Last day I used the example of God's forgiveness as something that we need to hear, to really hear. We all stand in need of forgiveness, for no one is perfect (though we might not all admit it). Nobody likes to have a guilt trip laid on them, at least I don't. But there is a difference between true and false guilt. An over active conscience is a bad thing, but our consciences are there for a reason, and we will not be moving towards wholeness if we deal inappropriately (or not deal at all) with our God given consciences. Perhaps not surprisingly the Bible has something to say about this.
There is much that can be said about true and false guilt, but let's start with true guilt. We are talking here about moral guilt which has both legal (from God's point of view) and sensory aspects. To put this another way, how God feels about what we have (or have not) done, and how I feel about what I have done. Some things are clearer than others. God tells us “Do not commit adultery”. If we commit adultery we are guilty before God, and one way or another, we will have to give an account of it. In today's society what I am about to say cannot be taken as given, but at least on the first occasion, most of us would feel guilty afterward, if we committed adultery. Actually King David did not immediately feel guilt after he had committed adultery, he had to be confronted and shown that it was wrong. Animal rights activist might relate to how he was shown, but most of us cannot not fully relate to the parable that Nathan used to show David his sin (2 Samuel 12:1-15). We need to remember that David was a shepherd and “good shepherds loves their sheep” (see John 10:11).
So there is such a thing as true guilt. After he was confronted with it, David tells in Psalm 51 that “my sin is ever before me”. There are times when (unless our consciences are seared with a red hot iron 1 Timothy 4:2) we will find it hard to get away from our guilt. David is saying that when he came to the full realization of what he had done, it kept going round and round and round in his heart and his mind. Today's post is addressed to those who are either there, or have been there.
True guilt comes both from what we have done, and from what we have not done. After a tragedy, a death in the family for example, we are often full of “what if's”. And lets face it, who can truthfully say that we have always done everything that could or should have been done. We neglect each other through our obsessive business, or from our excessive self centeredness. Some would criticize me for even saying what I just said. They might angrily accuses me “Are you trying to make him (her) feel worse?” But you see the cure for true guilt (as opposed to false guilt - later) is to be forgiven, it is not to pretend that what is wrong is not wrong. David in the Psalm we are looking at (it would be a good idea to read it - Psalm 51) says to God “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight ...” (Psalm 51:4). Though we certainly sin against each other, the greatest offense is ultimately against God, and so only God ultimately can fully forgive us. When others might not be willing to forgive, God's forgiveness is enough. But we do need to repent. Does it sound painful?
In true repentance, there will certainly be periods of sorrow (godly sorrow), but when we push through (as opposed to pushing it down and trying to ignore it), then it will in the end bring true joy. David knew this, and the prayer in Psalm 51:8 quoted the other day is worth repeating. He cried out to God “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” We do need to stay with it, but when we do, we will find that it is well worth it. It brings a different kind of freedom. More to come.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
To hear or not to hear that is the question?
“You don't listen”. Have your ever been told that? Most of us have. I am sure we could all do better, especially when it comes to listening to God. Jesus had a lot to say about this. In Mark 4:24,25 He says “Consider carefully what you hear, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you―and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him”.
One of His concerns, of course, is about the negative things we allow ourselves to see and hear, what we allow our hearts and minds to feed on. Paul admonishes us to think on the good the pure and the noble etc. etc. (Philippians 4:8). As an aside, modern research is showing clearly the profound negative affects of negative thinking on our brain, and the profound positive effects of positive thinking on the same. The whole context of this chapter of Mark however, has to do with hearing the Word of God (the seed verse 14), and the emphasis of this section from Mark is about the impact of what we hear on our lives.
The parables of verses 24, 25 and 26-29 should, I believe, be taken together. In the parable we are considering here, he is talking about how we hear (the measure with which we hear). When we do this His way, the parable of verses 26-29 kicks in, and it tells us that the Word bears fruit automatically (verse 28A - all by itself in the NIV). So then when we do our part the Word germinates, grows and produces fruit in us (verse 28B).
This is good news for those of us who have, or have had out of control addictions. And perhaps these next few words are more related to the “becoming Oaks of righteousness” cornerstone of recovery. You see its not about striving, is it about hearing, it is about continuing in His Word (John 8:31 again), reading it, meditating on it (Psalm 1), proactively hearing it (this post), working the 12 steps (or similar), and then having done that, trusting God and His Word to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
To apply verses 24-25 to both this latter context, and the context of “Dealing with the deceptions ...” I want to paraphrase Jesus' words by saying there is a “use it or loose it” principle at work here. This is of course applicable to many of the things we hear, to receiving His promises, or for example, to seeing our sin the way that He sees our sin.
There are two wrong ways to deal with this last point, and both sides are dealt with in a single chapter in Hebrews 10. I suspect that at one level we all fall into one error or the other. I have at times, sat on both sides of the divide. The first wrong way, is to be overcome with guilt. I remember being on this side of the fence and hearing the Lord say to me “You are faithful”. I had an immediate “but” raise within me. 'But what about ...”. He told me “I don't remember that”. Could that possibly be Him? Well yes, He has told us that under the New Covenant “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). When I see this, I have a choice. I can allow guilt about the failures of the past to define me, or I can believe that His Grace is greater than all my sin.
But with what measure am I hearing Him? God sees me as faithful. He saw David as faithful too, David who committed adultery and then murder in an attempt to cover it up. But “murderer” and “adulterer” was not what God saw after he repented. David was a "man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22), and he did not allow those two words to define the rest of his life. David did reap the fruit of his sin, and we will reap the fruit of ours (Galatians 6:7). David sowed to the wind and he reaped the whirlwind (2 Samuel 11ff). But He was forgiven and restored to full fellowship with God.
To repeat a word from Bill Johnson “I cannot afford to have a thought in my head about me, that is not in God's head”. In His mind, I am faithful, I am a saint, I am the righteousness of Christ. Do I feel this way? Certainly not immediately after I have sinned . During periods of repentance I say with David “my sin is ever before me” and “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (Psalm 51:3,8). In true repentance we will for a while, feel crushed by our wickedness. There needs to be a time of godly sorrow which leads us through repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), into the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12), so that we can be brought back to the place where we can come boldly before the throne of Grace to obtain mercy, and the help we need to live the Christian life (Hebrews 4:16).
The thief will want to short circuit this process. He will delight for us to get stuck in bone crushing guilt. Either that, or have us take our sin lightly (see below). When God tells me I am faithful, I need to receive that. So I tell myself “I am faithful”. If you try to do this, the accuser will say “You hypocrite, you are just pretending to be righteous, when in reality you are just piece of ...”. But I am not pretending, I am practicing. By saying “I am faithful” I am agreeing with God (always a good thing) and this practicing will empower me to be faithful. When the temptations come, I tell myself - “No, I am faithful, I am dead to sin and alive to righteousness” (Romans 6:11). Chip Judd (a preacher I was listening to) says “We need to tell ourselves such things until we believe them, and then we need to tell ourselves these things, because we believe them”. When we continue in His Word, and we speak His Words into our lives, then the Word germinates , takes root, grows and produces fruit automatically. The measure with which we do this, is the measure of its effectiveness in our lives.
But the repentance part is not optional. We need to take our sin seriously and we will need betimes to go through the process of repentance I have just described. You see the other wrong way to deal with our sin, is to treat it too lightly. It has to do with presumption “God will forgive me that is His job”, or just plain apathy “whatever”. As I mentioned Hebrews 10 deals with both errors. The writer quotes “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more, ” and that this gives us “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (verses 17 and 19). But we also need to remember what is cost Him to forgive our sins, and to treat them lightly or to “deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth” leaves us with “no more sacrifice for sins ... but only a fearful expectation of judgment” (verses 26,27).
I have cried out to Him at times, asking Him to grant me repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). Once again, this has to do with the measure with which we hear. In verse 39 we read “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved”. If we are reading, if we continue, then we will hear this, and we will indeed be of this company. But do you wonder if you are? It is like the unforgivable sin, if we are worried that we have committed it, we are moving in the right direction to not commit it. We do need to hear what He tells us. Hearing and obedience are closely linked. The good news is that we can start over right now, and with Paul “forget those things which are behind, and press on to the goal of the high calling in Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:3).
One of His concerns, of course, is about the negative things we allow ourselves to see and hear, what we allow our hearts and minds to feed on. Paul admonishes us to think on the good the pure and the noble etc. etc. (Philippians 4:8). As an aside, modern research is showing clearly the profound negative affects of negative thinking on our brain, and the profound positive effects of positive thinking on the same. The whole context of this chapter of Mark however, has to do with hearing the Word of God (the seed verse 14), and the emphasis of this section from Mark is about the impact of what we hear on our lives.
The parables of verses 24, 25 and 26-29 should, I believe, be taken together. In the parable we are considering here, he is talking about how we hear (the measure with which we hear). When we do this His way, the parable of verses 26-29 kicks in, and it tells us that the Word bears fruit automatically (verse 28A - all by itself in the NIV). So then when we do our part the Word germinates, grows and produces fruit in us (verse 28B).
This is good news for those of us who have, or have had out of control addictions. And perhaps these next few words are more related to the “becoming Oaks of righteousness” cornerstone of recovery. You see its not about striving, is it about hearing, it is about continuing in His Word (John 8:31 again), reading it, meditating on it (Psalm 1), proactively hearing it (this post), working the 12 steps (or similar), and then having done that, trusting God and His Word to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
To apply verses 24-25 to both this latter context, and the context of “Dealing with the deceptions ...” I want to paraphrase Jesus' words by saying there is a “use it or loose it” principle at work here. This is of course applicable to many of the things we hear, to receiving His promises, or for example, to seeing our sin the way that He sees our sin.
There are two wrong ways to deal with this last point, and both sides are dealt with in a single chapter in Hebrews 10. I suspect that at one level we all fall into one error or the other. I have at times, sat on both sides of the divide. The first wrong way, is to be overcome with guilt. I remember being on this side of the fence and hearing the Lord say to me “You are faithful”. I had an immediate “but” raise within me. 'But what about ...”. He told me “I don't remember that”. Could that possibly be Him? Well yes, He has told us that under the New Covenant “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). When I see this, I have a choice. I can allow guilt about the failures of the past to define me, or I can believe that His Grace is greater than all my sin.
But with what measure am I hearing Him? God sees me as faithful. He saw David as faithful too, David who committed adultery and then murder in an attempt to cover it up. But “murderer” and “adulterer” was not what God saw after he repented. David was a "man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22), and he did not allow those two words to define the rest of his life. David did reap the fruit of his sin, and we will reap the fruit of ours (Galatians 6:7). David sowed to the wind and he reaped the whirlwind (2 Samuel 11ff). But He was forgiven and restored to full fellowship with God.
To repeat a word from Bill Johnson “I cannot afford to have a thought in my head about me, that is not in God's head”. In His mind, I am faithful, I am a saint, I am the righteousness of Christ. Do I feel this way? Certainly not immediately after I have sinned . During periods of repentance I say with David “my sin is ever before me” and “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (Psalm 51:3,8). In true repentance we will for a while, feel crushed by our wickedness. There needs to be a time of godly sorrow which leads us through repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), into the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12), so that we can be brought back to the place where we can come boldly before the throne of Grace to obtain mercy, and the help we need to live the Christian life (Hebrews 4:16).
The thief will want to short circuit this process. He will delight for us to get stuck in bone crushing guilt. Either that, or have us take our sin lightly (see below). When God tells me I am faithful, I need to receive that. So I tell myself “I am faithful”. If you try to do this, the accuser will say “You hypocrite, you are just pretending to be righteous, when in reality you are just piece of ...”. But I am not pretending, I am practicing. By saying “I am faithful” I am agreeing with God (always a good thing) and this practicing will empower me to be faithful. When the temptations come, I tell myself - “No, I am faithful, I am dead to sin and alive to righteousness” (Romans 6:11). Chip Judd (a preacher I was listening to) says “We need to tell ourselves such things until we believe them, and then we need to tell ourselves these things, because we believe them”. When we continue in His Word, and we speak His Words into our lives, then the Word germinates , takes root, grows and produces fruit automatically. The measure with which we do this, is the measure of its effectiveness in our lives.
But the repentance part is not optional. We need to take our sin seriously and we will need betimes to go through the process of repentance I have just described. You see the other wrong way to deal with our sin, is to treat it too lightly. It has to do with presumption “God will forgive me that is His job”, or just plain apathy “whatever”. As I mentioned Hebrews 10 deals with both errors. The writer quotes “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more, ” and that this gives us “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (verses 17 and 19). But we also need to remember what is cost Him to forgive our sins, and to treat them lightly or to “deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth” leaves us with “no more sacrifice for sins ... but only a fearful expectation of judgment” (verses 26,27).
I have cried out to Him at times, asking Him to grant me repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). Once again, this has to do with the measure with which we hear. In verse 39 we read “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved”. If we are reading, if we continue, then we will hear this, and we will indeed be of this company. But do you wonder if you are? It is like the unforgivable sin, if we are worried that we have committed it, we are moving in the right direction to not commit it. We do need to hear what He tells us. Hearing and obedience are closely linked. The good news is that we can start over right now, and with Paul “forget those things which are behind, and press on to the goal of the high calling in Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:3).
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Whoever's words define you, that person is your god. Cornerstone IV continued.
There is an old saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. It is a lie! Words spoken, especially by those who play a big part in our lives, can undermine us and leave us feeling paralyzed or without hope. Sometimes we ourselves are the worst offenders, as we engage over and over in negative self talk.
The Scriptures tell us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Eugene Peterson in the Message paraphrases this verse as “Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit―you choose”. There is much insight in Peterson's understanding of this verse. First of all, words have a very powerful affect on what we do. As it says in Proverbs “As he thinks in his heart so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). We saw an example last day, of how negative “tapes” that play continually in our mind lead to a vicious cycle, but it is much deeper than that example. The words we allow can empower us or drag us down. So what words are we to allow? Though the Lord will, from time to time need to rebuke us (Revelation 3:19), His Words are always redemptive, that is with the ultimate purpose of building us up. So other than Words He speaks to bring us back on track, discerning His Words from Satan's (often spoken though others, even Christians) is not rocket science. God's Words build us up, Satan's words tare us down. The second thing in Peterson's paraphrase has to do with our choice. We will say more abut this later.
Lets go a little deeper in the way that words affect us, the words that we hear, the words that we believe, the words that we accept as true. Lets look at some partial truths: The Truth is that it hurts when someone important to you:
• Lets you down
• Speaks ill of you
• Tells you you are no good (just like your no good father)
• Tells you you are a failure, that you are a blankety blank, etc.
• Misunderstands you (negatively)
• Tells you one way or another, that you don't count
• Jumps to wrong conclusions about who you are
• Falsely accuses you
• Treats you as if you are nothing (disrespects you, treats you with contempt).
The truth is that these things can undermine you, and likely will if you let them! The Truth is that the more important the people are who speak these things into your life, the more it affects you. The truth is whoever's words you allow to define you, that person is your god.
Before we go further let's unpack the last statement. When I say that person is our god, I am talking about trusting in what that person thinks and says about us. It is about receiving the negative opinion of that person, taking them into our innermost being, and living our lives out of these “truths”. We can even tell ourselves that we have rejected what the person says, but still be radically affected by them (see “I will never be like my dad. Never!” July 2010). Receiving what that person's thinks about us in this way, is to allow that person to define who we are, to believe and act as if that what person says is true. That person can even be ourselves. How many of us have negative opinions about ourselves?
Now lets turn this round. What if the most important person in your life
• Never lets you down
• Always speaks well of you
• Tells you “you can do this”
• Tells you that you can do anything you set your mind to
• Understands you deeply, always gives the benefit of the doubt.
• Tells you are precious, valuable.
• Never jumps to conclusions about who you are
• Never condemns, is always ready to hear your side of the story
• Treats you as if you were Royalty
• Chooses to forgive and forget admitted faults
The truth is that these things can build you up, and will if you handle them God's way! The Truth is that the more important the ONE who says things like this to you the more potentially it can affect you! The truth is whoever's words you allow to define you, that person is your god. The Truth is that for the sake of health and sanity, that person needs to be God!
Bill Johnson has a wonderful saying “I cannot afford to have a single thought in my head that is not in His (God's)”. The Truth is that the only opinion that really matters is God's. And the thoughts He has for us are like the above “thoughts for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11). We are precious in His sight, we are valuable, we are His, He will be with us in trials and difficulties (Isaiah 43: 1-4). He rejoices over us with singing, He quiets us with His love (Zephaniah 3:17). He will never leave us not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He is the healer of our broken hearts (Isaiah 61:1). There is more, there is so much more for us to seek out in His presence and from the treasures of His Word.
The Truth is that if “god as you understand him” is not like the One in list above, then you have an idol in place of God. I am convinced that all of us have some false beliefs about God, about ourselves and about others. More often than not, we will not be aware of these things. I mean if we knew we were believing a lie we would surely cease to believe it. Actually its not that easy, but if we are hearing Him, He will lead us into all truth (John 15:26). More to come about hearing.
The Scriptures tell us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Eugene Peterson in the Message paraphrases this verse as “Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit―you choose”. There is much insight in Peterson's understanding of this verse. First of all, words have a very powerful affect on what we do. As it says in Proverbs “As he thinks in his heart so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). We saw an example last day, of how negative “tapes” that play continually in our mind lead to a vicious cycle, but it is much deeper than that example. The words we allow can empower us or drag us down. So what words are we to allow? Though the Lord will, from time to time need to rebuke us (Revelation 3:19), His Words are always redemptive, that is with the ultimate purpose of building us up. So other than Words He speaks to bring us back on track, discerning His Words from Satan's (often spoken though others, even Christians) is not rocket science. God's Words build us up, Satan's words tare us down. The second thing in Peterson's paraphrase has to do with our choice. We will say more abut this later.
Lets go a little deeper in the way that words affect us, the words that we hear, the words that we believe, the words that we accept as true. Lets look at some partial truths: The Truth is that it hurts when someone important to you:
• Lets you down
• Speaks ill of you
• Tells you you are no good (just like your no good father)
• Tells you you are a failure, that you are a blankety blank, etc.
• Misunderstands you (negatively)
• Tells you one way or another, that you don't count
• Jumps to wrong conclusions about who you are
• Falsely accuses you
• Treats you as if you are nothing (disrespects you, treats you with contempt).
The truth is that these things can undermine you, and likely will if you let them! The Truth is that the more important the people are who speak these things into your life, the more it affects you. The truth is whoever's words you allow to define you, that person is your god.
Before we go further let's unpack the last statement. When I say that person is our god, I am talking about trusting in what that person thinks and says about us. It is about receiving the negative opinion of that person, taking them into our innermost being, and living our lives out of these “truths”. We can even tell ourselves that we have rejected what the person says, but still be radically affected by them (see “I will never be like my dad. Never!” July 2010). Receiving what that person's thinks about us in this way, is to allow that person to define who we are, to believe and act as if that what person says is true. That person can even be ourselves. How many of us have negative opinions about ourselves?
Now lets turn this round. What if the most important person in your life
• Never lets you down
• Always speaks well of you
• Tells you “you can do this”
• Tells you that you can do anything you set your mind to
• Understands you deeply, always gives the benefit of the doubt.
• Tells you are precious, valuable.
• Never jumps to conclusions about who you are
• Never condemns, is always ready to hear your side of the story
• Treats you as if you were Royalty
• Chooses to forgive and forget admitted faults
The truth is that these things can build you up, and will if you handle them God's way! The Truth is that the more important the ONE who says things like this to you the more potentially it can affect you! The truth is whoever's words you allow to define you, that person is your god. The Truth is that for the sake of health and sanity, that person needs to be God!
Bill Johnson has a wonderful saying “I cannot afford to have a single thought in my head that is not in His (God's)”. The Truth is that the only opinion that really matters is God's. And the thoughts He has for us are like the above “thoughts for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11). We are precious in His sight, we are valuable, we are His, He will be with us in trials and difficulties (Isaiah 43: 1-4). He rejoices over us with singing, He quiets us with His love (Zephaniah 3:17). He will never leave us not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He is the healer of our broken hearts (Isaiah 61:1). There is more, there is so much more for us to seek out in His presence and from the treasures of His Word.
The Truth is that if “god as you understand him” is not like the One in list above, then you have an idol in place of God. I am convinced that all of us have some false beliefs about God, about ourselves and about others. More often than not, we will not be aware of these things. I mean if we knew we were believing a lie we would surely cease to believe it. Actually its not that easy, but if we are hearing Him, He will lead us into all truth (John 15:26). More to come about hearing.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Cornerstone IV. Dealing with the deceptions that tear us down, and keep us from our inheritance.
There is a reason we are required, in a court of law to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that is there are many ways to deceive. Omitting some of the truth, for example, can be just as deceptive as lying. Then there are a multitude of ways to exaggerate, twist, or distort the truth, or to otherwise deceive. The one the Bible describes as the enemy of our souls, is very good at such deceptions, he has after all, had thousands of years to practice his skill. He is a liar and the Father of lies. In light of this it might just be possible that he has deceived you, no matter how sharp or quick witted you are. The Bible speaks of him as the one deceives the whole World (Revelation 12:9). Not one of us has all the truth, and at some level we are all deceived. Since his agenda is to kill and to steal and to destroy, he uses deception to fool us up, to divert us from what is good and wholesome and to trip us up. The question then is not if we are deceived, but where! Of course if we knew we were believing a lie, we would not believe it! The deceptions of the Devil are subtle, and we need God's help to identify and change destructive patterns of thought, belief and behaviour.
An example is in order. I have a friend who used to tell me over and over “I am a looser”. I told him that this is a lie. “But is it true”, he told me, and went on to explain why it was true, where he had failed, what he and not done with his life. I would be less than honest if I did not admit that the world might well use the things he was saying to label him as a looser. But there are a host of lies that surround such labels. It has to do with what we value. In the West, these things consist of things like success, the accumulation of stuff, fame and fortune, beauty and intelligence. I am not saying these things are necessarily bad, but when they become the sole focus of our lives, they become idols, or false gods. The lie then that sits behind such labels is that it is the above things that give a person worth. It is these things that (in the World's eyes) define him or her as winner or looser, as cool or as geek. In the worlds' eyes maybe, but not in God's eyes. And not, when we are in our right mind, in our eyes either. What mother values her newborn for what he or she can do for her, or for what they have achieved? The baby is precious because he or she is a daughter or a son. This is the way that God thinks about us too. God affirmed Jesus before He even started ministry (Mark 1:11). I hope I have said enough for us to identify my friends words as false. They are I believe a deception of the Devil.
We need to say more about these things, but first I want to describe how believing these distortions too easily form a vicious cycle that keeps us wounded and stuck. Lets take the lie “I am a looser”. Believing this first and foremost undermines confidence. Many have been told over and over “you will never amount to anything, you are just like your father”. I doubt that those who say such things realize just how devastating they can be. I mean if this lie is believed (belief) then inevitably it will be accompanied by the expectation of failure, and this has to shows up in performance (behaviour). In order to succeed, we need to try new things, and the expectation of failure can cause us to fail to even try, or if we try we don't give it our best shot (after all what is the point, we are going to fail anyway). The result is of course predictable. We fail and the experience reinforces the belief. “See, I am a looser, I can't do anything right”. So then the belief (expectation) leads to the behaviour (attitude), which leads to the experience which reinforces the belief. Its called self fulfilling prophecy!
So far we are still identifying the destructive patterns of thought. As we start to move towards changing them we are given advice from the book of proverbs, which emphasizes over and over the need to get understanding. We will certainly need this if we are to untangle the deceptions of our enemy. So how do we get wisdom (understanding)? The Scriptures promise that we will have more wisdom than even our teachers when we immerse ourselves in, and continue in, His Word (Psalm 119:99; John 8:31). In terms of the specifics there is a wonderful promise in James 1:5. “If anyone lacks wisdom let Him ask of God who gives liberally and it shall be given”. I don't know about you, but I qualify for this promise!
Health and wholeness in the Christian life is not automatic. We need the milk of the Word when we are babes in Christ, but if we are content to live there we will not grow into maturity, for “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13,14). The point is that when we first come to Christ, there will be many places where we may not yet be able to recognize good from bad. The passage from Hebrews is telling us that it is only as we exercise our (spiritual) senses (i.e. “by constant use have trained themselves”) that we will begin to see the good and the evil and even the strongholds in our lives. Like the athlete, we need to exercise our spirits vigorously and consistently in the deep things of God, when we do this we will be (being) transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then and only then will we be able to prove what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God (Romans 12:1,2), and to fulfill our goal to “identify and change destructive patterns of thought, belief and behaviour”
We will need to talk not only about identifying these things, but also changing them. For today however, I want give some more examples of what Kylstras (of Restoring the Foundations) call ungodly beliefs. Here they are:
• My feelings don't count – no one cares how I feel
• I must not let anyone know who I am (I will always be rejected)
• My value is in what I do
• The perfect life has no conflict
• I am ugly
• I can never change
• No one has problems like me
• The best way to respond when someone hurts me is to cut them off
• I will always be lonely
• God loves others more than me
• When things go wrong, it is God punishing me
• I would be happy if I were rich / successful/ more intelligent
Like with my friend who felt he was a looser, some of these things may appear to be true. They are however all distortions of Biblical truth. For example, God thinks you are beautiful no matter what the World may say. Does that impact you, change you? Many of us have this "rubber heart" syndrome, where it just bounces off us. We need to find ways to ensure that these truths sink in, and for them to become who we believe ourselves to be. If we are to become whole, we must begin the process of taking more notice of what God thinks about us, than of the negative things others may think about us (see also switching fathers April 2011). More to come.
An example is in order. I have a friend who used to tell me over and over “I am a looser”. I told him that this is a lie. “But is it true”, he told me, and went on to explain why it was true, where he had failed, what he and not done with his life. I would be less than honest if I did not admit that the world might well use the things he was saying to label him as a looser. But there are a host of lies that surround such labels. It has to do with what we value. In the West, these things consist of things like success, the accumulation of stuff, fame and fortune, beauty and intelligence. I am not saying these things are necessarily bad, but when they become the sole focus of our lives, they become idols, or false gods. The lie then that sits behind such labels is that it is the above things that give a person worth. It is these things that (in the World's eyes) define him or her as winner or looser, as cool or as geek. In the worlds' eyes maybe, but not in God's eyes. And not, when we are in our right mind, in our eyes either. What mother values her newborn for what he or she can do for her, or for what they have achieved? The baby is precious because he or she is a daughter or a son. This is the way that God thinks about us too. God affirmed Jesus before He even started ministry (Mark 1:11). I hope I have said enough for us to identify my friends words as false. They are I believe a deception of the Devil.
We need to say more about these things, but first I want to describe how believing these distortions too easily form a vicious cycle that keeps us wounded and stuck. Lets take the lie “I am a looser”. Believing this first and foremost undermines confidence. Many have been told over and over “you will never amount to anything, you are just like your father”. I doubt that those who say such things realize just how devastating they can be. I mean if this lie is believed (belief) then inevitably it will be accompanied by the expectation of failure, and this has to shows up in performance (behaviour). In order to succeed, we need to try new things, and the expectation of failure can cause us to fail to even try, or if we try we don't give it our best shot (after all what is the point, we are going to fail anyway). The result is of course predictable. We fail and the experience reinforces the belief. “See, I am a looser, I can't do anything right”. So then the belief (expectation) leads to the behaviour (attitude), which leads to the experience which reinforces the belief. Its called self fulfilling prophecy!
So far we are still identifying the destructive patterns of thought. As we start to move towards changing them we are given advice from the book of proverbs, which emphasizes over and over the need to get understanding. We will certainly need this if we are to untangle the deceptions of our enemy. So how do we get wisdom (understanding)? The Scriptures promise that we will have more wisdom than even our teachers when we immerse ourselves in, and continue in, His Word (Psalm 119:99; John 8:31). In terms of the specifics there is a wonderful promise in James 1:5. “If anyone lacks wisdom let Him ask of God who gives liberally and it shall be given”. I don't know about you, but I qualify for this promise!
Health and wholeness in the Christian life is not automatic. We need the milk of the Word when we are babes in Christ, but if we are content to live there we will not grow into maturity, for “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13,14). The point is that when we first come to Christ, there will be many places where we may not yet be able to recognize good from bad. The passage from Hebrews is telling us that it is only as we exercise our (spiritual) senses (i.e. “by constant use have trained themselves”) that we will begin to see the good and the evil and even the strongholds in our lives. Like the athlete, we need to exercise our spirits vigorously and consistently in the deep things of God, when we do this we will be (being) transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then and only then will we be able to prove what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God (Romans 12:1,2), and to fulfill our goal to “identify and change destructive patterns of thought, belief and behaviour”
We will need to talk not only about identifying these things, but also changing them. For today however, I want give some more examples of what Kylstras (of Restoring the Foundations) call ungodly beliefs. Here they are:
• My feelings don't count – no one cares how I feel
• I must not let anyone know who I am (I will always be rejected)
• My value is in what I do
• The perfect life has no conflict
• I am ugly
• I can never change
• No one has problems like me
• The best way to respond when someone hurts me is to cut them off
• I will always be lonely
• God loves others more than me
• When things go wrong, it is God punishing me
• I would be happy if I were rich / successful/ more intelligent
Like with my friend who felt he was a looser, some of these things may appear to be true. They are however all distortions of Biblical truth. For example, God thinks you are beautiful no matter what the World may say. Does that impact you, change you? Many of us have this "rubber heart" syndrome, where it just bounces off us. We need to find ways to ensure that these truths sink in, and for them to become who we believe ourselves to be. If we are to become whole, we must begin the process of taking more notice of what God thinks about us, than of the negative things others may think about us (see also switching fathers April 2011). More to come.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Freedom III. The Importance of forgiveness
I have been saying over and over that we cannot be full of God when we are full of other things. Lets apply this to unforgiveness. We cannot be full of God when we are full of anger or bitterness or resentment, or self righteousness for that matter, or when we are being judgmental. unforgiveness opens up doors to all kinds of things that God wants to protect us from (strife and the like are destructive, no matter whose fault it is). When we are full of these things and not willing to let go, He will not provide for us with the fullness of His love, His Spirit, His joy etc., etc.
I think it is important to say a couple of things about what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness is not saying that what he or she did was okay. Forgiveness is not about pretending it did not hurt us when it did. Forgiveness is not giving permission for the person to do it again. The one who benefits most from my forgiveness is me. One person put it this way “Forgiveness is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past”. And lets make no mistake about it when we do not or cannot forgive, we are contaminated by it. It affects our moods and our physical and spiritual health. Unforgiveness is an acid that eats away at our sense of well being, and when it degenerates into bitterness (and even before) is poisons not only us personally, but also those we love (see “Don't get mad, get even and poison … ). Unforgiveness prevents unity and reconciliation, and promotes the very opposite agenda of our Lord and our God (Ephesians 1:9-11).
Jesus has some of His most difficult teaching about unforgiveness. If we will not forgive others, neither will He forgive us (Matthew 6:15). Forgiveness is about giving the other person (sometimes ourselves) a gift that is undeserved. There is no way that we deserve to be forgiven by God. But He is willing to forgive us freely and fully. He takes our sins and casts them into the sea of forgetfulness. He is our model. I do not pretend this is easy, but we need to realize that unforgiveness is like a cancer to our emotional, spiritual and even physical health. Going through the motions here is not enough. How much cancer do you want them to leave in your body if they operate on you for cancer? Sometimes radical surgery is necessary. It is certainly like this with unforgiveness.
Jesus teaching is, as I say, difficult, but as always it is for our provision and protection, and if we are to enter into this, we need to deal with unforgiveness radically. So He tells us that the same measure with which we forgive, is exactly the same measure we are forgiven. You see we cannot demand or want justice for the other guy, but mercy for me. If we demand justice or revenge (which is what unforgiveness is really all about), then we put ourselves under the Law. And we will be judged by the Law. The Scriptures tell us that by the works of the Law will no one be justified (Galatians 2:16). Actually the Law in intended to show us that we need Christ's righteousness, or as Paul puts it “The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). When we read the Law, we start to realize just how far short we fall of His Glory. What do you want when you die Justice or Mercy (see Pulled over for speeding.... June 2010)? Remember that in many things we all fail (James 3:2)? We will have to give an account of every idle word (Matthew 12:36).
Let me say it again, none of this is to say that it is easy. A quotation from Marianne Williamson says “At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” Like so many other things that He requires of us, He is more than willing to give us help. Most of us find that forgiving someone is a process. It starts with a decision. I choose to forgive. I may need to start a ways back “I am willing to forgive”. When it is really hard we may need to start with “I am willing to be willing”. We have to start where we are “at”, and He understands that . “He knows my frame and He knows we are but dust” (Psalm 103:13). This is where we need to start, but not where we need to end up. We need to continue the process until we can forgive from the heart (Matthew 18:35). The good news is that He helps us when we obey. When we obey He starts the process of healing, and the more we are healed the more able we are to obey, the more we are healed etc., etc. In this way, we enter into His positive cycles of recovery!
I think it is important to say a couple of things about what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness is not saying that what he or she did was okay. Forgiveness is not about pretending it did not hurt us when it did. Forgiveness is not giving permission for the person to do it again. The one who benefits most from my forgiveness is me. One person put it this way “Forgiveness is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past”. And lets make no mistake about it when we do not or cannot forgive, we are contaminated by it. It affects our moods and our physical and spiritual health. Unforgiveness is an acid that eats away at our sense of well being, and when it degenerates into bitterness (and even before) is poisons not only us personally, but also those we love (see “Don't get mad, get even and poison … ). Unforgiveness prevents unity and reconciliation, and promotes the very opposite agenda of our Lord and our God (Ephesians 1:9-11).
Jesus has some of His most difficult teaching about unforgiveness. If we will not forgive others, neither will He forgive us (Matthew 6:15). Forgiveness is about giving the other person (sometimes ourselves) a gift that is undeserved. There is no way that we deserve to be forgiven by God. But He is willing to forgive us freely and fully. He takes our sins and casts them into the sea of forgetfulness. He is our model. I do not pretend this is easy, but we need to realize that unforgiveness is like a cancer to our emotional, spiritual and even physical health. Going through the motions here is not enough. How much cancer do you want them to leave in your body if they operate on you for cancer? Sometimes radical surgery is necessary. It is certainly like this with unforgiveness.
Jesus teaching is, as I say, difficult, but as always it is for our provision and protection, and if we are to enter into this, we need to deal with unforgiveness radically. So He tells us that the same measure with which we forgive, is exactly the same measure we are forgiven. You see we cannot demand or want justice for the other guy, but mercy for me. If we demand justice or revenge (which is what unforgiveness is really all about), then we put ourselves under the Law. And we will be judged by the Law. The Scriptures tell us that by the works of the Law will no one be justified (Galatians 2:16). Actually the Law in intended to show us that we need Christ's righteousness, or as Paul puts it “The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). When we read the Law, we start to realize just how far short we fall of His Glory. What do you want when you die Justice or Mercy (see Pulled over for speeding.... June 2010)? Remember that in many things we all fail (James 3:2)? We will have to give an account of every idle word (Matthew 12:36).
Let me say it again, none of this is to say that it is easy. A quotation from Marianne Williamson says “At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” Like so many other things that He requires of us, He is more than willing to give us help. Most of us find that forgiving someone is a process. It starts with a decision. I choose to forgive. I may need to start a ways back “I am willing to forgive”. When it is really hard we may need to start with “I am willing to be willing”. We have to start where we are “at”, and He understands that . “He knows my frame and He knows we are but dust” (Psalm 103:13). This is where we need to start, but not where we need to end up. We need to continue the process until we can forgive from the heart (Matthew 18:35). The good news is that He helps us when we obey. When we obey He starts the process of healing, and the more we are healed the more able we are to obey, the more we are healed etc., etc. In this way, we enter into His positive cycles of recovery!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Corner stone III: Freedom for the captives- becoming oaks of righteousness II
There is Biblical counterpart to last day's secular recovery saying “We will not change, until the pain of being stuck becomes greater than the pain and fear of change”. The Biblical counterpart is “We will not change until we are hurt enough we have to, learn enough we want to, and receive enough to be able to”. Healing and change and freedom are linked realities. We become more and more free when we change to the direction to which He moves us, and we able change as we become more and more healed.
Concerning receiving enough to be able to change, it is in His embrace that we are healed. It is in fellowship with Him that our broken hearts are meanded, as we find our value and meaning in our connection with Him. It is in Him we find out who we truly are, and where we can even start to feel good about ourselves. What we are talking about here, is intimacy with God. This intimacy is key to our healing, recovery and freedom. But there are many things that can keep us from it . Perhaps the biggest block of all is our sin.
I came to know the Lord out of an ungodly lifestyle, and in a lot of pain. I did not immediately connect my pain to my lifestyle (it is easy to blame everybody else), but I was desperate, and I found in His embrace a Love and comfort that allowed me to survive, and ultimately to start to live. I knew some of the things that displeased Him, and with His help made some early significant adjustments. However, when you have spent a lifetime feeding your various appetites, the desire for those things does not immediately die. It was my pain that God used to teach me what was pleasing to Him, the very same things that bring life. When the old desires got strong enough, and I would start to move towards them, He would as it were, open His arms saying “Phil, you can go there if you want to, but I cannot come with you”. As I continued along my chosen path the pain and the confusion and darkness would start to return and I would run back to His arms saying “Whatever it is Lord show me, I cannot live without You”. And He did show me, and I would choose His way over my sin. In this way, I became very teachable. I was learning that our becoming free, becoming oaks of righteousness and being healed are interrelated. I was starting to learn enough to want to change, to really change and stay changed!
I was encouraged to read the Bible regularly. It was His Word that first alerted me to the connection of my pain and my former lifestyle. I read “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1,2). He was using His Word to confirm what He was teaching me, that I could not have my sin and Him too. I must choose. It was not that He could not hear when I chose other than His ways, He would not hear. I was learning that the nature of reality is that the good things are to be found only in following Him. Oh there is pleasure in sin, but it is only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). Moreover our sin does not really satisfy, but rather as time goes by, we need more and more to get less and less high! In this way we are drawn deeper and deeper into destructive addictions.
Starting to see and understand that sin is destructive is part of learning enough to want to change. Jesus tells us that “He who sins is the slave of sin”. The cornerstone of recovery we are dealing with here is about “freedom to the captives”. Jesus tells us “If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed”. Freedom and healing and God's willingness to intervene in our lives are linked to our response to Him. The Lord uses His promises to draw us to Himself and to wholeness. One such promise is to be found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The context of this verse is about the “desolations” in which we find ourselves when we and/or our culture insists on going our own way. The truth of the matter, the nature of reality if you like, is that sin always has negative consequences. If we will allow Him to, God will use our pain to help us to rethink the direction of our lives. The Bible puts it this way “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).
The problem is we are so easily deceived, but when we come to our senses and are willing to see that a large part of our pain is because of our poor choices, then we find that God is waiting for us to take us back and to heal us. It is our sins that separate us from Him, but our God is gracious, and when we return to Him, He will abundantly pardon, for He is full of compassion. There are three things the above verse tells us that He will do, He will hear us, He will forgive us and He will heal our land. That is God will change the whole course of History in response to the obedience of those who are “called by My name”. He has promised, but it's not automatic. The promise has conditions that must be fulfilled. In fact in this verse from 2nd Chronicles, there are three. Lets take them one at a time
Firstly “If my people …. will humble themselves and pray....” We are a proud people here in the West! That rugged North American independence, the self made man (or woman) attitude, the “I don't need anyone” syndrome, has left us wounded and isolated and lonely. To admit that we need another or even God is humbling. “Christianity is a crutch” I was told. 'No my friend Christianity is a brand new pair of legs, and at some level we all limp without Him'. I don't pretend that it is not humbling to come to the end of ourselves, but we need to go further and humble ourselves and cry out to Him (“humble ourselves and pray'). It is the start of (or the return to) our relationship with Him. When we cry out to Him like this, we will find Him to be gracious and compassionate and He will abundantly pardon.
Secondly “If my people …. will seek my Face ..” As I said above it is in His embrace that we are healed, that we become more and more free. Christianity is not first and foremost about rules and regulations, it is not about ritual, not about church, it is all about Him. I am not saying that these things are not important, but we do need to realize that religion can keep us from Him. His purpose in sending Jesus was not so that we would become religious – after all it was the religious types that crucified Him. His purpose in sending Jesus to die for our sins is so that He could bridge the yawning gulf that our sin caused between you and I and Him. Seeking His face is about prayer too, but it is more than a grocery list of our requests. He wants to pour out His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), it is through sitting before Him in prayer that we experience this.
One of the problems of seeking His face, is that He is Holy and pure and we are not. What this can mean is that we feel guilty in His presence, and we can allow that to keep us from Him. This is perhaps, the main reason we need to fulfill the third condition: “If my people … will turn from their wicked ways”. When we come to God because we are in pain and trouble, more often than not, He will point out something in our lives that He wants to deal with. It is these very same things that keep in bondage. These things may even keep us from seeking His face, but the confession and forsaking sin (turning from our wicked way), and healing and being set free are closely related. James tell us “Confess your faults one to another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).
When we do our part, then He does His. He will hear from heaven. In fact “When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to not only to forgive us our sin, but to cleans us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), and He will heal our land starting with us, and we will increasingly walk in true freedom.
Concerning receiving enough to be able to change, it is in His embrace that we are healed. It is in fellowship with Him that our broken hearts are meanded, as we find our value and meaning in our connection with Him. It is in Him we find out who we truly are, and where we can even start to feel good about ourselves. What we are talking about here, is intimacy with God. This intimacy is key to our healing, recovery and freedom. But there are many things that can keep us from it . Perhaps the biggest block of all is our sin.
I came to know the Lord out of an ungodly lifestyle, and in a lot of pain. I did not immediately connect my pain to my lifestyle (it is easy to blame everybody else), but I was desperate, and I found in His embrace a Love and comfort that allowed me to survive, and ultimately to start to live. I knew some of the things that displeased Him, and with His help made some early significant adjustments. However, when you have spent a lifetime feeding your various appetites, the desire for those things does not immediately die. It was my pain that God used to teach me what was pleasing to Him, the very same things that bring life. When the old desires got strong enough, and I would start to move towards them, He would as it were, open His arms saying “Phil, you can go there if you want to, but I cannot come with you”. As I continued along my chosen path the pain and the confusion and darkness would start to return and I would run back to His arms saying “Whatever it is Lord show me, I cannot live without You”. And He did show me, and I would choose His way over my sin. In this way, I became very teachable. I was learning that our becoming free, becoming oaks of righteousness and being healed are interrelated. I was starting to learn enough to want to change, to really change and stay changed!
I was encouraged to read the Bible regularly. It was His Word that first alerted me to the connection of my pain and my former lifestyle. I read “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1,2). He was using His Word to confirm what He was teaching me, that I could not have my sin and Him too. I must choose. It was not that He could not hear when I chose other than His ways, He would not hear. I was learning that the nature of reality is that the good things are to be found only in following Him. Oh there is pleasure in sin, but it is only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). Moreover our sin does not really satisfy, but rather as time goes by, we need more and more to get less and less high! In this way we are drawn deeper and deeper into destructive addictions.
Starting to see and understand that sin is destructive is part of learning enough to want to change. Jesus tells us that “He who sins is the slave of sin”. The cornerstone of recovery we are dealing with here is about “freedom to the captives”. Jesus tells us “If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed”. Freedom and healing and God's willingness to intervene in our lives are linked to our response to Him. The Lord uses His promises to draw us to Himself and to wholeness. One such promise is to be found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The context of this verse is about the “desolations” in which we find ourselves when we and/or our culture insists on going our own way. The truth of the matter, the nature of reality if you like, is that sin always has negative consequences. If we will allow Him to, God will use our pain to help us to rethink the direction of our lives. The Bible puts it this way “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).
The problem is we are so easily deceived, but when we come to our senses and are willing to see that a large part of our pain is because of our poor choices, then we find that God is waiting for us to take us back and to heal us. It is our sins that separate us from Him, but our God is gracious, and when we return to Him, He will abundantly pardon, for He is full of compassion. There are three things the above verse tells us that He will do, He will hear us, He will forgive us and He will heal our land. That is God will change the whole course of History in response to the obedience of those who are “called by My name”. He has promised, but it's not automatic. The promise has conditions that must be fulfilled. In fact in this verse from 2nd Chronicles, there are three. Lets take them one at a time
Firstly “If my people …. will humble themselves and pray....” We are a proud people here in the West! That rugged North American independence, the self made man (or woman) attitude, the “I don't need anyone” syndrome, has left us wounded and isolated and lonely. To admit that we need another or even God is humbling. “Christianity is a crutch” I was told. 'No my friend Christianity is a brand new pair of legs, and at some level we all limp without Him'. I don't pretend that it is not humbling to come to the end of ourselves, but we need to go further and humble ourselves and cry out to Him (“humble ourselves and pray'). It is the start of (or the return to) our relationship with Him. When we cry out to Him like this, we will find Him to be gracious and compassionate and He will abundantly pardon.
Secondly “If my people …. will seek my Face ..” As I said above it is in His embrace that we are healed, that we become more and more free. Christianity is not first and foremost about rules and regulations, it is not about ritual, not about church, it is all about Him. I am not saying that these things are not important, but we do need to realize that religion can keep us from Him. His purpose in sending Jesus was not so that we would become religious – after all it was the religious types that crucified Him. His purpose in sending Jesus to die for our sins is so that He could bridge the yawning gulf that our sin caused between you and I and Him. Seeking His face is about prayer too, but it is more than a grocery list of our requests. He wants to pour out His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), it is through sitting before Him in prayer that we experience this.
One of the problems of seeking His face, is that He is Holy and pure and we are not. What this can mean is that we feel guilty in His presence, and we can allow that to keep us from Him. This is perhaps, the main reason we need to fulfill the third condition: “If my people … will turn from their wicked ways”. When we come to God because we are in pain and trouble, more often than not, He will point out something in our lives that He wants to deal with. It is these very same things that keep in bondage. These things may even keep us from seeking His face, but the confession and forsaking sin (turning from our wicked way), and healing and being set free are closely related. James tell us “Confess your faults one to another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).
When we do our part, then He does His. He will hear from heaven. In fact “When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to not only to forgive us our sin, but to cleans us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), and He will heal our land starting with us, and we will increasingly walk in true freedom.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Corner stone or recovery III: Freedom for the captives- becoming oaks of righteousness.
There is a secular recovery saying that contains much truth. It is this: “We will not change, until the pain of being stuck becomes greater than the pain and fear of change”. As anyone who has tried to change will tell you, change is difficult. When I reached the sage of my journey where I first started to see my (desperate) need to change, I tried, I really did. In the midst of coming to the realization that I could not do this, I was given a (mental) picture that illuminated for me just how difficult it is to change. The picture was is that of an old fashioned cart with large spoked wooden wheels. The cart was sitting in a cart track where it had cut deep furrows into the mud. In my picture the furrows were deep, showing the wear of much use over many years, and the axle of the cart was at times scraping the central mound.
The thing about the ruts of life, is that once you get into them, the ruts are very likely to determined the way you go. What I saw was that perhaps by exerting almost super human effort, you could manage to push/pull the cart part of way up the side of the rut. The reason it is so hard of course, is because in order to get the cart out of the rut, you essentially have to lift the weight of the cart, and its heavy, weighed down with all the garbage you and I have one way or the other, accumulated in life. By a tremendous continued effort, you could keep the cart at that level, but the moment you relax, the weight of the cart would cause it to tumble back down to the bottom of the rut. Far too often you find yourself right back at square one, or perhaps worse as the weight and the momentum of the cart might actually make the rut deeper, and you could find yourself straddled on the central hump in the road (there were times I did not even seem to be able to move!).
So it is not just the pain and the fear of change that makes it difficult, but the incredible effort it takes to get out of the ruts of life. And then there is the ease with which we so easily fall back into the same old, same old. No wonder we tell ourselves “Its too hard, I can't do this”. It can seems like our “carts” are truly stuck. Have you been there yet? I have! It seems that sometimes we have to come to the end of ourselves, before we become willing to turn to God and ask for His help. Too often He is our last resort, when if we were wise He would be our first resort. In my own journey, I became hurt enough and desperate enough to try anything, yes even God. But when I turned to Him, I found Him to be faithful. I found that His grace is sufficient for me. I found that His strength becomes perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). I found that “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
The help that we get from God is multifaceted. He wants to heal our broken hearts, He wants to love on us, He wants to restore our self worth (or to give it to us if we never ever had it). He wants to help us in our struggles, He wants to comforts us in our pain. He wants to show us how valued we are in His sight, He wants to replace our shame with dignity, exchange the ashes of our lives with beauty. He wants to restore to us the joy which has withered away. He wants to come along side as our helper, He is even willing to change our desires, and to give us the wherewithal to do the things that are good and right and proper.
He could do most of this without our cooperation of course, but as one person put it “Without God man cannot, without man, God will not”. This has to do with affording us dignity. He will not force Himself upon us, and besides He wants all of us. He is a passionate God and He desires that we be passionate about Him. Nothing less than everything will do. He paid an incredible price so that He could bring us close. While we were yet sinners (in our rebellion) He died to save us from ourselves, from our sin and from eternal separation form all that is evil and bad. In light of this, how can we give Him anything less than our best, than all we are and have? In light of His tender mercies it is only reasonable that we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, so that in His presence we might we transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2).
And it is in His presence that everything changes. In His presence we see things as they really are. In His presence we receive healing. In His presence there is fullness of life and fullness of joy. When we drift away, we fall back into the fog of our addictions, our selfishness, our self indulgences, our sin and our hurt and our pain, our confusion our emptiness and our loneliness. We cannot be full of self and full of Him. We cannot be full of anger, or resentment or lust or pride and be full of Him. And we can't even by empty (though we can certainly feel empty). We are all full of something, even if it is only consciousness of our pain!
In fact this is a spiritual application of the physical principle “nature abhors vacuum”. You can't take the air out of a glass (for example) without putting something else into it. When we simply try and stop doing the things that we are doing, either something else will rush in to fill the void, or we will slide back into the same old rut. If we want to get rid of the garbage in our lives, it is not enough to stop doing the bad. We need to be replace the bad with something good. This is all explained in a passage in Matthew (12:43-45) where we are told that when the unclean spirit is cast out and it comes back to find the house clean and swept and empty, he brings with it 7 daemons worse than himself, and the latter sate of the man is worse than the former state. This exactly describes my own experience, my journey. I knew that the life I was living was not good, but was not immediately ready to surrender to Him. I tried to become an oak of righteousness, but it was not a planting of the Lord (Isaiah 61: 3), it was my own effort and it got old and tired very quickly. I then began to slide, slowly at first but quickly much much faster, until I was indeed worse off. I remember the moment of surrender at home alone looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw. “I cannot fight you any more” I told the Lord. “I am not fighting you Phil”, He told me. He took me into His embrace, and almost immediately I had to wonder why I fought Him so hard, it all seemed so right to be there with Him. It was then, and it is now many years later.
I have never regretted my decision to follow Him. He is always faithful, even when I am not. I have learned though that if I want to stay free, I need to stay close to Him. I have learned if and when I fall, to quickly return to Him. He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse me when I confess my sins (1 John 1:8). I don't pretend it is always easy, but I do know that it is always worth it. He heals, He binds up the broken heart, He fill us with good things, and always leads us the way we should go. And the way we should go is what we knew all along, it is the way of righteousness, the way of goodness. We exchange or bad habits for ones that bring life. When we do it His way, we have help, we have a lot of help. I have learned that His ways are not only good and right and proper, they are smart! I have learned the truth that when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36).
(See also the posts “The freedom that enslaves”, “Slavery that frees” and “If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed” August 2010).
The thing about the ruts of life, is that once you get into them, the ruts are very likely to determined the way you go. What I saw was that perhaps by exerting almost super human effort, you could manage to push/pull the cart part of way up the side of the rut. The reason it is so hard of course, is because in order to get the cart out of the rut, you essentially have to lift the weight of the cart, and its heavy, weighed down with all the garbage you and I have one way or the other, accumulated in life. By a tremendous continued effort, you could keep the cart at that level, but the moment you relax, the weight of the cart would cause it to tumble back down to the bottom of the rut. Far too often you find yourself right back at square one, or perhaps worse as the weight and the momentum of the cart might actually make the rut deeper, and you could find yourself straddled on the central hump in the road (there were times I did not even seem to be able to move!).
So it is not just the pain and the fear of change that makes it difficult, but the incredible effort it takes to get out of the ruts of life. And then there is the ease with which we so easily fall back into the same old, same old. No wonder we tell ourselves “Its too hard, I can't do this”. It can seems like our “carts” are truly stuck. Have you been there yet? I have! It seems that sometimes we have to come to the end of ourselves, before we become willing to turn to God and ask for His help. Too often He is our last resort, when if we were wise He would be our first resort. In my own journey, I became hurt enough and desperate enough to try anything, yes even God. But when I turned to Him, I found Him to be faithful. I found that His grace is sufficient for me. I found that His strength becomes perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). I found that “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
The help that we get from God is multifaceted. He wants to heal our broken hearts, He wants to love on us, He wants to restore our self worth (or to give it to us if we never ever had it). He wants to help us in our struggles, He wants to comforts us in our pain. He wants to show us how valued we are in His sight, He wants to replace our shame with dignity, exchange the ashes of our lives with beauty. He wants to restore to us the joy which has withered away. He wants to come along side as our helper, He is even willing to change our desires, and to give us the wherewithal to do the things that are good and right and proper.
He could do most of this without our cooperation of course, but as one person put it “Without God man cannot, without man, God will not”. This has to do with affording us dignity. He will not force Himself upon us, and besides He wants all of us. He is a passionate God and He desires that we be passionate about Him. Nothing less than everything will do. He paid an incredible price so that He could bring us close. While we were yet sinners (in our rebellion) He died to save us from ourselves, from our sin and from eternal separation form all that is evil and bad. In light of this, how can we give Him anything less than our best, than all we are and have? In light of His tender mercies it is only reasonable that we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, so that in His presence we might we transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2).
And it is in His presence that everything changes. In His presence we see things as they really are. In His presence we receive healing. In His presence there is fullness of life and fullness of joy. When we drift away, we fall back into the fog of our addictions, our selfishness, our self indulgences, our sin and our hurt and our pain, our confusion our emptiness and our loneliness. We cannot be full of self and full of Him. We cannot be full of anger, or resentment or lust or pride and be full of Him. And we can't even by empty (though we can certainly feel empty). We are all full of something, even if it is only consciousness of our pain!
In fact this is a spiritual application of the physical principle “nature abhors vacuum”. You can't take the air out of a glass (for example) without putting something else into it. When we simply try and stop doing the things that we are doing, either something else will rush in to fill the void, or we will slide back into the same old rut. If we want to get rid of the garbage in our lives, it is not enough to stop doing the bad. We need to be replace the bad with something good. This is all explained in a passage in Matthew (12:43-45) where we are told that when the unclean spirit is cast out and it comes back to find the house clean and swept and empty, he brings with it 7 daemons worse than himself, and the latter sate of the man is worse than the former state. This exactly describes my own experience, my journey. I knew that the life I was living was not good, but was not immediately ready to surrender to Him. I tried to become an oak of righteousness, but it was not a planting of the Lord (Isaiah 61: 3), it was my own effort and it got old and tired very quickly. I then began to slide, slowly at first but quickly much much faster, until I was indeed worse off. I remember the moment of surrender at home alone looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw. “I cannot fight you any more” I told the Lord. “I am not fighting you Phil”, He told me. He took me into His embrace, and almost immediately I had to wonder why I fought Him so hard, it all seemed so right to be there with Him. It was then, and it is now many years later.
I have never regretted my decision to follow Him. He is always faithful, even when I am not. I have learned though that if I want to stay free, I need to stay close to Him. I have learned if and when I fall, to quickly return to Him. He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse me when I confess my sins (1 John 1:8). I don't pretend it is always easy, but I do know that it is always worth it. He heals, He binds up the broken heart, He fill us with good things, and always leads us the way we should go. And the way we should go is what we knew all along, it is the way of righteousness, the way of goodness. We exchange or bad habits for ones that bring life. When we do it His way, we have help, we have a lot of help. I have learned that His ways are not only good and right and proper, they are smart! I have learned the truth that when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36).
(See also the posts “The freedom that enslaves”, “Slavery that frees” and “If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed” August 2010).
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