CALMING YOUR SOUL

Calming Your Soul

Read: Matthew 11:25-30
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 1-2; Galatians 5

Be still, and know that I am God.—Psalm 46:10

While attending a concert, my mind detoured to a troublesome issue that insisted on my attention. Thankfully, the distraction was short-lived as the words of a beautiful hymn began to reach deep into my being. A men’s a capella group was singing “Be Still, My Soul.” Tears welled up as I listened to the words and contemplated the restful peace that only God can give:

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side! Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change He faithful will remain.

When Jesus was denouncing the unrepentant towns where He had done most of His miracles (Matt. 11:20-24), He still had words of comfort for those who would come to Him. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened . . . . learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (vv. 28-29).

This statement is striking! Immediately following His strong words for those who were rejecting Him, Jesus extended an invitation to all to draw near to Him to find the peace we all yearn for. Jesus is the only one who can calm our restless, weary souls. —Joe Stowell

 I come to You now, Lord, in need of rest for my heart. Help me to trust You and be confident in Your love.

For further study, read The Lord Is My Shepherd at discoveryseries.org/hp952.

When we keep our minds on Jesus, He keeps our minds at peace.

INSIGHT: Our passage today comes on the heels of Jesus denouncing the cities where most of His miracles were performed (Matt. 11:20-24). Bethsaida, one of the denounced cities, literally means “fisherman’s house.” It was a village on the north side of the Sea of Galilee and could have been the birthplace of three of the disciples: Andrew, Peter, and Philip.

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THE UNSATISFIED HUNGER OF A PANTHEIST

THE UNSATISFIED HUNGER OF A PANTHEIST

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

A pantheist believes that everything is God and that we are also God- just one reality. Nevertheless, one pantheist wrote:

* You are not here accidentally -- you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.

But if the "whole intends to do something through you," there are at least two intelligent and willful people involved. Therefore, I responded:

* If we are all one, there cannot be Another who loves us, plans for us, guides us, protects us, and enters into a relationship with us.

The pantheist wants it both ways. He wants to be God and wants Another to watch out for him. However, he cannot have both.

The pantheist is like a hungry man who wants to eat but has an aversion to food. Such are those who want the things of Christ but have no taste for Him.

EVANGELICAL UNIVERSALISTS (EUs) AND THE FINALITY OF ETERNAL JUDGMENT

EUs believe that, eventually, everyone will go to heaven, even if they have to suffer for a while in purgatory. Why do they believe in such a counter-Scriptural teaching? Because EUs believe that the teaching of “eternal judgment” is not consistent with the love of God. If God loves the entire world, then His love requires that He should save all.

However, it is also inconsistent with love to preach a false and unbiblical hope. Instead, there are many of verses that indicate that punishment is eternal. Here are just a few:

∑       And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

∑       “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41, 46)

∑       “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29)

∑       For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

∑       “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:11)

∑       “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:10 )

∑       “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” (Jude 13; 2 Peter 2:17)

These verses instruct us that hell is just as eternal as is heaven. If heaven is everlasting; so too is hell. They give us no hope that those who go there will have an opportunity to subsequently emerge into eternal heavenly life.

There are also many verses that equate hell with “destruction.” (I will not try to decide whether “destruction” simply means complete annihilation – non-existence – or merely the destruction of everything good. For now, it is enough to demonstrate that eternal judgment entails a terrible fate.):

∑       “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19 )

∑       and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. (Philippians 1:28)

∑       But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3:7)

These verses are associated with the “end” and the “day of judgment” and are contrasted with salvation, indicating that in the end, the ungodly will be destroyed. This has the sound of finality. There remove any hope of blessedness.

If universal salvation was a fact, most of the Bible would become irrelevant. Take John's letter, which he wrote to assure Christians that they are saved (1 John 5:13) by giving them ways to test themselves. If all are saved, any test become needless:

∑       “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives FOREVER... As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life.” (1 John 2:17, 24-25 )

If all are saved, none of these tests matter at all. Instead, John wrote that "eternal life" is something that is promised only to believers - "us." It is only those who are obedient - and obedience is a sign of saving faith - who will "live forever."

∑       “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)

EUs will add that we do not have life yet, at least not until we complete out purgatory. However, nowhere in Scripture do we read anything like: "Well, they might not have life in this life, but in the next life, they will have life."

Instead, Scripture offers no such hope for those who reject Jesus in this life. No evidence of post-death salvation! To preach otherwise is to go beyond Scripture. Instead, His Word continually warns that there are explicit and eternal consequences for the unrepentant:

∑       “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

∑       Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

These two sets of verses are especially damning. Why? Because they explicitly claim that the unrepentant “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” No chance!

However, the EU claims that the love of God would never condemn His creation to eternal torment. In fact, the belief that all will be saved has become fantastically popular. Why?

1.    It has become highly distasteful, in the West especially, to believe in a God who judges. It is far more comfortable to believe in a God of love rather than One of justice also.

2.    This doctrine has also become scorned, and those who hold to the doctrine of an eternal punishment are made to feel embarrassed.

3.    In the West, we have become too comfortable, too safe. We do not face daily victimization, which makes us yearn for eternal justice and to value such a God.

More importantly, the EU’s understanding of “love” is inconsistent with the Bible’s teachings on this subject. Rather, it seems that it is possible to eventually place ourselves outside of the parameters of God’s love:

∑       “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32)

Eventually, God gives us over to our hearts’ desires (Romans 1:24-28). He allows us to go our own way and even to choose our own eternal fate (John 3:17-20). If we hate the light in this life, we will most certainly detest and flee from it in the next.

Who then is at fault? Not God, but us!

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WORDS THAT MATTER

Words That Matter

Read: 1 John 1:1-4
Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 6-8; Galatians 4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes . . . this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.—1 John 1:1

Early in my days of working as an editor for Our Daily Bread, I selected the cover verse for each month’s devotional. After a while, I began to wonder if it made a difference.

Not long after that, a reader wrote and described how she had prayed for her son for more than twenty years, yet he wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Then one day he stopped by to visit her, and he read the verse on the cover of the booklet that sat on her table. The Spirit used those words to convict him, and he gave his life to Jesus at that very moment.

I don’t recall the verse or the woman’s name. But I’ll never forget the clarity of God’s message to me that day. He had chosen to answer a woman’s prayers through a verse selected nearly a year earlier. From a place beyond time, He brought the wonder of His presence to my work and His words.

John the disciple called Jesus “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). He wanted everyone to know what that meant. “We proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us,” he wrote of Jesus (v. 2). “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v. 3).

There is nothing magical in putting words on a page. But there is life-changing power in the words of Scripture because they point us to the Word of life—Jesus. —Tim Gustafson

Thank You, Father, that Your Word is living and powerful!

Words that point us to Christ are always words that matter.

INSIGHT: In the Greek language in which it was originally penned, the verbs in 1 John 1:1-2 are in the perfect tense. They describe something completed in the past with abiding results into the present: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. . . . The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.” These verses connect remarkably with John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . Through him all things were made.”

PASS IT ON

Pass It On

Read: Psalm 78:1-8
Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 4-5; Galatians 3

We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.—Psalm 78:4

I enjoy watching relay races. The physical strength, speed, skill, and endurance required of the athletes amaze me. But one crucial point of the race always gets my special attention and makes me anxious. It is the moment the baton is passed to the next athlete. One moment of delay, one slip, and the race could be lost.

In a sense, Christians are in a relay race, carrying the baton of faith and the knowledge of the Lord and of His Word. And the Bible tells us about our need to pass this baton from one generation to another. In Psalm 78, Asaph declares: “I will utter . . . things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us . . . . We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done” (vv. 2-4).

Moses said something similar to the Israelites: “Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (Deut. 4:9).

For generations to come, we are called to lovingly and courageously do whatever we can to pass along “the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). —Lawrence Darmani

Father, help me to be faithful in passing my faith along to someone else.

Share with us at odb.org/story the ways you are passing along your faith to the next generation.

We influence future generations by living for Christ today.

INSIGHT: It is interesting that Psalm 78:2 makes reference to speaking in parables. Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 13:35. Jesus is the Master Teacher, and His primary teaching tool was the parable. A parable has been called “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Each story conveys an insight into God and the human condition. Yet in a very mysterious way, Jesus used parables to confound the wise. In Mark, Christ quoted Isaiah regarding the lack of spiritual understanding of those who have hardened hearts. He said he spoke in parables so that “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!” (4:12).

WORDS FOR THE WEARY

Words for the Weary

Read: Isaiah 50:4-10
Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 1-3; Galatians 2

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.—Isaiah 50:4

A few days after his father died, 30-year-old C. S. Lewis received a letter from a woman who had cared for his mother during her illness and death more than two decades earlier. The woman offered her sympathy for his loss and wondered if he remembered her. “My dear Nurse Davison,” Lewis replied. “Remember you? I should think I do.”

Lewis recalled how much her presence in their home had meant to him as well as to his brother and father during a difficult time. He thanked her for her words of sympathy and said, “It is really comforting to be taken back to those old days. The time during which you were with my mother seemed very long to a child and you became part of home.”

When we struggle in the circumstances of life, an encouraging word from others can lift our spirits and our eyes to the Lord. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary” (50:4). And when we look to the Lord, He offers words of hope and light in the darkness. —David McCasland

Heavenly Father, help me to hear Your word of hope today. And help me to speak words of hope and encouragement to others, pointing them to You.

Kind words can lift a heavy heart.

INSIGHT: The Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary gives this description of Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant: “[In Isaiah 50:1-11] it is revealed how the Servant learned through his own rejection to comfort the weary and discouraged. The phrase ‘Sovereign Lord’ occurs four times and may be better translated ‘My Master God.’ It emphasized that the Servant had a Master (God) to whom he submitted and in whom he found help. The ‘words of wisdom’ (50:4) was a reference to his speaking or prophetic ministry. The followers of the Servant were called upon to trust in God, who would bring judgment upon the disobedient (50:10-11).”

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CONNECTING THE DOTS

Connecting the Dots

Read: Luke 24:13-32
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 4-6; 2 Corinthians 12

Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.—Luke 24:27

In the 1880s French artist Georges Seurat introduced an art form known as pointillism. As the name suggests, Seurat used small dots of color, rather than brush strokes of blended pigments, to create an artistic image. Up close, his work looks like groupings of individual dots. Yet as the observer steps back, the human eye blends the dots into brightly colored portraits or landscapes.

The big picture of the Bible is similar. Up close, its complexity can leave us with the impression of dots on a canvas. As we read it, we might feel like Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus. They couldn’t understand the tragic “dotlike” events of the Passover weekend. They had hoped that Jesus “was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21), but they had just witnessed His death.

Suddenly a man they did not recognize was walking alongside them. After showing an interest in their conversation, He helped them connect the dots of the suffering and death of their long-awaited Messiah. Later, while eating a meal with them, Jesus let them recognize Him—and then He left as mysteriously as He came.

Was it the scarred dots of the nail wounds in His hands that caught their attention? We don’t know. What we do know is that when we connect the dots of Scripture and Jesus’s suffering (vv. 27, 44), we see a God who loves us more than we can imagine. —Mart DeHaan

Jesus laid down His life to show His love for us.

INSIGHT: In today’s reading, Jesus came alongside two disciples traveling to Emmaus (v. 13). This appearance took place in the “nearly evening” of Sunday (vv. 29-30). The gospel writer Mark said, “Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them” (Mark 16:12). This was why they did not recognize Him until later (Luke 24:16, 31).

THE GATES OF WORSHIP

The Gates of Worship

Read: Psalm 100
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 10-12; Galatians 1

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.—Psalm 100:4

When you enter some of the greatest cities in the world, you can encounter famous gates such as the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin), the Jaffa Gate (Jerusalem), and the gates at Downing Street (London). Whether the gates were built for defensive or ceremonial purposes, they all represent the difference between being outside or inside certain areas of the city. Some are open; some are closed to all but a few.

The gates into the presence of God are always open. The familiar song of Psalm 100 is an invitation for the Israelites to enter into the presence of God through the temple gates. They were told to “shout for joy” and “come before him with joyful songs” (vv. 1-2). Shouting for joy was an appropriate expression when greeting a monarch in the ancient world. All the earth was to sing joyfully about God! The reason for this joyful noise was that God had given them their identity (v. 3). They entered the gates with praise and thanksgiving because of God’s goodness and His steadfast and enduring love which continues through all generations (vv. 4-5). Even when they forgot their identity and wandered away from Him, God remained faithful and still invited them to enter His presence.

The gates into God’s presence are still open, inviting us to come and worship. —Marvin Williams

What should motivate us to worship God? What statement of praise could you give to God today?

The gates into the presence of God are always open.

INSIGHT: Psalm 100 is poetry packed with image-rich language. When the psalmist says we are the Lord’s, this reminds us of His creative and redeeming work. The Bible tells us that if we have faith in Christ, we are His in at least two ways: We are His because He created us (Gen. 1:26-31) and because He has adopted us as His family (Eph. 1:5). The psalmist also uses the image of a sheep. We are “the sheep of His pasture.” We belong to Him and can enter His gates because we are under His care. Jesus Himself uses this image of sheep and gates in John 10:7-9 when explaining what it means to be saved.

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FIERY TRIALS

Fiery Trials

Read: James 1:2-12
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 13

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.—James 1:2

Fire can be one of the worst enemies of trees. But it can also be helpful. Experts say that small, frequent fires called “cool” fires clean the forest floor of dead leaves and branches but don’t destroy the trees. They leave behind ashes, which are perfect for seeds to grow in. Surprisingly, low-intensity fires are necessary for healthy growth of trees.

Similarly, trials—pictured as fire in the Bible—are necessary for our spiritual health and growth (1 Peter 1:7; 4:12). James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

It is in the season of trial that God’s purposes are often realized, for there the conditions are right for us to grow into spiritual maturity. This growth not only equips us for living, but it also enables us to more accurately reflect Jesus to a world that desperately needs Him.

In the hands of our Father, our trials can achieve His purposes for our good and for His honor. They can shape us into the likeness of His Son. —Bill Crowder

Father, teach me to trust You for the strength to endure difficulties and the faith to wait for Your good purposes to be accomplished in me.

Encourage others! Go to odb.org and share what God taught you through a challenging time.

Faith is seeing God in the dark and in the light.

INSIGHT: James, the half-brother of Jesus, believed that Christ was the Messiah after witnessing His resurrection from the dead. James led the early church as a “Messianic Jew,” a term referring to someone who has been reared in the traditions of Judaism and who acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah. In today’s reading, James says that a positive attitude toward trials—“consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds” (1:2)—is central to the Christian life. Trials are beneficial because they produce positive character change through the power of God.

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ARE GOD AND ETERNAL PUNISHMENT UNJUST?

ARE GOD AND ETERNAL PUNISHMENT UNJUST?

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:

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Many accuse the God of the Bible as being unfair and unjust. How? Because those who believe in Him are going to heaven and those who sincerely believe in other things and deities are going to hell!

Jesus told a parable that addresses this issue:

∑       “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1-2; ESV)

However, the master did not stop there. Throughout the day, he continued to invite all to come and labor in his vineyard. At the end of the work-day, he gave them all the same wage. However, those who have worked the longest were irate. Therefore, the master explained that he wasn’t unfair:

∑       “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:13-16)

It seems that the irate parties left. They had been the first, but in an eternal sense, they had become the last. How? They stormed away from the master and had rejected any future hope of his mercy. They had, in a sense, damned themselves by their self-righteous attitude.

Does this parable represent the nature of the final judgment? There is a lot of Biblical evidence in favor of the reality that we already stand self-condemned. For one thing, we have condemned ourselves in this life:

∑       “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment [or condemnation]: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:17-20; John 8:15; 12:47-49)

Already, those who do not believe stand condemned. Well, who condemned them? Jesus didn’t come into the world “to condemn the world.” From where, then, does the condemnation come? From ourselves! We have refused to believe, despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of the Gospel. Elsewhere, Jesus explained that even someone rising from the dead wouldn’t, in itself, produce faith (Luke 16:19-31). Why not? Primarily, faith in Christ is a matter of the heart. Ordinarily, we love the darkness rather than the light.

Does this same principle of self-condemnation apply also to the next life? It certainly is reasonable to conclude so. If, in this life, we hate the light so that we reject it in favor of the darkness, what will be the case in the next life when the light is more intense? Will the unbeliever flee? Yes:

∑       But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. (Malachi 3:2; Psalm 1:5; 24:1-2; Isaiah 20:20-22; Revelation 6:15-16; Luke 21:36)

Why this terror before the Lord? This had been the reality for Israel before the redemption of the Cross. They could not endure the presence of God or even His voice:

∑       Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. (Deuteronomy 5:25)

What enables us to stand now? Only one thing – the blood of Christ poured out for our sins! However, this must be received by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Without this, no one will be able to stand.

And will their final judgment not be mediated by God? Yes! However, it seems that only the redeemed will be able to stand before our Lord to receive His mercy. The others will flee (Rev. 20:11).

But weren’t the first workers right in being irate? In a human sense, yes! We deserve a fair wage from our employer. However, the denarius that they had been given at the end of the day was a fair and agreed-upon wage. What then was the substance of their complaint? The first-comers had become irate with the master’s generosity towards those workers who had arrived after them. Consequently, they stormed off.

Well, why shouldn’t they have been irate that the master’s generosity was extended to the late-comers? The master explained that he had been fair and just with the first comers and that he had a right to be generous to the late-comers.

Salvation is offered to all, even to those who haven’t heard the Gospel:

∑       For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

God is angry at humanity. Why? He has offered Himself to all. They all have been given irrefutable evidence of His existence and even who He is. Therefore, they are “without excuse” in rejecting Him.

But can’t humanity sincerely reject this God of the Bible? Not sincerely! Because of the magnitude of the evidence, they, all of us, are “without excuse.” None of us deserve anything from this Holy God but judgment (Romans 3:23; 6:23). What hope, then, do we have? The mercy of God!

The first-comers had witnessed the mercy of God, but they rejected it. Humanity is convinced that they do not need His mercy and that they are good and deserving people.

Well, can’t we honestly come to this conclusion? No! Israel should never have come to this conclusion. Scripture continually taught against it:

∑       “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” (Deuteronomy 27:26)

Unless we are totally delusional, we realize that we have failed in many ways. Scripture makes this explicit:

∑       Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. (Psalm 143:2)

∑       If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3)

∑       “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin”…(1 Kings 8:46)

For Israel, these were incontestable truths. Their entire sacrificial system affirmed their sinfulness. Nevertheless, most had erroneously convinced themselves that they could earn their way to heaven.

However today, we are encouraged to forgive ourselves, even after we beat our wives. In this way, we are in denial that we have broken God’s laws. However, our feelings of guilt and shame continue to testify against us, no matter how hard we try to forgive ourselves. We can suppress these feelings, but they continue to condemn us (and so will our wives), mirroring the prospect of the ultimate condemnation.

We must give thanks where thanks are due! The first-comers never thanked the master for hiring and paying them. Humanity fails to thank God for the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat, the surrounding beauty and pleasures, and even for their lives. Instead, we have convinced ourselves, like the first-comers, that it is all owed to us.

We are “without excuse” when we cop such an attitude. It is like receiving a gift by UPS and refusing to look at the enclosed card to learn the identity of the giver. This might give us a sense that we are indebted to them. Consequently, in the future, we will avoid and reject this giver to whom we have refused to give thanks.

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WORTH THE CALORIES?

Worth the Calories?

Read: Philippians 4:4-9
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

If anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.—Philippians 4:8

I love egg roti prata, a popular pancake in my country of Singapore. So I was intrigued to read that a 125-pound (57 kg) person must run 5 miles (8 km) per hour for 30 minutes to burn 240 calories. That’s equivalent to only one egg roti prata.

Ever since I started working out in the gym, those numbers have taken on a new significance for me. I find myself asking: Is this food worth the calories?

While it is wise to watch our food consumption, it is even more important to watch our media consumption. Research shows that what we see can stay in our minds for a long time and influence our behavior. It has a “clingy effect,” sticking to us like that stubborn fat we find so hard to lose.

With the wide variety of media content surrounding us today, we need to be discerning consumers. That doesn’t mean we read only Christian literature or watch only faith-related movies, but we are careful about what we allow our eyes to see. We might ask ourselves: Is this worth my time?

In Philippians 4:8, the apostle Paul tells us in essence, “Feed your eyes and minds on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy.” This is a “diet” worthy of what Christ has done and is doing in us. —Poh Fang Chia

Are my viewing habits enhancing my life or are they drawing me away from things that really matter? Help me, Lord, to make wise choices.

The mind is formed by what it takes in.  Will Durant

INSIGHT: Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters (written while a prisoner). Professor Reggie Kidd makes this observation: “Paul’s emotional state was complex. On the one hand, he was suffering. But on the other hand, he made a conscious decision to focus on the good things rather than on the bad things. And this choice helped him endure the sufferings of prison as well as his mistreatment at the hands of other preachers (see Phil. 1:17-18). And Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:6-8 was consistent with this attitude. . . . Thinking optimistically, and fighting against anxiety and discouragement, is a means of calling upon God to guard our hearts and minds. And therefore, it is also a means of persevering.”

MAKING PREPARATIONS

Making Preparations

Read: John 14:1-6
Bible in a Year: Proverbs 30-31; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.—John 14:3

As we viewed my father-in-law’s body in his casket at the funeral home, one of his sons took his dad’s hammer and tucked it alongside his folded hands. Years later, when my mother-in-law died, one of the children slipped a set of knitting needles under her fingers. Those sweet gestures brought comfort to us as we remembered how often they had used those tools during their lives.

Of course, we knew that they wouldn’t actually need those items in eternity. We had no illusions, as the ancient Egyptians did, that tools or money or weapons buried with someone would better prepare them for the next life. You can’t take it with you! (Ps. 49:16-17; 1 Tim. 6:7).

But some preparation for eternity had been necessary for my in-laws. That preparation had come years before when they trusted Jesus as their Savior.

Planning for the life to come can’t begin at the time of our death. Each of us prepares our heart by accepting the gift of salvation made possible by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.

At the same time, God has made preparations as well: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). He has promised to prepare a place for us to spend eternity with Him. —Cindy Hess Kasper

Father, we’re grateful that we will have a place with You one day. Thank You that you will fill us with joy in Your presence.

God gives us time—to prepare for eternity.

INSIGHT: Preparation was an important theme in Jesus’s final teaching time with His followers. His “upper room discourse” opens with the promise of a place in the Father’s house (John 14:2), where Jesus would go and prepare a place for His followers. The imagery of a prepared place in the house of the Lord was not new. This same idea brought comfort to David, who sang, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23:6). As it was with David, Jesus’s disciples had this hope. And so do we! He promised to return for His own and take us to the place He has prepared.

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WHY MASOCHISM: SELF-ATONEMENT AND SELF-PUNISHMENT

WHY MASOCHISM: SELF-ATONEMENT AND SELF-PUNISHMENT

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We are bound up by powerful psychological needs. A leading culprit is the need to punish ourselves - masochism. This impulse is so powerful that it lies at the heart of much that we call “religion.” Why? Guilt, shame, and the pervasive sense that we are undeserving are so powerful, that we have been forced to seek out various strategies to alleviate these feelings. According to Wikiversity.org:

∑       This may be a motivating factor for cases of some religious activities, physically or verbally abusive relationships, self-harm, obsessive emotions, abstinence and castration, and typical masochism. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Motivation_and_emotion/Book/2014/Masochism_and_motivation

We fail to realize how pervasive and powerful is the masochistic impulse. We also tend to fail to understand its logic. It is not about the pain but what self-punishment can accomplish:

∑       People may put up with pain just to receive a corresponding pleasant experience, but not actually take pleasure from the pain itself (Klein, 2014; Sandler, 1964). In these cases it is the end state of achievement that is desired, not the journey which involves the unpleasant sensations. Pain that is endured for the sake of the goal, which would not be engaged in if the goal could be achieved another way, may not be considered truly masochistic (Klein, 2014).

∑       For some, masochism may be a way of avoiding or atoning for feelings of guilt (Baumeister, 1988; Haliparn, & Haliparn 2004; Katz 1990)…If a person feels guilty, and that they deserve punishment, suffering may seem rational, but some masochists may feel this guilt without justification (Goldstein, 1983). The feeling of deserving undesirable sensations may lead people to put themselves into situations which they know will be likely to have undesirable consequences, such as physically or emotionally abusive relationships (Haliparn, & Haliparn, 2004).

It seems that all religious groups contain sects that have practiced self-depravations and self-immolations, including whippings and cuttings, as attempts to become acceptable to the deities. This has also been true of certain “Christian” groups. In “A History of Torture,” George Riley Scott, meticulously catalogues these perversions:

∑       Early Christians deprived themselves of the necessities of life: eating such poor diets that they suffered physical illnesses, living in squalid and unhygienic conditions in remote places. They flagellated themselves and allowed their wounds to become infected. They chained themselves to fixed objects. They lived for years on top of tall pillars. They walled themselves up in tiny, dark, infested holes. Sometimes they wore nothing at all except perhaps a girdle of thorns. Such practices passed into traditional monastic life, which established standardised privations known as "the discipline". Monks, nuns and others were frequently scourged, either routinely or for minor offences. Saint. Kevin spent his days either standing naked in one of the frigid lakes of Ireland, or hurling himself naked into a patch of nettles. Either way, like many other saints, he seemed to have preferred life without his clothes on. http://www.badnewsaboutchristianity.com/gfj_sadomasochism.htm

As the plague stalked fourteenth century Europe, a flagellant sect arose. They thought that the plague was a sign of God’s displeasure and punishment. Therefore, the flagellants paraded through Europe whipping one another, convinced that this would earn God’s favor. And for this, they received high grades from their admirers.

However many examples of self-punishment might be found within the annuls of Christianity, these examples represent the exact opposite of the Christian faith. Christ paid the price for our sins so that we no longer have to pay for them:

∑       In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation…For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19, 21; ESV)

As the “righteousness of God,” we need not continue to pay for our sins. We are already righteous in the eyes of God. No more self-atonement! Jesus paid the price in full. Therefore, to punish ourselves represents a denial of what Jesus had accomplished for us on the Cross! Without this knowledge and assurance, masochism will continue to dominate our lives. The late Christian thinker, Rousas Rushdoony, provided several examples of this psychological captivity:

∑       Alcoholism is a well-known form of self-punishment, and marriage to a known alcoholic is also Masochistic. For example, when an alcoholic husband quits drinking the major problem is very often the wife, who has now lost her "cross to bear". Her behaviour can become bizzare and erratic as she seeks a new form of self-punishment. Having now "lost her cross"; she may drive the man back to drink again to regain her "cross".

Masochism (self-atonement) expresses itself in many different ways. According to Rushdooney, even good deeds can reflect the quest for self-atonement:

∑       Playing the role of "public saint" in order to "atone" for private guilt. "The more unpleasant the role, the more desirable its function for purposes of atonement...Self conscious burden-bearing, public works of virtue, worrying and fretting, worship or penance, all serve as devices for self-atonement, as forms of do-it-yourself salvation."

Self-atonement can even become the mindset of a nation:

∑       Larger group concentrations featuring co-operation between Masochists is not unknown. As a matter of fact, entire nations and groups of people can be involved in "collective guilt" or "national guilt". (Rushdooney, “The Politics of Guilt and Pity,” Fairfax, Virginia. Thoburn Press. 1978).

Most plainly, we see this in Germany, which has led the way in opening their doors to Muslim refugees. As one German put it, “We want to make it plain that we are no longer Nazis.” Many Germans still feel that they have to pay a psychological price of self-atonement for their past sins, even if it costs them their destruction.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote about another form of masochism – self-atonement. He noted how Western culture, en masse, has turned against its own Christian heritage:

• This case illustrates a peculiar western self-hatred that is nothing short of pathological. It is commendable that the West is trying to be more open, to be more understanding of the values of outsiders, but it has lost all capacity for self-love. All that it sees in its own history is the despicable and the destructive; it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure…Multiculturalism, which is so constantly and passionately promoted, can sometimes amount to an abandonment and denial, a flight from one’s own heritage. 

Hence, the Western intellectual establishes his virtue or “manhood” by self-denial, by rejecting his own culture. Author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali Muslim turned atheist, shares this insight:

• In certain countries, "left-wing," secular liberals have stimulated my critical thinking and that of other Muslims. But these same liberals in Western politics have the strange habit of blaming themselves for the ills of the world, while seeing the rest of the world as victims. To them, victims are to be pitied, and they lump together all pitiable and suppressed people, such as Muslims, and consider them good people who should be cherished and supported so that they can overcome their disadvantages. The adherents to the gospel of multiculturalism refuse to criticize people whom they see as victims. Some Western critics disapprove of United States policies and attitudes but do not criticize the Islamic world, just as, in the first part of the twentieth century, Western socialist apologists did not dare criticize the Soviet labor camps. Along the same lines, some Western intellectuals criticize Israel, but they will not criticize Palestine because Israel belongs to the West, which they consider fair game, but they feel sorry for the Palestinians, and for the Islamic world in general, which is not as powerful as the West. They are critical of the native white majority in Western countries but not of Islamic minorities. Criticism of the Islamic world, of Palestinians, and of Islamic minorities is regarded as Islamophobia and xenophobia.

Self-castigation is subtly and subconsciously understood as a reasonable payment for self-validation, a necessary defense against shame. It works something like this: “I am a good and worthy person if I champion the interests of others and am willing to criticize my own traditions.” Underlying this is the awareness that there is something wrong with us and that we deserve to be punished.

We seem to have an internal and inescapable script defining what it means to be deserving and worthy. This script demands that we pay for these necessary commodities through various forms of self-sacrifice, a punishment for our sins.

Instead of seeking the forgiveness and reconciliation that can only come from the One who has died for our sins, we seek to establish our righteousness through our own suffering. This was also Paul’s understanding of Israel:

• Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith [in Christ], but as if it were based on [their own] works. (Romans 9:31-32; ESV)

This is also what Adam and Eve did. Instead of confessing their sin to God, they were determined to cover it themselves. However, fig leaves cannot adequately cover sin and guilt. Why not? Essentially, we were designed for a healing relationship with the Divine. However, we feverishly attempt to neutralize our pain, our awareness that something is not right within, with a variety of substitutes. Although masochism, self-denial, and even good deeds might provide temporary relief, they will never provide the freedom that only our Lord can provide.

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