Month: March 2021

Surrender

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who revere Him.
— Psalm 103:11

As I have been studying through Psalm 103, I can’t help but think about people who live their life without God. They run through life completely without God. They do everything without a thought of God. Yet, when calamity strikes they shake their fist at God and question why.

People will give a multitude of reasons why they don’t follow or believe in God. But the underlying issue why they won’t surrender to the God of the Bible is this; they like their sin and they don’t want to give it up.

People know that God exists. In Romans 1:19, it states that what “is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” And Acts 14:16-17 shows to unbelievers that “in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” This all very telling that it is not a matter of knowing if God exists, but a matter of whether people will acknowledge Him or not.

I’m convinced that there is no such thing as an atheist. It is just a title claimed by those who don’t want to face up to God. They all secretly know deep down that there is a God, it’s just that they prevaricate when the topic arises. If people have a knowledge of God (whether they accept it or not), why on earth wouldn’t they want to know the Creator of all things? How could a rational person think that they can exist just fine without recognizing the source of all things: God? Does humanity have such an arrogance that they think there won’t be consequences of their selfish actions?

Part of the blame, I think, is that a complacent life is fueled by excess comforts. Most don’t think that they need God in their life because they have what they need. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:45 that “…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” So, since they feel that there isn’t an issue in life, they can continue on, wandering the earth to and fro, doing whatever their heart desires!

Unfortunately, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9a).

So, what if the creature comforts in life are removed? What you would see are people who would start to complain how unfair and unjust life is! If you need further examples of that, just read the dialogs between Job and his three friends! When we look around the world we see, with obviousness, that not every person has the same allotments. Some have excess riches and material things. Some live in abject poverty and suffer daily for even a morsel of food. And then there are the majority who are in the middle; wanting, but yet not without.

I think about the Israelites in the Old Testament and how they were provided with so much from God, yet continued to live their lives as if God wasn’t around. There was a cyclic process with them: follow God, get comfortable, forget God, face judgements, repent, follow God, get comfortable…and over and over again! We can easily see where they took their eyes off of God; when they were most comfortable. We also see when they turned their eyes back to God; during their great discomforts. And so it is with people today! People live day to day with their comforts and give no recognition to the true source of these gifts. That is until calamity strikes!

As a military veteran, I often heard the phrase “there are no atheists in foxholes”. Everyone under fire wants to reach out to a higher power for help, comfort, and to deliver them from the trials they are facing. When people are taken out of their comfort zones, facing challenges that look daunting, the natural inclination is to cry out for help. As tough as some people may think they are, when faced with disaster or conflicts, they will often look for others to stand with in support. As the Israelites would often do, they would cry out to God for salvation from their problems. And so do many people today. When floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and the like hit, people all have one thing in common: they call upon God!

So, we don’t want God when we’re enjoying life, but want God when life is throwing problems.

When Jonah ran from God after he was called to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh, he didn’t want to go, and subsequently was tossed into the ocean and swallowed by a great fish. We all know the story. Chapter 2, verses 1-2 is an example of how many react when faced with hardships:

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”

You see the pleading, the begging, and the crying out to God during times of unrest! Verse 9 concludes with Jonah’s promise to God, if God would deliver him:

“But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

We’ve all heard the stories of people who were facing adversity and call out to the very God they ignore in their daily lives, often times making promises to Him that if He delivers them from their strife, that they will do such-and-such in return. I call this desperate negotiations! The Israelites were masters of this technique! They would be troubled, whether as a punishment from God for apostasy or needing correction from waywardness, and a prophet would come along and let them know that God was not happy with them. Unfortunately many times they would ignore the warnings and wind up facing God’s wrath.

So, no matter what problems we face, whether they are consequences of our actions or just naturally occurring disasters, we all want God’s deliverance. But God isn’t just there for us in the storms. He is the same God that is there in the prospering times as well! He isn’t a cosmic vending machine to dispense mercies at our calling. He is the God who created all things for His glory and worship. And until we get a proper perspective of who God is, we may be drawing His wrath rather than His mercies!

People tend to have such a narrow view of God and try to put Him in a box, defined by themselves, and use Him as their personal puppet. Sadly, many self-professing Christians do this very thing. They have a humanistic viewpoint of the God of the Bible and their approach is flippant, at best. To have this irreverent attitude and callous demeanor is truly an insult to God. He is Holy and we are to keep this in perspective when we think about approaching His Throne!

From the Old Testament to the New, there are numerous examples of God’s declaration of how we are to have reverence toward Him. From keeping His Sabbaths and reverence of His Sanctuary (Leviticus 19:30), to keeping His Commandments (Deuteronomy 5), God continually explains to us that He alone is God; the Great I Am! We are to worship Him as God! Jesus taught that when we pray we are to first acknowledge that He is our Lord, our Father in heaven, and that He alone is Holy (hallowed be Thy Name in Matthew 6). Not only do we need to revere His Holy name, but we are to show that reverence by the way we live.

All of us are sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). With the defilement of sins, we cannot approach the Lord, since sin is an abomination and detestable to His Holiness. If we take serious His hatred of sin and understand the wrath that will be poured out on the unrepentant, we would be seeing God in a different light. There has to be a payment for sin. And the payment is a blood sacrifice. In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded to sacrifice an unblemished animal (shed blood) for their sins as an atonement. In the New Testament, God provided us the perfect sacrifice for atonement…His Son Jesus. And by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are washed clean of our sins by His blood sacrifice. Jesus took our place and received the punishment for sin when He went to the cross!

And, as He is the Son of God, He passed through death and rose again to life, seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father! He paid the penalty for our sins and He will be the judge of all! Without Him as Lord, you face the wrath judgement of God.

Which that brings me back to the irreverent approach people have toward God. People are either living life denying God, or, claiming to know God but living life their way (instead of the way God demands: “You shall be be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16). Either way, all will face a judgement before God. There will be no second chances! If you have Jesus as Lord of your life, you will be saved from God’s judgement! Until a soul recognizes their crimes against a Holy God, they will not recognize their need for a Holy God.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

You have choices in life. You may not be living in catastrophe at the moment and the storms may be calm, but tomorrow is never promised. Just know that God will not accept a casual, off-and-on approach to Him. He is the God of “all or nothing”. Living your life under your priorities and then pulling God in when it is convenient is not a walk of faith that is pleasing to God. In fact, God finds the prayers of the unrighteous to be insulting and detestable. John 9:31 says “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”

To the denier: hiding your head in the sand doesn’t make Him go away. His patience is only for a season, and after that the judgement. Eternity is a long time!

To the complacent: Jesus says in Revelation 3:15 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” There is no time like the present to fully surrender!

The time is short and we should never gamble with eternity! Jesus said “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) He also said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus gives us not only the gift of salvation from the wrath to come, but peace within us for the storms we may face. In Luke 11 we are promised “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” You see, we don’t lose anything by rejecting the ways of this world, we gain happiness and joy and peace from God by having the assurance of knowing that God, through Jesus Christ, knows us, hears us, and is leading us to His Celestial City! All we have to do is surrender our ways for His! Amen

Forgiven And Forgetting.

Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One of the many battles that some people face is memory. I happen to have horrible short-term memory. I will often think of something I need to do or get while I’m out driving and by the time I can stop and write it down, it’s gone! I’ve had to learn to use voice memos so that I can note the task while driving and later write it down. In fact, I’ve resorted to using an app on my phone that not only states what I need to remember, but I can also set an alarm for a day and time! It has been a lifesaver!

The hardest part of memory issues for me though is remembering the Words of God. Many devout Christians will memorize Scripture. The Bible says in Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” The more words from God we carry in our hearts and mind, the stronger we become standing firm against the evils of this world that try to derail us in our walk. In my previous writing and podcast (Things I Preach To Myself About…“Where’s My Sword”), I talked about the importance of reading the Bible and how the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit, the Sword of Truth. With this at our side at all times, we can defend ourselves from the attacks of the enemy.

But is our forgetfulness simply a psychological or physical matter? There certainly are many contributing factors that affect our capabilities to remember things. Everything from stress and anxiety, depression, injuries to the brain, all can affect someone’s short-term (and/or long-term) memory. But today I want to delve into another area that can be a factor against our ability to remember God’s word: Sin

One thing that can thwart our ability to memorize Scripture is sin. Within each of us is a disease. It is a disease that we have carried since birth. This sin disease will be with us until our last breath. As with any disease, it affects various parts of our body (mind and soul). And, as with any ailment, once it’s discovered, it has to be addressed and treated; often daily! When we identify that we have this sin nature and we want to be rid of it, we begin a working process to keep it from flaring up in our lives.

As sin erupts, God becomes quite distant to us. Our only desire during this moment is for self-gratification. Our natural inclination leans toward the flesh, the strongest pull at the time. Without help, we become weak and powerless to resist. James puts it this way in chapter 1, verse 14; “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” As Bonhoeffer says, we are not hating God, but forgetting God.

The Ten Commandments

Yes, we do have a natural animosity against God and His ways. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, we have been natural-born sinners! Psalm 51 says “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” We enter into this world already at odds with God and His laws (10 Commandments). And until the Spirit changes our hearts, we relish sin over salvation. But when God does quicken us, we are then able to see Him in a different light; now wanting His ways in our life, not the world’s ways! We are able to believe and trust our life to Jesus Christ through his death, burial, and resurrection from the grave. We enter into newness of life! Now we place Jesus as our Lord and Savior!

That doesn’t necessarily make the disease go away though. What it does do is cause us to actually see the disease and want it gone! Thus, our trusting in God and His Word is key to the process of fighting this sin! 

Which brings me back to memory. As I’ve said before, Christians will often memorize Scripture as a means of strengthening their walk and building up a defense against the devil’s lies. Being able to quote Bible verses from memory is paramount to a growing faith. But for some of us who struggle to even remember what we were going to do as we walk into another room, or forget our ideas or tasks the moment our attention is distracted; we need a different remedy.

One thing I’ve discovered lately is to meditate on Scripture. There is a difference between memorizing and meditating. Memorization is planting something into your mind for recall whenever needed. Meditation is delving deep into something so intently, that it becomes imbedded in your heart. Learning a set of words by rote memorization is essentially a mechanical or habitual repetition. But to thoroughly and intimately learn, we meditate on the Word of God. 

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15

Many of the great Puritans devoted vast amounts of time delving deep into the Bible, meditating on them to fill their hearts complete with the truth of God. Dr. Joel Beeke, in his essay on “The Puritan Practice of Meditation,” lists some benefits that meditating on Scripture has to offer (compared to just memorizing):

  1. Meditation helps us focus on the Triune God, to love and to enjoy Him in all His persons (1 John 4:8)—intellectually, spiritually, aesthetically.
  2. Meditation helps increase knowledge of sacred truth. It “takes the veil from the face of truth” (Prov. 4:2).
  3. Meditation is the “nurse of wisdom,” for it promotes the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:8).
  4. Meditation enlarges our faith by helping us to trust the God of promises in all our spiritual troubles and the God of providence in all our outward troubles.

These are just a few that Dr. Beeke lists. But what it does point to is the importance of absorbing God’s Truths deeper into our being rather than just reciting words. For a deeper insight to the Puritan study of God’s Word, I would also recommend the book “God’s Battle Plan For The Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation” by David W. Saxton. The book not only shows the necessity for personal meditation on the Scriptures, but also gives motivation by showing us how the great Puritans meditated on the Word themselves! 

There are so many great benefits to meditating on the Word of God instead of just memorizing them. And don’t get me wrong, memorization is a great option for many who can do it and it does work. But we all need to imbed these truths in our minds, as well as our hearts, no matter the method. But, for those of us who struggle with the duty of memorizing, we do have an option that can actually take us deeper into His word AND get those words within us to recall when needed!

In the Garden of Eden, the first challenge to Eve by the serpent (the devil, himself) was to ask “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Thus, seeing if she knew the words of the Lord. As we face the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life that surround us every day, we need to be on guard with the Sword of the Sprit, the Word of God! We won’t always have an opportunity to sit down and look up Scripture to challenge back the temptations set before us. In most instances, we will need to draw on our understanding and knowledge of the Word of God that is deeply set within us. Words of Scripture that we have committed to our hearts and minds for just such an occasion! 

Not only do we strive to know God through His word daily in our lives, but we are called to persevere onward in our sanctification, always remembering that God is working in us through His Son Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit! Joshua 1:8a says: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” 

Amen