Vision

I had this funny vision:

I was going back and forth, to and from church:

Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night, meetings, ministries, etc.

Jesus was standing above, watching me go back and forth

like a person on the sidelines of a tennis match watching the ball go back and forth.

I wasn't talking with Him.

I was too busy.

At some point, I looked up at Him, and He said compassionately,

“Hey, Mark, I don't need all that.”

I think we should not let our religion become too much.

Our religion should be just enough to help us love people the way Jesus loves them,

and to keep us safe from the distractions and pitfalls of the world.

Our religion—the way we practice religion—should nourish the Love of Jesus in us.

If it goes beyond that, it is simply another distraction, like the religion of the Pharisees in Jesus' day.

Their religion blinded them to God Himself, standing in their midst!

Like me, going back and forth.

Self-made Man?

The good which I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.[ Paul. Romans 7:19.]


I can not raise myself up by my bootstraps. I am not a "self-made man".  I identify deeply with my brother, the Apostle Paul, in his confession. It is my confession also.


What I can do is receive the gift that my Creator offers me through His Son, Jesus Christ my Lord--the gift of forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. [1John 1:9]. I underline "all" in my mind when I think of this verse because Satan likes to comvince me that, because I continue to have a sinful disposition,  I am dirty.  When I turn to Christ, He asks me what motivates my heart. I will always answer, "Your Love." And He will always respond, "Then you are clean."  His Love keeps me on the Pathway to heaven; and further and further away from my sinful tendencies.  Like Paul, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" [Romans 7:25a]. 

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FROM JOB’S DEFENSE

          

 

Job 31:2-4 For what is our lot from God above, our heritage from the Almighty on high? 

 Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? 

Does he not see my ways and count my every step?

 

Job’s defense against the misguided accusations of his friends is a good statement of ethical principles for us all—a good reminder of some of what it looks like to live the Golden Rule [Lk.6:31].  You may recall that Job had lost everything: family, wealth, social prestige and physical health. And his friends were convinced that it was because of his hidden sin. They were mistaken. Even God had declared his righteousness [Job 1:8].  In his striving to understand his condition, he offers to God and to his friends his understanding of himself and of his way in the world. We can be guided by what he describes.

First, he acknowledges that it is worse than useless to do evil: it leads to “ruin” and “disaster”. We can rationalize evil, but we can never make it work for us in the long haul.  God sees and knows all—including the secret motivations of our heart. He not only knows what we do, He knows why we do it.

And it’s important for us to ask Him to reveal our motives to us, and to continue to eliminate selfishness from our personalities. For example, we can be more focused on impressing people [even with how “good” or “spiritually mature” or “intelligent’ we are] than on loving them with Christ’s Love. God knows this.  [And what a blessing it is when we allow the Holy Spirit to ferret out another cankerous pocket of selfishness in our personalities, confess it openly, and receive the glorious gift of His graceful forgiveness.]

Job recognized the danger and futility of lust [31:1]. Most of us have esperienced the difficulty and pain of lust. And what a relief it can be to make a once-and-for-all covenant of faithfulness to our spouse, and to continually turn away from desiring that which can only lead to hurt and guilt or worse. Satan, through various media, continually holds out sexuality like a tempting carrot on the end of a stick. The carrot has hooks and poison in it, as many have discovered.  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell [Prov. 5:5].

Job also recognized the futility of falsehood and deceit [31:5]. Most sin leads ultimately to these, since we are ashamed and feel the need to hide it. We can descend into a habitual pattern of deceit and forget what it’s like to feel free from the paranoid-like fears of being “found out” that lurk always under the surface of a deceptive lifestyle.

Job realized that the same God that created him had also created his servants [employees, hired help, etc.]; and he recognized his accountability to God for how he treated them. He did not use his power over them to degrade or take advantage of them. He listened to their grievances, and took them to heart if they had merit. He was not a harsh master.[31:13-15].

Job did not ignore the poor, orphans or widows. He purposely ministered to them. He did not use his considerable authority to use or take advantage of the poor; contrarily, he used it on their behalf. He stood up for the powerless [31:16-21].  Job, before his testing, was a man of great wealth and power. But he did not put his trust in his wealth, nor did he brag about being a self-made man. He recognized that God was the source of all blessings, and knew that it could all be taken away in a moment—as had happened in his life [1:21;31:24-25]. Job carefully avoided the idols of his day. He did not allow his heart to place anything above the one true God Who created all [31:26-28].

Job did not rejoice in the demise or destruction of those who hated him. He did not wish ill will [“wish a curse”] upon anyone, no matter how evil they might be [31:29-30].  He cared for the needs of those in his own household, as well as the stranger in the street [31:31-32].  He had nothing to hide from God or man—nothing to be ashamed of or that he feared being discovered that would damage his integrity [31:33-34]. But he did not glory in his integrity, rather only in God Who had blessed him so richly.

We can see how God would describe him as righteous. And we can use his commitments and behaviors as models for our own. We have now what Job did not have: the advantage of Christ, His Love and His Spirit to empower us to live out this goodness, truth and integrity. And we have His wonderful promises of abundant life, peace, joy and eternal life as we walk in His Way.

May we live today in the Light of His goodness and these promises.

FREEDOM: GLORIOUS, LIBERATING DETACHMENT

Mat 5:44-5  

But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That you may be the children of your Father in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [Jesus]

Jesus not only spoke these wonderful words, He lived the Reality of them: From the Cross, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who betrayed, falsely accused, and tortured Him. For me personally, these have been the most powerfully liberating words that Jesus spoke. I see in this teaching the solution to the relationship problems of the human family. These words of Christ should be on bulletin boards, newspaper headings, included in every book, in every language of the world! Herein lies freedom from some of Satan’s most prevalent and destructive deceptions: The lies that “My behavior is justified or determined by your behavior. My happiness and/or freedom and/or peace are determined by whether or not others do what they are supposed to. I can only love people when they act right, treat me fairly, kindly and respectfully.” We must not dismiss this commandment of our Lord because it is difficult to obey. If we do not learn to live the Reality of these words, we will be victims of other peoples’ behaviors and attitudes. We will be determined by them, rather than by the Holy Spirit of God’s love in us. These words reveal to us that God does not want us to be determined by each other; He wants us to be determined by His love and goodness. This is how we become free. This love of Jesus is the most powerful force in the universe. It is the Power by which the universe came into existence. The Bible says that “God is love” [1Jn 1:9]. We must let this Love be the determining and motivating force of our daily lives. This Love liberates us from being determined by other peoples’ sinful nature manifestations. If we learn to live this teaching of Christ, we get ourselves emotionally and behaviorally detached from all that is not yet sanctified in others. We are not determined by their attitudes, moods, behaviors, failures, meanness, insensitivities, etc. We are only determined by God’s love for them, and for us. God does not want us to take other peoples’ sinful nature manifestations personally—even if they are directed at us! This is the example He has given us in Christ, Who came to set the captives free [Lk 4:18].

Lord Jesus, thank You so much for teaching and living the Truth. And thank You for showing us how to be free, and for empowering us with Your Holy Spirit, that we might love—even our enemies.

Pathology/Addiction

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Sin is pathology, in that it is contrary to the blessings of life--the Life that Christ brought to us and died for us to inherit and assimilate into our daily experience [which is our sanctification process.]  When we receive Jesus, we do not immediately become perfected beings; rather we embark upon the pathway toward perfection. At first, Jesus restrains the pathology in us. His Spirit in us confronts all that is not good in us--everything that is mean, hateful, violent, unforgiving, fearful, uncaring, selfish, despairing, hopeless, guilty, shameful, enslaved, etc. He said, "If you continue in my word, ....you will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free."  If we continue in His Way, He will deliver us from, not only the acting out of our pathology, but from the inner conflict of it.  One of the crucial aspects of our growth in Christ is our tolerance for the convicting and restraining aspects of His Spirit in us. Putting this in the context of recovery from addiction:  Initially, the addict is confronted with the destructive dynamics of drug use. The addicted parts of his personality do not like this confrontation, and respond in anger, blame and denial. If he is blessed, the healthier parts of his personality begin to rise in power. He recognizes the love that is being manifested toward him in the form of confrontation; and the healthiness of feeling convicted by continued drug use.  But there is a conflict between these parts of his personality. Relapse is common because the addicted aspects are strong. They can overpower the Truth in him.  This conflict emerges in bold relief in the addict's recovery process; but is the same process for all of us. We are all in recovery from sin. We all struggle with the restraints and convictions of righteousness. Jesus has assured us that we will win this battle if we continue in Him.  Outside of Him, there are no such guarantees. We are gloriously blessed as we become increasingly tolerant of the restraining and convicting functions of the Holy Spirit in us. We recognize these functions as Love. We joyfully submit ourselves to this Love.
Sadly, we see the clear reality that some do not win this battle. The dark forces within us are strong.  It is so much easier to give in to them. There is an immediate release--the reward of Satan. The damage is not always immediate or evident. Like cancer, sin can lurk in us for some time before the destructive results become evident.  Meanwhile we have been sinking deeper and deeper into the habitual patterns and emotional reliance upon the sinful, destructive behaviors--the enslaving tentacles becoming more and more powerful and prevalent. We can lose hope. Our devotion to Christ, His Truth and Love, service, our church family, Scripture study--our religious practices that issue from an authentic, personal relationship with Jesus will deliver and protect us from this downward spiral.
Let us make perpetual, renewed devotions to live in His Love, Truth, Joy and Peaceful service to the glory of His Kingdom, so that we can remain "safe and secure from all alarms."