Good Distractions Gone Bad

I haven't been writing much lately between summer youth ministry and taking graduate classes, but if you'll humor me, here's a peek into this morning's blessing as I read the final chapter of 1 Timothy:

Saturday, July 11, 2015                                                                                    1 Timothy 6
v. 11 But flee from these things [a different doctrine-v. 3, godliness as gain-v. 5, riches-v. 9], you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

Impression: How easy it is to get distracted by good things, by lesser things, by deceitful things and miss God! To get caught up in details of doctrine that lead to strife, envy and disputes is to miss the mark. When my conversation and reputation is focused on being right, I am more about myself than God. To get drawn into keeping certain laws and traditions as a means of contentment—formulas for how to raise our children or keep our home or manage a church—I have missed the mark and left God behind. When my life is all about following a prescribed formula for godliness and personal gain, I am more about myself than God. And if I am drawn away from the truth by a desire for riches and personal comfort, when getting and having is more important than meeting with the Body of Christ and serving others, I have again missed the mark and left God behind. I am more about myself than God.

It is as I walk with the Lord that I find myself hungering and thirsting for righteousness, reflecting (not recreating) godliness, living out faith in love time after time after time with patience and gentleness. The only worthwhile endeavor is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in inapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen” (v. 15-16).

Application: The goal is to forget myself, to leave myself behind, and to follow Jesus; to follow Him wholeheartedly, with everything I have and am, and to pray and ask for His gracious hand of protection from those many temptations and good things that would draw me away from His face. It is my responsibility and thankful response to seek His face, to harness my thoughts and emotions as I sift through the value and weight I place on people, circumstances, dreams and goals. Who am I seeking to please? Who am I serving? Who has first place in my life? What am I willing to die for? What hill am I willing to die on? Any hill, any cause apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is vanity.

Lord, as I enter this day, this day of calling and serving and loving; this week of ministry; I ask Your guiding, loving, protecting hand on either side of my face. Direct me in Your way. Guide me in Your path. Let me not turn to the left or to the right. Let me not be distracted and carried away by my sinful longings and the deceit of my heart. Keep me true and steadfast, focused and centered always on Your loving care in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Your precious Son. May Jesus be my focus, my motivation, my source and my prize. In His name I pray, Amen.

Fear--It's In You

Our group was in a physically threatening situation when one individual panicked. She had no sense of fear for the actual threat but thrashed and screamed in response to an everyday occurrence. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she apologized. "I can't help it. I'm just feeling very paranoid."

http://footnotescounseling.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/o-ANXIETY-facebook.jpg

The truth, for each of us, is that our fear was not (is not) "out there." It was, and is, "in here." Fear concerns a future event, something that has not happened. Fear focuses on something I can't control but wish I could. It invades my thoughts, drives my behavior, and results in overwhelming emotions about something that isn't real or factual.

We fear recurrence of a painful past event. We fear change, uncharted territory, failure, success. We avoid people, places and things that hint of danger. All the while, the sneaky, pervasive truth is that what I fear has become my god.

I worship what I fear. "No way!" you say? Take a step back. How deep is the thought-groove of fear in relation to the thought-groove of faith? How often do you make choices based on avoiding or confronting the object of your fear?Do you find yourself stained by sin as you manage fear? Or do you turn first to the God who knows you and made you?

What we think about, what drives our behavior, and what we are willing to sin to  get (or avoid) has replaced the God of the universe in our hearts. It rules us. It enslaves, drives and controls us. We are "under the influence" of unseen/unknown situations when we could be "under the influence" of the Holy Spirit in obedience and trust.

So what did we do in the face of danger and unreasonable fear? We sang. We sang loudly. We changed our focus from the unknown to the God who designs and directs all--with shaky voices and a tear squeaking out here and there, we sang lustily:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.*

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

*See more at: http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/in-christ-alone/#sthash.zKg4tgJu.dpuf

Priceless Anonymity

I read an article this morning on the topic of pride and how insidious it is--from struggles in marriage to depression, eating disorders to anger and everything in between.

As I thought of its opposite--humility--and the conversation D.L Moody had with revivalist Henry Varley. At one point Varley said, "Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him" and Moody sensed God's call to be that man. 

The more I've thought about the contrast and what humility looks like, the more I think that true Christianity lend itself to anonymity. There will always be the Billy Grahams, Moodys, and Mother Theresas. We are people with names and our world continues to grow smaller, but often, more often, we will never see that man or woman fully consecrated to God because God, in His greatness, guards His own in humility. In local churches around the world, needs are met and individuals are served  in droves. But there is no name, no individual, no agenda apart from Jesus--Jesus working through individuals, moved by compassion as His hands, feet, minds, mouths and hearts. 

Biblically, we cannot, nor will ever, be wholly consecrated apart from the working of the Holy Spirit.
But I have seen the result of consecration--and I have learned this:  The one who is wholly consecrated to God seeks no praise of His own, but only that of His Father. He serves diligently, with or without recognition, blessed with peace, joy, and contentment: gifts that fill the giver before they are given (Gal. 5:22-23). Through His people, God is glorified. He is honored. His reputation is supreme. He is seen and reflected in all that is said and done. And, someday, I hope to be one of those people who has no desire to be seen or recognized or applauded for my own sake, but only for His.

Where some would count success in numbers and products, the consecrated individual can simply say, "I am blessed."  Ministry continues not because the world is dark, but because there is Light.  And as the Light penetrates darkness, it is not lessened or enlarged because of the darkness. It is. God uses His people to extend Himself to a lost world and His essence is not affected by their acceptance or rejection.  He shines through these humble, cracked vessels because He is.  And because He is, we are... blessed... praying... depending... available... working... living.

In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. (Zechariah 14:20-21)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:19-21)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 10:31)

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)