Month: November 2019

“… give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.  For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.”    Proverbs 30:7-8

Years ago after the sad and tragic death of Robin Williams I remember reflecting on the number of celebrities and millionaires who have taken their own lives or lost their lives to drugs or alcohol.  It is ironic to me that a society that elevates riches and fame to such an extraordinary level loses so many of its “success stories” to bouts of depression or self-destruction

In the verses above the writer asks  God to save him from his own dissatisfaction.  He basically says he cannot handle poverty or riches and asks God to keep him from them because of his weaknesses.  But the key to life is not to change our circumstances to fit our strength but to be strengthened to fit our circumstances.  When I first started coaching a long-time head coach told me to always win around 75% of the games each season.  He said that that was enough to keep people satisfied and not too much for them to have expectations. That would give me longevity in coaching.  What a terrible philosophy!  I see a similar philosophy in the verses above.  The attitude of “Don’t give me too little or too much because I can’t handle it” is an effort to be successful without stress.  Striving for mediocrity is not striving at all.  The apostle Paul had the exact opposite approach.

“I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot.  In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content–whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.”  Philippians 4:12

Paul was able to handle both poverty and riches, both want and plenty, both rejection and acceptance.  That is a much better thing to be able to do because we cannot control our circumstances and it is a shame to let them control us.  How was Paul able to live in satisfaction in every condition?  He tells us in the next verse.

“I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”   Philippians 4:13

Circumstances change, Christ never does.  If we are going to lean on something, it should be something solid.  Jesus is the Rock, the Cornerstone, the Solid Place because He is foundational and nothing else in this world is.  There is an old hymn that says, “My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”  Too many build their lives on the sinking sand of riches, fame, and power.  But none of those can bring contentment.  Robin Williams lived to bring happiness to the world, but the world could not bring enough happiness to Robin to make him want to live.  Only one person can do that.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”    John 10:9-10

To stay strong in this world we must realize that happiness and contentment are not necessarily the same thing although we use the terms causally and interchangeably.  Contentment is the ability to accept our life regardless of where we find ourselves.  It is seeing a fulness in life where others may not see it.  In Christ we can determine to be content without “having it all.”  Happiness is often based on the high points on the roller coaster of life that will be followed, inevitably, by low points.  Paul recognized that.  I am sure that he was not happy about being starved, beaten, and shipwrecked, but within himself could still find contentment in Christ.  He knew that Jesus came to give us abundant life, not by changing the conditions of world to fit our desires, but by changing us to be able to handle the conditions of the world.  As Paul told Timothy…

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”   I Timothy 6:6-7

But no matter how much we try, we will never achieve contentment on our own.  We just aren’t wired that way.

“Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.”  Ecclesiastes 1:7-8

“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”  Haggai 1:5-7

No truer words depict the condition of the world in which we live. People are never satisfied. No matter what, we can never achieve contentment outside of God.  We will always want more, we will always want different.   We may be rich, but we want to be richer.  One of the richest men in the world was once asked how much is enough and he responded, “It’s never enough.”  That is what the world says but the Word tells us that “Christ is enough.”  Live in abundance; live in Him.

“Oh how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

I was out on my porch at about 11:45 last night and it was very quiet. I wasn’t even hearing traffic on the highway and that was unusual. It was really easy to think (well, as easy as it is for me to ever think).  It reminded me of a Saturday a while back when Chris, Noah, and I met at Dorena Lake.  We stopped at two campgrounds and a few other places on our trip around the lake, and at a couple of our stops it was just so quiet that Chris made a comment about it. I guess we get so used to noise that when we can’t hear anything, it almost strikes us as odd.

That is why it is important to get away from it all and spend some time with Lord on a consistent basis, eliminating all distractions and just giving Him and Him alone some of our alone time. Christianity is not a legal relationship, it is a love relationship. We should not have to be forced to spend time with Him by threat, but by our own desire. We are called to more like Christ, but we cannot do that on our own, we need to spend time with Him.

Of course, the key to all of this is determining a need, and thus a desire, to spend time with the Lord, so we need to start there. So let’s just say we see the value of spending at least a few minutes with God each day and we want to take some steps to make it happen. The very first step is to pray about it. We are not naturally inclined to do the right things. I sometimes console myself after a bad golf game by reminding myself that I am trying to get a little ball into a little hole that has the whole world around it. Well, when we want to put ourselves in a special spot with the lord, we are surrounded by the whole world that opposes us. So we must enlist the only one who can help us, the maker of the whole world. Once we decide to create a quiet time and pray for God’s guidance, it is time to begin the process.

One of my favorite Pastors, Adrian Rodgers, lists five things to keep in mind when trying to develop a good quiet time with the Lord. The proper period, preparation, place, provision, and preparation are all essential to creating a special time with God.  Of course, like I said, this all follows prayer, so what we have here are the six p’s of creating a peaceful time with God. Wait a minute, peaceful, that’s now seven p’s!

First we must find a proper period of time. We should strive for at least half an hour, but some time is better than no time, so if we can’t start at thirty minutes, we should begin with ten. It should be a time when we are alert. We all know when our alert times are. Morning is good if it is possible. Psalm 5:3 says, “… in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.” But whenever is the best time, it is best if it is the same time, all the time. It’s funny because many spend countless hours in endeavors that will help their physical bodies, but struggle to give ten minutes to their spiritual ones.

It is important that we properly prepare for this time by clearing our heads of distractions. If we have something in our hearts that needs to be taken care of, we need to take care of it. We need think upon the Lord, not on our shortcomings. Like readying ourselves for any other endeavor, we must separate ourselves from anything that will steal our focus.

Once we have decided on a time and have prepared ourselves mentally, we must find a proper place where we can focus. Jesus said enter into your closet and pray (see Matthew 6:6) but that simply means to find a place of isolation where we can shut the door on the world and open the windows to heaven. Jesus sought out places where He could be alone, and so should we.

In getting ready for the camping trip this weekend, I am making a list of provisions. If I don’t make a list, I will be without what is necessary, when it is necessary. Nothing worse than trying to clean a fish with a spoon. There are several proper provisions that can be helpful to us in our quiet time. A good Bible (readable, accurate, and familiar) is essential and a prayer journal and/or notepad for writing is advisable. There are all kinds of other things that can be added later, but for starters, this is really all we need.

So what would be the proper procedures for an effective quiet time? First of all, we need to quiet our spirits. The Bible says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” After we quiet ourselves, it is good to read the Word. We like to jump right in and talk to God, but He already knows us pretty well. It might be best to get to know Him better. We tend to focus on self, but we want to focus on God, instead. When reading, how much we read is not nearly as important as how we read. Reading goals (reading through the Bible in a year) and devotionals should probably remain separate from our quiet time. A quiet time should just be us and God.  We can read other authors at other times.

After we have read and maybe looked at how the passages apply to us and maybe even jotted down a few notes, we are ready to pray. Our prayer time should be honest and open. I like praying aloud (when I am not in a public place!) for two reasons. One, I think it focuses us better. It is harder for our minds to wander when we are hearing what we are saying. Secondly, the dark principalities and powers of this world can’t read our thoughts, but they can hear our words and nothing clears them out of an area faster than prayer!

Each day we should take what we learn during our quiet time and apply it to our day. I have heard it said that our spiritual train runs on two rails, knowledge and obedience. If either rail stops, so does the train. Remember, pray that God will help us to begin. When it comes to good things we should do, it’s always best to start at the beginning. Any time is better than no time and more time is better than little time. Developing a good quiet time can be a little like my golf game.  It might take a while to get there, lagging our way up to the green, and we may get off in the woods at times, but we need to just keep shooting for the goal and eventually we will get there!  We just can’t stop trying!

“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

There are over 30 different references in the Bible to words like “stand fast” and “steadfast.”  In a day when wishy-washy seems the norm, the Bible sets forth a better way.  In our country we are blessed that our steadfastness does not necessitate facing death, torture, or even physical abuse.  We do not face what Christians have faced in history or even what many face now around much of the world.  In most cases, our endurance can be illustrated with fairly painless firmness- walking away from sinful situations, standing up for Christ when He is put down, not compromising on an issue of rightness and other daily stands that reflect the righteousness found in God’s Word.

Just a cursory look at the world around us gives a vivid picture of the schisms that exist in our world due to flimsy stands.  Even the body of Christ is fractured because people don’t plant themselves but choose to hop from one church to another looking for just the “right” one.  We live in an age where nothing moves us more quickly than discomfort.  If we don’t like our church, we leave; our wife, we leave; our job, we leave; our faith, we leave.  What constitutes “not liking?”  Discomfort.

It would be different if we were moving because we stand for great causes; but unfortunately, we usually move because we can’t stand small and meaningless issues. A congregation might split on the color of pews, but stay silent when a pastor says the Bible is a flawed document. We just don’t know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. Think of how different our world would be if more of us were “steadfast” on the right things and flexible on the small.  There would be more unity, cohesion, togetherness, and power in the body of Christ.

To be steadfast and unmovable we must be spiritually grounded. A steadfast person knows what he believes and cannot be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching,”  (Ephesians 4:14)  An steadfast person can hear false teaching, engage doubters, and defend truth without it shaking his own faith.

Being steadfast is keeping our promises, staying true to our families, being faithful to our employers, standing for God and His Word and host of other right behaviors. Steadfastness is an anchor that keeps us in place. It keeps us from drifting from where we should be.  We are called to stand fast in faith, rejoicing in the liberty we find in Christ, united by one spirit, strong in the Lord, relying on the teachings of the Bible.  When we are steadfast in these things, the Bible tells us we will not be afraid and God will establish us. “He will not be afraid of evil tidings; (if) His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.”  Psalm 112:7  When we choose to be tossed around instead of being steadfast, we will not be faithful to God.  Look at what the Bible says in Psalm 78:37, “For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

Having faith helps us stand strong in times of trial as the following story illustrates. One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”

 How about our relationships?  Are we steadfast in our promises?  We can choose to be anchored to the rock – to Christ the anchor of our souls. We need to jump into the arms of Christ and stay there.  If the distractions of the world grow so great that we cannot see Him clearly, stay strong, hear his Word,  trust in Him, rely on His strength, because He can see us and that’s all that matters.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27-28

I recently came across this interesting photo of a tree that was hollow on the inside and looked relatively healthy on the outside. This tree was cut down because a professional arborist thought it looked stressed and said it was probably not healthy. Not healthy! If you could look at the stump closely, you will see that 80% of its insides are missing completely. Incredibly, to the untrained eye, the outside of the tree looked just fine, and it took an expert to spot the problem. Had it not been cut down, it would have inevitably blown down sometime in the future.  The scary part was the tree was only 10’ from a house!

In today’s verse Jesus is speaking to the most outwardly righteous people in Israel. The Pharisees and Sadducees strode about striving to look righteous in all they did, but much of the sermon on the mount (found in Matthew and Luke) addressed the hypocrisy of these men. God is concerned with the health of our insides, not the looks of the outside.  Time and time again His Word reveals stories of people who looked “wrong” on the outside, but were “strong” on the inside. Stories like the poor widow, the repentant tax-collector, and the kind Samaritan, were contrasted with the “righteous” men of the temple who looked good but weren’t good.

If we are not healthy on the inside, pressures from the outside will take us down. It isn’t always the weakest-looking trees that blow down during a storm but the weakest trees. Some look good on the outside, but like our tree in today’s photo, might be dead on the inside. Remember that I said the expert arborist saw the tree and then cut down the tree to protect others. God is the expert that knows our health on the inside. Throughout the Bible there are examples of God removing those that were dangerous to those around them. If we lose our usefulness to the Kingdom of God and have, in fact, become detrimental to the kingdom, we may be cut down.

Famous actor Robert Redford was walking one day through a hotel lobby. A woman saw him and followed him to the elevator. “Are you the real Robert Redford?” she asked him with great excitement. As the doors of the elevator closed, he replied, “Only when I am alone!”  Isn’t Redford’s answer often our own.

I think the Word is clear that we are eternally secure once we have received the Holy Spirit. I also think the Bible clearly teaches that sin in our lives can lead to physical death. When Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, they lost their lives, but there is no indication that they lost their salvation. We are not “punished” for our sin in the sense of losing salvation or being eternally separated from God, yet we are disciplined, sometimes even unto death.  “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Hebrews 12:6).

First John 5:16 says there comes a point when God can no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin, that there is sin that leads unto death. When that point is reached, God may allow the stubbornly sinful believer to taste that death. If we look like the tree above and we are spiritually dead on the inside, we should be prepared.  If the strong winds of this world don’t take us down, the axe of the great Arborist just might.  Regardless, how we look to others is inconsequential.  It’s what’s inside that counts.