Category Archives: Christian Life

Overcast

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Gray skies in spring

I don’t always have a cheerful, sunny disposition…

The cellulitis I mentioned earlier has not completely cleared up, and since I am on my last day of antibiotics, I need to see the doctor before it relapses like it did before. This is an already busy week, leading into one of the busiest months of my year, and I was so hoping this issue would be resolved so I could get the things done I needed to without having to keep my foot elevated and go another round of antibiotics with their accompanying side effects.

Some part of my mind has been occupied with decisions relating to the month ahead, and there is always a sense of unsettledness and pressure until some of those decisions are made and the next steps of doing can be taken.

Then a couple of hours into the day I began not feeling well — I’ll spare you the details.

Our brief taste of spring has been replaced with a cold front and gray skies, and as I began to rustle up some breakfast and listen to the weather report on the radio of more coolness, cloudiness, rain, and probable coming thunderstorms, my mood matched the overcast scene out the window.

After the weather report, the announcer of the Christian radio station read Ezekiel 34:26, “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Instead of cheering me, that verse reminded me of one church we attended where, on on any rainy day, we could count on being asked to sing “Showers of Blessing” or “Heavenly Sunlight” or “Sunshine In My Soul Today” in a manner of seemingly forced cheerfulness which usually had the opposite effect on me.

As I continued on with my breakfast preparations, though, I was reminded that our area has been suffering a drought for months, and a good soaking rain was sorely needed. Rain is often spoken of in the Bible as a blessing: in those days before irrigation was common, crops and livelihoods and health depended on good rains coming at the needed times.

And I began to see the irony of complaining and chafing against something that was essential to growth, health, nutrition and further blessing.

Even though my little irritations of the day can scarcely be compared to some of the serious and awful problems many in my church family and among my Internet friends are going through, I was reminded that trials of all sizes have their purpose, and sometimes they are just the needed thing for the next step of growth and Christlikneness to develop.

Hosea 10:12: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Lord, come and rain Your righteousness on me and forgive me for resenting the means of Your blessings. 

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(Bottom photo courtesy of the stock.xchng) 

Strength for our duties

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“Yet the duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God’s tasks. This is a law of grace. When we recognize it is impossible for us to perform a duty in our own strength, we will discover the secret of its accomplishment. But alas, this is a secret we often fail to discover.”

John Owen

A reminder when I want my “own” way

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I think the essence of sin must be wanting my own way instead of God’s.

One of my sons used to object to Ken Collier’s statement, “Just two choices on the shelf: pleasing God or pleasing self” because it is possible to please both God and self if self is perfectly submitted to God. And that’s true. But we still have a constant pull toward wanting things our own way when God or the authorities He has placed over us want something from us other than what we want at the time.

Some time back I looked up verses containing the word “own” in them and sorted through the ones that speak of our own way in some form. It’s a very convicting study! I found some four pages of verses — too many to reproduce here. But I wanted to share some of them. I know sometimes it is hard to just read through a list of verses, but I would encourage you to look through them, note the dangers of our own way, and apply God’s remedy. Even more, though, I would encourage you to do this study on your own. Looking up these verses one by one had a greater impact than reading them.

Judges 17:6b: Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
II Kings 17:33: They feared the LORD, and served their own gods.
Isa. 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Prov. 14:14a: The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways
Prov. 21:2: Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Isa. 65:2: I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
Isa. 66:3: Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Jer 18:12: And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
Ezek. 13:2: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Eze 16:15a: But thou didst trust in thine own beauty,
Mark 7:9: And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Rom. 10:3: For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom. 16:18: For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly
Php 2:21: For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
II Tim. 3:2b: For men shall be lovers of their own selves
Jude 1:16: These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

Results:
Prov. 25:28: He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Ps. 22:29: None can keep alive his own soul.
Ps. 81:12: So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Prov. 1:31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Ezek. 11:21b: I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezek. 36:31: Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Rom. 1:24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Remember:
I Cor. 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Ps. 44:3: For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Prov. 25:27b: For men to search their own glory is not glory.

Remedy:
I Samuel 15:17: And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
Prov. 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Prov. 3:7: Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Prov. 12:15b: He that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Mt. 7:5a: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye…
I Cor. 10:33: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
I Cor. 13:5: Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil….
II Cor. 8:5: And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
Php 3:9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Division and multiplication

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I came across a link from Amy’s Humble Musings this morning to this post titled “Multiplication” that has been ministering to my heart ever since I read it. If Amy has linked to it, you probably have already seen it, but just in case, I wanted to share it.

Here is one paragraph from the post. This and the last one especially spoke to me.

I can only divide myself, my time and my effort. And in the dividing, in my own strength, it shrinks away to nothingness. The fruit shrivels before it is ripe. The harvest never comes. I am cold, frustrated, and bitter. But when I give it all to Him, it is multiplied. In His hands my efforts yield an abundance that defies logic.

Why do we so often forget this?

Make Me a Stranger

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Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Make me a stranger more like Thee.
Help me keep my focus on heavenly treasures,
And not on earthly things may it be.

Lord, lead me onward as a pilgrim
Bound for heaven never to roam.
Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Till I see my heavenly home.

Lord, I’ve found myself loving earthly treasures:
Simple pleasures taking your place.
Nothing can measure to heavenly treasures:
Hearing “Well done,” and seeing Your face.

Lord, lead me onward as a pilgrim
Bound for heaven never to roam.
Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Till I see my heavenly home.

~ Mac Lynch

What are we tuned to?

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fork.gif“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

-A. W. Tozer

By Night When Others Soundly Slept

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By Night When Others Soundly Slept

By Anne Bradstreet

By night when others soundly slept
And hath at once both ease and Rest,
My waking eyes were open kept
And so to lie I found it best.

I sought him whom my Soul did Love,
With tears I sought him earnestly.
He bow’d his ear down from Above.
In vain I did not seek or cry.

My hungry Soul he fill’d with Good;
He in his Bottle put my tears,
My smarting wounds washt in his blood,
And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.

What to my Saviour shall I give
Who freely hath done this for me?
I’ll serve him here whilst I shall live
And Love him to Eternity.

The Haven of Rest

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(Photo courtesy of the stock.xchng.)

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Psalm 107:28-20.


The Haven of Rest

By Henry Gilmour

My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
So burdened with sin and distressed,
Till I heard a sweet voice, saying,
“Make Me your choice”;
And I entered the “Haven of Rest”!

Refrain

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
In faith taking hold of the Word,
My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul;
The “Haven of Rest” is my Lord.

Refrain

The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
Has been the old story so blest,
Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have
A home in the “Haven of Rest.”

Refrain

How precious the thought that we all may recline,
Like John, the belovèd so blest,
On Jesus’ strong arm, where no tempest can harm,
Secure in the “Haven of Rest.”

Refrain

O come to the Savior, He patiently waits
To save by His power divine;
Come, anchor your soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
And say, “My Belovèd is mine.”

Refrain

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.

 

The fame of godliness

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Have you ever, during or after doing something right or something for the Lord, become conscious of a desire to be thought well of or noticed or acclaimed for what you were doing?

I’m ashamed to say I have. It’s something I battle all too often.

That’s why a quote from Puritan preacher Richard Baxter recorded in the September/October 2007 issue of Frontline magazine arrested me. I searched online to try to find out where this quote was from, and found it was from a book titled The Reformed Pastor by Baxter. It’s words are true for anyone.

Truly, brethren, a man may as certainly, and more slyly, make haste to hell, in the way of earnest preaching of the gospel, and seeming zeal for a holy life, as in a way of drunkeness and filthiness. For what is holiness, but a devotedness to God and a living to him? And what is a damnable state, but a devotedness to carnal self and a living to ourselves? And doth any one live more to himself, or less to God, than the proud man? And may not pride make a preacher study for himself and pray and preach, and live to himself, even when he seemeth to surpass others in the work? It is not the work without the right principle and end that will prove us upright. The work may be God’s, and yet we may do it, not for God, but for ourselves.

But woe to him that takes up the fame of godliness instead of godliness! ‘Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.’ When the times were all for learning and empty formalities, the temptation of the proud did lie that way. But now, when, through the unspeakable mercy of God, the most lively practical preaching is in credit, and godliness itself is in credit, the temptation of the proud is to pretend to be zealous preachers and godly men. Oh, what a fine thing is it to have the people crowding to hear us, and affected with what we say, and yielding up to us their judgments and affections! What a taking thing is it to be cried up as the ablest and godliest man in the country, to be famed through the land for the highest spiritual excellencies!

Oh, therefore, be jealous of yourselves, and, amidst all your studies, be sure to study humility. ‘He that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’

The means of change

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Recently, as happens so often, I came face to face with an issue involving my own selfishness.

After confessing such incidents to the Lord, I tend to have a couple of responses. One is to just acknowledge it as one of my “besetting sins” and to forget about it until the next time. Yet deep down I know that’s just an excuse.

Another response is to decide I need to make a plan of action. That’s not bad in itself, but it usually fizzles out like New Year’s resolutions.

I may even decide to look up and meditate on various Scripture verses on the subject at hand. That’s a good response as far as it goes. Romans 12:2 tells us we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds, and one way we do that is by changing our thinking, lining it up with what God’s Word says, putting specific Scriptures in our minds that the Holy Spirit can then use to remind us.

But my problem isn’t just isolated individual sins. It’s a nature that is totally and completely self-focused, self-serving, self-promoting, self-loving. Though we receive a new nature when we become Christians, that old one is still there and will be til we get to heaven. How do we resist that constant pull? How can our new nature grow and become more like Christ?

II Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Beholding His glory….how little we do that. How often do we approach the Scripture just to fulfill our quota of Bible reading for the day, or even just to “get something” to carry us through the day?

We need to — I need to — remember to seek Him in the Scriptures, to behold His glory. Sometimes a study of His attributes would be more helpful than just studying about my particular sin, though both are necessary.

I read a quote once in a missionary biography (I haven’t been able to find it again: I thought it was Rosalind Goforth’s, but I didn’t see it in my last reading) that this particular person was having a hard time being loving. For years she constantly looked at herself and her lack of love and told herself over and over that she needed to be more loving. Yet she didn’t grow in love, only in discouragement. She began to meditate on God’s love for her…and without even realizing it, she began to slowly change to the point where others commented to her husband on the change in her.

We know what it is to gaze on an object of love. We smile indulgently at a young couple’s doe-eyed peering at each other. We understand a mother’s loving, wondering gaze of her new baby. We love to behold and contemplate the beauty of a perfect rose or a masterful painting.

How much more should we behold the One who loves us most, who is more beautiful than anything we can imagine, who is perfect holiness and righteousness.

Exodus 33:18-23; 34: 5-6:

And [Moses] said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4.

May that be our desire as well.