Blog

The older I get, the more aware I become that life is all about Jesus Christ and not about me. The older I get, the sharper my focus on eternity becomes.  The older I get, the more I see life as it really is.  We should all grow wiser with age because the Scriptures tell us to do so “Teach us to number our days that we may apply our heart unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).  This prayer by the Psalmist should be ours as well.  He sees every day as a learning experience and does not want to lose one moment of instruction from the guiding eye of Jehovah.

Instruction is all around us, but we must be wise and understanding students. We must be attentive to the details for nothing happens without a sovereign purpose, from the falling of the sparrow to the devastation of a hurricane.  The sons of Adam see everything as fate, good luck, bad luck, happenstance, coincidence, or “that’s just life.”  How sad not to be able to properly interpret what is being written or said.  But is this not the nature of those who are blind and deaf to spiritual maters?

As sons of God, we must not fall into such a narrow way of thinking, trapped by human reason, which in essence is atheistic at worst and agnostic at best.  Remember that it is all about Him.  We are not central to the purposes of God.  His glory is central.  This is what I am learning, the older I get.

I never cease to be amazed at the strength of my flesh. Its natural affinity for the world offers no resistance but yields so easily.  This fallen man, referred to by Paul as “wretched,” is so hopelessly entangled with pleasing itself it becomes drowned in its own selfish pursuits.

Thus, we must see ourselves through the lens of Scripture that penetrates the heart where self-examination fails to reach. Scripture affords us the great privilege of looking beyond our natural horizons.  We can see with the eye of faith that which the natural eye will never comprehend.  We can hear the voice of God that our natural ears are deaf to.

We are foreigners to a life of rest, but very familiar with frustration, angst, fear, restlessness and unnecessary busyness. This should not be. If God is our central pursuit, then all that satisfies us will be found in Him.  We are not to be discouraged by our fallen nature but are to rejoice in the power of our new nature, which is born again and takes us out of the kingdom of darkness and places us into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

” A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” -Proverbs 11:1

Honesty is a character trait that has undergone radical examination by society, and the verdict is in. Honesty is no longer acceptable as a moral trait.  The more we can shade the truth, cheat on a test, or deceive the IRS, the more we are heralded as clever, which is far more important than honesty.  The tail is now wagging the dog.  Isaiah warns of such times when he says, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

The body of Christ must be above reproach. We must avoid the false balance and see to it that integrity reigns.  Truth sheds light on that which is false.  Our work ethic along with the words we speak must represent the God we serve.  If we put the integrity of our lives on one side of the scale and falsehood on the other side, which side would tip the scale in its favor?  Remember that Christ said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.”

IF I WALKED BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT, THEN my faith would be the glasses for my sight. My eyes would look through the lens of faith. Faith would determine what I really see. My eyes would see, but my faith would interpret. My eyes would gaze, but my faith would discern. Rationalization, however, blinds me to this truth. My eyes simply represent one of my five human senses as I desperately want to see, touch, smell, hear, and taste my way through life. Oh, how I want to lean on my own understanding.

If I walk by faith and not by sight, then I will understand that I am to taste and see that the Lord is good. My human senses are not bad. They are God-given gifts in order to get around in this physical world. But they are not good interpreters of the deeper issues of life. Faith allows me to see beyond my natural horizons. When it is said of Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 that he was “looking for a city,” it is not referring to his eyes but to his faith in what God had promised. Jesus also referred to this great man of faith when He said “Abraham saw my day, rejoiced and was glad in it” (John 8:56). It is said of Moses that he could “see Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27).

Faith does not nullify nor replace our human faculties. It simply goes beyond what our senses can perceive. My human wisdom can tell me how much I have in the bank, but my faith can tell me the only One I can bank on. My human wisdom can tell me how strong I am, but faith can tell me “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). My human wisdom can tell me how smart I am, but my faith tells me that I have the mind of Christ. My human wisdom can tell me how healthy I am, but my faith tells me that I will live forever.

I will never walk totally by faith. I must learn to grow in this area. Jesus, however, lived in total dependence upon the Father. He never allowed His senses to get in the way or blur what He could see by faith. The gospel places to my account the faith in His account.

Thank God for this sixth sense of faith.

IF I WERE UNBIASED, THEN I would be able to make proper judgments in life without any thought of personal gain. A predetermined outcome would not be colored by desired results. If I were unbiased, then I would always work from the context of what is true and not what I want to be true. I would see all situations that demand me to make a decision as not being influenced by personality, people, friendships, personal benefit, political leanings, or the fact that I live in America. Rationalization says, “Let’s get serious. Who could possibly live under such constraints?” No doubt, being unbiased will be a threat to our character as long as we live.

If I were unbiased, I would want to make sure that I don’t use excuses for my personal prejudices but weigh all matters on the scales of biblical justice. If I love hymns, am I biased to the point that any songs written in the past twenty years must be shallow and lack doctrinal content? If I love praise songs, am I biased to the point that anything written prior to this century must be stodgy, unexciting, and boring? If Scripture is silent on such issues, then preference may rule what I like – but I should never allow bias to rule out what I don’t like. Do I ever find myself interpreting Scripture through the lens of my favorite theological system rather than letting the Scripture speak for itself? Such bias is rude, as I am interrupting God when He is speaking to me, and if not careful I will find myself telling God what He should be saying to me rather than what He is saying to me.

If I were unbiased, then I would work from a level playing field and not from the rocky soil of prejudice. But I don’t even know when I am being biased because my bias overrules any thought that I could ever stoop so low as being controlled by such a demon. I am so thankful that there is one in which “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). It was said of Jesus in John 1:47 that “Here is an Israelite in whom there is nothing false.” He leveled the playing field and helps us have our minds renewed day by day through His unbiased word.

IF I WERE DISCERNING, THEN I would know the difference between Law and Grace. I would certainly know that the law can’t save me, but my discernment would need to go much deeper than that because my entire Christian life is based on keeping these two in balance. Balance, however, has never been the Christian norm, so in order to make myself feel good, I lean on my trusted friend Rationalization to come to the rescue. It helps me feel good about keeping the law because it appeals to my self-righteousness. It convinces me that by keeping God’s law I will move up the ladder of righteousness a few rungs and can then look down on the rest of the motley bunch below me. It tells me that grace is my ticket to do whatever I please.

If I were discerning, then I would know that I am not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). I would also know that Jesus said He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17). The law is also holy and just and good according to Paul (Rom. 7:12). So how do I put these together? Not being under the law does not mean I am free to break the law, but should I do so, it can no longer condemn me. It is not a means by which I obtain God’s approval. God’s grace is the power to live the life that he has called me to live (I Cor. 15:10).

If I were discerning, then I would know I need to have a right relationship to the law and to grace which is provided in the person of Christ. However, if you are like me, then you realize we all lack discernment to fully understand all there is to know about law and grace. But there is one thing I am confident in: I am rightly related to the law and rightly related to grace because I am rightly related to Christ who kept the law for me and by his grace gave me the righteousness that the law demands.

IF I DELIGHT IN THE LORD, THEN according to Psalm 37:4, I will be given the desires of my heart.

Rationalization has a field day with this verse. We consider this to be carte blanche, and whatever we ask we will be given if we delight in the Lord. So let’s analyze this for a moment. I want a new BMW and since I am delighting in the Lord He will give it to me. Since when is someone delighting in the Lord when material possessions become the main focus? Their delight is in stuff and not the Lord. “Love not the world neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15).

There is another more troubling way to look at this verse. “I really want children” or “I really desire to be married” is the cry of many who have delighted in the Lord, yet these desires have not been fulfilled. But these are normal desires and are not necessarily the result of delighting in Him.

A third understanding is that God places strong desires on our hearts when we delight in Him that cannot be fulfilled in any other way but by supernatural grace.

So if I am delighting in the Lord, then I might expect that He will give me an overwhelming desire to advance the Kingdom in ways that are beyond my normal desires and capabilities. A missionary call or a deep desire to start a Bible study at work may well fall into this category. After I came to know the Lord, I had a passion to plant a church which at the time made no sense at all (and was well out of my comfort zone and training.) But God’s calling is His enabling: “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1Thess. 5:24).

If I delight in the Lord then I can expect Him to move in ways that I am not familiar with. Such ways are exciting and have no human explanation attached to them. None of us, however, fully delights in the Lord, yet we have this record of Jesus: “…. for I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29). When we are in Christ, then what Jesus has done in total obedience to the Father is credited to our account. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov.3:5-6)

IF I WERE EMPATHETIC, THEN I would feel the pain of others. Their poverty would be my poverty, their divorce would be my divorce, their cancer would be my cancer. Rationalization, however, is quick on the draw in such situations. How can I possibly be expected to carry such a load? I have enough problems of my own. But such rationale is soon to fade when we consider how desperate we are in similar situations and wonder where the encouraging word will come from. Where are all the believers when you need them? Have I been forsaken? Why hasn’t anyone called to see how I am doing?

Being empathetic does not mean that I am to carry the weight of the world’s problems. This is not reasonable and certainly not practical for one simple reason – all the world is hurting. The context of life is a world of pain and need. This does not, however, excuse me from being empathetic. Empathy has boundaries, and two things come into play for it to be carried out. First is proximity and second is familiarity. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians we find in the first chapter that we are to comfort others the same way we have been comforted by the Lord (1 Cor. 1:4).  This implies that two conditions must be met if empathy is to transpire. First, I have to be in the vicinity of the one I am to give comfort to, and secondly, I am best equipped to minister if I have been through a similar heartache. So as you can see, I can easily get off the hook if these two don’t line up.   However, if I am truly empathetic there is another way to do this. I can find someone who does qualify and encourage them to come alongside the wounded party.  “Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts” (Eph. 6:22). In such cases, I am showing the love of Christ.

I will never care the way I should for those who are hurting. The Good Samaritan is not realistic. We will never pull over for every stranded motorist. It just isn’t going to happen. There is, however, someone who did more than just pull over. There is someone who has been touched with the feelings of our infirmities. There is someone who has suffered spiritual, emotional, and physical wounding. Where I have failed, He has triumphed and in this triumph I am moved to be like Him. When I am like Him, I will truly be empathetic.

IF I WERE HONEST, THEN I would be honest enough to admit that I’m not, for scripture lays claim to the proper assessment of my heart when it says “let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).

However, the scriptures also tell us of honest people who are upright and have integrity. So which is it? If God is the measuring stick, then the assessment in Romans is correct; but if man is the measuring stick, then certain people can be referred to as honest with respect to others. Rationalization, however, will keep me focused on the latter rather than the former. If I am honest, I will allow scripture to keep these two in proper balance. If I put too much weight on one side of the scale, then I will become self-absorbed and overly introspective about my sin. If I put too much weight on the other side, then I become self exalting, “I thank God that I am not as other men…” (Lk.18:11).

So how am I to see my honesty? Let’s first understand that it is quite possible to be honest and yet at the same time lack integrity. How can this be? Because we can compartmentalize our honesty but not our integrity. Integrity deals with the whole person. The word integrity comes from the same source as the word integer which means “whole number.” A man can be meticulously honest in filling out his income tax while at the same time cheating on his wife. His honesty is compartmentalized. He is an honest man who lacks integrity. So if I were honest, then I would see the need to be a person of integrity, otherwise I will rationalize and think I am honest because I don’t cheat on my income tax.

Jesus was never known for telling the truth, but for claiming to BE the truth (John 14:6). My failure to tell the truth is forgiven by the one who is the truth. He sought the Father on our behalf when he said “Father, sanctify them by your word for your word is truth” (John 17:17).

The word of God is the training ground for truth-telling. I will always be growing in this area if I allow the word to sanctify me. The balance? I have been forgiven for not living up to the holy standard which says I am not to “bear false witness.” Honesty moves me to integrity and I can now see myself the way he sees me: “And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” (Col. 2:10).