Living For Jesus

“Physical death is a separation of the person, the spirit, the soul, from the body…[Adam] died spiritually the moment he disobeyed; he was separated from God.  Death is separation.”

(J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible. Vol. 1. pg. 27)

It is common to say when someone dies that they are gone, that they have passed away.  Since God has put eternity in our hearts we almost intuitively sense a human being is more than a body, for the person we knew departs the body in death and is separated from us.  For a believer the bitterness of separation is sweetened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life, for those who are in Christ by faith will never die.  We will meet again, and we will be together forever with God our Saviour.

When Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, he was instantly separated from God by his sin that brought death.  The spiritual, eternal component of Adam died that moment, and ultimately his body would die as well.  An illustration of what happened can be derived from the fig leaves he plucked from the tree to fashion into a covering to hide his nakedness.  The moment leaves are pulled off a tree they are cut off from their source of life.  Death is instant, but the symptoms of that death take hours and days to become apparent.  Green leaves begin to dull in colour and they become dry and brittle.  Before very long the leaf bears little resemblance to what it did previously when it can be crumbled into dust.

Adam's sin cut him off spiritually from God who was his source of life, and it would only be a matter of time before his body gave up the ghost.  A leaf pulled from the tree cannot be reattached, and Adam's sin lead to permanent, eternal death apart from God.  There was absolutely nothing Adam could do to remedy the situation, but praise the LORD for His redemptive plan to save mankind by sending His own Son Jesus Christ to provide atonement and impute righteousness to sinners through faith in Him.  Adam had no clue how lost he truly was, and we can miss how amazing the grace of God and the Gospel is too.  To think that God has destroyed death so we could have eternal life; the Son of God died and rose again so we could be adopted as children of God!

Being born of Adam who sinned is a guarantee of death, and being born again through Jesus Christ who provided atonement for sin gives assurance of forgiveness and eternal life.  This is great news, isn't it?  When we have good news we cannot wait to share it with others:  better than planning to tell others about Jesus someday, let us be living for Him right now.  Then we will be trusting Him, believing Him obeying Him, speaking of Him and glorifying Him as we ought now and forever by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

God Is Blessing

These days it seems one cannot speak or breathe without offending someone, and public figures are held to the highest scrutiny.  The Australian prime minister recently said something that drew the ire of recent Australians of the year and others when in conversation he said, "Jenny and I have been blessed, we've got two children that don't — that haven't had to go through that...And so, for parents with children who are disabled, I can only try and understand your aspirations for those children."  When Scott Morrison realised how his comments were offensive to many, he promptly apologised--and rightly so.

We cannot help how others interpret what we say and what we mean.  I do not believe the Australian Prime Minister meant in the slightest what people took him as meaning, that by saying he was blessed to have children without disabilities people who have them are cursed.  As a believer I am sure Mr. Morrison was saying he was blessed to have children whether they had disabilities or not.  Even if he had no children, our Prime Minister could rightly say he was blessed to be childless, for we are fully and most blessed in God alone.  It is on this point those who do not know God find themselves in the dark.  They have not tasted and seen that God is good and how His greatest blessings can take forms we never imagined they could.  It is faith in our good God that completely transforms the human perspective and sees blessing everywhere.

It is faith in the unwavering good God that provides understanding and gratitude toward God even in difficulties.  Consider the lyrics of Brenton Brown's song Our God is Mercy: "Our God is mercy, our God is mercy, if your heart is heavy, if your soul is thirsty; there is a refuge, a home for the lonely 'cause our God is near...you're blessed if you've been torn apart, you're blessed if you've a broken heart for hope is waiting at the door. Salvation's near."  No one likes the feelings of a heavy heart or thirsty soul; certainly no one enjoys feeling lonely, being torn apart or having a broken heart.  Surely these painful descriptions seem or feel much more a curse than a blessing!  Those who are God's redeemed have the capacity to continually bless His holy name because He is ever blessing us.

The reality of a good God Who demonstrates His love, is in Himself a refuge for us and is a Redeemer.  We can't understand the pain, sorrow or trials others have faced, and we cannot fully comprehend our own feelings at times.  But the immutable truth remains that God is good and He is a blessing to all who trust in Him.  His goodness, grace and mercy is complete and continual, and it is in realising our need we find an enduring hope and help in Him throughout all seasons of life.  God allows challenges, struggles, disappointments, dashed expectations and difficult conditions so we might rely upon Him more and discover comfort, rest and peace we never imagined possible when all seemed well.  What some people see as a curse can be redeemed as greatest blessing when we look to God in faith.

All Confidence in Our Good God

"There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the LORD."

Proverbs 21:30

What confidence we have in God who is sovereign and supreme over all!  There is nothing that can be hidden from Him, no power to overrule Him or scheme to thwart His good purposes and plans.  Ultimately all things in heaven and earth must bow the knee before Him, for God rules and reigns over all.  He is so awesome and mighty nothing can be against Him, that is, to begin to present a challenge of any kind to Him.  Many have opposed God, been lifted up in pride against Him and sought to undermine or resist Him, but no one has ever done a thing to shift Him from His glorious position as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS Who was, is and is to come.

Wisdom could be described as "skill for life," and since God is the source of all life He enables those who trust in Him to live it to the full forever.  He has all knowledge and understanding of all things, and He needs no advice or counsel to know what He must do.  There is nothing He has not already considered fully, and an alternate plan is not necessary for the God who does everything.  Unlike people or their heroes, God has no weakness or limitation.  There will never be a reduction of his mental capacity or strength.  He is not like an old dog that sleeps a lot more now than he used to, preferring the shade over romping in the sun.  God is not like a man who is careless, forgetful or cannot remember what he said.  He is God without equal, good beyond all comprehension and any comparison. 

Undergirding the power and strength of the almighty, living God is His immutable goodness.  It would be an awful thing indeed if God had evil intent and there was no possible way to overcome it.  Knowing God loves sinners and cheers them on to repentance and righteous living by faith in Him moves us to rest in Him without fear.  Paul wrote in Romans 8:31-33, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies."  God demonstrated His love for sinners by sending a Saviour Jesus Christ, so even when we were against Him His goodness was directed towards us.  Satan tried to overthrow Christ and God's intent was the death and resurrection of Jesus would provide eternal life for all who trust Him.  See?  There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the good LORD God.

Even when believers suffer many things, when enemies of God and His people rise up to thwart God's purposes and rob us of peace, we can rest confidently in the goodness of our God in the land of the living.  Romans 8:37-39 affirms, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Since nothing can separate us from God's love, nothing can deprive us of the joy, peace and rest found for our souls in Him.  As the song says, "No fear of death, nor scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand."  In our good God we can place all confidence.

Owning Sinful Thoughts

 As children of God we ought not to be ignorant of Satan's deceitful tactics.  That father of lies craftily includes bits of truth so we will swallow down his destructive deceptions.  Whether he worked to tempt Eve or Jesus his approach was the same:  he appealed to human needs and desires coupled with rebellion against the almighty God.  Satan even quoted scripture to lure Jesus to transgress, but Jesus wisely saw through the paper-thin facade to the wicked being who would suggest He tempt the LORD God.

The devil has the power to tempt us, but no one can blame the devil for choosing to yield to him.  Satan can shoot fiery arrows at us, imaginations and thoughts that are wicked, but he cannot force our hand.  I suspect most of the time when someone says, "The devil made me do it"  it is a cop out to avoid repentance, a shift of blame from one whose actions condemn them as guilty to an entity a person has never actually met.  You see, we don't need to have spoken with the devil to adopt his carnality, deceit, selfishness and pride.  Our flesh naturally tends towards evil even as our bodies breathe without a thought.  If you are one who blames the devil for your faults, realise you have developed skill to do a flawless impersonation of him.

It is an exceedingly rare quality to admit and confess sin without blaming others or a caveat.  When he sinned Adam blamed Eve and God, and Eve blamed the serpent who deceived her.  After God confronted Cain for murdering his brother Abel he did not take the blame before the God who sees and knows all, for he denied all knowledge of his brothers blood crying out from the earth.  When David was called out for his sin in the circumstance with Urijah the Hittite he simply said, "I have sinned."  He did not blame Bathsheba, a moment of weakness or justify himself:  he owned the sins of adultery, theft, deceit and murder as his own and repented of them before the LORD, sins we do not see him later repeat.

At the end of holiday camps articles of lost property are held up before the group of campers and I am always surprised how much remains unclaimed.  Every hat, sock and towel was brought to camp by campers who are unwilling to admit the lost items are theirs.  Maybe they are embarrassed or perhaps the item is dirty or unrecognisable.  Maybe the campers simply aren't paying attention.  Whether the person left the item on purpose because it was soiled or forgot it isn't the point:  the point is it is theirs to claim.  The same is true when we have thoughts in our heads that are sinful according to the word of God.  These could be temptations to sin or indications our hearts are not pure before God.  Regardless, we do well to take each thought captive to the obedience of Christ and choose to honour and obey God.  Our sin, having been claimed or owned by a child of God, can be thrown into the rubbish like an old sock because Jesus has provided atonement.  It doesn't need to lie around in an old box any more.

Even if Satan himself puts a thought in your mind, there is wisdom and strength in Christ to stand firm on the truth of God's word.  Those who are preoccupied with how "under attack" they are in their minds by God's grace can switch this around and fix their minds on things above with eyes on Jesus Christ who has overcome, having secured the victory over sin, Satan, the flesh and death with His own blood once for all.  Let the attacks come:  does a warrior in body armour fear a caged, barking dog?  Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and He has bid us to be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might.  With the Holy Spirit within us we are protected and provision is made for us to walk in victory.  There was a time when we were without the Holy Spirit in our unregenerate state and looking back God was faithful to protect us during that season as well.

Rejoice, servants of the LORD!  When a venomous viper literally latched itself onto Paul's hand, he threw it into the fire and suffered no illness whatsoever.  Even as the venom injected into his body was neutralised miraculously by God, if Satan is permitted by God to flood your mind with temptation we need not submit to it for a moment.  There is no cumulative, negative effect upon us for all the thoughts brought captive to the obedience of Christ in an hour or day:  our problem is when we cease doing this and our will is worn down as we try in vain to do in the power of the flesh that which can only be done by the Holy Spirit.  Own that dirty sock, claim that temptation and admit the wickedness in your own heart without caveat and repent and thus walk righteously and sincerely with Jesus who put away our sin (2 Corinthians 10:1-6).