Unbelief our Adversary

On a drive to the shops this morning, I saw a bus was emblazoned with a large "R U OK?" banner to remind people to care for their mental health as well as asking others how they are going.  It is a helpful question to ask because many people are not "OK," and they may struggle to let on how they are feeling and the difficulties they face.  The reality of struggle and suffering are all around, and domestic violence and bullying has led people to think their situations are hopeless.  The sobering reality is the situations may be hopeless--but only when we exclude God from the picture, focus on hurtful things people have said or done, or our inability to do anything to help ourselves.  God who saves souls is able to bring hope to the hopeless, is a safe refuge, can heal our hearts and renew our minds.

The writers of the psalms were not strangers to trials and troubles, for many times in Scripture they express feelings of depression, hopelessness and despair.  It is natural for us to lose heart when no amount of education or awareness can rid ourselves of unkind bullies and memory of their cruel words and deeds.  It does not take much for old wounds to be opened up again and to feel hurt, powerless and alone.  In this case, bad feelings are beneficial to remind and prompt us to seek the LORD who knows what it is to suffer painful injustice, to be hurt by the very people who should have helped.  The psalmist sang in Psalm 94:17-19:  "Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence. ¹⁸ If I say, "My foot slips," Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up. ¹⁹ In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."

When others seem to be the obvious culprits for our anxiety, we wish they would cease and desist.  We want to avoid any interactions with them when this may not be possible--like at school, work or in the family.  With God who is our help in the land of the living, He provides a refuge, peace and rest self-harm or suicide cannot offer.  The sorrows of this world produce death, but through sorrow God is able to bring new life and wholeness where there was only brokenness before.  The psalmist felt it impossible to stand without slipping, but God's mercy steadied him.  Though he was buffeted by anxieties and worries, by faith in God he was not cast down because God's comforts delighted his soul.  We would love everyone to praise, approve of us, and accept us like God does, yet consider the bad treatment Jesus endured joyfully who is only good and blameless.  Jesus was judged and condemned without mercy, yet He had fullness of peace and joy in the presence of His heavenly Father who loved Him and was well-pleased with Him.

As people who cannot escape hurtful words, toxic environments or hateful bullies, we must decide if we will take the words of bullies to heart or if we receive the comfort and mercy God offers us in His word.  Will we choose to despair because our feelings are crushed by criticism or will we turn to the LORD who is merciful and helps us?  As believers, we are called to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6), identifying and arresting in our minds thoughts the teaching of Jesus exposes as lies and untrue, like:  "I am worthless," "Life is hopeless," or "I would be better dead than alive."  Do we sin and experience pain from sins of others?  Yes, and this is why God sent us a Saviour who heals, restores and redeems.  Bullies are a problem, but they are not our enemies:  our adversary is unbelief that approves and accepts the caustic and condemning words of bullies rather than trusting Jesus, taking His words to heart, and holding fast to what He has said to us.  In Christ, Song of Songs 4:7 speaks the truth about Christians from God's perspective:  "You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you."  Will we dwell on the hatred of men or glory and rejoice in the love of God?

Wonderful Jesus Christ

In the Law of Moses, God forbade His people from fashioning likenesses of people or animals lest they be worshipped in Deuteronomy 4:15-19:  "Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸  the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. ¹⁹ And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage."  Man has a tendency to worship the works of his hands as well as creatures and hosts of heaven God has made.  This prohibition of making carved images was a boundary intended to prevent God's people from stumbling into idolatry.

Interestingly, the prohibitions of the Law were inadequate to keep people from worshipping the creature rather than Creator.  When the people were judged by the LORD for their murmuring against God and Moses with deadly, venomous serpents that bit them, God directed Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole so that anyone who looked upon it would be healed (Numbers 21).  This bronze serpent was kept for centuries as a relic of God's deliverance, and 2 Kings 18:4 tells us it among other things became an object of worship in Israel:  "He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan."  King Hezekiah broke the bronze serpent in pieces so it would no longer be reverenced, and his action was a call to return to the worship of the almighty God only.

In Israel today, objects as well as "holy sites" are reverenced by pilgrims who kiss and weep over stones because the feet of Jesus may have graced them.  I have travelled to Israel many times, and every time has been a spiritually enriching experience.  Yet we do not have to go to the Holy Land to draw near to the Holy God, for He is with us wherever we go.  We ought to make a distinction between remembrance and reverence.  Seeing a cross ought to remind us of Christ's sacrifice and His love for lost sinners, but the wood or shape is not worthy of worship.  There are worship songs Christians sing that in my mind toe the line of moving from remembrance to reverence, to glorify the "wonderful cross" or to "love that old cross" when we ought to look with wonder upon our Saviour Jesus who first loved us with love and devotion.  There is no intrinsic spiritual power in the wood fibres of the cross itself, for it is merely the implement God employed where the life of Christ was poured out to atone for sinners.  The physical blood of Jesus that stained the cross and dripped on the ground had no cleansing or life-giving power in itself, for Christ accomplished miraculous spiritual labour through His sacrifice.

I have heard Christians say there is power in prayer, but it is more accurate to say all power is in the living God who hears and answers prayer.  People pray to saints or deceased relatives without effect, yet Jesus Christ is our mediator who intercedes on our behalf with the Father by His Spirit.  To worship saints, Christ's blood or the cross is to fall short of veneration and adoration of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory and honour.  It is no sin to sing of the cross in hymns or to wear a cross that identifies us with Jesus Christ our LORD (who is wonderful), but let it be a symbolic reminder and reflection of our spiritual and personal reality than an object we reverence and worship.  It may be a good thing we do not possess the cross or nails used to crucify Christ, for people would travel the world to see those relics and not realise that is the sort of devotion we ought to give Jesus Christ right where we are today with grateful worship and humble obedience.

Heeding God Daily

The benefits of studying through the word of God are immeasurable.  While we may tend to gravitate to what is familiar and comfortable, it is useful to read the Bible in its entirety.  There will be much we do not understand, for God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways.  At the same time, reading through the whole Bible ought not to be viewed as a race or an accomplishment we can take pride in.  The point isn't how many times we have read through our Bible in a year but that God's word daily goes through us.  If we see the benefit of fueling our bodies with food every day, we ought to feed spiritually on God's word daily as well.

Our stomachs have limited capacity, and our minds also can be full.  For this reason, I prefer quality over quantity when it comes to reading and studying God's word.  Ironically, the more we read at a time the less opportunity we have to absorb and apply personally what we are reading.  Reading five chapters at once is like grazing on light snacks while systematically breaking down a passage or even one verse in study is like a spiritual feast that sticks to the ribs with many leftovers.  It is possible to read chapters of the Bible at once and not perceive anything impactful God has said to us--though it is all His voice.  We may have observed many divine truths on the page, but it is important for us to reflect on the manner of our lives in light of them.

Thorough Bible study includes observation, interpretation and application.  It is not a complex practice, but it can be a time-consuming exercise that ought to involve our hearts as well as our heads.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we must rely upon the Holy Spirit to help us understand what we are reading, grow in our understanding of God's character, and further refine our lives according to God's wisdom.  God's word can have a purifying, beneficial effect when we submit ourselves to believe and practice what God has said.  As Jesus submitted to His heavenly Father, so we ought to submit ourselves to God's word He has provided that instructs, guides, corrects, rebukes and inspires.

If you are someone who enjoys a daily reading to go through the whole Bible in one year, wonderful.  In your reading I encourage you not to treat Bible reading as a tradition or a chore to be accomplished so it can be laid aside, but to take intentional action to ensure the Bible is actually going through your heart, mind and impacting your daily life--besides the time it takes to read.  Reflect on what you have read and take it to heart; have a key takeaway of personal impact you did not bring to the text but God said to you through the Scripture.  In a world full of voices, when we open the Bible and read it is important to give God the floor and our full attention with intent to heed His voice.

God Most Loveable

What do you view as loveable?  A newborn baby or a fluffy puppy?  What if I told you the most loveable being in the universe is not something small, cute and cuddly but the almighty God who is love?  Truly, there is no one more worthy of being loved than God who loves us with an everlasting love.  The amazing thing is how God presently and eternally rewards those who love Him when it is the very thing we ought to do.  Loving God is right for everyone to do, and God's desire is we would go beyond liking what we receive from God to loving Him with our whole heart.

See some things God promises to do for those who love Him in Psalm 91:14-16 which are all beyond price:  "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. ¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. ¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."  For the one who simply loves God, God will personally deliver him and set him on high.  The one who loves God will be heard and answered by Him; God will be with him in trouble, deliver and honour him.  God also gives long life (everlasting!) that satisfies, and will reveal His salvation to all who love Him.  Those who love God place their faith in Him which is evidenced by obedience.

Loving God is more than feelings of attraction or affection, but it is connected with doing what God says as is written in Deuteronomy 5:10:  "...showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."  Later in Scripture Jesus, who revealed Himself to be God made flesh by many signs including His resurrection from the dead, said to His disciples in John 14:15-17:  "If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."  To those who love God, Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to regenerate, empower, comfort, guide and enable followers of Christ to be spiritually fruitful, to love as He loves.

A newborn baby is not loveable because of what he or she provides you but because of who it is in relation to you:  someone small, needy and new.  God is awesome, eternal, needs nothing, and is greater than we can imagine, yet we should love Him because His is our Creator and due to our relationship with Him as His beloved children.  Our love for God ought to be from a heart that delights in who God is and His love for us--rather than God's promises of blessing for those who love Him we hope to receive.  As it is written in Psalm 31:23-24:  "Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. ²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD."  May our love of God be courageous in obedience and strong by faith in Him, for God preserves the faithful who hope in Him.