Reflection
Continuing through the Psalms
Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. ~Psalms 25:8-9
God even instructs sinners. They don’t realize it at the time but when a person comes to know the Lord, I bet they can often look back and see various ways that God was leading them in decisions they made, places they worked, etc. He looks for those who have humble hearts that are open to Him and then He begins His good and perfect work.
I can hear someone saying, “I was proud when God found me.” Yes. You didn’t know the Lord and yet God could still see a heart that was sick and tired of life and ready for a new beginning. And so He lifted you out of the mire and revealed Himself to you.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~Psalm 51:17
Oh, to continue to grow in humility, to not have to have life constantly revolve around me and what I want, to keep growing in quick and absolute surrender to my Father, to be quick to repent when I realize that I have displeased Him or hurt one of my Brothers or Sisters.
The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. ~Psalms 25:14-15
Have you ever thought about the fact that you can actually be friends with your Master? You can. He desires a genuine relationship with you. Not one-sided where all you can talk about is yourself but one where you are willing to listen to Him as well.
Humility begins in the heart and then exhibits itself in how we treat those around us. If you struggle to hear God’s voice, I encourage you to look at your heart and see if it is full of pride or a genuine willingness to know what God desires and to follow Him in all things.
Photo by Anthony Intraversato on Unsplash
The Path of Righteousness
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. ~Psalm 23:3b
A couple of years ago, my sister and I attended a Bible study on Psalm 23. At the time, I felt like, although it was encouraging, it was just fluff, and I wanted something deeper. As I read this chapter again today, I realized that there is depth if I read slowly instead of breezing through yet another well-known passage of Scripture.
Verse 3 especially caught my eye.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
I’ve divided this into three separate sections for you to ponder. If you are following God, He will lead you down a path of righteousness. This means that if you are living a life of unrighteousness, you are not following God. However, living a right life isn’t just to make you feel good and give you a clear conscience (although these can be great benefits); He desires that His children live righteous lives so that they do not bring Him shame. (It’s not all about us!)
As you follow Him down that path, it is then that you can know assuredly that goodness and mercy will follow you for the rest of your life. This doesn’t mean that everything will always go your way, but you can rest in the fact that your Father will always be good and merciful to you. What a blessed assurance!
I don’t know where you are at in this journey toward the Celestial City, but I pray that you are staying on the straight and narrow road, not looking right or left or backward but focusing 100% ahead.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 3:13-14
The Lost Art of Longsuffering
But the fruit of the Spirit is … longsuffering … ~Galatians 5:22
Charity suffers long and is kind. ~1 Corinthians 13:4
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was staying at some friends’ house at night while the house I live in is under renovation. I was there about a month before I took a pre-planned trip to visit some friends for a few days and then spend a month with my dad. When I go back home, I expect I will go back to my friends’ house for a time until our house is ready for me to move back into.
I rely on other people’s grace quite a bit, and I do not take for granted their willingness to sacrifice their own comfort and routine to accommodate me. That said, I have observed many people who are not that gracious and longsuffering, and I seek to figure out why.
One thing I know is that it is a lot easier to be patient with others when you realize how patient people are with you. People like to talk about how hard relationships are, but I don’t think they should be. Yes, you have to give and take but if both parties are giving and taking, it shouldn’t be drudgery. It is easy to say “I love you” to people who don’t live with you, but the true test of your love is how you treat those that you see day in and day out.
I have plenty of friends and family that don’t agree with me in every area. Most areas are not hills worth dying on from my viewpoint. I will listen to their side and often still disagree when they’re done but if they continue to want to be friends, I am willing to do so.
I am in no way recommending that people have no convictions and become accepting of sin, but most of the things that the Church gets up in arms about do not fall into this category. The key is in being led by the Spirit. If God places someone in your life, you need to work on being longsuffering with that person. Don’t just say that you love him or her but show your friend how much by how you treat them. Begin with those in your own household, and I expect it will be easier to show love to those around you.
Is God’s Love Really Unconditional?
I bristle when I hear people talk about God’s unconditional love. Typically, it is used in a context of borderline bragging about how it doesn’t matter what a person does; God still loves that person “unconditionally.” And, of course, the implication that follows is that we must love people unconditionally as well. After all, we are supposed to be like God. So I would like to ask a couple of questions. Does God really love unconditionally, and are we to follow suit?
On the surface, the answer to these questions would be a hearty, “Absolutely!” Just as God loves us, we are to love others. But I feel like we need to define “love” and what that looks like.
A parent may love a wayward child, but sometimes the most loving thing they can do is distance themselves and let the adult son or daughter make bad decisions so that they ultimately learn better ways of doing things.
Someone who ministers in a prison may feel compassion for those locked inside, but it would not be right or necessarily loving to let them all loose and trust that they won’t hurt anyone else.
So it is with God. He is grieved when the people He created ignore Him and disobey His Word. He may not stop loving them, but He will withdraw from them and, if they don’t repent, He will cast them from His sight forever. I am in no way desiring to take away from God’s love. I long to fully understand the depth of that love so that I can better love others, but I do not want a distorted view that would propel me into eternal torment.
I am currently reading through the New Living Translation, and I like how it refers to God’s “unfailing love.” The King James and English Standard Versions use the word “steadfast.” His love is “resolutely firm and unwavering,” but He still expects His children to love and obey Him in return.
When you are telling someone how magnificent God’s love is, I would encourage you to consider substituting “unconditional” for “unfailing.” Anyone can “love” someone unconditionally, overlooking sin in the process, but God’s love goes deeper than that. He has laid out conditions for His followers, but His love is so pure and genuine that it is worth doing what He asks. When we accept God’s love as it truly is instead of how we imagine it or would like it to be, I expect that we will grow to love Him more in return.
Pray For Your Leaders
There is power in prayer and the way Christians can turn the world’s attention toward God is by praying for the decisions our leaders make. … By lifting them up to God, praying about the influences on them, and asking God to give them wisdom and discernment, we influence our own quality of life. ~Carolyn Larsen
Some may disagree with this assessment, but the overall sentiment is true. Paul told Timothy:
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ~1 Timothy 2:1-2
I confess that I have a hard time giving thanks for our country’s leaders at times, but I do pray often that God will guide them, overriding any plans that are not of Him, and drawing them to Himself. Sometimes I ask that He direct them even if they don’t know why they are making the decisions that they are. This may seem silly to some, but I believe that God is able to do even that.
I used to think of corruption in politics as a recent phenomenon in an era where people are waxing worse and worse. However, in reading books of presidents from days gone by, I wonder if there was ever an election that was cut and dry. It seems like the recent election was not the first to be contested and accused of foul play. Back as far as Thomas Jefferson, there were scandals and possible debates over whether or not he won the election fair and square, but life went on, and here we are today.
It’s easy to complain about masks, lack of masks, rising gas prices, etc. but, for the most part, there’s not a lot we can do about these things. But we can pray.
I don’t know what life is going to look like 5, 10, 30 years down the road. I listened to Bill and Gloria Gaither talking again recently about why they wrote Because He Lives. Even 50 years ago, people wondered if they were stupid to bring children into a declining world. So the Gaithers wrote the words:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
That is just as true today as it was then. God is still alive. He still sees. He still cares. He may allow us to experience chaos and unrest for a time, but He will continue to care for His children, and if we say goodbye to loved ones or if we ourselves die from COVID, we will know firsthand that “to live is Christ, but to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Brothers and Sisters, let’s stop fighting each other. Let’s not look at the government as our savior. But let’s repent of our sins, turn from our wicked ways, pray for our leaders, and ask God to heal our land.
Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash
Quote at the beginning taken from the One-Minute Devotional for Women.
A Place in Jesus’ Arms
I have a place I love to be whenever things go wrong
I know that fears and doubts give way; this place is Jesus’ arms
These words penned by my grandparents have been a tremendous source of comfort through the years. Whenever I am going through a dark time, I ask God to please wrap His arms around me and, in my mind’s eye, I can see Him do so. This reality is really the difference between the Christian and the unbeliever. We all go through trials but, as Christians, we know that God will carry us through them whereas the unsaved do not have that assurance.
One of my favorite hymns is “Higher Ground.” The chorus says:
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on Heaven’s tableland
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
It may sound cliche, but it’s true that after we emerge from a valley, we can often look back and see what God was doing during those times. I have been through crises in which I’m still convinced that nothing positive emerged, but I can trust that at the very least, they drove me closer to the Lord, which may have been the only purpose.
I hope you can feel God’s loving arms today. May you experience the joy and peace that He desires you to have in the midst of the tumult. If you are struggling to hold on to hope right now, ask Him to wrap you in His embrace and sit in His presence until you can feel Him do just that. One day, I trust that you will walk right out of this valley, lifting your hands and praising the Lord. He is faithful!
God Still Answers Prayer
I never doubt that God hears me when I pray, but I too often marvel at how quickly He answers my prayers. I have two examples of this that happened just this week.
After a couple busy weeks of traveling and activities, celebrating my birthday with various family members, things finally slowed down so that I was able to get back into a regular routine. On Monday, as I was thinking over my schedule and the things I needed to be working on, I decided to ask the Lord for more editing work. I don’t have another conference until October so it seemed like the perfect time to make my petition. Shortly after I opened my computer, I received a message from a friend letting me know that she was passing my contact information on to a friend of hers who was looking for an editor. Then the next morning, another friend emailed to let me know about a ministry that is looking for a part-time copy editor. Keep in mind that this is not something I posted on Facebook. I had just asked the Lord if He would provide this for me and, although I don’t know if these will come through immediately, it was the perfect way for Him to let me know that He heard my prayer.
As if that wasn’t enough, the next morning I was walking and crying, overwhelmed by the needs of several family members, feeling like I’m letting people down and yet reminding myself that I can only be one place at a time, and I’m where I believe God wants me at present. In the middle of this, I received a text from a friend to let me know that she was praying for me for “rest and provision, a joyful and pain-free day.” Talk about timing! I can’t say that I cheered up right away but God answered her prayers, and I have had a much better day today. I don’t think I even had pain last night which is a rare occurrence.
I don’t write this to brag as if I am someone special or super spiritual. Definitely not. I do, however, want to remind you that often we do not have because we do not ask. I can go months talking about how I would like more work or how my family needs help, but talk is cheap if not accompanied by prayer. Sure, God knows our thoughts, but He desires us to come to Him and make our requests known.
I can hear someone now sputtering, “That’s great that God does that for you but He doesn’t do that for me.” God is not a genie in a bottle who is waiting with a wand to grant every whim. There are many prayers that God has not yet answered in the way I would like Him to. But I keep praying until He makes it clear that it is not His will. When I am tempted to become frustrated with unanswered prayers, I quote Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” If my greatest desire is to serve Him, He will give me everything that I need. And if I’m honest, I admit that He also grants many of my wishes as well. Come to think of it, I feel spoiled. But I know that the love He has for me, He has for you as well. Luke 12:32 tells us, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He has also promised in Matthew 6:30: “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
I was filling out an application today for a part-time job with a ministry, and one of the questions had to do with areas that I’ve grown in since walking with the Lord. I believe that one of those areas is trust. Only time will tell if I have mastered it, but the older I get and the more I look back at instances where God hadn’t left me even when it felt like He had, the more I can attest to His faithfulness.
This week, I encourage you to think about the situation that you’ve been complaining about, the person who has hurt you, your friend who needs a healing touch from the Lord. Then turn those concerns over to the Lord. Pray specifically for those needs and know that He hears you. If God has recently answered your prayers, I would love to hear about it in the comments. God bless you as you seek to draw closer to Him.
Live Like You Were Dying
A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She went from seeming fine one day to being confused and disoriented the next. It is hard on her family, but they are clinging to God and finding the strength they need to take each day as it comes. Although aware that God can heal and could choose to do so, they are taking advantage of this time to draw closer as a family. If God chooses to take this wife and mother Home, He has given those who love her a gift in being able to appreciate whatever time they have left with her.
Not everyone receives advanced notice that a loved one is going to die. Even when someone has an extended illness, it seems there is never enough time to brace yourself for the day when they will no longer be around, especially if the person is young. And so people continue on with life as usual, filling their lives with busyness while ignoring the ones they love until it is too late, and they wish they had taken even a few moments to let that person know how much he or she really did mean to those still living.
I harp on this a lot because I feel that it’s really important. Although there are things we must do each day, we should not allow life to be so busy that we neglect those around us. You don’t know who might need someone to listen to them or encourage them today. You may know someone who is always smiling as she tries to mask the pain that has sent her into a depression that she can’t seem to get out of. Or there may be an elderly person who is struggling to know why he or she is still here when no one seems to care. One text or email or phone call may perform a world of wonders in lifting someone’s spirits.
I challenge you this week to think of someone who means the world to you and make time to let them know. If you can fit it into your schedule, invite the person out for lunch or coffee. Take time to catch up and to find out what is on their mind. This isn’t about you and making you feel better about yourself as much as it is about caring for others. If you’re an introvert, this may take you out of your comfort zone, but I assure you that you can’t go wrong when you reach out in love as unto the Lord.
Lessons from Jeroboam
And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ~1 Kings 11:29-28
Wow. What an honor. Solomon had turned his heart away from God and began to worship idols which caused God to look for someone else to lead His people. For some reason, He entrusted Jeroboam the son of Nebat with this task. It didn’t take long, however, until Jeroboam did the very thing that God warned Him against.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ~1 Kings 12:26-28
This became Jeroboam’s legacy. Throughout the rest of Kings and Chronicles, almost every other king was compared to “Jeroboam son of Nebat who made Israel to sin.”
You would think that someone who had been promised great things from God would have taken God’s admonitions seriously. But, alas, Jeroboam let his own fear get in the way, proving that he wanted the kingdom, but He didn’t trust God to do everything that He promised.
It’s sad to say, but we can be just like that. Throughout Scripture, we are told how to live in order to experience fellowship with God and yet, for many, His presence doesn’t mean that much. We somehow think we can have the world and Jesus too but, according to Scripture, that is not possible.
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ~James 4:4
No one wants to be called an adulterer and yet that is what those who love the world are called. It is possible to be in the world while not of it, but the majority don’t even try to find that distinction. Here in America, we don’t have idols like some other countries, but we still have things that we worship. If you are spending an inordinate amount of time doing anything while neglecting time with the Father, that just may be an idol. Don’t be known as the man or woman who put other things ahead of their relationship with Christ so that they caused others (namely their children) to sin. Be that person who is so faithful that generations upon generations will follow the Lord because of your example. It may take work, but it is not impossible.
Christians Need to Judge
It upsets me when people throw around verses like “Judge not that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) or “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7). Some don’t even try to be spiritual as they blurt out, “We all sin. No one’s sin is worse than another’s.” No wonder the church is in the state it’s in today!
Most of the time, I challenge people to deal with the sin in their own lives. Instead of being flippant and accepting the fact that “We all sin” and “No one is perfect,” we need to be crying out to God to show us where we are failing and change our hearts so that we can be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). I understand that we will never attain perfection while on this earth, but if we do not repent, we will not be the overcomers that Christ has called us to be, and we may end up missing a glorious eternity with Him.
As you grow in your own walk with the Lord, you will develop discernment concerning others that are faltering and, in spite of popular opinion, it is not wrong to judge those who claim to have a relationship with Christ but are not living in accordance to that claim. Matthew 7:20 says that “By their fruit, you shall know them.”
In 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul tells us:
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person (emphasis mine).
That sounds pretty judgmental to me.
As I write this, I realize that some will accuse me of being self-righteous and arrogant. I don’t know how to keep from sounding that way. The fact is that I grieve when I hear of Believers who have walked away from God or who still claim to be His child while they give in to their selfish indulgences regardless of who they hurt. I pray for them with tears sometimes. But it is not wrong to refrain from listening to teaching by someone who does not exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. And when you think, “Yeah, but I do that same thing,” that’s when the Holy Spirit should convict your heart. Just because you do the same thing does not make it OK.
Our refusal to call sin what it is is why each generation gets further and further from the Lord. Our culture no longer understands what it means to be a follower of Christ. They are told that, if they ask Jesus into their hearts, they are born again when in reality that does nothing except provide a false sense of security for those who don’t want to surrender everything they have in exchange for the life that Christ promises to His true servants.
I admit that I am upset right now. I’m tired of platitudes and cliches being tossed around by people who don’t seem to have a clue what Christianity is all about. Our biggest problem is not that the church is judgmental. The bigger problem is that it doesn’t judge. It wants to accept everyone and, in doing so, it is “loving” people into Hell.
I am not claiming perfection. I am well aware of areas that I need to grow in, and I expect that God will continue to show me more. But I want to make sure that I am being taught by people who are growing in holiness as they seek to love God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength. I want to surround myself with those who want to please the Lord in everything that they do. I want to be an example to others who are looking for a reason to believe in Christ. I don’t want to settle for people who have the same faults that I do. Sure, I can bear with those people, knowing that God is continuing to do a work in both of us. But I want to encourage everyone to keep running the race. Be faithful. When you fall, get up, repent, and keep running.
I often recommend The Walk of Repentance Bible study because that is the heart of the Christian life. If you are comparing yourself with others, Scripture says that that isn’t wise (2 Corinthians 10:12). Instead, God’s Word should be your guide. Galatians 5:22-23 is a good place to start, but the whole Word of God will tell you what is acceptable to God and what isn’t, regardless of whether or not it’s currently accepted in society.
In summary, I encourage you to definitely get the plank out of your own eye before dealing with the speck in your Brother’s eye (Luke 6:42). Don’t be like the pastor who preached strongly against adultery not long before being caught with a prostitute. No, this is not about hypocrisy. It is about raising the standard, explaining to your children the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, sin and righteousness. It is about challenging others to raise the bar with you. If you know someone who struggles with the same sin you do, see if he or she is open to being your accountability partner so that you can both find freedom from that sin. I am not advocating that everyone begin to look down on others for their shortcomings. Not at all. But I am saying that it is not wrong to confront professing Christians who are living in sin. Perhaps in doing so, you will save them from the fire (Jude 1:23) instead of being partially responsible for their demise (Ezekiel 3:18).
