The Word Satisfies

From Wednesday to Saturday I attended the 2012 Envison Conference in Manly, an outreach of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.  The weather was idyllic as we gathered daily for Bible study, worship through song, and encouragement through the fellowship of like-minded believers.

Before the first morning session of each day I enjoyed grabbing a coffee and sitting on a bench reading my Bible, watching the waves roll in.  Joggers, walkers engaged in conversation, and people strolling with their dogs passed in front of me on the boardwalk.  Beyond them the ocean disappeared into the distance, a glorious testimony of God's creative beauty.  Countless people enjoy visiting Manly from overseas annually, and others are privileged to call Manly home.  I wonder:  is the beauty lost on people who wake to such beauty every day?  Living in the western suburb of Beaumont Hills, I rarely enjoy mornings at the beach.

Even though I appreciated the cool weather and gentle ocean breezes, something inside of me said:  "Is this all?"  As night fell and people began to swarm the Corso in their scant dress or flashy clothes in search of a good time I wondered if their hearts asked the same question after they later obtained their goal:  "Is that all?"  After the singing in the pubs is over and the last of the beer is downed, what then?  Sunrises, sunsets, and wild nights all come to an end, even as every human life flickers and disappears into darkness.  Like the preacher says in Ecclesiastes, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  Those who flaunt their youth and beauty today will be old and faded later.  Virile strength becomes impotent, and beauty dries up like leaves in autumn.  What then, o man?  What will you do when the end of your life draws nigh?  Will you whisper to yourself as you muse over unfulfilled desires, having done all in your power to obtain them:  "Is this all?"

As I sat there on an aluminium bench kissed by the morning light, I rejoiced in the living, powerful Word of God.  I can eat food and be satisfied for hours, yet the meals provided through the Bible stick to the ribs for eternity.  What satisfaction is to be found in God's everlasting promises!  What joy, peace, contentment, and guidance God provides through His Word!  Nothing in this world can compare to the beauty of God as revealed through the Bible.  The world paints caricatures of God because the world does not know His character.  Yet God has revealed Himself beyond any doubt as the Saviour of sinners, the Helper of the helpless, and the Father of all who repent and are born again through Jesus Christ.  The sunrise brought a smile to my face for a moment, but the love of Christ causes the Son to rise in my soul for eternity.

I have never heard God speak and thought, "Is that all?"  He gives those who trust in Him supreme satisfaction in Himself and His Word, an inexhaustible supply that never grows old.  The more we hear of the truth, the more we value and appreciate it.  When I first came to Christ I was satisfied - and I grow more satisfied day after day as I walk with Him.  The emptiness we experience in our souls can only be filled by God and His infinite love and grace.  Don't be satisfied with just tasting when God offers Himself for life!

Like Gold Refined

Yesterday I was listening to a sermon by Ray Bentley which explored why God allows difficulty in the lives of believers who are in the center of God's will.  The first reason pastor Ray gave was most appropriate:  to refine us and in so doing draw out impurities from our lives.

He spoke about when he used to work as a jeweler.  Before a ring would be cast, Ray would take a lump of gold and heat it until it was molten.  This is the best way to remove the impurities of this precious metal which is mined from the earth.  There are often different metals mixed in with the gold, and the only way to purify it is to apply great heat.  Most of us know when a cake or biscuit is fully cooked, but how does a goldsmith know when the gold is pure?  It is when he looks into the gold and can see his own reflection.

God allows tribulation and difficulties not because He hates us, but because of His great love for us.  He created the first man from the dust of the earth, and his propensity for sin and rebellion has been passed down to all men.  We are like precious gold in God's eyes even in our natural condition.  But after we are born again and forgiven for our sins, many impurities remain in our minds and hearts.  We are not useful to God or man while unrefined, even like a goldsmith cannot use polluted gold for his intricate creations.  So God applies the heat through trying circumstances.  When difficulties bring our sin to the surface for us to see, we can skim it off through confession and repentance.  God allows this sanctification process to continue until we reflect the image of Christ through our actions, attitudes, and words.

Gold is a soft metal, and God desires that His people would have soft hearts, filled with compassion, love, grace and mercy.  A soft answer turns away wrath.  God does not want us to be stubborn and foolish, following after the desires of our impure flesh.  He desires that we would be soft and pliable, like clay that easily yields to the control of the potter.  My friend is a potter and has a special press with a auger that can revitalise clay when it has begun to dry.  We not only need the Living Water of the Spirit, but we must be pressed and pushed through trials and difficulties to make us workable and useful.  After the potter makes a vessel it must be fired at a high temperature before it can be used.  An unfired pot may look good, but will easily absorb water, crack under hand pressure, and be worthless for its intended purpose.

Praise God that He has a plan and a design for each one of us!  God allows trials and refinement so we might be useable.  Refined gold is much more valuable than gold mixed with dirt, and a glazed and fired pot is worth exponentially more than a lump of wet mud.  Let us yield ourselves to God's design, trusting that God is for us.  As Paul says in Romans 8:31:  "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

Just You - and a Just God

As I was reading last night Romans 14:12 stood out with renewed impact:  "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God."  We will not be held responsible for the conduct, decisions, or lifestyles of others.  God's standards and my obedience or disobedience will be the only topic of conversation.  I will not be able to justify myself by the actions of anyone else, or claim that others are to blame for stumbling me.  God is perfect and does not change.  Uncomfortably, I will be the prime and sole subject of this accounting.  This accounting for Christians will not be a recollection of sin because God has cleansed us and chosen to remember our sin no more.  It will be an accounting to see if we have been faithful stewards to use for God's glory the talents and gifts He has entrusted to us.  Those under the Law, having refused to enter into the New Covenant through Christ's blood, will be judged according to the Law.  Romans 3:19 says, "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."  The wages of sin is eternal death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

I can see it playing out in a courtroom like a television drama, me standing before the Almighty Judge.  No jury, no defense attorney, no opinions, no biased interpretations, no precedence, no loopholes:  just my life measured against the pure Word of God by a holy, righteous Judge.  Any references to other people will be inadmissible to His court.  God is both star witness and Judge.  No deed, word, or attitude was unknown to Him throughout all my days.  Forget video tapes and recordings, because God will not even need to remember anything:  He will know it.  In that day I will be left without excuse.  My mouth will be stopped by the truth of God's Word.

From the very beginning, man has sought to justify his conduct based upon others.  God gave Adam a single negative command:  do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  Adam ended up being influenced by his wife Eve and ate of the forbidden fruit.  When God asked Adam if he had eaten from the forbidden tree Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her.  But Adam was not required or even permitted to answer for Eve.  God did not ask Adam why he didn't control his wife or why he allowed her to speak with the cunning serpent.  He was not allowed to submit as evidence a study concerning the dangers of peer pressure or how Adam was basically innocent because of Eve's influence.  Why Adam did it missed the point. The question still stood:  did you eat from the tree?  The only response to that direct question was yes or no.  With the taste of the juice still on his lips, could Adam deny what he had done before the God who knows all things?

I need to be reminded that I will need to give account of myself before God.  It is a good practice for us daily to keep accounts with God, not waiting until we are judged before Christ's throne.  I will not be able to blame a tiring day for my lack of patience, or my child's rebellion for my hurtful words or actions.  All excuses will flee away as dust before a hurricane in the presence of God.  All will lay bare and naked before Him, and all I will be able to do is fall upon His great mercy and grace.  Thank God that it is He who works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure.  He is the One who enables us to stand!

The Heavenly Physician

The advance of the internet has made a big impact on medicine.  People are more apt to "self-diagnose" on the internet rather than making an appointment to see a professional physician.  When they finally do go to the doctor, they are already convinced they know exactly what condition they are suffering from, various treatment options, and even what kind of medicine would be best from the commercials they have seen on TV!  Faith in the experience, training, and skill of a doctor to diagnose and treat illness can erode to a point that the doctor can be viewed with contempt by internet sleuthing patients - someone who has the access to drugs and treatments people know they need and has the power to withhold them!  It must be a difficult situation to train for years in university to practice medicine only to have your word trumped by Wikipedia.

Even before the internet, this is a similar way that people can treat God.  We can look at our lives, decide what is wrong, and pray for God to deal with our perceived problems or symptoms in a particular way.  Man is convinced he knows best even when he knows nothing as he ought to know.  God is not simply a means to obtain the ends we desire.  Change my circumstances and alleviate my symptoms, right?  So often in my life when I have prayed for God to change my circumstances He has flatly said no.  His will is that the difficult circumstances of my life would work to change me.  We see our symptoms as the problem when God desires to deal with the root cause in our hearts and minds.  Like good parents, He will not pave our way to our destruction by placating our selfish flesh.  He has bigger, greater plans for us beyond our limited vision.

Oh, that we would be as quick to deal with our spiritual maladies as with debilitating physical illness!  The trouble is, it is far easier to recognise a sore throat and fever than the onset of spiritual depression.  When we are downcast, may we seek guidance in God's Word and prayer.  Psalm 42:5 reads, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance."  The healing of body, mind, and soul is found in Christ.  Instead of me telling God what my problems are, I should ask Him as I would a doctor I trust:  "What is wrong with me?  I'm willing to go through with the treatment to the end because I believe and trust you."  Doctors are unable to heal people, but can treat illness through wisdom obtained by God's grace which promotes healing.  God is the one who brings the healing!

May our opinions bow humbly before the righteous judgments of our loving Saviour.  He is the over and above all One!  Cry out to Him in faith, trusting in Him alone!