Is Our Foundation Shaken?

I remember always hearing growing up that my parents and grandparents would become immensely smarter as I got older – the wisdom of their words spoken from experience would prove its value in the real world.  In a similar way, as events like the recent economic fiasco unfold, the wisdom of God shines brighter and brighter in contrast to the ways of the world.

1 Timothy 6:6-11

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.  But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Psalm 37:23-27

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,for the Lord upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.  He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.

These verses point us towards true wealth, an inheritance that does not rot and cannot be stolen, even by greedy bankers or sketchy financial times.  It is through the wisdom of God and the love of God that even in an uncertain word, we have the peace of God.

Lets use this time to let our peace shine in stark contrast to the fear and instability that is running rampant right now.  I pray that we will take advantage of the opportunity to pass on the true foundation of peace – real key to joy and security – Jesus Christ!

Thanks for reading!

Mickey

The problem with rejoicing

Paul exhorts us to the following in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

These verses are inspiring. If we consider that life is a game, an athletic competition that we partake in, these exhortations could be the closing statement to Paul’s “go get ‘em” speech that he gives to his team of Christians before we rush out of the locker room to take on life. These verses sound great, and they are really motivational, but somehow between the locker room and the field (our quiet times and our daily routines) we can get off track and seem to lose before we even get our chinstraps buckled.

The problem with these verses isn’t that Paul is talking about something that is unrealistic, but it is just that we get in the way.

The problem with rejoicing is that I don’t always want to.

The problem with giving thanks in all circumstances is that I’m not always thankful.

Are we simply victims of our moods and our emotions and therefore destined to be either hypocrites – just pretending to rejoice and give thanks – or ‘bad’ Christians, destined to fail forever?

Absolutely not!

We are not victims, and we must fight.

We have the tools of Scripture, the Holy Spirit, songs and hymns, and our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we also have the wisdom of our elders who have traveled a little further down the road and can help us in areas like this.

Let us use every tool at our disposal and every ounce of fight in our souls to battle for joy and to fight to give thanks, and then we can glorify God and fully realize the joyful, rejoicing life that He has planned for us!

Home-bound

When I was a child I loved to go out to my cousin’s place and ride horses. They always set me up with a big, tan horse who was probably well past its working years and took life pretty easy. I remember how difficult it was to control the horse, not because of any bucking or crazy behavior (which would be much cooler to talk about) but because it just wanted to return to the barn. I’m sure that my arms were sore for a week after pulling on that horse’s head, trying to keep it from turning towards home. Once it was time to head back towards the barn, it was difficult to keep the horse from shifting up into a gallop, it loved the barn so much.

One of the reasons that I think that it can be so difficult for us to hold on to our joy is that we forget where our real home is. Our flesh urges us to strive towards some goal of a perfect life on earth, complete with every comfort and free from any stress. On the other hand, Christ calls us to look towards eternity with Him and live this life with our eternal home in view. Like the horse in my childhood, we will be drawn towards the home that we desire; it is our responsibility, through the Spirit, to keep our focus on heaven and eternal life with Christ rather than the elusive claims of this temporary life.

The rub is that we have to look past the world that we see with our eyes and aspire for a world which we cannot see but only read about, at least for now. Even though we cannot look at pictures or videos of our eternal destiny to keep our goal fresh in our minds, we can still keep vivid images of heaven stored in our hearts. When the idols of this life confront us and promise us every pleasure, a quick glance at the image of our eternal destiny will melt temptation’s power and bring us once again to the worship of Christ.

Passages like Isaiah 65:17-21 and much of Revelation provide pictures of heaven that we can store in our hearts, and hymns and poetry based on a Biblical view of heaven are also very valuable. I especially like the poem entitled Glorified by John Piper, which includes this excerpt:

And in the twinkling of an eye
The saints descended from the sky…

And every sorrow deep within,
And every trace of lingering sin
Is gone. And all that’s left is joy,
And endless ages to employ
The mind and heart to understand
And love the sovereign Lord who planned
That it should take eternity
To lavish all his grace on me.

O God of wonder, God of might,
Grant us some elevated sight,
Of endless days. And let us see
The joy of what is yet to be.
And may your future make us free,
And guard us by the hope that we,
Within the light of candle four,
Are glorified forevermore.

What do you use to keep your focus on heaven?

Take a peek

Every week before I mow our lawn, I check the fluids in our lawn mower. To check the gas, I just remove the cap and look into the gas tank to see if there is any liquid in there. Sometimes out of laziness I hope more than confirm that there is sufficient gas, because the only gauge that I have to check the gas level is to check how far it is from the top of the tank. That may seem simple, but it is dark inside the tank and it is often difficult to tell where the fluid level is.

Checking the oil level is an entirely different process. All I have to do is take off the oil cap and look at the dipstick that is attached to it. There are two dots on the dipstick that indicate the optimal range for the oil level… there is no guessing, no hoping. The makers of the mower make it possible to measure the oil because it is crucial for the operation of the engine. If the engine runs out of gas, the engine will stop until you put more gas in and start it back up. If the engine runs out of oil, it will likely never run again.

Colossians 1:9-12 ⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians 1:9-12 is important for us to consider as we examine our own life and spiritual walk with God. Do you treat your spiritual life like a gas tank or an oil reservoir? Do you look in to your Bible study and prayer life and simply confirm that they are there? If they disappeared would you notice any difference in the rest of your life? Paul provides us with marks for our spiritual lives in these verses, and we can measure not only the presence of our walk with the Lord but our progress as well. If we hold our lives up against these marks, we will get a picture of the health of our spiritual life as well as areas that we might be holding back from the power of the Spirit.

Verses like these cut me to the quick; when I examine my day to day life, I see that my levels of patience and joy are often low. I realize that I need to seek harder after joy in the morning before my day starts, and take specific steps to remain in the Spirit when I leave my quiet time and enter the world.

What are some of your experiences? Do you have specific ways that you 1) measure your spiritual walk and 2) seek to remain in the Spirit throughout your day?