Sometimes the most simple, basic fundamentals of a life in Christ are the easiest to forget. Yet God, according to His unchanging, faithful character, does not forget anything. He fully knows what He has said, and He remembers perfectly what we have said. It is not uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night with perfect clarity. Perhaps I have just experienced a vivid dream, or perhaps I remember something that I need to do. Yet with the dawn of the day clouds drift through my memory and I find myself in a thick fog, unable to remember one detail of my thoughts which seemed at the time so clear and unforgettable. God does not share my forgetfulness.
Being a Christian is much more than words affirming the reality of our faith. Following Christ is more than a desire to remain in God's will. So much of our struggles and troubles come not from temptations or trials, but through our lack of obedience. We all know we ought to obey. In the last century we have seen a departure from the emphasis on obedience to God and His Word in churches. There are many factors which have contributed to this neglect. Perhaps this is due to emphasis on God's grace, desiring to cast aside the scourge of legalism. Maybe it is to avoid the appearance of "rules and regulations" of a Puritanical era. It could be that we believe obedience is frankly unnecessary because Jesus has forgiven our sins and has imputed to us His righteousness. Or even more sinister: perhaps we feel that since perfect obedience is impossible, we might as well not strive to that end. Why confront ourselves with our own pathetic attempts to obey?
I find great comfort in this promise found in 1 John 5:14-15: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." What marvelous assurance this is, that if we pray according to God's will He hears us, and we know with certainty we have the petitions we have asked. But like all scripture, you cannot take these verses by themselves. There is a critical aspect we must address before we can claim this promise. Two chapters previous to this wonderful promise, we read in 1 John 3:21-23: "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment." So we see that we receive whatever we ask of God when we ask according to His will AND because we keep Christ's commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. His command is that we believe on Him and love one another as He has loved us.
Though Christians are no longer under the requirements and justice of the Law, through being born again we have agreed to submit under the law of liberty. We have been freed from sin and death to the end that we might glorify God with our words and deeds. We are empowered to love God and one another as Christ loves us because of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has taken up residence within us, as we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. Whatever He says we must do, otherwise we cannot claim to follow Christ. Romans 6:12-17 says, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered."
Let us not only put off the old man but be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and put on the new man which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Jesus always does what pleases the Father, and if we are in Him we must choose to abide in Him. It is God who works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure. We must present ourselves unto God as living sacrifices because that is our reasonable service. It is good to pray according to the will of God, but it is just as important to live in obedience to the will of God. To obey is better than a sacrifice of prayer.
01 March 2012
27 February 2012
The Burnout Option
More often than we think, God's Word stands in direct opposition to what we naturally think. Every person understands how it feels to be fatigued and physically exhausted. The combination of sleeping or eating poorly coupled with hard work simply wipes us out. The lack of rest can make us drowsy, sluggish, and cranky. There is a limit to what our bodies can handle, and too much stress can lead to becoming physically ill or having a nervous breakdown. When Moses embraced the responsibility of leading the children of Israel, his father-in-law Jethro saw the warning signs of overwork. Exodus 18:18 records his perception, "Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself." The threat of burnout didn't cause Moses to quit, but to delegate some of his workload to other men anointed by the Spirit for such ministry.
Many people who serve in church ministry have experienced the crash-and-burn effect of overwork. But the scripture makes it clear being "worn out" occurs when we are out of line with the will of God. God kept the clothes and shoes of the children of Israel from wearing out as they were led by Him in the wilderness for 40 years! Sometimes "burnout" is a phrase used to justify laziness; other times men refuse to heed the wisdom of Jethro and throw themselves headlong into the work because of proud ambition, thinking themselves impervious to breakdown. They neglect a Sabbath rest. They do not trust the work of God to be done as proficiently by others, and this indicates a lack of faith in God. There are many people who through their actions reveal they are convinced God's plan depends solely upon them. They rush to and fro putting out fires, doing what they feel must be done, instead of waiting on the LORD to see what He would have them do and be led step by step by faith. Walking by sight always ends in disaster.
This morning I was astounded by the simplicity of Galatians 6:9: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." When I read these words written by Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit, they were like fresh dew upon the soul. Often we think of weariness as overtaking us, that we are simply a victim of circumstances which have overwhelmed us. But that is not the way Paul perceived it. Because every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit and has been granted His infinite spiritual power and resources, we have all we need to do the work God desires to accomplish through us. Like manna in a spiritual sense, we must day by day receive of God's spiritual vitality through faith. Do not think that we can save up spiritual strength in a storehouse to draw upon when we see fit: in that moment God will give us the strength we need to accomplish His will because He has already given us all strength in Himself. If we faint or grow weary, it is the product of our choices - either passive or active - which have led to the burnout condition.
What does the scripture say? Isaiah 40:28-31 states, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31 but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Let God be true and every man a liar. Our strength must be renewed through waiting upon the LORD. You may say, "But I am so tired!" When a man works hard, his appetite grows. As we serve God through waiting on Him and serving one another in love, our appetite for time spent with the LORD in communion should also grow. If you find that you are so busy that you have no time even for prayer and the reading of God's Word, you are well on your way to burnout. You are choosing the path which will wear you out. How can I be so sure? Because you are not renewing your strength daily by waiting on the LORD. The Bible says if you wait upon Him you will run and not be weary. I don't have to run far before I grow very weary. But if we will wait on the LORD, spiritually we can run without weariness! "But I have been waiting on the LORD, and I am still weary!" Argue with God's Word if you like, but the Bible stands eternal and sure. Your close walk with Jesus Christ will be your delight, and your strength will only increase as you serve God faithfully.
God promises not only to be our strength, but to keep us from stumbling. Jude ends in verse 24-25 with this wonderful benediction: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." If God is for us, who can be against us? I can tell you what is against God: Satan, the world under his sway, and our flesh. Though our souls long to please God, our flesh hates to sacrifice anything for God's glory. The threat or feeling of burnout seems to our flesh a reasonable justification to leave off doing God's work and embrace a life of ease. God affirms in 2 Peter 1:3 that according to "...His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue..." Whatever God asks us to do, He will also provide the means, way, and knowledge to do it. He is able to accomplish what concerns us today and always.
Let us not be weary in doing good because we will reap, if we faint not. Waiting on the LORD keeps us from fainting, and by God's grace He keeps us from stumbling. Let us apply Philippians 4:19 as a salve to our spiritual soreness: "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Notice the scripture does not say, "And God shall supply all that we think we need." It says that God will supply all our need according to His riches by Christ Jesus. How great is our God! Let us serve Him both now and forever without intermission!
Many people who serve in church ministry have experienced the crash-and-burn effect of overwork. But the scripture makes it clear being "worn out" occurs when we are out of line with the will of God. God kept the clothes and shoes of the children of Israel from wearing out as they were led by Him in the wilderness for 40 years! Sometimes "burnout" is a phrase used to justify laziness; other times men refuse to heed the wisdom of Jethro and throw themselves headlong into the work because of proud ambition, thinking themselves impervious to breakdown. They neglect a Sabbath rest. They do not trust the work of God to be done as proficiently by others, and this indicates a lack of faith in God. There are many people who through their actions reveal they are convinced God's plan depends solely upon them. They rush to and fro putting out fires, doing what they feel must be done, instead of waiting on the LORD to see what He would have them do and be led step by step by faith. Walking by sight always ends in disaster.
This morning I was astounded by the simplicity of Galatians 6:9: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." When I read these words written by Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit, they were like fresh dew upon the soul. Often we think of weariness as overtaking us, that we are simply a victim of circumstances which have overwhelmed us. But that is not the way Paul perceived it. Because every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit and has been granted His infinite spiritual power and resources, we have all we need to do the work God desires to accomplish through us. Like manna in a spiritual sense, we must day by day receive of God's spiritual vitality through faith. Do not think that we can save up spiritual strength in a storehouse to draw upon when we see fit: in that moment God will give us the strength we need to accomplish His will because He has already given us all strength in Himself. If we faint or grow weary, it is the product of our choices - either passive or active - which have led to the burnout condition.
What does the scripture say? Isaiah 40:28-31 states, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31 but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Let God be true and every man a liar. Our strength must be renewed through waiting upon the LORD. You may say, "But I am so tired!" When a man works hard, his appetite grows. As we serve God through waiting on Him and serving one another in love, our appetite for time spent with the LORD in communion should also grow. If you find that you are so busy that you have no time even for prayer and the reading of God's Word, you are well on your way to burnout. You are choosing the path which will wear you out. How can I be so sure? Because you are not renewing your strength daily by waiting on the LORD. The Bible says if you wait upon Him you will run and not be weary. I don't have to run far before I grow very weary. But if we will wait on the LORD, spiritually we can run without weariness! "But I have been waiting on the LORD, and I am still weary!" Argue with God's Word if you like, but the Bible stands eternal and sure. Your close walk with Jesus Christ will be your delight, and your strength will only increase as you serve God faithfully.
God promises not only to be our strength, but to keep us from stumbling. Jude ends in verse 24-25 with this wonderful benediction: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." If God is for us, who can be against us? I can tell you what is against God: Satan, the world under his sway, and our flesh. Though our souls long to please God, our flesh hates to sacrifice anything for God's glory. The threat or feeling of burnout seems to our flesh a reasonable justification to leave off doing God's work and embrace a life of ease. God affirms in 2 Peter 1:3 that according to "...His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue..." Whatever God asks us to do, He will also provide the means, way, and knowledge to do it. He is able to accomplish what concerns us today and always.
Let us not be weary in doing good because we will reap, if we faint not. Waiting on the LORD keeps us from fainting, and by God's grace He keeps us from stumbling. Let us apply Philippians 4:19 as a salve to our spiritual soreness: "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Notice the scripture does not say, "And God shall supply all that we think we need." It says that God will supply all our need according to His riches by Christ Jesus. How great is our God! Let us serve Him both now and forever without intermission!
26 February 2012
Wonderful Nature!
In recent Sunday mornings past, my son Abel and I are typically the first to arrive at Calvary Chapel Sydney to open and set up. Not this week, however! We were greeted by a large lizard which had parked itself in front of our building!
And a little closer...
The lizard allowed us to come right up to him. About five minutes after we arrived, he waddled off. I wish I could have captured his clumsy, floppy gait on camera! Next time, I'm going to try to pet him. Living in Australia has taught me a valuable lesson in the importance of conservation and appreciation for native wildlife. Even the leaves God creates are beautiful!
And a little closer...
The lizard allowed us to come right up to him. About five minutes after we arrived, he waddled off. I wish I could have captured his clumsy, floppy gait on camera! Next time, I'm going to try to pet him. Living in Australia has taught me a valuable lesson in the importance of conservation and appreciation for native wildlife. Even the leaves God creates are beautiful!
22 February 2012
Jesus is All We Need
My wife Laura has been reading through The Saving Life of Christ by Major W. Ian Thomas. So many conversations we have had of late involve faith in Christ and the crippling effect of unbelief. Yesterday we discussed our tendency as humans to ask for what God has already offered. Minutes after talking over the subject, Laura returned and read this quote from The Saving Life of Christ on page 136: "Remember, He does not give you strength - He is your strength! He does not give you victory - He is your victory! He cannot be your life without being all you need, for "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him" (Col. 2:9-10a). Then count upon the fact - and stop asking for what you have!"
For some of us, we trust in God for our justification but think our sanctification is up to us. Obedience to God is a necessary hallmark of true faith, for good works will always accompany legitimate faith. One of the best works is to stop relying upon ourselves or our "works" and looking to Jesus to supply our need, even when we face seemingly insurmountable difficulties. One of John Wesley's favourite passages to preach from was 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, which flows in the same vein with what Major W. Ian Thomas plainly stated: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- 31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." Jesus is our wisdom, our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He truly is our All in All!
When we take God at His Word - no matter how we feel, no matter how improbable or impossible a situation might appear to our natural senses - we set our feet upon the surest ground: an eternal, immovable Rock of Salvation. Any other path which deviates from the Word of God, no matter how certain it may appear, is shifting sand which cascades into a chasm of certain ruin. If a Christian remains in the middle of God's will, he cannot venture "out on a limb." Faith in God is not like a child climbing a tree, with every movement towards the top becoming more precarious and dangerous. Faith in Christ brings a man to his knees, a place where the potential to fall and suffer injury is reduced to nothing.
The words of Hebrews 12:1-3 are appropriate in any case: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." Let us look to Jesus for the abundant life intent on receiving even as He has promised us: not a life quantifiable by health, wealth, fame, comfort, or social status, but a joyful life that endures for the glory of God for eternity.
For some of us, we trust in God for our justification but think our sanctification is up to us. Obedience to God is a necessary hallmark of true faith, for good works will always accompany legitimate faith. One of the best works is to stop relying upon ourselves or our "works" and looking to Jesus to supply our need, even when we face seemingly insurmountable difficulties. One of John Wesley's favourite passages to preach from was 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, which flows in the same vein with what Major W. Ian Thomas plainly stated: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- 31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." Jesus is our wisdom, our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He truly is our All in All!
When we take God at His Word - no matter how we feel, no matter how improbable or impossible a situation might appear to our natural senses - we set our feet upon the surest ground: an eternal, immovable Rock of Salvation. Any other path which deviates from the Word of God, no matter how certain it may appear, is shifting sand which cascades into a chasm of certain ruin. If a Christian remains in the middle of God's will, he cannot venture "out on a limb." Faith in God is not like a child climbing a tree, with every movement towards the top becoming more precarious and dangerous. Faith in Christ brings a man to his knees, a place where the potential to fall and suffer injury is reduced to nothing.
The words of Hebrews 12:1-3 are appropriate in any case: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." Let us look to Jesus for the abundant life intent on receiving even as He has promised us: not a life quantifiable by health, wealth, fame, comfort, or social status, but a joyful life that endures for the glory of God for eternity.
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