Doing God's Will

If you were to list the most heinous sins, what might top your list?  Since God is the Judge of all the earth who has established an absolute standard of righteousness to which we will be held responsible, it's important to align our perspective with His.  Whilst we can be fixated on externals, God looks at the heart.  He recognises the source of the sin in our hearts and minds before any "crime" is committed.  The sins God despises often will not land the guilty in prison, but they lead souls to hell.

Consider the list of sins God finds disgusting in Proverbs 6:16-19:  "These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: ¹⁷ a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, ¹⁹ a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren."  I would be willing to wager "a proud look" would not have topped the list of abominations before God, but there it is.  The source of pride is not in our physical features but in the perspective of our minds and the posture of our hearts.  It is not illegal anywhere (to my knowledge) to be deemed proud, smug, or arrogant, but it is great wickedness.  Pride was the sin of Satan, and it is a sin at the core of every soul born in sin.

All of these sins - lying, murder of the innocent, wicked plans, running to evil, being a false witness or sowing discord among brethren - all of these start in the heart and mind.  The shedding of innocent blood or lying under oath are sin punished in courts of men, but the justice of God probes and evaluates our unseen motives.  Many of these sins involve our words.  Jesus taught His disciples out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and a good tree bears good fruit.  If our mouths are filled with deceit and lies, if we use our words to harm and cause division, it indicates our hearts are not pure before God.  An honest assessment of God's righteous judgments is quite shocking, and praise God He has revealed the truth to us.  There is no fine print to contend with in God's Word that conceals the truth, just our own spiritual blindness and stubbornness.

It is of little benefit to only seek to avoid sin, but as children of God we ought to seek to do what pleases Him.  We are called to humble ourselves before God, and a contrite heart is pleasing in His sight.  We should speak the truth in love, protect the innocent and vulnerable, delight in seeking and doing the good will of God, remove our feet from the wicked way, and edify the Body of Christ.  Let us receive the exhortation of Paul in Philippians 2:12-16: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. ¹⁴ Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain."

The Peril of Rationalism

As we live out of days on earth, there will be things others do that bother us.  As I grow older I don't know if I am more or less likely to be annoyed by things other people do - or a combination of both!  I believe we all experience things which "bug" us, and it is good to approach these circumstances with love and grace - unlike Sylvester in the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."  Still, I think we all know exactly how he feels.

One thing that bothers me is when people (especially Christians) feel the need to explain away or rationalise the miraculous with a scientific explanation, as if science and the scriptures are opposed to one another.  How many times I have heard God's Word rationalised and apologised for in an attempt to appeal to modern minds.  I find the distortion and twisting of the scriptures to draw ridiculous conclusions downright painful.  Right when I think I have heard it all, I realise I haven't even scratched the surface of the spin people put on things.  A classic technique for false teachers is to shock by denying a truth the Bible plainly states, then insert their own concepts which appeal to men.

For a person who believes in an eternal, omnipotent, and Almighty God, it is marvellous thing we feel the need to explain how He does anything.  Can anyone explain scientifically how Jesus rose from the dead?  How did God create the heavens, earth, and living creatures from nothing?  I don't know, and no one does.  He does things we don't know about all the time!  Then why do we feel the need to insert Darwinian evolution into how life forms grew and multiplied on the earth?  If you believe God sent 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, why deny the Hebrews actually crossed through the Red Sea and the Jordan River on dry ground?  When people are described as "demon possessed," since some doubt the existence of devils today they claim this is nothing more than mental illness misunderstood by ignorant people.  These sorts of things bug me because they deny God of glory He deserves and effectively call God a liar.

Either the Bible is the Word of God, or it isn't.  IF it is the Word of God, then it can be trusted and cannot be broken (John 10:35).  It is utterly ridiculous to believe in the miracle of salvation by grace through faith and the resurrection but deny the fact God created the world out of nothing by the words of His mouth.  It is silly to believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God but didn't know the difference between schizophrenia and demon possession.  God has graciously given us His Word to reveal Himself to us, and it is for us to believe or reject wholesale - not pick and choose what aligns with our current understanding or belief.  A cherry-picking approach to scripture will not lead to revelation of God, transformation of heart or mind, or maturity of faith but is abominable in God's sight for it sows discord amongst the brethren.  It is bad for you and for others to believe only what makes sense to unregenerate minds.

The Bible is the Word of God, brethen, and God who has revealed Himself to us has also joined us together as one Body, the church, with Jesus Christ as Head.  There may be different views and interpretations among us, and this is understandable because our knowledge is not yet complete.  God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and because we are not God we cannot know all.  But let us not bring His Word down to our level in authority, where we sit in the judgment seat and say what God really meant instead of what He already said - because we are without faith and refuse to submit our feeble minds to Him.  God says to us, "Let us reason together."  Ours is a God of logic, order, and purpose.  But humanistic rationalism cannot rightly divide the Word of God.  We need the Holy Spirit to do that, and He has already spoken.

Faith Made Perfect

Some people buy vehicles for transportation, and others want to make a statement with their selection.  And there are those who adorn their cars with literal statements called bumper stickers.  Love them or hate them, where I lived in southern California vehicles were commonly plastered with them.  Besides a Local 5 Union sticker, I had one notable sticker for years I found on the Living Waters website:

1 April this year fell on Easter Sunday for the first time in recent memory, and after a online search to appease my curiosity I discovered 1956 was the last time this occurred - a bit before my time!  It is ironic a day remembered by deceiving and pranking others would be the day commemorating Resurrection Sunday.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is no joke but a substantiated historical event and divine triumph which impacts believers and sceptics alike.  If Jesus did not rise from the dead Christianity is a farce, but if Jesus Christ did rise from the dead to dismiss it would be grave folly.  The resurrection of Jesus demonstrates the victory of Jesus over sin and death, and it is assurance Jesus will return to judge all who reject Him (Acts 17:30-31).

As the sticker points out, the Bible describes those who deny the existence of God as fools, but we believers have no footing to be smug about this.  Wise people can make foolish choices, which could be defined as making decisions without considering what God has said in the Word and He knows all things.  In the hearts and minds of Christians we too can play the fool, giving place to worry and fear when Jesus is risen and glorified.  If we ever are tempted to point fingers at the faults or hypocrisies of others, realise we are no better.  Having hearts that acknowledge God's existence and salvation through the Gospel, let us faithfully honour Him with our decisions and plans, seeking His guidance as we rest in Him.

James 2:19-22 reads, "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?"  If we acknowledge the existence and wisdom of God, it follows we ought to practice what He says.  Genuine faith will be confirmed through obedience as the life of Abraham reveals.  Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.  Abraham was not deemed righteous because he was obedient, but his faith in God was demonstrated through obedience.  Praise the LORD for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the empty tomb still speaks to all who will heed with far more impact than a bumper sticker.

God Answers Our Prayer

In the mornings I have been reading through the book of Ezra which details the return of the children of Israel to Jerusalem.  Ezra was a priest and scribe who not only led exiles back to the land God provided them, but taught them the Law of God.  His knowledge of God was not theory but to be put into practice.  Familiarity with doctrine does us no good unless we apply it personally to our lives.

I was impressed with Ezra's leadership in Ezra 8:21-23:  "Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." ²³ So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer."  What can pass for spiritual leadership today can be no different than following a business structure or a cult of personality.  Ezra had been chosen by the king of Persia to fulfil a great task, but Ezra did not appeal to his "authority" granted by God or the king:  he led the people to seek the LORD with prayer and fasting so they might be led and protected by the Almighty King of kings.

The scriptures demonstrate this is true spiritual leadership, to lead people in following God - not seeking to make loyal followers of self.  Ezra had been bold to speak of the power of the great God of Israel to the king of Persia, and he would have felt a hypocrite to beg for assistance when their enemy waited to attack them on the road.  Wasn't God able to safely escort them to His desired destination?  Ezra and the people fasted and humbled themselves before God, and simply said God graciously "...answered our prayer."  God did not respond to the prayers of His people because they afflicted themselves, paying their divine dues to sacrifice comfort for the blessing and guidance of God.  God answered the prayers of His people because He had promised and delighted to do so.  Ezra and the people sought the LORD in fasting not to earn an audience with God but denied themselves in their fervent desire to draw near to God in faith.

As believers we can make the mistake of assuming God will bless our own plans by virtue of our belief in Him rather than seeking Him for guidance and wisdom.  God's people ought to seek Him rather than leaning on their own understanding, anointed and called as they might be.  This is not a hard lesson to learn, but it is a challenge to remember and practice.  As children of God may we be as His hungry little ones, running to Him so He might supply our needs.  When our children were little we would instruct them to ask us before they ate or drank whatever was on offer:  is it unreasonable for God to desire the same for us?  In the scope of life's decisions one snack or meal is a small decision.  If we will trust God united as one, then let us seek Him as Ezra did, trusting He will hear our cries and answer our prayer.