Tag Archives: Decisions

Then there is the need to just – wait

Posted on May 23, 2014 by | Comments Off on Then there is the need to just – wait

Financial_Distress_Prayer15Although I hate to admit this, I am an impatient person.  With all of the technology of the modern age that is supposedly designed to save time and make daily life easier, I absolutely hate to wait.  Whether it is for the pot of coffee brewing, the pizza to be delivered, or even checking email, it bothers me when it takes longer than what I think it should.  To be honest, I think that there are more out there that are just as impatient as I am if they are totally honest with themselves.  We have grown accustomed to not having to wait and our modern society actually promotes the “I want it now” attitude.  Microwavable popcorn, downloadable movies and television shows, TV dinners, ATMs, and credit cards attest to our desire not to have to wait for what it is that we want.

Unfortunately, our desire to “have it now” isn’t confined to the comforts of modern society. All it takes is a brief look at where we are, as a society, to see the impact that our desire to “have it all now” has had.  Marriages in our nation are falling apart either because the couple raced to the altar without weighing the seriousness of the marriage commitment or rushing to divorce court to put an immediate end to the frustrations rather than working out our differences (I admit, I was guilty of rushing to the altar twice). Instead of waiting until marriage, many young folks unwisely rush into premarital sex; this leads to an increase in abortions or an increase of single parent households. Some are looking for the next great and easy thrill through the use of mind-altering drugs instead of seeking the natural high of overcoming a difficult challenge or mastering a new skill.  There are even those who seek death now as an immediate end to their problems and frustrations instead of taking the time to work through their problems and gain control of their lives.  Everywhere we go, we see evidence that should serve as a warning about the dangers of wanting everything now and on our own terms.

There is an interesting and instructional phrase that occurs only four times in the Bible.  According to Ed Vallowe’s book, Biblical Mathematics, this number represents God’s creation and His creative works; that phrase is simply wait upon the Lord. Vallowe uses numerous scripture references to clearly illustrate how creation happened in sequences of four. All of material creation was completed by the fourth day (see Genesis 1:14-19), during the Genesis account of creation, the word “creature” is used four times (Genesis 1:20, 1:21, 1:24, and 2:19). Within Revelation 5:13, the pattern of four repeats itself twice: And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever (Revelation 5:13). All creatures (1) in heaven, (2) on the earth, (3) under the earth, and (4) in the seas will offer God worship that includes (1) blessing, (2) honor, (3) glory, and (4) power.  To me, this simply highlights the importance of any phrase used in the Bible four times – and makes me wonder what creative works God will do for us when we face challenges if we will just wait on the Lord!

I will be the first to admit that I have made many decisions based on spur of the moment influences that have often ended in absolute failure.  As I previously mentioned, not wanting to live in the barracks any longer and sincerely wanting my parents to see that I was capable of making adult decisions, I married a woman who not only I did not love, but had little in common with simply because I didn’t want to wait.  I married a second time, not out of the right reasons, not out of feeling that God had brought that person in my life, but simply because I was tired of living alone.  Again, in my desire to have it all “now,” I never gave God a chance to do His creative work in my life and because of not willing to wait upon the Lord, I denied Him the opportunity to do a work in my life.  I think of how frustrated I get with my daughter when she will not let me help her do things that are still difficult for her age and stage of development and wonder if God feels that level of frustration towards me.

The first time that phrase is found is in the book of Psalms: For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth (Psalms 37:9). As Christians, most of us do not want to be thought of as “evil doers,” yet this scripture clearly teaches we have two choices – either we wait on the Lord or we are evildoers.  There’s no middle ground or compromise. No, we will not lose our salvation if we do not wait on the Lord but we will lose our blessings and rewards.  We will miss out on being in a place to see God’s handiwork in our lives and to give Him the glory, honor, and praise for His mighty works.  The second time the phrase is found was also written by the psalmist David: Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us (Psalms 123:2). Here, David is comparing the desire to wait upon the Lord as the examples he gave look towards their superior for guidance.  A servant always waits for the instruction their master, an employee always works under the direction of their employer, and with like devotion, we should wait for the direction and supervision of the Lord before we proceed.

Continued on next page.

Pages: 1 2

Comments Off on Then there is the need to just – wait

Posted in Christian Living, Difficulties and Trials, Our relationship with God

Tagged , , , , , ,

Using the Bible as a true mirror

Posted on April 8, 2014 by | Comments Off on Using the Bible as a true mirror

th (3)

One of the important milestones in our faith is when we begin to see ourselves as the Lord Jesus Christ sees ourselves.  Back when I was living in Louisiana, an old Baptist preacher by the name of Clarence Welch told me and another young man who was working in his garden that if we ever wanted to get a good look at our faith we could only do so through the mirror of the Bible.  At the time, I was 36 years old and was going through a personal crisis.  I had just been medically discharged from the U.S. Army for injuries that I had sustained. Then, without the comfort and security of a steady income and active duty military benefits, the woman I was married to left me and returned to her hometown where she moved in with her old high school sweetheart.  I was mad – mad at myself, mad at her, mad at those around me, mad at God – genuinely mad.

I wanted to share that because yesterday, my best friend called me and told me that on Friday of last week, as he was heading home, he decided to empty his heart’s contents to God.  He had reached a point in his life where he was desiring a closer relationship with God and from what he described to me, tired of the trapped feeling that unresolved anger can have in our lives.  What he had done, as I had done for so long, was to internalize and bury the unresolved anger and tried to build on top of that foundation. Can we get saved with unresolved anger in our hearts?  The answer to that is simply yes.  Can we spiritually grow with that unresolved anger in our hearts?  The answer to that is also yes; however we will reach a certain point where spiritual growth cannot occur unless we resolve the anger.  There is a reason why – anger occurs when we believe we have been wronged or harmed and we feel that the other party has not atoned for the transgression.  At the heart of the issue is forgiveness and our willingness to allow God to heal our wounds.

Forgiveness is important for the believer for many reasons and if we are not careful, we can actually carry anger with us for so long that we become accustomed to its bondage.  We excuse our anger and have a tendency to see it as justifiable; unfortunately, God does not see it that way.  During Jesus’ earthly ministry, he taught all that would listen, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15). When we harbor our anger we place ourselves under the same judgment, but from God, that we are placing on the object of our anger.  We have effectively blocked God from being in a position to help us and to bless us.  We cannot continue our spiritual growth until we have let go of the anger that holds us back. In fact, the gospel written by the apostle Mark records Jesus teaching those that followed him, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25). Notice that when you pray…forgive, if you have ought against any. There’s no conditions, there’s no justification, there’s no reservations recorded in this verse.  Jesus’ teaching is clear – forgive.

As recorded in the gospel of Matthew, there is a parable that Jesus uses to teach this very concept.  The parable is about a man who receives forgiveness for a debt that he owed another.  The parable ends with this passage: Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (Matthew 18:32-35). This is a difficult lesson to allow to sink in – the forgiveness of God is complete; the forgiveness we offer others must reflect the forgiveness that He freely offers us.  It is not optional, it is not a nice request, it is something we must do if we are going to enjoy the fullness of our Christian faith.

The Bible is our mirror and our measuring rod; when we begin to see our lives through the mirror of the Bible, we do not get the distortions that we do when we look at our lives through the lens of the world.  When we look through the lens of this world, it becomes easy to justify our anger and our judgment of others. It becomes easy to hold on to that anger. The world even tells us that we are justified to hold on to our anger and judgment of others.  God tells us that our anger at others must be dealt with; the perceived wrong must be forgiven completely.  Once we have forgiven them, we must leave our anger in the past and pray for the person that wronged us.  By doing so, not only do we free ourselves up from the anger and judgment within our hearts, we allow ourselves to be brought into God’s perfect peace and we really begin to spiritually grow and enjoy the richness of the forgiveness of God.

Comments Off on Using the Bible as a true mirror

Posted in Our relationship with God, Our relationship with ourselves

Tagged , , ,

Saved but longing for your old self?

Posted on March 27, 2014 by | Comments Off on Saved but longing for your old self?

Cross-Easter

Earlier this week, every daily Bible reading seemed to focus to a single theme – Christians who, after experiencing the grace of God begin to mourn the loss of their old lifestyle.  In the past, I have come across a lot of Christians that will eagerly share, with much excitement, the old life that God called them from.  Now while sharing a testimony of how the Lord found you is a powerful personal evangelism/witnessing tool, for a handful of Christians there is that attitude of “them were the days…” or “wow, those were some parties back in the day…”  I once knew a gentleman that actually told me that since he had become a Christian, he missed the camaraderie and fellowship that he had with his lost friends.

Even the apostle Paul was confounded by Christians who longed for their old lives. He even wrote to the early Christians at Galatia, Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? (Galatians 4:8-9).  There were Christians in that church that not only longed for the “good old days” but also longed to worship the old gods through the old faith.  Maybe it is because of a lack of discipleship or maybe their acceptance of Christ was from the head and not the heart, but they truly felt that they better understood their old faith – a religious system created by man – than the liberating force and faith that Christianity truly is.

Even Solomon, the wisest of all Jewish kings, wrote, As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly (Proverbs 26:11).  The apostle Peter understood this proverb and even used it as a part in his discussion on those who make a profession of faith and then long for the old life: These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (II Peter 2:17-22).

Peter refers to these people as being “wells without water” because of the impact they can have on other people.  By still hanging on to the things of the world and of the flesh as a Christian, they are not only causing a crisis of faith for weaker Christians, but they are also deceiving themselves.  As a Christian, our sins are forgiven – And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Colossians 2:13) – but it does not give a license for us to continue to willfully live and seek out the pleasures of sin.  Even the apostle Paul explained this to the Christians and early church in Rome: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid (Romans 6:14-15). We should never willfully seek to disregard the grace of God!

The Lord Jesus Christ was not silent on this very topic either.  During one of Jesus’ many travels during his earthly ministry, he had a conversation with a few members of the crowd that followed after him: And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:57-62). I think that it is telling that each man that approached Jesus wanted to follow him, but only after they did one more thing before they could go.  Jesus then gives us his view on those who accept salvation then longs for their old life, with its sin and depravity.  Jesus tells us they are not fit for the kingdom of God.  I often have wondered if that is because their salvation was not real and they are actually lost but had become caught up in the emotion of the moment or if they are the ones that will be in Heaven, but upon understanding God’s grace, will weep out of their own embarrassment and shame before Jesus wipes away their tears.

As Christians, when we choose to live a carnal life much like we did before we accepted Christ as our Savoir, we remove ourselves from a place of blessings and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  I often wonder why would anyone want to turn back to their old life, because before they knew God, they lost to his grace.  The apostle Paul states, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23), and with this in mind, an eternal separation from God to be cast into the lake of fire for eternity does not sound like much cause for rejoicing or celebrating.  In fact, Jesus gives a description of what it will be like: And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:45). What a bleak outlook for anyone that has never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior! Why would any blood-bought Christian want to hold onto the old fleshly nature knowing what their eternal destination would have been if not for the grace of God?

Comments Off on Saved but longing for your old self?

Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Standards

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,