us.  He has made that clear from the get-go.  Have I built such a pedestal for me in my spiritual prowess that I've become blind AGAIN to the truth? (This black hole just gets deeper and darker.)

While I could go on with this, as I have now for about a year,  I praise God.  He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  This is a fact that is just reiterated by my awareness.  The very privilege of being appalled is His gift toward the change that needs to take place.  As He allows us to see, let us not go so deep as to despair, but deep enough to keep us humble and perpetually alert to the danger of secret sin.  I'm so thankful to my Precious Savior Who shepherds me back to the fold, shows me my sin, and brings me to my senses and His security.  He is the Creator.   And He is in control of all "black holes" which can cause us to lose our way for a moment.  But He is only a call away.  And with His presence comes an illumination that eradicates sin and all black holes.  "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

"Fly Off the Handle"

 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Romans 12:18

I could end this post here as that definitely, without explanation, reminds me I have much work to do in this sanctification process.  Thankfully, it doesn't depend on me but on the greater Power, and He has given explicit instructions.

However, I was thinking about a situation this morning and another verse that says something similar: "When a person's ways are pleasing to the LORD, He causes even his enemies to make peace with him." Proverbs 16:7  I'm sure there are more jewels from the "living and active" Word of God regarding our attitude toward struggles with other people.  But those two verses alone cause much reflection and gratitude for God's loving discipline.

As I thought through the "situation", I found myself counseling me about my face, my tone, my response, my Biblically conditioned heart and all the shoulda, woulda, couldas of life.  I prayed that God will help me think before I respond.  That starts with the heart, then the face (that needs to be reflecting the joy and gratitude of salvation all the time) and then a slow wise response that has God's glory in view.  Easy words, hard job.

As I prayed and reflected on these issues of life, my thought ran to an old phrase: "fly off the handle".  How many times I've done that, I don't like to think about.  I began wondering what the phrase meant.  My first thought was bicycle handles.  And we all know what happens when you fly off those handles!  I found out it wasn't about bicycles, but the imagery is definitely a deterrent, so I'll stay with it.  In reality, and I'm sad to say, through experience, I have "wrecked" many a relationship by "flying off the handles"!