Monday, June 8, 2015

ON A HILL FAR AWAY

ON A HILL FAR AWAY

READ:  GENESIS 22:1-12

Take now your son, your only
son Isaac, whom you love.
-Genesis 22:2

I often find myself thinking back to the years when my children were young.  One particular fond memory is our morning wake-up routine.  Every morning I’d go into their bedrooms, tenderly call them by name, and tell them that it was time to get up and get ready for the day.

When I read that Abraham got up early in the morning to obey God’s command, I think of those times when I woke up my children and wonder impart of Abraham’s daily routine was going to Isaac’s bed to wake him-and how different it would have been on that particular morning.  How heart-rending for Abraham to waken his son that morning!

Abraham bound his son and laid him on an altar, but then God provided an alternate sacrifice.  Hundreds of years later God would supply another sacrifice-the final sacrifice-His own Son.  Think of how agonizing it must have been for God to sacrifice His Son, His only Son whom He loved!  And He went through all  of that because He loves you.

If you wonder whether you are loved by God wonder no more.  JOE STOWELL

Lord, I am amazed that You would love me so much 
that you would sacrifice Your Son for me.
Teach me to live gratefully in the embrace of Your
unfailing love.

God has already proven His love for you.

Have a blessed day and week ahead.
God Our Creator’s Love Always.
Unity & Peace


A SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUALITY

Brother Daniel
For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsworld.blogspot.com


A Subjective Spirituality

What do people mean when they say, "I am spiritual not religious?" According to Wikipedia:

       Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. Gradually, the word spiritual came to be associated with the private realm of thought and experience while the word religious came to be connected with the public realm of membership in a religious institution with official denominational doctrines."

As such, "spirituality" has become synonymous with "what works for me." The spiritual person aims at authenticity and genuine encounter rather than a set of sterile doctrines, which they experience as coercive and artificially imposed by external authorities.

In Mama Lola: A Voodoo Priestess in Brooklyn, Anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown confesses her attraction to Voodoo as experiential and non-coercive:

       No Haitian—certainly not [Voodoo Priestess] Alourdes—has ever asked me if I ‘believe’ in Vodoo or if I have set aside the religious commitments and understandings that come from my childhood and culture. Alourdes’ approach is, instead, pragmatic: “You just got to try. See if it works for you.” The choice of relinquishing my worldview or adopting another in its entirety has therefore never been at issue. (10)

Here, Brown expresses a common sentiment among those who are embracing spirituality. It is not about truth but about experience and the now.

In Soul Retrieval, Sandra Ingerman, a shaman, expresses the same sentiments:

       As you read this book and wonder whether or not what I am talking about is real, I ask you not to enter into a battle between the right brain [reason] and left brain [intuition]. Simply read the material and experience it!... Does the information that comes from the shamanic journey work? Does the information make positive changes in a person’s life? If so, who cares if we are making it up? (3)

We want results, now! Doctrine doesn’t seem to deliver as quickly as the spiritual realm. In The Secret Ways of the Lakota, Black Elk, a Sioux shaman states, “You don’t have to wait for five years…The spirit comes and takes me somewhere.”

However, critical questions are seldom asked about the nature of the experience. In  Drawing Down the Moon, the late spiritist, Margo Adler, affirmatively quoted another “spiritist”:

       It seems like a contradiction to say that I have a certain subjective truth; I have experienced the Goddess, and this is my total reality. And yet I do not believe that I have the one, true, right, and only way. Many people cannot understand how I find Her a part of my reality and accept the fact that your reality might be something else. But for me, this is in no way a contradiction, because I am aware that my reality and my conclusions are a result of my unique genetic structure, my life experience and my subjective feelings…This recognition that everyone has different experiences is a fundamental keystone to Paganism; it’s the fundamental premise that whatever is going on out there is infinitely more complex than I can ever understand. And that makes me feel very good.

For this unnamed spiritist, her “subjective feelings” take precedence over all else, even over understanding. Why this disconnect between mind and heart? Adler explained:

       They had become Pagans because they could be themselves and act as they chose, without what they felt were medieval notions of sin and guilt. Others wanted to participate in rituals rather than observe themselves.

Experience is non-coercive. No one can say that your experience is wrong. It places no guilt-inducing demands on the spiritual practitioner that serious moral thinking might impose. At least, that’s the hope. Instead, it is possible that the more we live in opposition to our conscience, the more we will oppose and detest other sources of authority and tradition.

Adler argued that plurality of experience and lifestyle is preferable to a singular set of truths:

       Polytheism is… characterized by plurality… and is eternally in unresolvable conflict with social monotheism, which in its worst form is fascism and in its less destructive forms is imperialism, capitalism, feudalism and monarchy.”

If there is one God, there is no choice. This God then is necessarily the author of a singular set of truths and moral codes to which we must conform. As Adler maintained, for the spiritual person, monotheistic truth is experienced as fascistic, imperialistic, and feudalistic, depriving the spiritual person of choice and their self-centered universe. Monotheism is the anti-thesis of the instant gratification of the “me generation” and the “now generation.”

However, the existence of objective and unchanging truths is the bedrock of science and of all learning. Without these truths, there can be no learning, just experiencing. Should we then suppose that spirituality should be absolutely bereft of objective truths?

What happens when spirituality is divorced from questions of truth? It cannot see beyond the now. But why should it? Here are several considerations:

What feels good in the short run might not be good in the long run. Drugs, junk food, and unprotected sex might suggest that forethought is important.

How does this pertain to spiritual matters? For example, Mindfulness Meditation has become fantastically popular in the West. However, many have reported on its long-range downside. Melissa Karnaze reports on 17 Ways Mindfulness Meditation Can Cause You Emotional Harm. For brevity sake, I will list only the first 11:

1.     You start to judge uncomfortable thoughts and feelings as inferior, unreal, or bad. Which gets in your way of actually learning from them, experiencing and healing them, growing from them, and integrating them.
2.     You get good at stuffing anger and other negative emotions. Which might make them go away — temporarily. But hasn’t shown to be very effective.
3.     If and when a traumatic or emotionally painful experience occurs, you don’t fully process it, and cut your grieving process dangerously short.
4.     You have low tolerance for processing grief. So if you start to remember something traumatic, you stuff it down, potentially re-traumatizing yourself.
5.     You expect meditation to fix your problems for you, resolve your relationship conflicts, and make you happy. Each of those things requires hard work, commitment, and realistically, some discomfort. When you look to meditation to save you, you stop putting in the hard work and commitment, and evade the discomfort. Which makes it harder to effectively work toward your goals.
6.     You detach yourself from conflicts in your life, expecting that meditation will get rid of the negative emotions — and fix the problem altogether. The emotions just signal the problem. Even if you ignore the emotions, the problem is still there.
7.     You detach from your partner or loved one when they’re upset or experiencing an emotion you see as undesirable. You wish they’d just meditate it away, calm down, take a walk, get a grip — do whatever it takes to get rid of the emotion. When you invalidate your partner’s negative emotions, you cause serious wounds to both of you, harming trust and intimacy.
8.     You find it difficult to connect to your feelings when you want to be emotionally honest with yourself and others. Because you’ve trained yourself to avoid them. This impairs your ability to be emotionally intimate with anyone.
9.     Your relationships deteriorate, because you lose touch with what interpersonal conflict really means. After all, no one is really experiencing hurt feelings, right? Those feelings aren’t really real; just dissociate from them. Or, “observe” them.
10. You struggle to empathize with others, or understand their pain. If you don’t feel your own pain — you can’t expect to have compassion for another’s pain.
11. You lose your ability to naturally feel upset, sad, or concerned when there’s an issue in your life that you need to address. This puts a damper on healthy discernment. http://mindfulconstruct.com/2011/02/04/17-ways-mindfulness-meditation-can-cause-you-emotional-harm/

Perhaps some of these dangers are exaggerated, but the spiritual person, having divorced himself from reason, will not even bother to research them. He will not ask, “Has mindfulness advanced the human condition?” After all, it is all about the now and experience!

An exclusively subjective spirituality fails to provide the needed guidance. It cannot answer the questions, “Why am I here, where am I going, and what should I do about it.” Instead, subjectivity divorces us from community and a common language, if all we have is our own experiences. It also alienates us from a quest for truth and even what it means to be fully human.

A plane lacking one of its wings cannot fly. If it does get off the ground, it will soon crash. The spiritual person might reject objective spiritual truth as coercive and imperialistic. However, the alternative is far worse.



CONFIDENT ASSURANCE

Today's promise: God's timing is perfect
Confident assurance
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see. God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 
Hebrews 11:1-2 NLT
Certain of what I could not see!

I led my husband from one room of the condominium to the next.…"It's perfect for us. Let's make an offer." That evening Charles pored over the numbers, making sure we could afford it. "I think we can swing it," he said. I tingled at the thought of moving into our very own home. When the owners accepted our offer, I whooped with joy. "Thank you, Lord."
…"We don't have the money now," Charles said soberly. "You're right," I said. "We don't have the money. But God does. I'm going to ask him for it." The sum of $10,000 came to mind. Each morning I prayed in faith, "Lord, thank you for the $10,000 now hidden, to be revealed according to your will."
Was I treating God like a vending machine? Pop in a prayer and out slides the answer. I remembered times in my life when I have been more focused on my own agenda that on his will. But somehow this time was different. Our new home had come into our lives in such a miraculous way. With a failed job and a bankruptcy in our past, it seemed we had lost our chance to have a place of our own. I prayed, believing, sure of what I hoped for and certain of what I did not see.
Two weeks before closing, Charles flew to Kentucky to visit his ailing parents. Charles told Robert about the condominium and my strange prayer.
A knowing smile spread across Robert's face. "I think I know the answer," he said. "Mom just released $10,000 to each of us from Dad's estate. I planned to tell you about it today."
What had been hidden was now revealed — and the timing, God's timing, was perfect.
Karen O'Connor
Adapted from The Prayer Bible Jean E. Syswerda, general editor, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), p 1369.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House 

WATCH THE LORD RESCUE YOU

Today's promise: God's timing is perfect
Watch the Lord rescue you
The Lord continued to strengthen Pharaoh's resolve, and he chased after the people of Israel who had escaped so defiantely. All the forces of Pharaoh's army — all his horses, chariots, and charioteers — were used in the chase.…

As Pharaoh and his army approached, the people of Israel could see them in the distance, marching toward them. The people began to panic, and they cried out to the Lord for help.

Then they turned against Moses and complained, "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave? Didn't we tell you to leave us alone while we were still in Egypt? Our Egyptian slavery was better than dying out here in the wilderness!"

But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the Lord rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. You won't have to lift a finger in your defense!"
Exodus 14:8-14 NLT

Bearing down

Whatever your worries are today, they probably do not top the 600 Egyptian war chariots bearing down on the children of Israel! Trapped between the mountains and the sea, the people forgot the God who had delivered them from the Pharaoh's hand, and they cried out in despair. But Moses, who focused on the promise of God, stood firm in his hope. When we face our "chariots," it is quite normal to feel anxiety and fear. But when we remember God's faithfulness and his ability to bring good out of any situation, we find our fears calmed and our confidence renewed.
from TouchPoint Bible commentaries by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers (Tyndale) p 62

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

NEVER DISAPPOINTED

Today's promise: God's timing is perfect
Never disappointed
Every day I call to you, my God, but, you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. Yet you are holy. The praises of Israel surround your throne. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. You heard their cries for help and saved them. They put their trust in you and were never disappointed. 
Psalm 22:2-5 NLT

The fugitive translator

William Tyndale was born about 1494 and educated first at Oxford, where he was ordained into the priesthood, then at Cambridge, where he joined the Reformation. He became convinced that England would never be evangelized using Latin Bibles. Tyndale's efforts to get permission to translate the Bible into English were unsuccessful, so he left England.
His first English New Testament was printed in Germany in 1525. As Tyndale's English Bibles were smuggled into England, the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London began attacking him fiercely. On June 18, 1528 Thomas Wolsey, the English cardinal, ordered Tyndale's arrest and extradition to England. It took seven years to track him down, then spent eighteen months in a cold castle dungeon.
Tyndale, in his early forties, was found guilty and condemned to death as a heretic. Referring to the king's opposition to his English Bible, Tyndale said, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes."
The year that Tyndale died, there were two English Bibles containing his translation of the New Testament. When presented to Henry VIII, the king, not realizing it contained Tyndale's work, proclaimed, "In God's name let it go abroad among the people."
Tyndale's Bible translations were his lasting legacy. They were so well done that they made up 90 percent of the wording of the King James Version published nearly one hundred years later.
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 18.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

ACTING IN FAITH

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Acting in faith
That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. 
2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT

You honor Jesus when you act in faith on His Word. 
Ed Cole

Fertile lives

Most of us try to get through life on human wisdom. Some of us succeed. Others of us make so many mistakes that we die with innumerable regrets. If only we could get guidance from above, we would get this "life" stuff right. If only we could hear the voice of the One who knows. If only.
The truth is that we can. The Voice has spoken. His words are available to us. But there's a catch. We have to be willing to obey it. Otherwise, we won't have what Jesus calls "ears to hear." Those who obey what they already know of God have their ears opened to more; and those who have ears open are readily obedient.
The root of the problem is that most of us have trouble, however minor it may be, with obedience. We lose our "ears to hear," and as a result, we fall back on human wisdom. Our lives never match those of the biblical heroes. Why? Human wisdom would not have pushed Abraham up a hill to sacrifice his son; it would not have led God's people to the edge of the Red Sea with an army in pursuit; it would not have marched around Jericho seven times and blasted a trumpet for the wall to fall; and, most strikingly, human wisdom would not have vilified the Son of God on a cross in order to save a wretched race.
Really, when it comes to it, would you prefer to live by the human logic that results from losing your ears to hear? Or would you prefer the cutting-edge, risky-but-real life of a true, radical believer? The answer isn't clear for everyone. But we've seen who lasts. Your Bible is full of their stories. They lived by faith, not by sight.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 30.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

THE POWER IN PRAYER

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
The Power in Prayer
[Jesus told them,] "Now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven." 
Luke 24:49 NLT

Though the Bible be crowded with golden promises from board to board, yet they will be inoperative until we turn them into prayer. 
F. B. Meyer (1847-1929)

Golden promises

Before Jesus sent out the disciples to take the message of the gospel to all nations, he assured them of his promise to send the Holy Spirit. That promise motivated them to continue with one accord in prayer (Acts 1:14). God's promises are provided to stir us and inspire us to pray. Those precious promises — there are hundreds throughout the Bible — show us things God has purposed and wants us to ask for, just as he wanted his disciples to ask for the Holy Spirit so they would have power for ministry. These golden promises teach us about how to pray, and they build our faith. "If I am to have faith when I pray," said American evangelist R.A. Torrey, "I must find some promise in the Word of God on which to rest my faith.…If there is no promise in the Word of God, and no clear leading of the Spirit, there can be no real faith." Today, ask the Lord which of his promises he wants you to pray about. The Holy Spirit will fill you with power from on high to accomplish what needs to be done.
THANK YOU, FATHER, for the promises in your word. May they be incentives for me to continue in prayer so that your will may be accomplished and your kingdom will come in my life, family, nation, and world. Holy Spirit, thank you for dwelling within me and for filling me with your power. Let my prayers be pleasing to you, Father, as your Spirit leads me in praying in light of your promises.
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Praying through the Bible by Cheri Fuller, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), entry for April 29.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

FILL YOURSELF WITH THE WORD

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Fill yourself with the Word
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your Word and following its rules. 
Psalm 119:9 NLT

Let the Bible fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. 
Henrietta Mears

A drunk meets a cop

Dawson Troter, founder of the Navigators, was student body president, basketball team captain, and class valedictorian when he was in high school. But then life fizzled out. He gambled, drank to excess, and caroused. He was staggering through the streets one night when a policeman stopped him, took his car keys, and asked, "Son, do you like this kind of life?" "Sir, I hate it," replied Trotman. Instead of arresting him for drunkenness, the policeman urged Dawson to change his life.
That encounter was a turning point. Dawson attended a church gathering where he was challenged to memorize ten Bible verses stressing salvation. Trotman memorized the verses, then memorized another ten the next week. Several weeks later, as he pondered the meaning of what he had learned, he quietly prayed, "Oh God, whatever it means to receive Jesus, I want to do it right now."
Trotman never got away from the power of the Word. As his knowledge of the Bible grew, he realized that a combination of prayer, worship, service, and the study of Scripture produced spiritual growth.
Harold J. Sala in Heroes
David used every technique he knew to ensure that he'd do things God's way. He programmed God's Word into himself so that he could retrieve it at crucial points along the way. He recited God's Word aloud, reinforcing his learning. He studied and reflected on God's Word. All this transformed his character and kept him on the right path.
Adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotions from the editors of Men of Integrity, a publication of Christianity Today International (Tyndale, 2002), entry for June 5.


Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

EVERY WORD IS TRUE

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Every word is true
Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection. 
Proverbs 30:5 NLT

We must both affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and then live under it. 
Francis Schaeffer
The perfect word

In a world of shifting loyalties, devious cons, and ever-evolving ideas, we need to know where to anchor our souls. We aren't diligent enough to analyze every counterfeit that comes our way, nor are we perceptive enough to expose every false philosophy. Human rationalism is not equipped to establish eternal truth. That's why we need help. Only God can point us in the right direction.
It's a comfort when we are searching for absolutes to actually find them. According to this proverb, such absolute truth will shield us. What from? Every subtle deceit, every malicious word, every doctrinal error, and every false messiah. Much to our dismay, the world is full of empty promises. If we are left to ourselves to figure them all out, we will spend our lives tossed around on tumultuous waves of competing "truths." By the time we obtain understanding by our own efforts, it's too late to settle on the foundation of God's wisdom. In short, we need to be anchored in revelation.
How do we do that? A daily time in God's Word is a good first step. It works truth into our minds on a regular basis. But is that really enough?
Here's a good pattern to follow: First, ask God every day to convince your heart of His truth and to give you discernment of lies. Second, find at least one verse a week to memorize. Chew on it, let it sink in, look at it from every angel, and come up with specific ways to apply it. Third, don't just study God's Word. Fall in love with it. Consume it as voraciously as your favorite meal. God has a way of working into our hearts the things we love. If we love the flawless Word, the flawless Word will dwell within us.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 17.


Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

THE WORD CONVICTS

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
The Word convicts
When the king heard what was written in the law, he tore his clothes in despair. 
2 Chronicles 34:19 NLT

A rampage of revival

If Josiah, kind of Judah, had kept a journal, we might have noted this first significant entry: "Eight years old today" (2 Chronicles 34:1). At that tender age, Josiah had a scepter thrust into his hand. Yet he didn't let the super-responsibilities of those years allow him to forget his Creator. Rather, he "did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight." (34:2)
Another important entry might have been "Sixteen years old today" (2 Chronicles 34:3). That's when Josiah began to rid his country of the pagan shrines, idols, and images that had accumulated during the reigns of prior kings. After he purified the land, Josiah ordered the repair and restoration of the temple.
"Twenty-six years old" (2 Chronicles 34:8) was the midpoint of Josiah's 31-year reign. It was also Back-to-the-Word time. When Hilkiah the high priest stumbled across the "Book of the Law of the Lord as it had been given to Moses" (34:14) and had it read to Josiah, the king was devastated.
Josiah went on a rampage of revival, first making his people covenant to obey the Lord and his laws. Second, he destroyed all idols and required everyone to worship the Lord. And third, he initiated a Passover celebration on a scale that hadn't been seen since the time of the prophet Samuel.
Josiah did everything he could to bring Judah back to God and the treasury of his Word, but the clock of God's favor was running out. Sadly, because the people tired of Josiah's revival, within twenty-five years of Josiah's death, Jerusalem was destroyed and all it people taken in to captivity.
Adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotions from the editors of Men of Integrity, a publication of Christianity Today International (Tyndale, 2002), entry for April 11.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

Thursday, June 4, 2015

MY FATHER IS WITH ME

MY FATHER IS WITH ME

READ: MARK 14:32-50

You will be scattered, each to
his own, and will leave Me alone.
And yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with Me.  John 16:32

A friend struggling with loneliness posted these words on her Facebook page:  “It’s not that I feel alone because I have no friends.  I have lots of friends.  I know that I have people who can hold me and reassure me and talk to me and care for me and think of me.  But they can’t be with me all the time for all time.”

Jesus understands that kind of loneliness.  I imagine that during His earthly ministry He saw loneliness in the eyes of lepers and heard it in the voices of the blind.  But above all, He must have experienced it when His close friends deserted Him (Mark 14:50).

However, as He foretold the disciples’ desertion, He also confessed His unshaken confidence in His Father’s presence.  He said to His disciples:  “[You] will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32)Shortly after Jesus said these words, He took up the cross for us.  He made it possible for you and me to have a restored relationship with God and to be a member of His family.

Being humans, we will all experience times of loneliness.  But Jesus helps us understand that we always have the presence of the Father with us.  God is omnipresent and eternal.  Only He can be with us all the time, for all time.  POH FANG CHIA

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise that You will never leave me or forsake me.  When I feel lonely, help me to rememberYou are always with me.

If You know Jesus, you’ll never walk alone.

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator’s Love Always.

Unity & Peace

DOES PERFECTION GO ALONG WITH THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsworld.blogspot.com

Does Perfectionism go along with the Christian Life?

Perfectionism can kill, as author Khristi Adams points out:

       I wanted to be a woman of God so badly. When people would ask me what or who I aspired to be, I always responded, "a woman of God." I would read and quote Proverbs 31, attend women's conferences, and read books on what it meant to be a virtuous woman. In my journey down the road of biblical womanhood, I heard countless messages on feminine virtue, purity, gentleness, and nobility. I remember feeling like an utter and complete failure, unable to achieve any of those things in their completeness. I was devastated further each time I fell short of the "woman of God" standard. Truthfully, I was chasing an image, a fantasy. I was so busy chasing this unattainable ideal that I denied the very parts of me that made me who I was. I listened to those girls as they described an unreachable standard of womanhood, the person they were all hopelessly striving to be. I was heartsick, because they were all so eager to be her, the "woman of God," that they didn't realize that she was already them. I realized that I didn't want to watch them journey down the winding road of shame and disappointment the way that I had. http://www.cbeinternational.org/resources/article/theres-no-such-thing-woman-god

As Adams correctly points out, this is not only her experience but the experience of many sincere Christians. And understandably so! Christ is perfect, and despite all of our strivings, we will never reach this standard. Result – shame, guilt, despair, and doubts about the entire Christian enterprise.

What then is her answer? Stop aspiring for Christ-likeness:

       We don't have to aspire to be anyone other than who we already are. From there, God molds us into who he intended for us to be.

Adams is correct that “God molds us.” Any of our spiritual fruit is the fruit of the Spirit, but this doesn’t mean that we have no role to play. There is a place in the Christian life for striving or aspiring. The Apostle Paul affirmed this fact:

       Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

This doesn’t mean that there was anything uncertain about Paul’s salvation or his heavenly destination. Instead, it shows that striving has a role in our lives.

Peter specified the same thing:

       But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16)

We have no option but to aspire! Admittedly, this sounds burdensome, even depressing. As Adams eloquently points out, we have repeatedly tried this and utterly failed. However, failure isn’t our divinely promised inheritance. Does God want us to suffer in this manner? Perhaps we are reading Scripture wrongly? Instead, we are reading Scripture incompletely.

While our Lord’s ultimate goal for us isn’t despair and self-loathing, the road to glory must pass through the valley of the shadow of death, where we are humbled:

       And he [Jesus] said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3-4)

Humility is the soil through which all of our fruit grows. Jesus’ disciples asked Him for more faith. He answered that great faith is the recognition that we are never deserving of the slightest thing from our Lord:
       “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:10)

Jesus only ascribed “great faith” to two people, both of whom demonstrated uncanny humility (Mat. 8:8-10; 15:28).

How does our Lord humble us? By showing us the extent of our sin and unworthiness:
       Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every [boasting] mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable [humbled] to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become [humbled and] conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

He tells us that we have to be like Him and how to do it by following His commands. However, we fail miserably and feel shamed, but this is needful. How? To receive the blessings God wants to give us:
       "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14)

We are not going to humble ourselves to admit our utter destitution if we think that we are truly spiritual and, therefore, deserving. Instead, we have to realize that we are sinners in need of the sheer mercy of God if we are to be exalted.

How do we endure in our humbled, self-despairing condition? By knowing the extent of God’s love for us (Eph. 3:16-20) and His forgiveness:
       If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

This endears us to Him. Only when we see our pathetic condition can we also come to adore our Savior as we ought. Actually, this is liberating! He has freed me from trying to prove, even to myself, that I am worthy, that I’ve got what it takes, or that I am a superior Christian. Rather, we come to realize that it is all about Jesus, as it should be! He (not we) has become our righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).



CONSUME MY LIFE

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Consume my life
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. 
Jim Elliot, 1949

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus. 
Jim Elliot, 1948

Jim Elliot's prayer

When he died [at the hands of the Auca Indians], Jim left little of value, as the world regards values.…Of material things, there were few; a home in the jungle, a few well-worn clothes, books, and tools. The men who went to try to rescue the five [missionaries — all of whom died] brought back to me from Jim's body his wrist watch, and from…the beach, the blurred pages of his college prayer-notebook. There was no funeral, no tombstone for a memorial.…No legacy then? Was it "just as if he had never been"? Jim left for me, in memory, and for us all, in these letters and diaries, the testimony of a man who sought nothing but the will of God, who prayed that his life would be "an exhibit of the value of knowing God."
The interest which accrues from this legacy is yet to be realized. It is hinted at in the lives of…Indians who have determined to follow Christ, persuaded by Jim's example; in the lives of many who write to tell me of a new desire to know God as Jim did.…His death was the result of simple obedience to his Captain.
Jim Elliot and four other missionaries met their deaths trying to reach the Auca Indians for Christ.
Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty
Adapted from The Prayer Bible Jean E. Syswerda, general editor, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), p375.
Digging Deeper: End of the Spear by Steve Saint (Tyndale, 2005), son of Nate Saint, chronicles the story of the encounter with the Ecuadorian tribe, which also became a major motion picture.


Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

BLESSED REST

Blessed rest
Blessed are those who die in the Lord…They are blessed indeed, for they will rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them! 
Revelation 14:13 NLT


From killers to converts

In January 1956 the news media told the world how five missionaries had been martyred by members of a primitive Ecuadorian tribe, the Waodani, popularly known until recently as the "Aucas." What happened to the tribe after that fateful day?
Rachel Saint, the sister of slain missionary Nate Saint, had already learned their language from Dayuma, who had fled from her tribe ten years earlier. As Rachel learned the language, Dayuma learned more and more of what Christ's love could mean for her personally. She finally confessed her faith in Christ to become the first convert. In 1957 Betty Elliot, who continued serving in Ecuador after the death of her husband, Jim, made contact with two women who had left the tribe, looking for Dayuma.
Over time, Dayuma was able to return and share the gospel with her fellow Waodani. One by one they began to put their trust in the Lord Jesus (including the five men who had murdered the missionaries).
Rachel Saint began the translation of the New Testament into Waorani, the official language of the tribe. It was completed by Catherine Peake and Rose Jung. On June 11, 1992, the Waodani finally received the New Testament in their language. The "Auca Five" did not die in vain.
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 11.
Digging Deeper: End of the Spear by Steve Saint (Tyndale, 2005), son of Nate Saint, chronicles the story of the encounter with the Ecuadorian tribe, which also became a major motion picture. Also read Through Gates of Splendor, the original telling of the story by Elizabeth Elliot (Tynd ale, 1986).


Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

THE SERVANT'S REWARD

Today's promise: Christ will return
The servant's reward
If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.
Matthew 24:46 NLT


A day of reward

There are as many ways to look at the return of Jesus as there are opinions about how it will happen.…To the Romans, Paul calls is the "day of God's wrath" (Romans 2:5).…In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to it as the "day of the Lord" (1 Cor. 5:5). And in his second letter to the same church he calls it the "day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).…To the Ephesians he calls it a "day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30). And he encourages the church of Philippi to stand strong until the "day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Jude doesn't even try to describe it — he just calls it the "great Day" (Jude 1:6).
Each of these phrases suggests a unique and different view.…But there's one I like the best. For followers of Jesus, it will be a day of reward.
James tells us, "God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him: (James 1:12).…In his second letter to Timothy [Paul says], "Now the prize awaits me — the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return" (4:8).
But it is Jesus himself who puts it best: "Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven" (Matt. 5:12). As Christians, we have a lot to look forward to!
Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for January 5.


Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House