The Easy Way

Two things I enjoy reading: Desiring God (a daily devotional app by John Piper) and The Art of Manliness (specifically his Sunday Firesides). Today, they worked together to get my thoughts moving.

There is no easy way with life. If you take things like fast food, a hanging curveball, or pornography, things can be easy. But life itself is not easy. “There must be a way to make good money, without working hard; to lose weight, without cutting calories; to drink caffeine throughout the day, and still get a good nights sleep; to get ripped, without lifting heavy weights.” 

We know this, but don’t want to believe it. If there are these things here-and-there that are quick, easy pleasures, then there must be a solution for making the harder things of life simpler.

Unfortunately, there are some rules to how the universe operates that cannot be undone. Gravity can be overcome, but not without major force. The sun cannot be stopped from setting unless you can travel around the world fast enough to avoid it. Weeds in my yard will continue to grow like the Amazon without tireless work and investment.

In observation of the world around me, and in my own life personally, I believe there are just some things that will take hard work, no matter how much I want to believe otherwise.

Paul, in II Corinthians 4:16 says “though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Yet another rule of the universe that cannot be ignored: we all grow old, and eventually die.

But the good news in Paul’s words are that another rule of the universe cannot be ignored: we CAN be renewed internally day-by-day, and we CAN live eternally. (That may sound hokey to some, but hopefully worth looking into!)

Think about Paul’s life. If you aren’t familiar with Paul, I suggest you go check out his story. He endured a lot, yet didn’t lose heart. Think about being beaten... in Paul’s time, there were no antibiotics. It could take a while to recover from something like that, even without complications and infection. And as he aged, that would only get harder. His sight would diminish (and there were no glasses) and hearing get harder (and there were no hearing aids). He was a missionary, and spent most of his time walking between towns - which would also get harder with age. Paul’s life... and let’s face it, YOUR life... are wasting away. Your outer self, no matter how much work you put into it, will only last so long.

My hope isn’t to discourage you from working hard to take care of your temporary outer self. Physical training is of some value. So is working hard to earn more money. However, you will die someday, and you can’t take your money with you. That homer in you hit in high school is a memory lost. The pornography you immersed your brain in is left for some other poor chap to lose himself in. It’s all gone... the easy stuff with the hard stuff. BUT... the one thing worth the effort... your inner self... THAT is what I would hope you would being to put more emphasis on. Put in the hard work there, because effort toward knowing Christ, getting your heart changed, and living eternally after all the temporal crap has faded... that’s actually worth it.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Where are you investing your treasure today? Is it in easy things? In harder things that don’t matter when your body is about ready to leave this world? Or is it in the eternal impact of who you actually are? Invest... because “small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:14) The rest are looking to the easy road... but that leads to destruction.

Find life. Invest.

Stopping the Swinging Pendulum

John Piper says “there are many professing Christians who have a view of salvation that... nullifies the threats of the Bible.”

I’ve been meditating on this in light of my own views of Christ, His Church, the world... and I think he’s right, especially here in America.

We love our freedom. We want to be able to do what we want, when we want, with whomever we want, with no repercussion. We want to be accepted for who we are, no matter the vice. Then, after to coming to know the Bible a little bit, and grasping a taste that God is loving, forgiving, and gracious, we take every evil thing inside us for granted. We dismiss, way into the back of our minds, the equally important qualities of God that are just and full of wrath, that our sin separates us from Him.

And so the pendulum swings...

But the opposite is also true. There are those that tend to emphasize God’s wrath and His being the Ultimate Judge to the point that His love and grace are essentially a footnote. So in these cases, we attempt to come up with rules and guidelines to how we approach our “faith”. God says so... so do it. If you’re outside of that, then you’re already condemned to hell.

You could make a enormously long list of things written simply in the Bible alone that God says not to do. You could extend that list by adding on the things He says TO do. After that, rank these things in terms of human importance. Then draw a horizontal list through your line. Place it where the things of most importance condemn a man if he violates them, and those with lesser importance do not. Must with understanding of this would agree that violation of any part of God’s word is sin, which condemns.

And so the pendulum swings...

If God is completely just / full of wrath, yet completely loving / full of grace, how do we know how to follow the Bible’s teachings? If everything he says “do” or “don’t do” has the power to condemn, yet He’s willing and ready to forgive us of any / all sin (He already sent Christ), what do I do with the list?

The pendulum needs to stop swinging, and we need to rest in the middle. We need to understand God is all of the scary stuff and all of the not-scary stuff, all at the same time. He’s given us ways to live, but which we should obey. We should fight as a warrior in battle against disobedience, but understand that He’s there as a patient and loving father, ready to help us back up to try again, with grace.

The bar is high. James 4 says if you know the good you ought to do, yet don’t do it... THAT’S sin. That list we came up with... those are just some good things we ought to do. There are so many others that aren’t written down (e.g., the Bible doesn’t say “don’t cut somebody off on the highway during rush hour”) - but we ought to do those. The bar is TOO high.

So let’s stop making rules we need to follow to reach heaven - that’s up to God. Follow Him. And let’s stop using His grace and / or our salvation as a means to justify our sin. Let’s rest in the middle. Let’s follow God out of faith in His ultimate sovereignty.

The God You Believe In

Someday... I will die. Based on what I read in the Bible, this is true... unless God snatches me up before then.

Either way... death, rapture, Christ's second coming... I WILL meet the Lord.

Stop and close your eyes... dwell on this and get a good mental picture of this... you're standing before God...

Whatever picture you have of God right there, that's the level of worship you'll muster today. If you aren't picturing something amazing, beautiful, terrifying, and powerful, then you're going to approach Him flippantly.

God is loving, patient, merciful, and kind. But we can't miss that He is also completely just... that He will pour out wrath and judgment at the end.

I don't think picturing wrath and raw power as though it were Hitler or Napoleon or any conqueror of man. No... the devastation that awaits those who rebel against God will be unparalleled. This is the One who created life, loves enough to recreate life, and is just enough to destroy it when necessary. 

He's seated on a majestic throne in heaven, not some cheap gaudy throne of gold in a castle made on stone. He's surrounded by countless angels, not mere men. He can make or take life with His words... He doesn't need a sword, a gun, or an a-bomb. Men don't just bow to their knee when in His presence, but rather fall to their face in sheer fear. 

I don't live my life in terror of Him. I try to live my life in thanks to Him... knowing that this God, the one seated on that throne, loves me. That God... I can follow that.

And the bigger He gets in my mind's eye, the more reverent my worship will be, the closer I'll walk by His side, the more I'll not treat His word as a set of rules but as a loving path to guide my feet. I'll stop excusing my sin. I'll stop making this life about me.

I'm not here long. Someday... I'll die. But eternity starts now... how will I spend it? How will you? Who do you see seated on the throne before you? 

Systematic Growth

As I've grown, I realize walking this life as a Christian is, and always will be, a continual journey. I know that I should be improving myself each day, becoming more and more like Christ. 

Then, as you may have read in some of my past posts, I have this longing to live now as though Christ is enough. But I do this frustratingly as I can't figure out why my mind won't change. 

So it clicked for me this morning. I figured out a tangible way to marry these two. 

By reading my Bible, I will always realize places in my life that are more important than Christ. By constant prayer... keeping it at the forefront of my mind and seeking the Lord's help... I work toward sacrificing that one thing to put it in its subordinated place behind God. As I put that in its right place, I move on to my next idol, and so on. 

While this is a slow, long process... lifelong... you gradually irradicate everything standing between your heart and Christ, each day becoming more and more like Him. 

This side of heaven, I know I'll never arrive. But having that daily goal and battle gives me something to fight for, a place to grow, and a reason to improve. Unless we make a plan and fight toward it, it's just a dream send a constant frustration, because we'll never arrive if we're not systematically growing. 

Spiritual Fire Drill

Why do we practice fire drills? The answer to that may seem obvious. But how often when the lights start flashing in your office do you take that seriously? Sometimes you know it’s a drill, but other times, it just happens. I know in the past, when it “just happens”, I find myself among my colleagues, wandering the hall questioning if it’s genuine or just an electrical malfunction of sorts. Why don’t we just get out?

I’ve heard stories of people dying in a fire, still sitting in their seats. They didn’t even move! Studies have shown that practicing mitigation of calamitous situations increases your ability to survive if (or when) they actually come. So it makes complete sense that those with a greater chance of survival in these situations are those with military, police, fire, ambulatory experience. This makes me think I should get out when the lights start flashing every time, and let the professionals tell me if it’s a false alarm.

Thankfully I’ve never experienced a major catastrophic “Act of God” as insurance companies like to define these sorts of things. However, experience has taught me there is no difference in my spiritual life when it comes to planning for disaster. It makes no sense to wait for tragedy to hit to see what we’re made of. This doesn’t mean I should live in fear of what could happen, because – let’s face it – some of the things we know could happen may never actually come into play in our lives. So how do we prepare ourselves for every possible calamity that may oppress us? You can’t. But I think living in naiveté increases your risk. So be aware. Learn from others’ stories. Never think “that can’t happen to me”. But don’t live in fear.

I’ve been thinking about this whole concept lately because of something I’ve been struggling with in my spiritual life. In Luke 14:26, Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple.” I’m sure Jesus doesn’t mean that we literally hate those that are closest to us. After all, He also notes that we should love our neighbors and our enemies alike. But – and I’ve written about this before – I think He says this in Luke 14:26 because He wants to know “am I enough?” If everything you have – possessions, wealth, health, relationships – all goes away, is Jesus enough?

I love my life. I really like all the stuff I have. I’m extremely happy with my health. I love my kids. And I REALLY love my wife. And I have to think too that it this applies to what people think of me… even those I value most. So not just material possessions or having people in my life, but even the opinion these people have of me. None of these things are bad – we should appreciate the material possessions we have, and we’re commanded to love. But take them away from me, and what do I become? Is what God has given me, and who He has placed in my life, more important than Him? Do I value my wife’s opinion of me more than God’s?

So yeah… I’ve been struggling with loving stuff and people more than God Himself. I’ve felt down because of perceived opinions people have of me. I’ve been meditating, and praying to Him, to keep my mind and heart focused on the importance of Him in my life. If I truly follow Him, then opinions of me by others don’t really matter. The loss of anything, or anyone, in my life is a result of sin. Everything dies and passes away because of sin in this world. But Christ has overcome sin, and at the end, He reigns!

But there’s that fine line… you have to live in the mindset that it / they could all be gone tomorrow, yet love and appreciate them today like they’ll always be there. God wants us to love passionately, yet realize it could all disappear. Hold tight and protect, but understand it’s not really under your control.

If I could REALLY get myself to REALLY understand that all my stuff, including my relationships, are all God’s anyway, then commending all of these into His capable hands isn’t REALLY sacrifice. I’m not giving anything up if the Maker is doing what He desires with what is already His via His divine sovereignty.

He causes it to rain on the just and unjust. Who am I to think I deserve anything that’s His? The fact of the Gospel is that I don’t. I don’t deserve any of it… anything! If He chooses to bless me, then He is free to do that. But I don’t deserve it. Praise be to God for all of the things and people in my life, which He has graciously chosen to bless me with!!!

Trust and Integrity

"Until I die, I will not deny my integrity." Those words were spoken by the 'great sufferer', Job. Does this quote suggest Job thought he was sinless, without fault? If we look at the rest of the book of Job, we read what he believes about God, which makes it apparent he couldn't have thought he was without sin. Yet he won't deny his integrity...

Can a person be full of integrity and promote that quality in front of others, yet sin?

I think it's no different than Paul, who boasted of his weakness. Job and Paul both seem to understand the sovereignty of God, and how being immersed in Him is what brings true strength... strength of character... integrity.

I've heard it said, "trust everyone, just don't trust the devil in them." None of us are perfect because of the sin living in us. So we're warned to test the spirits. Test whether a person has trusted Christ with their imperfections so His power is shown. Test whether a person is actually following Him or giving Him lip service (not all who call on His name will be saved). Test whether a person has gone the other direction and wishes to live in their sinful nature.

If a person isn't fully devoted to following Christ, how can you trust them? Trust is defined as "putting confidence in the good qualities of someone". If we're born evil and full of sinful desires, the only good you in a person you can put confidence in is what God has replaced.

So if I want to be able to speak confidently like Job and Paul, if I want to be truly trustworthy, I need to replace all the bad in me... daily... with Him. If I'm not doing that out of full devotion to Him, I'm not trustworthy as I give sin and the devil a chance to grow.

Some days are better than others, but my focus is to find God throughout my day, everyday. Until I die, I too will not deny my integrity... because He has saved me from my evil, selfish desires, and there's nothing left for me in that life. I know I can be trusted because His good lives in me, and that type of perfect good can easily be trusted.

"He must become greater. I must become less." (John 3:30)

My Justification vs God's

The book of James says "he then who knows the good he ought to do, yet doesn't do it, sins". Even if you don't believe the Bible, this is some good advice to live on. If there's something you feel you should be doing right and don't do it, then what good are your actions? As a follower of Christ, this looks different in that the good I ought to do is prompted by the Holy Spirit rather than by my worldview of morality. And a worldview of morality outside the Bible isn't necessarily bad, unless seen through the eyes of the Bible, in which case it isn't perfect. 

Yet I'm just as bad as the next person. I see what I should be doing or saying, or where I should be going, but don't. And like most others, a big argument for why is "that's just who I am," or "that's just where I am right now". As a Christian, I can take that a step farther and note God's love, forgiveness and patience. He cares enough to forgive me when I don't do these things, so it's all good, right? No... we use this to make ourselves feel better about what we've done or said, rather than using it to feel broken, to represent (or turn around) from our actions and fight who we are or where we are right now to become better... in my eyes ultimately better as who Christ would want me to be. 

We need to start taking His love and sovereignty more as a way to see how we need to improve rather than a way to justify ourselves. Stop living so reactive and start trying to figure out how we should change. Stop waiting for the Holy Spirit to make it obvious and start GOING to Him to see what's next. Stop justifying my own actions and start living in glorious glow of Christ's justification for me.

Time

Wow... looking back at my last post, I realize a lot has happened in the last seven years or so! And I don't mean that in the general sense one typically says it. What I mean is...

I was in a bad car accident in 2012. I'm not sure what role that played in everything that has transpired since, but I slipped into depression shortly thereafter, and that desert lasted a good five years.

A story for another time, but I miraculously snapped out of that in June 2017, my soul awakened and instantly flooded with everything I should have been experiencing with God over those lost five years.

I had been a zombie... a shell of a person limping through life, looking at everything through a foggy pane. Color came back that June, and I saw everything I hadn't been to those around me. Not present. Not caring. Distant. A fairly painful and sudden self realization. 

But in that, there was God. Right where He had always been. Standing there with His hand opened up to take mine, waiting for me to open my eyes. But in His patience and mercy, He opened them for me, because ultimately... He loves me.

I'm still not perfect today... by no means! I'm still learning and growing. But I'm understanding God differently. I'm seeing this world differently. I've been awakened like I never was before... thought I was, but in a naive sense.

I want to do good, do what's right. I want to love. I want to progress.

More than any of that, I want to know Him more. I see what He's done in my life, and I can only explain that imperfectly. Most of that is felt deep and internally, but it's there and intense! But what He's done shows the depth of His love... and I want to know more of that!

Time passes, but God never changes.